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May Your Hearts Be Filled with God’s Blessings! Do you know the implication of the blue, purple and scarlet threads that were used in the screen gate of the Tabernacle? In order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, you should understand what you need to know and believe. Now is the time that all human beings should believe wholeheartedly in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that is foreshadowed in the Tabernacle. Jesus Christ is the very Author who has planned and accomplished the truth that is manifested in the blue, purple and scarlet threads of the gate of the Tabernacle. The real substances of the blue, purple and scarlet threads are the baptism Jesus received from John the Baptist, the blood He shed on the Cross, and His resurrection from the dead. If you believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, would it be possible for your sins to still remain intact in your hearts? If your sins still remained in your hearts as you believe in Jesus, you will have a problem in your faith. Such a misguided faith results from your ignorance of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Hence, you should understand that there are many false gospels and false preachers in this world who are preaching man-made false doctrines in Christian communities. I advise you to accept the gospel of the water and the Spirit and thereby receive the remission of all your sins and depart from these false gospels. And you will then return to God and give Him the glory and honor that He deserves. From Author You can download Rev. Paul C. Jong’s Free Christian Books on iPhone, iPad, or Blackberry by going to Amazon’s Kindle e-bookstore (www.amazon.com).
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TheTABERNACLE(III): A Prefiguration of The Gospel of The Water and the Spirit The TABERNACL (III):
A Prefiguration of the Gospel of the Water and the Spirit Copyright © 2008 by The New Life Mission All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author. Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version.
PAUL C. JONG
ISBN 978-89-6532-008-1
Hephzibah Publishing House
Website : http://www.nlmission.com http://www.bjnewlife.org http://www.nlmbookcafe.com E-mail : newlife@bjnewlife.org
A Ministry of THE NEW LIFE MISSION SEOUL, KOREA
You can download Rev. Paul C. Jong’s Free Christian Books on iPhone, iPad, or Blackberry by going to Amazon’s Kindle e-bookstore (www.amazon.com).
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CONTENTS Preface ----------------------------------------------------- 8
1. The Salvation of Sinners Revealed in the Tabernacle (Exodus 27:9-21) --------------------------------- 10 2. The Pillars of the Court of the Tabernacle (Exodus 27:9-19) --------------------------------- 48 3. The Altar of Burnt Offering Made from Acacia Wood, Overlaid with Bronze (Exodus 38:1-7) ----------------------------------- 71 4. The Altar of Incense Is the Place Where God Grants His Grace (Exodus 30:1-10) --------------------------------- 88 You can download Rev. Paul C. Jong’s Free Christian Books on iPhone, iPad, or Blackberry by going to Amazon’s Kindle e-bookstore (www.amazon.com).
5. The Spiritual Meaning of the Silver Sockets Used for the Tabernacle (Exodus 26:15-30) ------------------------------ 106 6. The Mercy Seat (Exodus 25:10-22) ------------------------------ 129 7. The Ornamental Knobs for the Gospel of The Water and the Spirit (Exodus 25:31-40) ------------------------------ 146 8. The Spiritual Meanings Hidden in the Garments of The High Priest (Exodus 28:1-43) -------------------------------- 166
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9. Holiness to the Lord (Exodus 28:36-43) ------------------------------ 187 10. The Breastplate of Judgment (Exodus 28:15-30) ------------------------------ 206 11. The Sin Offering to Consecrate the High Priest (Exodus 29:1-14) -------------------------------- 230 12. The High Priest Who Gave the Offerings On the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:1-34) ----------------------------- 250 13. The Materials Used for the Garments of the High Priest (Exodus 28:1-14) -------------------------------- 287
You can download Rev. Paul C. Jong’s Free Christian Books on iPhone, iPad, or Blackberry by going to Amazon’s Kindle e-bookstore (www.amazon.com).
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8 Preface
Preface Some years ago, I published my sermon books on the Tabernacle in two volumes, which are titled, The TABERNACLE: A Detailed Portrait of Jesus Christ. This book, The TABERNACLE (III): A Prefiguration of the Gospel of the Water and the Spirit, is also a collection of my sermons on the Tabernacle. Put differently, this book is a sequel to my Tabernacle series. Every instrument used in the Tabernacle shows us Christians what to know and believe in; all the materials used in the Tabernacle represent the work of salvation that the Lord has fulfilled for us. For example, the bronze socket under each pillar implies that we are subject to the condemnation of sins, and its silver capitals shows that we are in desperate need of God’s grace. We have been serving many souls by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, which is the grace of God. We can never thank God enough for Free book request www.nlmission.com
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9 Preface
the fact that the power of this gospel is so perfect. I have tried to inform you of the revelations which are manifested in the Tabernacle. I strongly believe that this book contains what Christians need to know. Unfortunately, few people tried to interpret the truth revealed in the Tabernacle in connection with the gospel of the water and the Spirit. I would not have publish this book if there had been some authors showing those revelations correctly. I feel happy to show you these revelations in the Tabernacle through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. I dare to ask you: “Are you living a happy life of faith by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that Jesus Christ has given you? Are you aware of the Truth of salvation manifested in the gospel of the water and the Spirit?” I have been greatly blessed through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. I hope you also understand the Truth of salvation which is revealed in the Tabernacle and thereby lead a victorious life. I hope you will have the same faith and receive God’s
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blessings. Through this book, I want to share with you the Word that enables you to receive eternal blessings from God. I admonish you to study and believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit which is manifested in the Tabernacle system. We can be blessed by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit which is foreshadowed in the Tabernacle. Moreover, we the believers in the gospel of the water and the Spirit can become the conduits of God’s blessings to others. Hence, we should faithfully carry out the blessed role as a pathway to God’s blessings. This book is from my unwavering wish to share with you God’s blessings and the Words of everlasting life.
From Author
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SERMON 1
You can download Rev. Paul C. Jong’s Free Christian Books on iPhone, iPad, or Blackberry by going to Amazon’s Kindle e-bookstore (www.amazon.com).
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11 The Salvation of Sinners Revealed in the Tabernacle
The Salvation of Sinners Revealed in the Tabernacle < Exodus 27:9-21 > “You shall also make the court of the tabernacle. For the south side there shall be hangings for the court made of fine woven linen, one hundred cubits long for one side. And its twenty pillars and their twenty sockets shall be bronze. The hooks of the pillars and their bands shall be silver. Likewise along the length of the north side there shall be hangings one hundred cubits long, with its twenty pillars and their twenty sockets of bronze, and the hooks of the pillars and their bands of silver. And along the width of the court on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits, with their ten pillars and their ten sockets. The width of the court on the east side shall be fifty cubits. The hangings on one
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side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and their three sockets. And on the other side shall be hangings of fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and their three sockets. For the gate of the court there shall be a screen twenty cubits long, woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, made by a weaver. It shall have four pillars and four sockets. All the pillars around the court shall have bands of silver; their hooks shall be of silver and their sockets of bronze. The length of the court shall be one hundred cubits, the width fifty throughout, and the height five cubits, made of fine woven linen, and its sockets of bronze. All the utensils of the tabernacle for all its service, all its pegs, and all the pegs of the court, shall be of bronze. And you shall command the children of Israel that they bring you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to cause the lamp to burn continually. In the tabernacle of meeting, outside the veil which is before the Testimony, Aaron and his sons shall
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12 The Salvation of Sinners Revealed in the Tabernacle
tend it from evening until morning before the LORD. It shall be a statute forever to their generations on behalf of the children of Israel.”
The fence of the rectangular court of the Tabernacle measured 100 cubits in length. In the Bible, a cubit was set as the length extending from one’s elbow to the tip of his finger, about 45 cm in today’s measurement. As such, that the fence of the court of the Tabernacle was 100 cubits long means that it was about 45 m, and that its width was 50 cubits means that it was approximately 22.5 m wide. So this was the size of the House in which God dwelt among the people of Israel in the Old Testament’s time.
The Outer Court of the Tabernacle Was Surrounded by a Fence Have you seen a model of the Tabernacle in a
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picture or painting by any chance? Broadly speaking, the Tabernacle was divided into its court and the Tabernacle itself, the House of God. Inside this House of God, there was a smaller structure called the Sanctuary. The Sanctuary was covered by four different coverings: a covering woven of fine woven linen and blue, purple, and scarlet thread; another of goats’ hair; that of lam skins dyed red; and a covering of badger skins. At the eastern side of the court of the Tabernacle was found its door, woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread and fine woven linen. As one enters through this door, we would have seen the altar of burnt offering and the laver. Passing by the laver, we would have then seen the Tabernacle itself. The Tabernacle was divided into the Holy Place and the Most Holy, where God’s Ark of the Testimony was found. The fence of the court of the Tabernacle was built with 60 pillars with hangings of fine white linen. The Tabernacle itself, on the other hand, was built with 48 boards and 9 pillars. We need to have at least a
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13 The Salvation of Sinners Revealed in the Tabernacle
general idea of the external features of the Tabernacle in order to be able to understand what God is speaking to us through its format. God dwelt inside the Tabernacle built with 48 boards. God manifested His presence to the people of Israel with the pillar of cloud by day and that of fire by night which manifested above the Tabernacle. And inside the Sanctuary, where God Himself dwelt, the glory of God filled the place. Inside the Holy Place, there were the table of showbread, the lampstand, and the altar of incense, and inside the Most Holy, there were the Ark of the Testimony and the mercy seat. These were off-limit places for the common people of Israel; only the priests and the High Priest could enter these holy places according to the system of the Tabernacle. It is written, “Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services. But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people’s sins committed in
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ignorance” (Hebrews 9:6-7). This tells us that in today’s age, only those who have the faith of gold that believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit can live their lives with God while serving Him. What is the meaning of the bread placed on the table of showbread? It means the Word of God. What does the altar of incense mean then? It tells us of prayers. Inside the Most Holy, there was the Ark of the Testimony, and the mercy seat, made of pure gold, which was placed above the Ark. The cherubim stretched out their wings above it, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and they faced one another looking towards the mercy seat. This was the mercy seat, the place where God’s grace was bestowed. Inside the Ark of the Testimony, the two stone tablets into which the Ten Commandments were engraved, the sprouted staff of Aaron, and a jar filled with manna were placed. The Ark was covered by a gold covering (the mercy seat), and above it the cherubim were looking down towards the mercy seat.
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14 The Salvation of Sinners Revealed in the Tabernacle
Where Do Those Who Received the Remission of Sins Live? The place where those who received the remission of sin live is inside the Sanctuary. The Sanctuary was built with 48 boards, all of which were overlaid with gold. Think about it. When you are looking at the golden wall which was not of just a handful, but of 48 golden boards, how brilliantly would it shine? As the interior of the Sanctuary and all its utensils were made of pure gold in this way, they shined brilliantly. The altar of burnt offering and the laver in the outer court of the Tabernacle were all made of bronze, and the fence of the court was made of the pillars overlaid with silver and fine white linen. In contrast, all the utensils inside the Sanctuary were made of gold; the lampstand was hewn out of gold, and so was the table of showbread. As all the items in the Sanctuary and its three-sided walls were thus made of pure gold, the inside of the Sanctuary always shined brilliantly in golden radiance. That the inside of the Sanctuary thus shined
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brilliantly in golden radiance like this tells us that the saved saints live their precious lives of faith inside God’s Church. The saints who live in their faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit are like the pure gold found in the Sanctuary. The life that such saints live inside the Sanctuary is the blessed life that dwells in the Church, feeds on the Word of God, prays to and praises Him, and goes before the throne of God and is clothed in His grace everyday, all through the Church. This is the life of faith inside the Sanctuary. You must take it into your hearts that only the righteous who have been saved through the gospel of the water and the Spirit can live this precious life of faith inside the Sanctuary.
God Divided Clearly the Inside and Outside of the Sanctuary As most houses have fences, the court of the Tabernacle also had a fence made of 60 pillars and surrounded by the hangings of fine white linen. At the
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east of the court, a screen gate made of blue, purple, and scarlet thread and fine woven linen was placed for all to see, measuring as long as 9 m in width. In studying the Tabernacle, we must realize clearly what is the brilliant faith that God wants from us, what kind of faith is the faith of the saved, and, through the materials used for the Tabernacle we must see just how our Lord has saved us. To learn what this golden and brilliant faith captured inside the Sanctuary is, we must first look carefully at the laver, the altar of burnt offering, and the fence that were placed in the outer court of the Tabernacle, and all the materials used for them. By doing so, we can find out with what kind of faith we need to enter the brilliantly golden and radiant Sanctuary. What was in the outer court of the Tabernacle? There was the laver and the altar of burnt offering. And it was surrounded by 60 wooden pillars, and on these pillars the hangings of fine linen were placed as the court’s fence. The pillars of this fence were made of acacia wood, which, despite its hardiness, was
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very light. The pillars made of this wood was approximately 2.25 m high, making it impossible for most people with a normal height to peek over into the inside of the Tabernacle from the outside of the fence of the outer court. But if something was deliberately placed next to this wall to step on, then one could possibly see inside the court, but without such help, it was impossible to peek inside. This tells us that through our own man-made efforts, we can never enter the Kingdom of God. At the bottom ends of the wooden pillars of the outer court, bronze sockets were placed, and there tops were capped with silver capitals. As the pillars could not stand on their own, silver bands clasped steadily the adjacent pillars to each other. And to support the pillars firmly in cross-directions, the silver hooks placed in the silver cover of the pillars were tied to the bronze pegs with the cords (Exodus 35:18).
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What Were the Materials Used for the Gate of the Court of the Tabernacle? The materials used for the gate of the court of the Tabernacle were of blue, purple, and scarlet thread and fine woven linen. The height of the gate was 2.25 m, and its width was about 9 m. It was a screen woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread and fine woven linen, which was hung on four pillars. As such, whenever someone tried to enter the court of the Tabernacle, they could easily find its gate. The materials of blue, purple, and scarlet thread and fine woven linen used for the gate of the Tabernacle court manifest that God would save us from all our sins through the four works of His Son Jesus. All the 60 wooden pillars and the fine linen of the fence of the court of the Tabernacle also manifest clearly through what method God would save you and me from our sins through His Son Jesus. Through the gate of the court of the Tabernacle, in other words, God is revealing the mystery of
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salvation to us clearly. Let us once again go over the materials used for the gate of the court of the Tabernacle: blue, purple, and scarlet thread and fine woven linen. These four threads are critically important for us to be saved by believing in Jesus. If these materials were not important, the Bible would not have recorded them in so much detail. All the materials used for the gate of the court of the Tabernacle were absolutely necessary for God to save you and me. However, the fact that the gate was woven of the blue, purple, and scarlet threads and the fine woven linen without fail is of utmost importance for God to save sinners, because these four threads were the very revelation of God’s perfect salvation. This is how God had determined it. This is why God showed the model of the Tabernacle to Moses on the Mountain Sinai, and told him to make the gate of the court of the Tabernacle exactly according to this plan.
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What Are the Implications of the Blue, Purple, and Scarlet Thread and the Fine Woven Linen? The door to the Holy Place was made of a curtain woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread and fine woven linen, and the veil between the Holy Place and the Most Holy was also woven of these four threads. Not only this, but the ephod and the breastplate of the High Priest were also woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread and fine woven linen. What then do the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen tell us? What exactly do these blue, purple, and scarlet thread and fine woven linen, which were absolutely necessary for our Lord to save us, say to us? We must make absolutely sure to examine this issue closely. First of all, the blue thread tells us of the baptism of Jesus Christ. Those who are ignorant of the significance of baptism do not know that the blue thread refers to the baptism of Jesus Christ. As such, Free book request www.nlmission.com
those who are not born again generally claim that the meaning of the blue thread is, “Jesus Christ is God Himself, and He came to this earth in the flesh of a man.” Others, on the other hand claim, “The blue thread just means the Word.” However, the Bible tells us that the blue thread means “Jesus’ baptism through which He accepted the sins of the world onto Himself after coming to this earth.” The Scripture shows us clearly that the blue thread refers to the water baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist. Reading the Word on the Tabernacle, I came to realize, “Aha, God wants to shows us the importance of our faith in the baptism of Jesus.” The robe worn by the high priest while giving offerings was also woven of blue thread. A plate of gold was hung on the turban that the High Priest wore on his head, and the cord that tied the plate to the turban was also blue. And on this plate of gold, the phrase, “Holiness to the Lord,” was engraved. We can see that the blue cord that tied the gold plate on the High Priest’s turban clearly manifests the
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baptism of Jesus that gives holiness to the Lord. In this way, through the blue chord that tied the plate of gold to the turban, God speaks to us of our true salvation. In other words, the linchpin that gives us holiness is blue, and this is Jesus’ baptism. Although the color blue generally reminds us of the blue sky, blue does not refer to only God. Of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen, the blue thread surely means the baptism of Jesus Christ. Put differently, the blue thread tells us that Jesus Christ took the sins of all the sinners of this world by being baptized (Matthew 3:15). Had Jesus not taken everyone’s sins by being baptized, we the believers would not be able to give “holiness to the Lord.” Were it not for the baptism that Jesus received, we could never be clothed in holiness before God. Do you know the spiritual meaning of God’s command to weave the gate of the court of the Tabernacle with blue thread according to the format shown to Moses? The gate of the court leading into
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the Tabernacle where God dwelt refers to Jesus Christ. No one can enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but through Jesus Christ. The gate of the court, which refers to Jesus, was woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread and fine woven linen, clearly because God wanted to reveal the truth that leads us to our salvation. The purple thread refers to the Holy Spirit, telling us, “Jesus is the King of kings.” The scarlet thread refers to the blood that Jesus shed on the Cross. The blue thread, as just mentioned, refers to the baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist. The blue, purple, and scarlet threads therefore tell us of Jesus’ baptism, God’s incarnation, and His death on the Cross. The works of Jesus manifested in these three threads give us the faith that enables us to go before Jehovah in holiness. That Jesus, God Himself, came to this earth in the flesh of a man, took the iniquities of sinners upon His own body by being baptized, and vicariously bore the condemnation of all sins and curses by shedding His blood—this is the very spiritual mystery of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread.
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Perhaps you had thus far thought of the blue thread only as manifesting God or His Word. But you must now know clearly that the blue thread actually refers to the baptism of Jesus Christ. The baptism through which Jesus accepted all our sins passed onto Him is critically important and cannot be left out of His works; as such, from the Tabernacle of the Old Testament, God is telling us of its importance.
Jesus’ Baptism Was the Method by Which He Bore All Our Sins The pillars of the fence of the Tabernacle were made of acacia wood. Bronze sockets were placed at the bottom of these pillars, and silver capitals were capped on top of them. This tells us first that sinners must be judged for their sins. Only those who have been judged once for their sins can be saved. Those who have not been judged yet and therefore are not saved cannot avoid but be condemned to bear the eternal punishment for
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their sins when they go before God. As it is written, “For the wages of sin is death,” (Romans 6:23) sinners will most certainly be subjected to God’s fearful judgment for their sins. Sinners must therefore be judged by God once for their sins, and then live again by being clothed in His grace. This is what being born again is. The faith of the blue thread, that Jesus Christ took all our sins upon Himself through baptism, and the faith of the scarlet thread, that Jesus has delivered all sinners by being judged on the Cross—none other than this faith is what make us die once to our sins and be born again. You must realize that only the eternal condemnation awaits those who, because of their disbelief, cannot pass through the judgment in faith. The baptism of Jesus was the means by which Christ bore all our sins to save us from all our sins. Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in order to take all our sins upon Himself. Jesus is God Himself, and yet to save us, He came to this earth in the flesh of a man, took all the iniquities of sinners upon
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Himself by being baptized by John the Baptist, the representative of mankind, and was condemned vicariously on sinners’ behalf by giving up His own body on the Cross and shedding water and blood. The gate of the court of the Tabernacle is telling us in elaborate detail about the works that Jesus fulfilled as our Savior. Through the gate of the court of the Tabernacle, God is telling us clearly that Jesus has become the Savior of sinners. The fine woven linen refers to the Word of the Old and New Testaments, which is in much detail, and matches one another. How intricately would each strand be knitted to make this fine woven linen? Through this fine woven linen, God is telling us in detail how He has saved us. When we look at carpets, we see that they are knitted by weaving different threads together. Like this, God told the Israelites to make the gate of the court of the Tabernacle by weaving blue, purple, and scarlet thread on fine woven linen. This tell us that Jesus who came to us through the water (baptism),
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the blood (the Cross), and the Holy Spirit (Jesus is God), which are hidden in the intricate Word of God, is the very door of our salvation. By having proper faith in Jesus Christ that is revealed in the intricate Word of God and by being clothed in His love, we have now been saved wholly through faith. Jesus Christ did not save us haphazardly. We can see this when we look at the Tabernacle. Jesus has truly saved sinners elaborately. We can realize how elaborately He has saved us when we look at only the pillars of the fence. Why of all numbers, is the number of the pillars of the fence 60? It is because the number 6 refers to man, while the number 3 refers to God. In Revelation 13, the mark of 666 appears, and God tells us that this number is the number of the Beast, and that the wise know the mystery of this number. Therefore, the number 666 means that man acts like God. What is the wish of mankind? Is it not to become like a perfect divine being? If we truly want to become like a divine being, then we must be born again by believing in
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Jesus and become the children of God. The 60 pillars refer to this implication very elaborately. However, instead of having faith, people commit boastful and evil acts, trying to be partakers of this divine nature through their own efforts. None other than this is the reason why people reinterpret all the Word according to the lust of man and misbelieve in their own man-made thoughts, for they do not have faith but only the lust that stands against God. Because of this lust of the flesh that compels them to become whole by themselves and to reach the perfection of their own flesh, they end up far removed from the Word of God.
The Word of Salvation Revealed in All the Components of the Tabernacle For Jesus Christ to save sinners and pull them into the Sanctuary, all the utensils and materials of the Tabernacle were necessary. The altar of burnt
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offering was necessary, the laver was necessary, and the pillars, bronze sockets, silver capitals, hooks and silver bands were also all necessary. All these things are the utensils found outside the Sanctuary, and their materials were all necessary to turn a sinner into a righteous person. All these things were necessary to enable sinners to enter and live in the Kingdom of God, but the most important among them was the blue thread (Jesus’ baptism). The blue, purple, and scarlet threads were used to make the gate of the court of the Tabernacle. These threads refer to the three works of Jesus that are needed by us when believing in God. Firstly, Jesus came to this earth and took all our sins upon Himself with His baptism; secondly, Jesus is God (Spirit); and thirdly, Jesus died on the Cross to bear the condemnation of all the sins that He accepted onto Himself through John in the Jordan River. This is the correct order of true faith that is needed for sinners to be saved and become the righteous. When we read the Bible, we can realize just how
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intricate our Lord is. We can clearly find out that the One, who has saved us so elaborately like this fine woven linen, is none other than God Himself. Furthermore, God made the Israelites to build the gate of the court of the Tabernacle by weaving blue, purple, and scarlet thread on fine linen that was as wide as 9 m. As such, God made sure that anyone looking at the Tabernacle, even from far away could discern the gate of the court of the Tabernacle very easily. The hangings of the fine white linen hung over the pillars of the court of the Tabernacle manifests God’s holiness. As such, we can realize that sinners cannot dare to approach the Tabernacle, and that they can enter its court only when they are truly saved by believing in the ministries of Jesus manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread woven into the gate of the court of the Tabernacle. In this way, God has enabled sinners to know that Jesus Christ has blotted out all their sins and saved them through the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit. Not only this, but the materials of all the items that make up the Tabernacle, including the gate of its court, also
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show us the intricate Word needed for God to turns sinners into the righteous. Because God told the Israelites to make the gate of the court of the Tabernacle large enough for everyone to find, and because this gate was made by intricately weaving blue, purple, and scarlet thread on fine linen, God enabled all to understand clearly the important Word that can turn sinners into the righteous. The gate of the court of the Tabernacle tells us that God has wholly saved us, who were like acacia wood, from sins through the blue thread (Jesus’ baptism), the scarlet thread (the blood of the Cross), and the purple thread (Jesus is God). God has determined that only those who clearly believe in this can enter the Sanctuary, the House of God.
Jesus Christ Is Telling Us through This Implication God tells us that we must first be washed clean from all our sins through Jesus’ baptism in order to lead the golden, brilliantly shining life of faith. This
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is why God Himself showed the model of the Tabernacle to Moses, then built it through Moses, and made the people of Israel to receive the remission of their sins through the institution of this Tabernacle. Let us recapture the faith that took us through the court of the Tabernacle and into the Sanctuary. Through the court of the Tabernacle, God continues to speak to us of our faith in the truth that Jesus has saved us through the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit. The faith in the gate of the court, that it was woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, in the High Priest’s laying on of hands on the sacrificial lamb and the bloodshed of this sacrificial lamb, and the faith with which the High Priest washed his hands and feet at the laver—all these things allows us know that only our faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit is the faith of pure gold that enables us to enter the Sanctuary and live there in glory. Through the Tabernacle, God has permitted all of us to receive the grace of salvation and His blessing. Through the Tabernacle, we can know the blessings
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that God has bestowed on us. We can realize and believe in the grace of salvation that has enabled us to go before the throne of the grace of God and be saved all at once. Can you realize this? Through the Tabernacle, we can see just how elaborately our Lord has saved you and me, how intricately He planned our salvation, and how definitely He fulfilled it according this plan and has turned us as sinners into the righteous. Have you, by any chance ever believed in Jesus only vaguely all this time? Did you believe that the color blue only means the sky? Were you only aware of the faith of purple and scarlet colors, that Jesus Christ, the King of kings, came to this earth and saved us on the Cross, and did you believe accordingly? If so, now is the time to find the true faith. I hope that you would all clearly know the baptism of Jesus, the faith of blue color, and thereby realize and believe in the immeasurable grace of salvation that God has given you. God has not saved us only through the blood and
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the Holy Spirit. Why? Because God clearly speaks to us of the blue, purple, and scarlet colors, and through these three threads He is telling us exactly how Jesus has saved us. Through the Tabernacle, our God has shown us Jesus’ works of salvation in detail. After ordering Moses to build the Tabernacle, and through this Tabernacle, God promised that He would save us in this way. As promised, Jesus Christ came in the flesh of a man and took our sins upon Himself by being baptized in the water (blue) of the Jordan River. Through His baptism, Jesus has actually saved sinners from all sins. How intricate, how exactly correct, and how certain our salvation is then! When we enter the Holy Place, we can see the lampstand, the table of showbread, and the altar of incense. Before entering the Most Holy, we come to live for a while in this Holy Place that shines brilliantly in gold, being fed with the bread of the Word to our hearts’ content. How blessed is this? Before entering the Kingdom of God, we live in His Church as the ones who have been wholly saved by
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being born again through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. God’s Church that gives us the bread of life is the Holy Place. In the Holy Place—that is, God’s Church—there were the lampstand, the table of showbread, and the altar of incense. The lampstand, with its shaft, branches, bowls, ornamental knobs, and flowers, was made in a single piece by hammering a talent of pure gold. The lampstand that was made by hammering a talent of pure gold in this way tells us that we the righteous must unite with God’s Church. On the table of showbread, unleavened bread was placed, symbolizing the bread of the pure Word of God that is free from the evil and filthy teachings of this depraved world. The Sanctuary of God—that is, God’s Church—preaches this pure Word of God that is without any leaven, and lives by the pure faith without doing evil before God. In front of the veil to the Most Holy, the altar of incense was placed. The altar of incense was where prayers were given to God. Through the utensils in
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the Sanctuary, God is telling us that when we go before Him, we must have unity, faith in His pure Word, and prayers. Only the righteous can pray, for God listens to only the prayers of the righteous (Isaiah 59:1-2, James 5:16). And not all can meet Him only because they pray ardently before God. Like this, the Holy Place tells us how glorious it is for us to be saved in God’s Church. The key materials used for the Tabernacle—the blue thread (Jesus was baptized), the scarlet thread (Taking all our sins upon Himself through His baptism, Jesus died on the Cross and bore the condemnation of our sins), and the purple thread (Jesus is God)—refer to the faith that we absolutely cannot fail to have. These three constitute the whole of our faith. When we believe that Jesus is the Son of God and God Himself in essence, and that He has saved us, we can only then enter the Holy Place of shinning gold where God dwells. If we do not believe in the works of Jesus that are manifested in these three threads, then we can never enter the Holy Place, no matter how
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ardently we believe in Jesus. Not all Christian can enter the Most Holy.
Those Who Try to Enter the Court of the Tabernacle with Mistaken Faith Today, there are many Christians who are unable to enter the Holy Place even as they profess their faith. There are, in other words, many people who try to be saved with their blind faith. None other than those who think that they can be saved just by believing in the blood of Jesus Christ, and that He is God Himself and the King of kings, are precisely such people. They believe in Jesus simplistically. Believing only in the blood of Jesus, they stand before the altar of burnt offering and pray blindly, “Lord, I am still a sinner today. Forgive me, Lord. I give You all my thanks, Lord for being crucified and dying in my place. Oh, Lord, I love You!” After doing this in the morning, they go back to
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their lives, and then return to the altar of burnt offering again in the evening and give the same prayer in perpetuity. People who haunt the altar of burnt offering every morning, every evening, and every month cannot be born again, but fall into the misguided faith according to their own thoughts. They put the sacrificial offering on the altar of burnt offering scorching with red flames and give their offering by fire. Because the flesh is burnt in the flames there, the smell of burning flesh spreads, and black and white smoke continues to rise. The altar of burnt offering is not a place where we cry asking God to make our sins disappear, but it is, in fact a place that reminds us of the fearful fire of hell. However, people go to this place every morning and evening, and say, “Lord, I have sinned. Please forgive me of all my sins.” They then they return back home, satisfied on their own as if they had really been forgiven of their sins. They may even be so happy as to sing, “♫I’ve been forgiven, ♪you’ve been forgiven, ♫we’ve all been forgiven.” But such
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feelings are only temporal. In no time, they sin again and find themselves standing before the altar of burnt offering once again, confessing, “Lord, I am a sinner.” Those who commute to and fro from the altar of burnt offering everyday are, regardless of their professed faith in Jesus, still sinners. Such people can never enter the Holy Kingdom of God. Who, then can wholly receive the remission of their sins and enter the Holy Place of God? They are the ones who know and believe in the mystery of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread set by God. Those who believe in this can pass by the altar of burnt offering by their faith in the death of Jesus who accepted all their sins which were passed onto Him, wash their hands and feet at the laver and remind themselves that all their sins were passed onto Jesus through His baptism, and then enter the Holy Place of God. Those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and have received the remission of their sins can enter the Kingdom of Heaven by their faith, for their faith is approved by God.
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I hope that you would all realize and believe that the biblical meaning of the blue thread is the baptism of Jesus. There are many who profess to believe in Jesus today, but few go as far as to believe in the water (the blue thread), the baptism of Jesus. This is a deeply saddening phenomenon. It is a cause for a great distress that so many people leave out the most important faith of baptism from their Christian belief, even when Jesus did not merely come to this earth as God and only died on the Cross. I hope and pray that even now, you would all know and believe in the faith of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and thereby become the ones who enter the Kingdom of God.
We Must Believe in the Lord Manifested in the Blue, Purple, and Scarlet Thread of the Tabernacle Our Lord has saved you and me completely. When we look at the Tabernacle, we can find out with how elaborate a method the Lord has truly saved
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us. We cannot thank Him enough for this. How grateful we are that the Lord has saved us through the blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and that He has also given us the faith that believes in these blue, purple, and scarlet threads! Sinners can never enter the Holy Place without being clothed in God’s grace and going through His fearful judgment for their sins. How can anyone who has not been judged for their sins ever open the door of the Tabernacle and enter the Holy Place? They cannot! When such people enter the Holy Place, they will be cursed and turn blind in a flash. “Wow, it’s so bright in here! Uh-oh, how come I can’t see anything? When I was outside, I thought I could see everything in the Holy Place if I were just to enter the place. Why can’t I see anything at all, and why it is so completely dark in here? I could see well when I was outside the Holy Place… I was told that the Holy Place is bright; how come it is even darker here?” They cannot see because they have turned spiritually blind, for they do not have the faith of the blue,
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purple, and scarlet thread. Like this, sinners can never enter the Holy Place. Our Lord has enabled us to not be blinded in the Holy Place, but to receive the blessing of living in the Holy Place forever. Through the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen found in every quarter of the Tabernacle, God has told us exactly the method of our salvation, and according to this Word of prophecy, He has indeed delivered us from all our sins. Our Lord has saved us through the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit (1 John 5:4-8), so that we would not turn blind but live forever in His shinning grace. He has saved us through the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen. Our Lord promised us with the intricate Word of God, and He has told us that He has saved us by fulfilling this promise. Do you believe that you and I have been saved through the intricate works of Jesus manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen? Yes! Have we been saved only haphazardly? No! We cannot be saved without believing in the blue,
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purple, and scarlet thread. The blue thread does not refer to God. It refers to the baptism of Jesus with which He took all the sins of every sinner of the world away in the Jordan River. It is possible, incidentally, to stand before the altar of burnt offering without believing in the blue thread, the baptism of Jesus. People may even reach as far as the laver next to the altar of burnt offering, but they cannot enter the Holy Place where God dwells. Those who can open the door of the Tabernacle and enter the Holy Place are only the true children of God who have received the remission of sin by wholly believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. But the sinful, no matter who they are, can never enter the Holy Place. How far then do we have to enter to reach our salvation? We are saved not when we just enter the court of the Tabernacle, but only when we enter the Holy Place where God is.
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The Difference between the Faith inside the Tabernacle and the Faith outside of It The altar of burnt offering and the laver in the outer court of the Tabernacle were all made of bronze, and the fence was made of wood, silver, and bronze. But when we enter the Tabernacle, the materials are completely differently. A key characteristic of the Tabernacle is that it is a “house of gold.” The three-sided walls were built with 48 boards of acacia wood, all overlaid with gold. The table of showbread and the altar of incense were also made by acacia, and overlaid with gold, and the lampstand was made by hammering a talent of gold. As such, all the utensils inside the Holy Place were made of or overlaid with pure gold. On the other hand, what were the sockets underneath the boards made of? They were made of silver. While the sockets for the pillars of the fence of the Tabernacle’s court were made of bronze, the sockets for the boards of the Tabernacle were made
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of silver. And while the pillars of the fence of the court were made of wood, the boards of the Tabernacle were made of acacia wood overlaid with gold. But the sockets for the five pillars of the door of the Tabernacle were made of bronze. Although the sockets for the boards of the Tabernacle were made of silver, the sockets for the pillars of the door of the Tabernacle were cast in bronze. What does this mean? It means that whoever comes into God’s presence must be judged for their sins. How then can we come before God when we are judged and put to death? If we ourselves die, we would not be able to stand before God. Through the bronze used for the sockets of the five pillars of the Tabernacle’s door, God is therefore telling us that although we had to be judged for our sins; Jesus took all our sins upon Himself through His baptism and was condemned for these sins in our place. We were the ones who had to be condemned for our sins. But someone else bore this condemnation for all our sins in our place. Instead of
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us, someone else died for us. The One who was vicariously condemned and died in our place is none other than Jesus Christ. The faith that is manifested by the blue thread is the faith that believes that Jesus Christ accepted all our sins which was passed onto Him through His baptism and has thus forgiven us of all our sins. As God took the life of Jesus Christ for the condemnation of all our sins which was passed onto Him through His baptism and has thereby solved away all our sins, we are no longer facing any condemnation for our sins. The faith manifested by the scarlet thread is the faith in the blood that Jesus shed on the Cross. This faith believes that Jesus Christ vicariously bore the condemnation of our sins that we ourselves were supposed to face. Only those who passed all their sins onto Jesus by believing in His baptism, and have been judged for all their sins by believing in the blood that Jesus shed on the Cross with the death of His flesh because of all these sins, can enter the Holy Place. This is the reason
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why the sockets of the door of the Tabernacle were made of bronze. As such, we must believe in the blood of Christ who took all our sins upon Himself through His baptism and was condemned in our place. God has determined that only those who are convinced of the fact that Jesus Christ who has saved them is God Himself (the purple thread), of the baptism of Jesus (the blue thread), and of the truth that Jesus was vicariously condemned for their sins in their place (the scarlet thread) would be able to enter the Holy Place. God has permitted only those who have once been judged for all their sins by believing in Jesus, and who believe that Jesus has saved them from all their sins, to enter the Holy Place. The sockets of the pillars of the Tabernacle’s door were cast in bronze. The bronze sockets have the spiritual meaning that God has allowed sinners who are born as the descendants of Adam to enter the Holy Place of His dwelling only when they, no matter who they are, have the faith of the blue thread (the baptism of Jesus), the scarlet thread (Jesus’ vicarious judgment in sinners’ place), and
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the purple thread (Jesus is God Himself). That the five sockets of the pillars of the door were all made of bronze tells us of the gospel of God, that as written in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord,” Jesus has forgiven all our sins with the water, the blood and the Spirit.
We Must Not Ignore But Believe in the Word and God Believing in Jesus does not mean that you are unconditionally saved. Nor does attending your church mean that you have unconditionally been born again. Our Lord says in John 3 that only those who are born again of water and the Spirit can see and enter the Kingdom of God. Jesus decisively told Nicodemus, a leader of Jews and a faithful believer of God, “You are a teacher of Jews, and yet do not how to be born again? Only when one is born again
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of water and the Spirit can one see and enter the Kingdom of God.” People who believe in Jesus can be born again only when they have the faith of the blue thread (Jesus took all our sins upon Himself at once when He was baptized), the scarlet thread (Jesus died for our sins), and the purple thread (Jesus is the Savior, God Himself, and the Son of God). As such, through the blue, purple, and scarlet thread found in every quarter of the Tabernacle, all sinners must believe that Jesus is the Savior of sinners. It is because many people believe in Jesus without believing in this truth that they are neither able to be born again nor know the Word of being born again. Our Lord has clearly told us that even if we profess to believe in Jesus, if we are not born again, then we can never enter the Holy Place, the Kingdom of the Father, nor live a proper life of faith. In our man-made thoughts, we may wonder just how nice it would be if all Christians were approved to be born again no matter how they believe. Is it not so? If we could be saved just by calling on the name
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of Jesus and professing our faith in Him just in words without even knowing the details of what He did to save the mankind, people would find it amazingly easy to believe in Jesus. We may thank Him whenever we meet a new Christian, singing, “♫I’ve been forgiven; ♪you’ve been forgiven; ♫we’ve all been forgiven.” “Since there are so many believers, what’s the point of witnessing? Things are just fine as they are. Isn’t this just wonderful?” If this were indeed the case, people would think of salvation too easily, since whoever calls on the name of the Lord can be saved, and their salvation would come even if they live in whatever way they wish. But God told us that we can never be born again with such blind faith. On the contrary, He told us that those who claim to have been saved without even knowing the gospel of the water and the Spirit are all practicing lawlessness.
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What Is Born Again Is Your Spirit, Not Your Flesh Jesus became a man, came to this earth, and has saved us through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Joseph, Jesus’ father in the flesh was a carpenter (Matthew 13:55), and Jesus served His family under this carpenter father, Himself working as a carpenter for the first 29 years of His life. But when He turned 30, He had to begin His divine works, that is, to carry out His public ministries. As Jesus thus had both divine and human nature, we the born-again righteous also have two different natures. We have both the flesh and the spirit. However, when one professes to believe in Jesus even as one’s spirit is not born again, then this person is not born again―that is, they have no born-again spirit. If one tries to believe in Jesus without being born again in his spirit, then this person is merely someone who is trying to be born again in the flesh like Nicodemus, and is never someone who is truly
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born again. Although Jesus was God Himself in His substance, He nevertheless was also in the flesh of a man full of weaknesses. As such, when we say that we have been born again, it means that our spirits have been born again, not our flesh. If all those who profess to believe in Jesus somehow were indeed born again, I would have tried to be known as a benevolent pastor. Why? Because I would not have been so exasperated by those who do not believe in the truth, and therefore I would not have been so blunt in my sermons hoping that they would come to know the truth. I would be known as a well-mannered, noble, benevolent, tender and humorous pastor, explaining how people can become holy in their flesh. Of course, I can beautify my image to be like this, but I will never do that. It is not because I have no ability to plant in your minds the impression, “This pastor really takes after the holy and merciful image of Jesus.” It is because the flesh of a man cannot change, and because being a little kind, benevolent, and merciful in the flesh does not
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mean that this person is a born-again righteous person. No one can be born again in the flesh. It is the spirit that must be born again by believing in the Word of God. When you believe in Jesus, you must know the truth. “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). Only the truth of God makes us born again, frees our souls from the bondage of sin, and makes us born again as the righteous. Only when we know, believe, and preach the Bible properly can we enter the Holy Place and live our lives of true faith, as well as go to the mercy seat of the Most Holy. The gospel of the water and the Spirit that makes our souls born again is the truth, and our faith in this has forgiven us of all our sins and allows us to live in the realm of faith with God. The gospel of the water and the Spirit that is in our hearts enables us to live as the born-again children of God in the spiritual and shinning realm with the Lord in happiness. Believing in Jesus blindly is not the proper faith.
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Looking from a human perspective, I have many shortcomings. I am not just saying this with my lips, but whenever I do something, I actually come to realize that I have many shortcomings. For instance, when I am preparing for a Bible camp so that the participating saints and new comers would hear the Word in comfort, be inspired in their hearts by the grace of God, receive the blessing of being born again, and return after having rested in both their bodies and hearts, I find out that there are so many things that I failed to think of and to prepare beforehand. Things that would been easily taken care of by giving just a little bit more attention and care always appear when the preparation time is over and the camp is about to begin. I wonder to myself why I had not thought of such things before and prepared them in advance, when if I had been just a little more attentive and careful in my planning of the Bible camp, the saints and the new souls would have heard the Word well, been saved, and spent a good time. Also, even when I work the whole day, because of
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the lack of efficiency on my part, there are many times when the results do not match my efforts. I myself am well aware of the fact that I have far too many shortcomings. “Why can’t I do this? Why did I not think of this? All that I have to do is be just a bit more attentive, and yet why is it that I can’t do this?” When I am actually serving the gospel, I realize my shortcomings very often. So I recognize myself and admit, “This is who I am. This is how insufficient I am.” I am not just saying this only with my lips, and I am not pretending to be modest, but I am, in fact, someone who cannot tie the loose ends of even small affairs properly but go about haphazardly. Looking at myself, I really feel my many shortcomings.
We Receive Holiness through Faith in the Blue Thread When people think of themselves, they feel like
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they can do everything well without making any mistakes. But when they actually tackle a task, their true competence and shortcomings are clearly revealed. They find out that they are truly insufficient and that they cannot help but sin and make mistakes. Also, when people think that they are doing okay, they delude themselves into thinking that they are going to the Kingdom of God because of how good their faith is. But the flesh never changes. There is no flesh without shortcomings, and it always does wrong and reveals its shortcomings. If, by any chance, you think that you can go to the Kingdom of our Lord because of some good that your flesh has done, you must realize that no matter what it is that your flesh has done well, it is absolutely useless before God. The only thing that enables us to enter the Lord’s Kingdom is our faith in the Word of truth of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread by which the Lord has saved us. Because our Lord has saved us through the blue, purple, and scarlet thread, we can enter the
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Holy Place only by believing in this. Had God not saved us through the blue, purple, and scarlet thread, we would all never be able to enter the Holy Place. No matter how strong our faith might be, we cannot enter it. Why? Because if this were the case, it would mean that our faith of the flesh must be good everyday for us to be able to enter it. If we can enter the Kingdom of God only when our faith is good enough everyday, how can we, who have such weak flesh, ever make our faith good everyday and be able to enter it? When there is no way for us to receive the remission of sin by ourselves, and when we have no faith to turn around everyday whenever we sin, how can we ever make our faith good enough to enter the Kingdom of God? Our bodies would have to be holy bodies that do not sin at all to begin with, or we would have to give our prayers of repentance and fasting everyday, but whose body is ever holy and who can ever do this? Had God not saved us through the blue, purple, and scarlet thread, there would be no one among us
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who would be able to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. We are such that our faith may be good one moment but disappear the next moment. When our faith becomes good only to disappear again repeatedly, we get confused whether or not we really have faith, and end up losing even the faith that we first had. Ultimately, we become even more sinful long after first believing in Jesus. But Jesus has perfectly saved us, the insufficient sinners, according to His plan of salvation manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen. He has given us the remission of our sins. Only when we have this evidence can we put the golden plate, “holiness to the Lord,” to our turban like the High Priest (Exodus 28:36-38). We can then carry out our priesthood. Those who can testify their “holiness to the Lord” to people while they serve Him as His priests are the ones who have the evidence in their hearts that they have received the remission of sins through the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
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A golden plate was attached to the High Priest’s turban, and what tied this golden plate to the turban was also a blue cord. Why then did God say that the turban should be tied with this blue cord? What was absolutely indispensable for our Lord to save us was this blue thread, and this blue thread refers to the baptism that Jesus received to take all our sins upon Himself. Had the Lord not blotted out our sins by taking them upon Himself in the New Testament through His baptism, the same form as the Old Testament’s laying on of hands; we cannot receive holiness from Jehovah no matter how well we believe in Jesus. This is why the golden plate was tied to the turban with a blue cord. And everyone who sees the High Priest with the golden plate into which “holiness to the Lord” is engraved can remind themselves that they must be holy before God by receiving the remission of their sins. And it makes people think how they can be holy before God. We too must then recall how we have become the righteous. How have we become the righteous? Let’s
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read Matthew 3:15. “But Jesus answered and said to him [John], ‘Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he allowed Him.” Jesus has saved us all from our sins by being baptized. Because Jesus took our sins upon Himself with His baptism, those who believe in this are sinless. Had Jesus not been baptized, how could we even dare to say that we are sinless? Did you receive the remission of sin only by your confession of faith in Jesus’ death on the Cross with your sincere tears in your eyes? There are so many people who, finding it difficult to be saddened by the death of Jesus, someone whom they have no relation with whatsoever, try to squeeze tears out by thinking of the death of their grandparents, the difficulties they had when they fell ill, or the hardships and sufferings of their own past. Whether you feign to cry like this, or you are truly saddened by the crucifixion of Jesus, your sins can never be blotted out in this way regardless. As the golden plate with the engraving of “holiness to the Lord” was tied with a blue cord to
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the High Priest’s turban, what blots out our sins and makes us holy is the baptism of Jesus. Our hearts received the remission of sin because Jesus took all our sins upon Himself with His baptism, because Jehovah burdened all our sins onto Him, and because all the sins of the world were passed onto Jesus through His baptism. No matter how devoid of emotion our hearts might be, and no matter how insufficient we might be in our acts, we have become the righteous and been saved perfectly by the Word of the blue thread written in the Bible. When we look at our flesh, we cannot be dignified, but because this faith of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread is in our hearts—that is, because we have the perfect gospel of the water and the Spirit that tells us that Jesus took all our sins upon Himself through His baptism and bore our condemnation on the Cross—we can boldly and fearlessly speak of the gospel. It is because we have the gospel of the water and the Spirit that we can live by our faith as the righteous, and also preach this righteous faith to people.
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We cannot be thankful enough for the grace of our Lord. Because our salvation did not come to us haphazardly, we are even more thankful for it. The salvation that we received is not a trivial one that just about anyone can receive even if they do not believe properly. Calling upon the Lord at one’s own whim, saying, “Lord, Lord,” does not mean that everyone who does so can be saved. Because we have in our hearts the evidence that our sins have disappeared through the gospel of the water and the Spirit, that the Lord has saved us elaborately with the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen, we are so thankful for this great salvation. The Bible tells us that everyone who believes in Jesus Christ the Son of God has this witness in his heart (1 John 5:10). If there is no witness in our hearts, we would be turning God into a liar, and so we must all have this conclusive evidence in our hearts. As such, there is no reason to be recoiled with those who challenge you and demand, “Show me the proof that you have been saved. You say that when
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people receive the remission of sins, they receive the Holy Spirit as a gift, and that there is a clear evidence of salvation. Show me this evidence.” You can show the evidence boldly as the following: “I have in me the gospel of the water and the Spirit with which Jesus has saved me wholly. Because I have been saved perfectly by Him, I have no sin.” If you do not have the evidence of your salvation in your hearts, then you are not saved. No matter how ardently people might believe in Jesus, this in itself does not constitute their salvation. This is only an unrequited love. It is a love that has no regard for how the other person might be feeling. When someone whom we cannot love has a fluttering heart, expects something from us, feels love, and looks at us as if this person is dying to be loved, it does not mean we have to love this person in return. Likewise, God does not embrace into His arms those who have not received the remission of their sins just because their hearts are aching for Him. None other than this is the unrequited love of sinners for God.
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When we love God, we must love Him by believing in His Word in the truth. Our love for Him must not be one-sided. We must tell Him of our love for Him, and we must first find out whether He truly loves us or not before we love Him. If we give all our love to some other person who really does not love us, all that we will face eventually is a broken heart. Our Lord has clothed us in the glory of salvation from our sins so that we would not be condemned for them. He has allowed us to enter the Kingdom of God and to live with God, and He has given us the gift that enables us to receive the remission of sin through the grace of God. God’s salvation has brought to us countless spiritual blessings of Heaven. This salvation alone that God has given us, in other words, has enabled us to receive all these blessings from Him.
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The Salvation That Jesus Himself Has Brought to Us Our Lord has saved us through the blue, purple, and scarlet thread. He has given us salvation made of three different threads. This salvation of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread is none other than the gift of salvation given by God. It is this gift of salvation that enables us to enter and live in the Holy Place. The gospel of the water and the Spirit has turned you and me into the righteous. It allowed us to come into God’s Church and live a life of purity. And this true gospel also enabled us to feed on the spiritual Word of God and receive His grace. It has also allowed us to go before the throne of the grace of God and pray, and thereby given us the faith with which we can take the abundant grace bestowed by God as our own. By our salvation alone, God has made such great blessings ours. This is why salvation is so precious. Jesus told us to build our houses of faith on the
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rock (Matthew 7:24). This rock is none other than our salvation coming through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. As such, we must all live our lives of faith by being saved―become the righteous by being saved, enjoy eternal life by being saved, and enter Heaven by being saved. The end times of this world are nearing us. In this age, therefore, people have even more reason to be saved by the exact Word. There are some people who say that one can be saved just by believing in Jesus roughly without knowing this faith of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and that there is no need to talk about the life of faith, for it suffices to be saved in this way. However, the reason why I repeatedly say this is because only those who have received the remission of sin in their hearts can live their lives of faith that God approves. Because the heart of every saint who received the remission of sin is the holy temple where the Holy Spirit dwells, the born-again saints must live their lives of faith in order not to defile this holiness. How the righteous live their lives is on a whole
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different dimension from how sinners live. From God’s standpoint, how sinners live is completely below His standard. Their lives are filled by only hypocrisy. They try very hard to live according to the Law. They set their own standards of how they should walk, how they should live their lives, how they should talk, and how they should laugh. But this is far removed from the life of faith that the righteous live. God tells the righteous in detail, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and strength and love your neighbors as you love your own body.” This is the mode of life that God has given to the righteous. It is proper for us the righteous to live our lives by loving God with all our hearts, and by following His will with all our strength and will. To save our neighbors, we must make countless investments in His works. This is the life of Christians. If we remain at a level where we think that all that matters is that we ourselves do not sin, then we cannot follow the faithful life of the born-again
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Christians. Before I was born again, I had led a legalistic life of faith in a conservative Presbyterian denomination, and so as far as the life of the Law was concerned, I tried to keep it thoroughly. Nowadays, people tend to no longer do this, but because I have been leading my religious life from long ago, I had been very apt at keeping the Law in my everyday life. I was so thoroughly obedient to the Law that I never worked on the Lord’s Day, as the Law commands that the Sabbath should be remembered and kept holy to the extent that I did not even get into a car ever on Sundays. If I were to demand you to live like I did, there would be virtually no one who could live such a legalistic life. This was how legalistic my life had been before I was born again. However, no matter how piously I had spent my religious days, such a life had nothing to do with God’s will and was absolutely of no use. Readers, do you have the faith of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread? Because Jesus’ salvation is contained in these three threads, we can enter the
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Holy Place by our faith. Our salvation was fulfilled over 2,000 years ago. Jesus Christ, even before we came to know Him, already took upon all our sins upon Himself by being baptized and bore the condemnation of our sins by dying on the Cross.
Salvation from Sin Is Set in Jesus Christ When those who are not born again enter the Tabernacle, they do not enter through the gate of its court, but they climb over the fence illegally. They say, “Why is the fine linen of the fence so white? It’s so burdensome. They should have colored it with some red and blue. It’s what’s fashionable nowadays. But this fence is just too white! It sticks out too much. And why is it so high? It’s over 2.25 m. My own height does not even reach 2 m; how am I supposed to get inside when the fence is so high? Well, I can climb over using a ladder!” Such people are trying to enter with their good
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deeds. They climb over the fence of the court of the Tabernacle with their offerings, charitable works, and patience, and they jump off the fence, saying, “I can surely leap down this 2.25 m in anyway.” So having climbed into the court of the Tabernacle, they look back and see the altar of burnt offering. They then take their eyes off the altar and look toward the Holy Place, and the first thing that they see is the laver laying in front of it. The height of the pillars of the fence of the Tabernacle’s court is 2.25 m, but the height of the pillars and the screen of the door of the Holy Place where God dwells is 4.5 m. People can enter the court of the Tabernacle by their will if they have enough determination. But even if they leap over the 2.25 m high fence and enter the court of the Tabernacle, when they try to enter where God dwells, they will encounter the 4.5 m high pillars and a screen of the door of the Holy Place. People can leap over 2.5 m with their own effort. But they cannot leap over 4.5 m set by God. This is their limit.
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This means that when we first believed in Jesus, we can believe merely as a religion. Also, some people can believe in Jesus as their Savior by their own will, and believe that the Savior is only one of the four great sages. Regardless of how people believe, they can have their own faith of whatever way they choose, but they cannot be truly born again through such faith. To be truly born again, they must pass through the gate of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread by their faith. We are born again before God by believing that Jesus is our Savior and the door of the truth, and that He has saved us through the water, the blood, and the Spirit. The faith that believes in the works of Jesus manifested in the three threads is none other than the faith of the water, the blood, and the Spirit. People are free to believe in something else, but there is absolutely no positive proof that they can be saved and greatly blessed by believing like this. Only with our faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit can we receive the approval of God and the
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great grace and blessings of God’s salvation. The objective of this faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit is to clothe us in God’s grace. Do you regard the Tabernacle as merely a rectangular shaped court, with a house standing in it? This cannot bring any benefit to your faith. The Tabernacle is telling us about a whole faith, and we must know exactly what this faith is. Not knowing the Tabernacle well, you might think that the height of the Tabernacle is about the height of its fence, 2.25 m. But this is not the case. Even if we were not to enter the court but look at the Tabernacle from outside the fence, we would be able to see that the Tabernacle is twice as high as the fence. Though we would not be able to see the bottom of the Tabernacle, we would still see its door clearly, telling us that the Tabernacle stands higher than the fence of its court. Those who have received the remission of their sins by believing in Jesus correctly and thereby entered through the gate of the court of the
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Tabernacle must confirm their proper faith at the altar of burnt offering and the laver, and then only can they enter the Holy Place. To enter the Holy Place, there must be self-denial without fail. The utensils inside the Holy Place must be distinguished from all the utensils found outside the Holy Place. Do you know what Satan hates the most? He loathes that the demarcation line between the inside and outside of the Holy Place is drawn. Because God works among those who divide the inside and outside of the Holy Place, Satan hates that such a line is drawn and tries to prevent people from drawing this line. But remember this: God clearly works through those who draw this demarcation line of faith. God is pleased by such people who draw this clear-cut dividing line, and He bestows His blessings upon them so that they can live inside the Holy Place with their brilliant faith. Believe that all the utensils in the outer court of the Tabernacle and all the materials used for them have been prepared and prearranged by God so that
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people can receive the remission of their sins. And when you enter the Holy Place by believing in this, God will bestow on you even greater grace and blessings.
The Mercy Seat Is the Place Where We Receive the Grace of Salvation In the Most Holy, two cherubim stretching their wings looked down from above the lid that covered the Ark of the Testimony. The space between the two cherubim is called the mercy seat. The mercy seat is where God bestows His grace on us. The covering of the Ark of the Testimony was stained by blood, as the High Priest sprinkled the blood of the sacrifice given for the people of Israel on this mercy seat for seven times. God thus descended on the mercy seat and bestowed His mercy on the people of Israel. To those who believe in this, God’s blessings, protection, and guidance begin. From then on, they become the true
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people of God and are eligible to enter the Holy Place. Among the many Christians of this world, there are some whose faith has allowed them to enter the Holy Place, while others do not have such faith with which they can enter the Holy Place. What kind of faith do you have? We need the faith that can draw this clear line of salvation and enter the Holy Place of God, for by only doing this can we be greatly blessed by God. But it is not that easy to have this kind of faith. Because Satan hates when people draw this clear-cut line of salvation, he constantly attempts to blur this line. “You don’t have to believe in this way. Not everyone believes like this, so why do you place so much importance on it and keep repeating yourself? Take it easy; go with the flow.” Saying such things, Satan tries to obscure this clear line of salvation. Also, Satan reveals our weaknesses of the flesh and tries to turn them into troubles. Would you be the ones who listen to the deceptive words of Satan trying to separate us from God? Or would you live your lives by reminding yourself of your salvation
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daily, uniting with the Church, following the Word of God, leading a life of prayer, and receiving the grace that God bestows on you? Actually, those who have received the remission of sins like to meditate on their salvation as often as they can. They like to ponder on the gospel of the water and the Spirit over and over. Meditating on the gospel is good and essential for you. Are you not like this? “Gosh, is it that story again, when we have been saved? The story material and the plot might be different, but it’s still the same old story. I am getting so tired of it!” Is there anyone who might be saying this? I would be a sorry sight if I were to tell the same story about myself everyday, but when the Bible tells us that we should ruminate over our salvation everyday, what can I do? When both the Old and New Testaments speak to us of the gospel of the water and the Spirit, what is evil before God is for people to actually preach something else other than this. All the Word of the Bible speaks of the gospel of the water
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and the Spirit. “Salvation, life of faith, faith, spiritual living, battle against Satan, Heaven, glory, grace, blessing, resurrection, eternal life, hope, and the Holy Spirit”—all these key concepts of the saints are related to this true gospel. Speaking of something else other than these things is none other than heresy and false teachings. What looks similar but is different in substance is none other than false teachings. Gospels that appear similar outside but are different inside from the gospel of the water and the Spirit are merely the pseudo-gospels of false religions. How wonderful is it that God’s Church spreads the Word of God everyday, not the deceptive words of false religions? It is a blessing that we are united with God’s Church, hear and believe in the pure Word of God. By always preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit, God’s Church enables the saints to think of the grace of God everyday, to pray to Him, and to revere Him, and to live a life that does not pursue evil. Are you not happy that you have
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heard once again and believed in the Word of truth that allows you receive the remission of sin? I am also very happy. If I were to be coerced to preach something else other than this gospel of the water and the Spirit, I would suffer greatly. If I were coerced to spread not the Word of salvation but some other man-made teachings, I would want to escape. It is not, of course, because I have nothing else to talk about. There are plenty of other humanistic issues that I can address, but these are all unnecessary and are merely the teachings of corrupting leaven for those of us who are born again. Only this gospel of the water and the Spirit through which Jesus, God Himself, has saved us is the precious Word of God that gives out its sweetness even as we chew on it over and over again. There are so many other stories that I could tell you, but I like it the most when I am speaking of the gospel of the water and the Spirit that saves us. I get most elated then. I am the happiest when I am speaking of this
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salvation, for this is when I can reminisce about old memories, remind myself of how the Lord has saved me, thank Him once more, and feed again on the bread of salvation. I am sure that you also like it the most when you hear this Word of salvation. Perhaps you might complain that it’s the same story everyday, but deep inside, you think, “Now that I heard it again, it’s even better. At first, it wasn’t that great, but when I continue to hear it, I can see that there is no other story that is as worthy of listening to as this one is. I thought today’s story might be somewhat special, but the conclusion tells me that it was the same story again. But still, I am happy.” I am sure that this is how your hearts feel. Brothers and sisters, what I am preaching here is the Word of Jesus. Preachers must preach the Word of Jesus. Preaching what Jesus has done through the written Word of the water and the Spirit is none other than what God’s Church is supposed to be doing. We are now leading our lives of faith in the Church.
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Entering into the Holy Place, lighting under the lampstand with seven branches made by hammering a talent of gold, eating bread in the house of pure gold, praying at the altar of incense, going to the Temple of God, worshipping Him, and living in this house of gold—none other than these are our lives of faith. You and I are now leading this life of faith given by God. Receiving the remission of sin and leading the proper life of faith is what this life inside the golden House of God is all about. “Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16). With our faith in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen manifested in the Tabernacle, our souls are living in the House of God shinning in gold. I give my thanks to God forever for saving us from all our sins and condemnation. Hallelujah!
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SERMON 2
You can download Rev. Paul C. Jong’s Free Christian Books on iPhone, iPad, or Blackberry by going to Amazon’s Kindle e-bookstore (www.amazon.com).
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The Pillars of the Court of The Tabernacle < Exodus 27:9-19 > “You shall also make the court of the tabernacle. For the south side there shall be hangings for the court made of fine woven linen, one hundred cubits long for one side. And its twenty pillars and their twenty sockets shall be bronze. The hooks of the pillars and their bands shall be silver. Likewise along the length of the north side there shall be hangings one hundred cubits long, with its twenty pillars and their twenty sockets of bronze, and the hooks of the pillars and their bands of silver. And along the width of the court on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits, with their ten pillars and their ten sockets. The width of the court on the east side shall be fifty cubits. The hangings on one
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side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and their three sockets. And on the other side shall be hangings of fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and their three sockets. For the gate of the court there shall be a screen twenty cubits long, woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, made by a weaver. It shall have four pillars and four sockets. All the pillars around the court shall have bands of silver; their hooks shall be of silver and their sockets of bronze. The length of the court shall be one hundred cubits, the width fifty throughout, and the height five cubits, made of fine woven linen, and its sockets of bronze. All the utensils of the tabernacle for all its service, all its pegs, and all the pegs of the court, shall be of bronze.”
This passage explains the pillars, the screen gate, hangings of fine white linen, bands, hooks, bronze sockets, and bronze pegs of the court of the
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Tabernacle. The Tabernacle was a place where God dwelt. The size of the rectangular court measured approximately 45 m (its north and south sides) by 22.5 m (its east and west sides). The Tabernacle itself was a small structure with its roof of a fourfold covering. The court of the Tabernacle in contrast, was broad like a large open courtyard. The court’s pillars measured 2.25 m in height, and its perimeter fence was built by placing a total of 60 wooden pillars and hangings of white linen on all sides except for the gate. The fence was made of these wooden pillars, silver capitals that covered there tops, and bronze sockets. On the silver capitals two hooks of silver were placed, and long bands of silver were attached to these hooks to support the pillars to each other. On the ground these silver bands were then attached to the bronze pegs, thus fixing the pillars securely.
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What Spiritual Meanings Are Manifested in the Pillars of the Tabernacle? What do the pillars of the court of the Tabernacle tell us? They tell us clearly how Jesus Christ has saved each and every one of us from the sins of the world. The wooden pillars of the Tabernacle’s court refer to you and me—that is, every born-again saint. What then do the bronze sockets below these wooden pillars of the court tell us? They tell us that despite the fact we could not avoid but face our condemnation because of our sins, God has nevertheless saved us from all our sins. On the other hand, that the wooden pillars were capped with silver capitals tells us that God has given us the gift of salvation by saving all sinners from their sins and trespasses through the gospel of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread. That silver hooks were placed on these silver capitals, and that silver bands were attached to these hooks and the bronze pegs on the ground, also tell us that although we were
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51 The Pillars of the Court of The Tabernacle
facing our unavoidable death because of our sins, our Lord has given us the gift of the remission of sin through the Truth of the blue, purple, and scarlet threads and the fine woven linen—that is, through the gospel of salvation. In this way, the pillars of the Tabernacle’s court shows us the truth that the Lord has saved us from all our sins by coming to this earth, being baptized by John the Baptist, and bearing all the judgment of sin, and sacrificing Himself with His precious blood on the Cross. They show us, in other words, the gift of the remission of sin, that the Lord has saved us wholly from all our sins and has made us God’s people. These wooden pillars constituting the fence around the court of the Tabernacle tells us that our Lord has saved all sinners from the sins of the world perfectly all at once by the ministry of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread, that is, by being baptized and shedding His blood on the Cross. Because this truth is so certain, I cannot help but be thankful for it and spread it throughout the whole wide world.
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The Bronze Sockets below the Pillars The sockets of the pillars standing on this fence were made of bronze, while the capitals on top of the pillars, their hooks, and their bands were all made of silver. Mark 7:21-22 say, “Out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.” Each and every one of us was born with all these evil sins in our hearts. This is why God tells us that we are bound to live the rest of our lives in these sins until our very own demise, and that we simply cannot help ourselves but live in this sinful way. And if we admit to this Word just as it is, then we cannot help but confess that our fundamental nature is so sinful that we in fact just cannot avoid the judgment for our sins. Yet with the blue, purple, and scarlet thread, our Lord has saved such depraved beings as us from all our sins. Because our Lord took all our sins away by accepting them onto His body through the baptism
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that He received from John the Baptist, He could carry the sins of the world to the Cross and bear the condemnation for all those sins. This is how Jesus has saved us from all our sins. We cannot thank God enough for this! None other than this is salvation that God has delivered us from all our sins even as we were all bound to hell, is the most precious, the most blessed, and the most valuable gift in this entire world. There is nothing else that we can do but to simply bow our heads to the Lord, believe in this gospel that has saved us with the truth of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and thank our Lord for it. Through the materials used for the pillars of the court of the Tabernacle, God is showing us that our Lord’s salvation is the perfect truth that does not lack any bit of supplement or complement. All the mysteries of the building materials of the Tabernacles are solved through the implications of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen. The mystery of salvation is the truth
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that can never be solved without the gospel of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen. All the implications of the Tabernacle System, along with the secret of its sacrificial system, are hidden in these blue, purple, and scarlet thread and fine woven linen. Fundamentally, as a matter of fact, you and I were such beings before God who could not help but be bound to hell because of our sins. To be frank, we continue to sin even now, but the Lord has nonetheless given us the perfect remission of sins with His blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and by believing in this gift of salvation, we received this remission of sins. It is because God has saved us perfectly from all our sins and has made us His children that we could become His heirs who will enjoy glory and splendor of His Kingdom. Apart from the salvation that God has given us, there is no other way to become His born-again children. It is because our Lord has saved us from all our sins that we give our thanks to Him.
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We were ignorant all the time about who we really are in our basic selves, measuring only the gravity of our sins according to our own standards. But it isn’t important whether we have committed some kinds of sins or not, because we are originally such grave sinners all bound to hell from our births regardless of our deeds. Yet with the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen, our Lord has saved such people like us from all our sins. Just as the Lord had promised in the Old Testament, He actually came to us in the New Testament’s time, took all our sins upon Himself according to this Word of promise, carried these sins to the Cross, paid the wages of all our sins with His sacrifice by shedding His blood on the Cross, and has thereby saved us from all our sins and given us this gift of salvation. This is how you and I have received the gift of salvation from all our sins by believing in Jesus Christ.
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Why Were the Hangings of White Linen Placed over the Pillar of the Court of the Tabernacle? A total of 60 pillars were placed around the court of the Tabernacle, and they were all covered with the hangings of fine woven white linen. These hangings tell us that although we were all unclean beings stained with our sins, and despite the fact that we therefore deserved to be condemned of our sins and cast into hell, our Lord nevertheless has cleansed us with the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen. In other words, the hangings tell us the truth that Jesus Christ has washed us from all our sins at all once by being baptized by John the Baptist. When Jesus came to this earth and was baptized by John the Baptist, the representative of all mankind, the sins of the world were all passed onto Jesus. Having thus accepted all the sins of the world, Jesus then was crucified and shed His blood to bear the condemnation of sins, and He then rose from the
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dead again. And having risen from the dead, He has now become our living Savior. This is the gift of salvation that our Lord has fulfilled through His ministry of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen; and this is the love of our Lord that has cleansed us from all our sins and made us unblemished and without any shortcomings to become the people of God. By giving us this gift of salvation, our Lord has turned those of us who believe in this truth into God’s very own people. The white linen that hung on the pillars of the Tabernacle tells us of the holiness of God, but it also speaks about our holiness, the holiness of the true believers. Hence, if we want to become God’s children, we too must be cleansed from all our sins and become holy by believing in Jesus’ ministry of the blue, purple and scarlet thread. God tells us, “You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:45), but how could we ever be holy through our acts? Because we cannot avoid sinning no matter how hard we try, we can never be holy through our own efforts. But with the
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blue, purple, and scarlet thread, our Lord has wholly cleansed even such beings like you and me. This is how you and I have wholly become God’s very own people. There is no other way but to believe in the gospel of God’s righteousness and to become holy by being cleansed from all our sins.
The Bronze Sockets and the Bronze Pegs The silver capitals were overlaid on the top of the pillars. And the silver hooks and the silver bands were also made to connect and to fix the pillars to each other. Each pillar was fitted into a bronze socket. And a pair of bronze pegs tied up each pillar of the Tabernacle’s perimeter fence from the top of it to the ground. This shows us that although we were bound to be condemned and cast into hell due to our sins, God has nonetheless made us His holy people by giving us the gift of salvation that has delivered us from all
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our sins. Because God has made us His holy people through this grace of salvation, we cannot help but praise and thank God for His grace. Having believed in God through this Word of the truth of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen, not only do we praise God, but we also cannot help but spread this Word. Is there really any day when we never commit sin? There is none! Even those of us who believe in the Word of God and have been born again through His grace also commit sin everyday. If anyone is even slightly hostile to us or not friendly enough, we lash out and curse this person in no time. Say if there was someone who suddenly cut in on you while you were driving peacefully along and almost caused a serious accident, did you not react angrily at that careless driver? Oh Yes! I might have cursed that reckless driver loudly with my noisy horn. But is this really the right thing to do? It is certainly not the right thing to do, but the problem is that we are such beings who cannot but commit sins at any moment.
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We are such beings destined to hell because of our infirmities. However, God has given us “a new and living way which He consecrated for us” (Hebrews 10:20). This is wholly the gift of God which has been completed solely by Jesus Christ according to the will of God the Father. What gift of salvation has God given to us? He has given us the gift of our salvation from sins, which was fulfilled through the four threads of the Tabernacle―the blue, purple, and scarlet threads and the fine woven linen. How could we then possibly not praise God? When we have really received this true salvation, how could true peace not be in our hearts? Our salvation can never be attained by paying gold or silver, nor is it like the mist or morning dew that disappears soon after appearing, but we have been saved eternally and perfectly. God loved sinners so much that He has given them His grace of salvation as a free gift, and in this gift He has clothed us believers with His righteousness. Among the items of the fence of the
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Tabernacle’s court, all the sockets and the pegs that touched the ground were made of bronze. But the capitals on top of the pillars were made of silver. All these accounts shows us that despite the fact that we were all fundamentally bound to hell, we have become God’s children by receiving the gift of salvation given by our Lord. Each and every one of us has received this gift by believing in His Word. Given this, how certain is this salvation from our sins that we received? This is the gift that God has bestowed on us, and it is our certain salvation and blessing that can never be changed. It is because we know this that we cannot thank God enough with all our being. That you and I have been saved from all our sins is most assuredly God’s gift. Our salvation is not an imperfect one that simply disappears whenever our infirmities are revealed. For such depraved sinners like you and me, our Lord came to this earth and gave us the gift of salvation with the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen. As such,
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all who believe in this truth are eternally saved from all their sins. Because our Lord’s salvation of sinners is so perfect, and because He even took care of all the insufficiencies, weaknesses, and blemishes of our flesh, He has made us whole so that we would have nothing to do with sin. Those who know clearly and believe in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen are all saved perfectly forever. Given this, just how precious and valuable is this gift of salvation that God has given us? I am truly thankful for this gift of salvation, for it has brought so much rest to our hearts and has comforted and blessed us so much. Our Lord brings rest to our hearts. This is why He said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). I am so grateful to God for giving me this gift of redemption from all my sins. I believe that not only I but all of you also are very precious to God. God has saved you and me with the gospel of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and fine woven linen. God says that He has given this gift of
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salvation to all those who believe in this Word, and because I believe in what He says, I do think and believe that you also are all very precious to God. Lately, as we have been laboring hard for God’s work even beyond our strength, there have been times when we felt quite exhausted. Therefore, I would like to comfort and encourage my co-workers through such means of the flesh as breaking bread together. But I know well that we cannot really be comforted by the consolation of the flesh. We are instead encouraged by remembering the gift of our certain salvation that the Lord gave to us, our true consolation, and its peace unknown to the world. We are comforted by and satisfied with the spiritual blessings that God has already given to our hearts. Because we are to receive such great rewards and blessings in this gift of salvation that God has given us, our hearts have peace and blessings, the likes of which are unknown in this world. God has given the perfect gift of salvation to each and every one of you, the greatest gift of all that is
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unknown in this world. There are some people who claim to be sinless with only their religious devotions, even as they do not believe in the truth of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen, but their fullness of devotional feelings will evaporate in no time. The peace that they reach with their own thoughts disappears like the morning mists whenever they sin even a little or at the slightest sight of hardship. But for those who believe in the Lord-given salvation of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen, the more hardship they face, the more brilliantly their peace of mind shines. Though we are trampled on, injured, and in grief, perfectness and thankfulness flows out of our minds from the Lordgiven gift of salvation in our hearts. We are the ones who have been wholly saved, who can never return to Egypt, nor ever face our sins and condemnation again. God has blessed us who know and believe in this truth of salvation that He has bestowed on us so that we can always thank Him fully with our faith. This is why we
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thank God with our faith. I cannot thank God enough, for I could receive from Him, this certain salvation of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and for God has loved me, blessed me greatly, and made me preach this precious gospel, for I know I do not deserve them. Even if I were to thank the Lord everyday, I cannot thank Him enough for making me live only for the gospel. I cannot help but thank Him forever. When I thank God for the great gift of salvation that He has given me, and when I try to express my grateful heart, I realize just how insufficient my vocabulary and expressions are. We are the ones who believe in the salvation that was manifested as the gospel of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen. For your sake, Jesus was born into this earth, took all your sins upon Himself by being baptized by John the Baptist at the age of 30, carried these sins to the Cross, shed His blood and died on it, rose from the dead, and is now sitting at the right hand of the throne of God the Father. This Jesus Christ has given the perfect gift of
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salvation to those who received it by faith. Unless we betray this faith, this salvation that we once received will never ever be nullified. No matter what shortcomings we may have, and no matter what mistakes we may make, we have all become His very own people clothed in the perfect gift of salvation.
The Fine White Linen Hung on the Pillars of the Tabernacle’s Court Imagine looking at the hangings of fine white linen for a while. These hangings of fine white linen were not made of nylon, but they were woven together with white linen thread. If you put up such hangings of white linen in a desert situation, they will get soiled in no time. Would God then have put up these white hangings for no reason, without knowing that they would become dirty in no time? He told the Israelites to put up these hangings of white linen to show the gift of salvation that He has given to us, those who accept this
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gift through faith. It was to make us know clearly and mark in our hearts that He has thus saved us from all our filthy sins wholly and cleanly. God made the Israelites put up these hangings of fine white linen. This implies that we should praise Him forever and thank Him truly by seeing and believing in His perfect salvation which is revealed in the white hangings. Through the hangings of this fine white linen, God has thus given us the gift of salvation wholly. Our salvation that was given by Him is like this fine white linen. We really are filthy and depraved beings who cannot avoid but be bound to hell because of sin. We have to wash the clothes of our minds several times in just a day. Yet God has made such hearts of ours completely white. Our Lord has, in other words, made people like ourselves whole. God’s power is so great and awesome that He has wholly turned us, who are disgusting, filthy, and easily soiled, into His sacred people. Today you and I who believe in this gospel of the
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water and the Spirit are the ones who have received this perfect gift of salvation from God. We are the ones whose sins of the heart have all been washed completely away, and we have become as white as snow. Do you still have sin in your hearts? Of course not! None other than your own hearts have all become like the white, clean linen that was hung on the fence of the Tabernacle’s court. You and I have thus become completely clean. Despite the fact that we had been fundamentally bound to be condemned because of our sins, we have nevertheless been saved. This salvation came not from our own goodness or faithfulness, but from the grace of God that has clothed us in His power, like the bronze pegs of the Tabernacle’s pillars were attached to their silver capitals by hooking them together with the bands of silver. Although we were truly bound to hell and condemnation, by believing that God has clothed us in His gift of salvation, we have all become His saved people. This is the truth manifested in the fence of the Tabernacle’s court.
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The 60 pillars of the Tabernacle’s court refer to us, the true believers. Each of these pillars, in other words, refers to each one of us. We were such beings that could neither become God’s people nor enter into His House, and yet God gave His gift of salvation to such worthless people like us. He came to this earth, completed the gift of salvation, gave us this gift of truth, and as we came to know and believe in this truth, He has made us His very own people who are saved wholly and will never be cursed ever again. What an amazing blessing is this? Like the pillars of the Tabernacle’s court, by ourselves we cannot stand alone but fall. Yet the reason why we do not fall after being saved from all our sins is because we the believers in the perfect blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven line all believe and unite together under His grace. We must first believe that although we were worthless beings who could not avoid but be bound to hell, through the Word of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen, the Lord has cleansed us of all our sins and thereby saved all of us wholly by
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bearing all our condemnation of sin personally. And it is by this faith that we can stand before God anytime, praise Him, serve His works, and always thank Him for this gift of salvation. There are times when we stumble because of the weakness of our flesh. Though we believe that we have been saved from all our sins and condemnation, there are times after our salvation when we get exhausted and bored, wondering why we have to live in such a way. Though we are haunted by such fleshly thoughts at times, the reason why we do not depart from God and live out our faith unwaveringly after our salvation is because, when we look back who we really were, we feel even more thankful for the gift of salvation and the grace of deliverance that God has given to us. That’s why we can all stand more firmly on our faith. We can stand up again with faith from all our frustrations thanks to the genuine gospel. Though we are always full of shortcomings, we can only give thanks to God for His perfect salvation. We can
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never be boastful, not even a little, rather we thank Him for making us His children through this gift of salvation, standing firm before Him, and faithfully carrying out the tasks of priests. What makes us steadfast and stand firmly on our faith is none other than the fact that we have received the great gift of salvation and grace that God has given us. If we know our fundamental nature as it is, we cannot but accept the remission of sin that God has given us through the Word of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen, and serve the Lord. When we accept this into our hearts by knowing and realizing just how thankful it is, our faith cannot be shaken any more. It becomes steadfast. No matter what kind of deceptions people throw at us, no matter what kind of nonsense they espouse by saying that they are now perfect because they themselves had died by believing in only the precious blood of the Cross, our faith cannot be shaken. Although our basic nature was so evil, but by believing in the certain truth that the Lord has saved us through the blue, purple and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen, we can
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all boldly fight off such lies and stand on our firm faith. In this way, we can fight off these lies, saying, “What? Were we saved only by the precious blood of the Cross? If we leave out any one of the elements of salvation accomplished by the blue, purple, and scarlet thread, there is nothing that we can boast of. What kind of nonsense is this?” But if we depart from the grace of salvation that God has bestowed upon us, we would not be able to see our own selves as we are, and as a result, we will become selfconfident and boastful, and end up turning evil. It is by looking at ourselves as we are that we find God’s gift of salvation at an even greater degree. This is how we came to obey His recommendation that goes, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). The reason why we can really stand steadfastly before God is because we believe that the Lord bore all our curses for us, like each pillar was supported by the silver bands and tied to the bronze pegs. As such, even when we stumble, we can find our balance
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again by the silver band that holds us steadfast. As each silver band is attached to the hooks and the pegs hold the pillars steady, because our hearts recognize who we really are, and because there is the grace of God that has saved us through the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen, we do not founder. Because of this, we stand upright, wavering neither to the right nor to the left. Because of the perfect gift of salvation that God gave to us, and because of the righteousness of God, we will not fall on our face or backwards nor to our sides, but stand firmly on the bronze sockets. The bronze sockets imply that we were to be doomed to hell originally. By reminding us that we are saved from the place of inevitable condemnation, we can always give our thanks to God, and stand firmly and securely with faith. The gospel of the water and the Spirit is the awesome truth of salvation. It can not be attained from any of the countless theological seminaries and graduate schools of this world. And because this it is
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the foundation and fundamentals of faith; therefore any theology that does not know and learn the truth of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen is just like a house built on sand that will ultimately crumble down and flounder. The foundation of your true faith must be solid like a huge marble base rock.
What Is Theology? Broadly speaking, there are two main currents that divide theology: theocentric theology and anthropocentric theology, either or both of which are taught at every seminary. Simply put, faith that is strictly based on the Word is theocentrism, while faith that admits man’s thoughts to the Word is anthropocentrism. Anthropocentric theologians are not particularly interested in what the Bible actually says, but their scholarly positions are strengthened or criticized depending on which authoritative scholars
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expound what views and who follows them. Therefore, anthropocentric theology can never be considered as proper theology. In general, people who study theology argue that only their own theological viewpoints are correct. For instance, even now there are quite a lot of people who attend the Seventh Day Adventist Church which places central importance to the Sabbath day only. The Presbyterian Church, on the other hand, espouses only the “so-called” Five Points of Calvinism. Arminianism, in another example, argues that although God has saved us, mankind must also believe in this fact with its will. In some ways, Arminianism can be considered as a theological standpoint that approaches and interprets the Bible with human perspectives. In contrast, when we look at the Five Points of Calvinism, we can find out that its faith is somewhat theocenric but too fatalistic. Why? Because Calvinists espouse their doctrines of predestination and election as the truth, arguing, “Before you were born, some of you were already been chosen by God as His people, while
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others were left out of His election. There is only God’s sovereign selection.” Such harmful claims cannot be approved by the Word of God. So when we compare these so-called orthodox Christian doctrines to the Word of God, we can find out that they are actually very different from the truth. Of course, on some issues, they come close to the truth, but Christian theologies of most denominations today are far from the Biblical truths. Of course, there are some parts that coincide with Biblical truths in their doctrines, but their pivotal teachings are too erroneous to come close to the Word of God. And this is why we have to quit learning such erroneous doctrines.
Our Remission of Sin Is Entirely a Gift from God To those who truly believe in God’s Word, God has granted salvation to them as His gift. The fence of the Tabernacle’s court was built
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with 60 wooden pillars. On top of these pillars, silver capitals were placed, and on their bottoms bronze sockets were laid down. Each pillar was affixed with silver bands to each other and tied to bronze pegs which were driven into the ground. The wooden pillars were set up at every 5 cubits or 2.25 m intervals, and on these pillars hangings of fine white linens were placed. As the pillars were tied down firmly by these bronze pegs, and connected to each other firmly with the silver bands, the hangings of fine white linen could not be removed from their place. As the hangings of white linen were placed on these firmly planted wooden pillars, the hangings remained fixed and immobile as it pulled itself tightly in each direction. The hangings of white linen refer to the holiness and righteousness of God. In other words, the righteousness of God has made us the people of firm faith that cannot be shaken ever again, for our faith in His salvation is fixed by the infallible grace of God. God has given us this perfect salvation as His gift for
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us. How thankful we are! This is how you and I became the saved by faith. On the contrary, when I look at today’s Christians around the world, I find them ridiculous, laughable, and regrettable all at once. I am both saddened and frustrated by them because I see that they do not even have the correct knowledge on the most elementary issues of true Christianity, even as they profess to believe in God and claim to spread His Word. Recently, many have been worrying that most of our high school students have become rather weak regarding the fundamentals of their studies. In fact, students who were prone to neglect the fundamentals cannot be expected to produce their achievements of studies in advance. Therefore, to train college students in their respective professional studies and prepare them for the workplace, universities need to make sure that they first have a sound grasp of the fundamentals of the primary subjects before they are introduced to the more advanced knowledge. Apparently, these attempts don’t seem to be
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successful all the time. The reason why I brought up this story is to explain that just as there can be no advancement in the knowledge of this world without a sound grasp of its fundamentals, faith in God is also bound to flounder without a sound foundation. The true faith is the one that believes in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen. Without this fundamental faith, everything else means nothing at all. Although people may rejoice and become quite devoted to God at first, saying that they have become sinless by believing in Jesus, but when time passes by even a little, they soon run out of their own righteousness, their joy evaporates into thin air, they are sapped of all their strength, and they ultimately end up renouncing their faith in God because of their sins that still remain intact in their hearts. All this phenomena is brought about by the lack of fundamental knowledge of the Christian faith. Is there anyone disabled among you? People who have trouble with their legs have the hardest time
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when they try to climb up stairs. When they are struggling to climb up stairs, would it not be a kind and thankful act if someone helps and assists them? Yet there are some disabled not all who instead get angry, saying, “Leave me alone. I can do it by myself.” In general, the disabled have great selfrespect and can at times be quite stubborn. When parts of their bodies are disabled, their minds can also be disabled. As a result, their hearts can at times be hardened by their inferiority complexes, sense of defeat, and feelings of deprivation. This is why some of them have a tendency to not take others’ kindness as it is, but to distort its original intention. There is actually no need for them to have any inferiority complex of their disabilities. They may be inconvenienced by them, but having them is certainly no sin at all. But if they let themselves dwell in all kinds of distorted thoughts rising out of their disabilities and allow these bad feelings to develop into countless inferiority complexes, then they will end up becoming truly disabled even in their hearts.
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If you are a disabled person, all that you have to do is just recognize yourself as you are, seek help when you need help, and stand firm on your own ground when you can. Whenever there is something that I do not know or need some assistance, I ask others and request for their help. I cannot but ask and seek others’ help because of my lacking. And when someone else who knows about it explains it and helps me, I then thank this person. Though we may have shortcomings in our flesh, there is no reason for them to regard us disabled also in our hearts. Therefore, all that we have to do is to know our shortcomings, believe in our Lord’s gospel of the water and the Spirit, that is, the salvation of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen that has made these shortcomings of ours whole and serve this gospel diligently. And it is within this gospel of our Lord that we can take pride and give our thanks. Because we have received the gift of salvation given by God through our faith, all that we have to do is just thank
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Him. We can rest, love one another, and unite together, all in this gift of salvation. It is because many of today’s Christians are weak in the fundamentals of their faith that their faith is wavering in all directions. Our Lord has saved you and me with His blue, purple, and scarlet thread and fine woven linen. Only by knowing and believing in this alone have we received the gift of salvation and become whole. We were all bound to hell in the first place, yet because God has saved us wholly by giving us the gift of perfect salvation, we have become His perfect children. Because we have now already received the gift of salvation through our faith, if we live our lives believing that we are the people of God, and within the bounds of this faith, we then can live out our faith within the Lord successfully. After I was truly born again, two new changes came into my heart, neither of which was ever experienced before. Before, my love for others used to be hypocritical, pretending to love them
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unconditionally while I actually hated them in my heart. But now, I came to truly love others with all my heart. Because God has given us His gift of perfect salvation, and because this gospel is so precious, all who believe in it appear so noble and lovely before my eyes. I cannot help but love them, even if I tried not to. The second change is that unlike in the past, I have become sensitive to others’ feelings. Before, whenever someone did something that I could not tolerate, regardless of who this person was, I used to be quite blunt in my rebuke. But now I have came to realize that I need to look at everyone’s weaknesses, and be more careful in my dealings with them, shielding them when they need to be shielded and rebuking them when they need to be rebuked, all appropriately. Those who have weaknesses or shortcomings can easily be hardened in their hearts also, and so I came to be more conscious of their weaknesses, as there are times when I need to help them secretly, and there are also times when I should
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not help them even as I know that they need my help desperately. I came to be conscious of these things because people are such weak beings, but all the while, I am still very strong and bold in my faith. There are times when we should not rebuke others because they are too weak, but there are also times when we need to rebuke them firmly instead of just tolerating them. This is why we are more conscious of their needs, but when looked in faith; our love for them is certain, perfect, correct, and strong. If we look at our circumstances from a fleshly perspective, all that we can see is just things to worry about. Because we are so weak and insufficient in the first place, if we start to worry about our weak flesh, not a day will go by without worries or concerns. But when we stand in the perfect faith that God has given to us, all our worries and concerns disappear, and as Jesus has saved such insufficient and blemished ones like us with His blue, purple, and scarlet thread and fine woven linen and has made us into the vessels of His good works, this encouragement of faith, more
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than anything else should make us strong. Our hearts’ encouragement comes from the gift of perfect salvation given by the Lord into our hearts; all other encouragements that stem from our fleshly merits are only transient. This does not mean, of course, that the consolation of the flesh is not substantial even though we need to console our brothers and sister sometimes even in fleshly terms. What is clear, however, is that as we ourselves are weak, Jesus Christ came to this world and has saved us wholly. The Bible tells us that when Lazarus died, seeing his sisters, Mary and Martha, and their neighbors weeping, Jesus also groaned. Jesus, in other words, had compassion on them because He saw just how wretched it was for people to die because of their sins. But because our Lord came according to the Father’s will, He said, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25), and saved those who were to die because of their sins. He has consoled us both in spirit and body. You and I also have these two sides of the spirit
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and the flesh. So when we are going through a tough time in the flesh, we need to be comforted in the flesh, also spiritually, and we also need to have this faith of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen. Like this, by knowing to rejoice in faith for the gift of salvation which God has given to us, keeping this gift of salvation, and reminding ourselves once again that we are the ones who have received this gift, our hearts can indeed rejoice in Christ. This is how we come to give glory to God. God has firmly planted each of us in faith, like the pillars of the Tabernacle, and has also asked us to live by faith. So even as the shortcomings of our flesh abound everyday, we can feel deep in our hearts just how precious God’s salvation is, realizing that we had deserved to be condemned. You too can now come to understand this truth of salvation manifested in the fence of the court of the Tabernacle. Now you can also open and enter into the gate of the court of the Tabernacle located at the eastern side. When you open and enter into this gate of the
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Tabernacle’s court, there is something that you will come across first. What will this be? It is none other than the altar of burnt offering. When you pass by the altar of burnt offering by faith, there will be the bronze laver, and when you pass by this laver, you will then finally enter into the House of God, the Tabernacle itself. When looking at this by faith, all these things are easily accomplished. Though the Word of the Tabernacle may look very abstruse at first, it is actually very easy for you and I to understand because we, whose foundation of faith is strong, look at it within the correct principle of faith that we already possess. Because God’s salvation is so valuable, He made it easy for anyone to understand it through the Tabernacle system. But to prevent just anyone to interpret this Word of the Tabernacle mistakenly on his own thoughts, God has made it unseen to the eyes of those who are not born again yet. Therefore, even for theologians, if they do not have the correct fundamental faith, none of them can ever speak of the exact spiritual meaning of why the gate of the court of the Tabernacle was woven of blue, purple, and
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scarlet thread and fine woven linen, because God has hidden this truth from such liars. The blue thread refers to the baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist. Through His baptism that was received in a form of the laying on of hands, He took all our sins upon Himself. The scarlet thread refers to His sacrifice of death that Jesus Christ bled to death on the Cross for all our sins. The purple thread manifests that Jesus is God Himself. The fine woven linen is the Word of salvation through which He, God Himself, promised to us the entire mankind. Those who have not been born again by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit cannot speak of the truth that God revealed in the gate of the Tabernacle exactly like this. God promised from the beginning of mankind, that is, from Adam and Eve and to all His servants, “To save you, I will come to you through the water, the blood, and the Spirit, and I will indeed save you.” According to this Word, Jesus Christ came to this earth, was baptized, shed His blood and died, rose from the dead, and has thereby saved us. The fine woven linen is the promise of God’s
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Word, and it is also the fulfillment of the Word. The blue, purple, and scarlet threads tells us of the baptism of Jesus Christ, that He is our God, and that He bore all our condemnation of sin by carrying the sins of the world and shedding His blood on the Cross. And they tell us that Jesus Christ has saved us by rising from the dead again. This truth of the blue, purple, and scarlet threads is the eternal truth of salvation that no dissenting opinion can ever be allowed. To you and me, God has given us this gift of salvation. The tops of the pillars have been overlaid with silver capitals. We must always remember that we are the ones who have received the gift of salvation from God. Because it is by receiving this gift that we have become righteous, sinless, and the people of God, we have absolutely nothing that we can ever boast about apart from this gift of God. If there is one thing that we may boast of, it is only that we have become the children of God who have this faith of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen. This is possible only because Jesus
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Christ has saved us from all our sins through the only good and precious gospel of the water and the Spirit. Therefore, we must live by this faith, believing that we have become whole only because God has given us the gift of salvation and that it is through this gift that we have become God’s very own people. Today and tomorrow, we must always live by this faith. I believe that now is the most appropriate time to spread this Word about the Tabernacle. There were times before when many people were confused by the theory of pre-tribulation rapture that made no sense at all, but God made us appropriately for these times, preach the Word of the Book of Revelation and thereby enabled many to cast out their wrong faith and to possess the true faith. Likewise, in today’s era, it is very fitting that we should preach the faith of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen. Because we have received the gift of salvation from God, I believe that spreading this certain gift of salvation is the happiest thing to do. I give all my thanks to God.
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SERMON 3
You can download Rev. Paul C. Jong’s Free Christian Books on iPhone, iPad, or Blackberry by going to Amazon’s Kindle e-bookstore (www.amazon.com).
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72 The Altar of Burnt Offering Made from Acacia Wood, Overlaid with Bronze
The Altar of Burnt Offering Made from Acacia Wood, Overlaid with Bronze < Exodus 38:1-7 > “He made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood; five cubits was its length and five cubits its width—it was square—and its height was three cubits. He made its horns on its four corners; the horns were of one piece with it. And he overlaid it with bronze. He made all the utensils for the altar: the pans, the shovels, the basins, the forks, and the firepans; all its utensils he made of bronze. And he made a grate of bronze network for the altar, under its rim, midway from the bottom. He cast four rings for the four corners of the bronze grating, as holders for the poles. And he made the poles of acacia wood, and overlaid them with bronze. Then he put the poles into the rings on the
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sides of the altar, with which to bear it. He made the altar hollow with boards.”
Every Sinner Had to Bring a Sacrificial Offering to the Altar of Burnt Offering For any sinner among the people of Israel to be remitted from his sins, had to bring a sacrificial animal to the Tabernacle, pass his sins onto it by laying his hands on its head, draw its blood, and then hand this blood over to the priest. The priest in the line of duty then put this blood of the sacrificial animal on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, laid its fat and flesh on the altar, and burnt them with fire as a sweet aroma to the Lord God. Even the High Priest had to lay his hands on a sacrificial animal and pass his sins onto the animal before the altar of burnt offering in order to receive the remission of his sins. This was the sacrifice of the atonement offered at the altar of burnt offering which was made from acacia
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73 The Altar of Burnt Offering Made from Acacia Wood, Overlaid with Bronze wood and was overlaid with bronze, and this sacrifice of the remission of sins was offered only through the laying on of hands and the shedding of blood. Even before the foundation of the world, God had already planned the way of salvation to deliver everyone from all his sins through the laying on of hands and the shedding of blood. Having planned our salvation, God the Father had to send His only begotten Son to this earth, let Him be baptized by John the Baptist, and made Him shed His blood on the Cross. That is why Jesus Christ accepted all the sins of each and every sinner through His baptism, which was the same as the Old Testament’s laying on of hands. And to bear all condemnation for all the sins of the world, Jesus shouldered all those sins and shed His own blood on the Cross in our place. The altar of burnt offering overlaid with bronze teaches us that God will infallibly condemn each and every sin that’s written on the tablet of every human heart. Every sinner therefore had to pass his sins onto a sacrificial animal by laying his hands on its head and
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then to cut its throat, draw its blood, and the priest had to put the blood of the animal on the horns of the altar of burnt offering. Like this, the altar of burnt offering overlaid with bronze makes it known to all of us that Jesus bore all our sins, and that He was condemned on the Cross for all these sins in our place.
The Significance of the Altar of Burnt Offering Whenever a sacrificial animal was offered to God, its flesh was cut into pieces and put on the altar of burnt offering in order to be burnt with fire and offered as a sweet aroma to God. God the Father was very pleased to see that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist and crucified to death in our place for all our sins. God the Father was pleased that this unblemished Jesus sacrificed Himself as the everlasting propitiation for all sinners. The sacrifices offered on the altar of burnt offering show how God has saved every sinner from
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74 The Altar of Burnt Offering Made from Acacia Wood, Overlaid with Bronze all his sins, and at the same time, they also show how God condemns each and every sin. Put differently, the altar of burnt offering reveals the salvation of the human race from all its sins and condemnation. It shows us that every sinner must be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone in hell; and it also shows us how every sinner can be delivered from all his sins. Like this, whoever has any sin at all must be cast into the fire of hell, and therefore every sinner must find God’s mercy without fail. Each sacrificial animal that was put on the altar of burnt offering had borne a sinner’s iniquities and was condemned for them. In other words, the sacrificial animal had accepted someone’s sins through the laying on of hands and shed its blood in his place. It had borne the condemnation of sin that the sinner had to face. This burnt offering sacrificed in the Tabernacle teaches us that Jesus accepted all the sins of this world through His baptism and shed His blood in our place. Every utensil in the Tabernacle shows us how
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God has fulfilled the remission of sins for us. Therefore, for you to draw a clear-cut line of your salvation, you must have the right faith in the truth revealed in the utensils of the Tabernacle. How should you then draw the line of your salvation? You must draw a clear line of salvation by believing in the Truth of salvation which is hidden in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen. Only those who have such faith can truly come into the righteousness of God and live out their faith properly. God had prepared a sacrificial offering that would make atonement for sinners’ sins so that they would be able to come into the Sanctuary. And the High Priest offered the sacrifice of atonement on behalf of all sinners in order to save them from all their sins. God has fulfilled His promise of salvation through His Son Jesus Christ in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We must therefore believe in the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit and live out this faith of ours. Is your faith now placed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit? For you to be
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75 The Altar of Burnt Offering Made from Acacia Wood, Overlaid with Bronze saved from all your sins, you must believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit wholeheartedly. The true remission of sins can be received only if you have faith in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit as testified by the blue, purple, and scarlet thread. Indeed, the Truth of salvation revealed in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread shown in the Old Testament’s Tabernacle is all contained in the gospel of the water and the Spirit revealed in the New Testament. Do you stand for the gospel of the water and the Spirit? Or do you espouse the gospel that emphasizes just the blood of the Cross? Do you believe in the gospel proclaiming that Jesus Christ was baptized and shed His blood for us? In the age of the Old Testament, the sacrificial system of the Tabernacle was God’s covenant of salvation promising us that He would save us from the sins of the world. God had revealed His elaborate plan of salvation through the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen used to weave the Tabernacle’s gate. Whoever wanted to enter through this gate had to
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believe in the truth revealed in these materials. Like this, God allowed the people of Israel to be saved from all their sins through the sacrifice of the Tabernacle, by laying their hands on their sacrificial animal and thus passing their sins onto it by faith, and by offering its blood to God. The gospel of the water and the Spirit is the standard by which the remission of sins is received, and therefore only those who understand and believe in this gospel properly are God’s very own people, while everyone else is yet to become one of God’s people. That’s because the Truth revealed in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen used in the gate of the Tabernacle’s court is the New Testament’s gospel of the water and the Spirit. Our Lord said to Nicodemus in John chapter 3, “Unless one is born again of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.” It’s very important for all of us to grasp that the water here refers to the baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist. Only if we understand the gospel of the water and the Spirit can we come into God’s arms by faith.
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76 The Altar of Burnt Offering Made from Acacia Wood, Overlaid with Bronze
Everyone Must Realize That He Will Be Condemned Unavoidably for His Sins As described in Mark 7:21 and onwards, everyone has the same twelve sins that proceed from his heart. First of all, one’s evil thoughts are a sin before God. And murder, adultery, theft, covetousness, wickedness, pride, and foolishness are all sins as well. The evil thoughts that are in people’s hearts are the real sources of sin that offend the holiness of God. Even though God made Adam in the likeness of His image as an eternal creature, Adam sinned against God, and as a result of this, all of us Adam’s descendants were also born as sinners, unable to escape from God’s condemnation. Because we were all born as the first man Adam’s descendants, it is in our inherent nature to commit nothing but sin and offend the holiness of God, both in our thoughts and actions; and therefore we cannot help commit sin until the day we die. Indeed, all human beings are fundamentally evil in their
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thoughts by nature, and they are also fragile beings easily deceived by Satan who continually challenges God’s holiness. God said that nothing but evil thoughts proceed from the human heart. Every human being is indeed exposed as a depraved sinner filled with the twelve kinds of sins listed in Mark chapter 7, from murder to adultery, theft, covetousness, fornications, foolishness, and so on. Everyone’s fundamental human nature is filled with evil thoughts. And countless people are challenging the holiness of God with their own religious piety. So we all had to be condemned by God for our sins without fail. That is why sacrificial animals were constantly burnt on the altar of burnt offering day after day in the Tabernacle. The court of the Tabernacle was actually filled with the smell of burning flesh and the smoke of firewood.
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77 The Altar of Burnt Offering Made from Acacia Wood, Overlaid with Bronze
We Must Wash Away Our Filth with the Water in the Laver of Bronze The Old Testament’s priests had to surround themselves every day with the nasty smell of burning flesh and black smoke. So it was impossible for them to be clean, as their faces were blackened by the smoke and their bodies were covered with grime. That’s why they needed the laver of bronze in the court of the Tabernacle, so that they could wash themselves. The priests had to wash away their filth with the water of the laver of bronze every day. This laver of bronze in the Tabernacle denotes that in the days of the New Testament Jesus had washed away all the sins of this world by being baptized by John the Baptist. The fact that the priests of the Old Testament washed their bodies with the water of the laver of bronze in the Tabernacle refers to the baptism of Jesus Christ, which was as important to His work of salvation as the blood He shed on the Cross. The baptism that Jesus received
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from John the Baptist was an absolutely indispensable step to wash away all our sins, without which no one could be cleansed. Indeed, the priests could maintain their holiness because they could go to the Tabernacle’s laver of bronze and wash away all the grime accumulated over the course of ministering in the Tabernacle. That the priests washed away their filth at the laver of bronze implies that one must admit his sinful self and recognize that everyone will be condemned and destroyed by God for his sins. The way of salvation is opened to you when you admit to God that you will be condemned and cast into the fire of hell to suffer forever for your sins. The only way that you can come into the presence of God is to admit your sins and believe in the real Truth of salvation that Jesus has fulfilled for you. The Messiah did actually come to this earth to save you and me from all the sins of the world; He did actually bear all our sins by being baptized by John the Baptist; and He was in fact condemned on the Cross in our place.
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78 The Altar of Burnt Offering Made from Acacia Wood, Overlaid with Bronze This is the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit, and it is the absolutely indispensable Truth of salvation that we must believe. Every human being harbors evil thoughts, and therefore everyone has wicked desires to hurt others, inflict pain on them, and even murder them. You must recognize just how evil and depraved human beings are. Why are human beings so evil then? It’s because they are a brood of evildoers by nature, always harboring wicked thoughts and always committing sin. Because human beings commit all the twelve kinds of sins all the time, they are like a bomb that can go off at anytime. Indeed, they practice wickedness all the time, lying to one other constantly, stealing from one another, committing adultery and fornication, blaspheming the glory of God, and loving foolishness and madness. As a brood of evildoers by nature, human beings always harbor evil thoughts and challenge the holiness of God throughout their lives.
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Just How Evil Are We in God’s Sight? It is in everyone’s inherent human nature to be selfish. Scientists say that a human being has over a hundred trillion cells, and each of these countless cells is so selfish that it never makes any concession to another cell. This is why a human being is a thoroughly selfish being. Because everyone is genetically programmed to be selfish like this, no one can survive in this world unless there are social norms and rules that regulate one’s behavior. Human beings are so selfish that without such norms, they would kill each other. It’s for their mutual survival that they have established rules of coexistence. That’s how social norms and rules came into existent. Social norms were made to constrain man’s destructive inclination and foster a more cooperative environment. In short, it’s because human beings are so evil and wicked that it was necessary to establish social norms and laws to govern their behavior and restrain their evil tendencies. The more prevalent
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79 The Altar of Burnt Offering Made from Acacia Wood, Overlaid with Bronze wickedness became in the world, the more necessary it was to come up with social norms and laws. If you really want to believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior and come into the presence of God the Father, you must first realize without fail that you are fundamentally evil by nature, admit that you are a completely depraved sinner bound to hell, and then believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. You must believe in the righteousness of Jesus Christ and thus receive the remission of all your sins. Although God is holy, human beings are absolutely evil, and therefore they cannot help but commit sin all the time. Even though they were made in the likeness of God’s image, they are blasphemers of His holiness. That is why human beings can be saved only if they believe wholeheartedly in the gospel of the water and the Spirit given by Jesus Christ. You can reach your salvation only if you look for the righteousness of Jesus Christ, understand it, and believe in it. You must seek the righteousness of God and believe in His grace, saying to Him, “Lord, I admit that I am
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always wicked. I am full of shortcomings all the time. I commit sin constantly, and therefore I deserve to be punished in hell. That’s why the salvation that You are offering through the gospel of the water and the Spirit is so absolutely indispensable to me. I believe that You have saved me through the gospel of the water and the Spirit.” Only those who admit their weaknesses and wickedness can believe in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. It’s said that Socrates was inspired by a scribble that he stumbled upon on a washroom wall, which said, “Know yourself!” This simple saying left an indelible impression on Socrates as it exposed what was in his mind. So, whenever Socrates saw someone self-righteous pretending to be virtuous and knowledgeable, he admonished the person by saying, “Know yourself first!” This simple statement alone was enough to make Socrates a great philosopher remembered even to this day. I cannot emphasize enough just how important it is for you to realize your sinful self, know that you
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80 The Altar of Burnt Offering Made from Acacia Wood, Overlaid with Bronze will be cast into hell for the wages of these sins, and admit this with all your heart. You cannot truly grasp the righteousness of God unless you first realize what a depraved sinner you are before God and how inexorably you are heading straight to hell. Like this, everyone must admit the consequences of his own sins first. The altar of burnt offering was made of acacia wood, and its outside was overlaid with bronze. This implies that everyone has to be condemned for his sins, and every sinner is helpless to escape from his way to hell. But those who know how utterly helpless they are on their own can revere the righteousness of Jesus and believe in His love. Let’s turn to Luke 18:10-14 here: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to
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heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” The Pharisees in the days of Jesus were very pious in their outside appearances, teaching everyone else to live virtuously. But did they actually never commit any theft or adultery? No, of course not! Even though the Pharisees pretended to be godly outside, when no one was looking at them, they committed even more and worse sins than anyone else. Yet despite this, they hypnotized themselves into believing that they were sinless, and they also pretended to be godly to those around them. It’s precisely such people who are the most depraved sinners challenging the holiness of God. The tax collector’s prayer was different from the Pharisee’s prayer. It was clear to everyone that the tax collector was a sinner. Indeed, when he came out to God, he couldn’t even lift up his head and look up
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81 The Altar of Burnt Offering Made from Acacia Wood, Overlaid with Bronze to the sky, but instead he beat his chest, confessing, “God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner!” God then listened to the tax collector’s plea for mercy, and He saved him from all his sins as he believed in the Truth of the water and the Spirit. In contrast, the Pharisee was exposed as an evildoer in God’s sight. It was the tax collector who was approved by God for his righteousness, not the Pharisee. It is only by believing in the righteousness of God with our hearts that we have received the remission of sins, not by relying on our own works. Because our works always come short of God’s holiness, we cannot help but commit sin all the time, and therefore we all deserve to be condemned with fire for our sins, just as sacrificial animals were constantly put to death and burnt on the altar of burnt offering for the sins of the people of Israel. We must therefore confess to God just how sinful we are and be saved from all our sins and condemnation by believing in Jesus Christ alone. When we look at the fire and smoke rising up
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from the altar of burnt offering overlaid with bronze, we can see that in God’s sight, we ourselves are sinners bound to be condemned to the fire of hell for our sins. Each and every one of you must realize this fact. Only then can you be completely delivered from all your sins and all the condemnation of your sins by believing in the baptism of Jesus Christ and His blood of sacrifice. Jesus Christ is offering you salvation from all your sins, but you cannot really look for this salvation sincerely and eagerly unless you admit to God first that you are totally evil, and that you cannot help but be condemned for your sins. And it is only when you believe in this Truth of salvation with all your heart that you can reach your salvation, be freed from all your sins and all their condemnation, and accept God’s love. But as mentioned, before you can believe in the Truth of salvation, you must first realize your true self and honestly admit your sinful nature and shortcomings before God. Only someone who admits his sinful self is someone who truly recognizes the holiness of God
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82 The Altar of Burnt Offering Made from Acacia Wood, Overlaid with Bronze and His justice. In other words, you can receive the remission of sins by believing in the baptism of Jesus and His blood only if you first admit that while God is absolutely just, honest, and truthful, you are absolutely unjust, filthy, and evil in His sight. If you instead are self-righteous like the very Pharisee who considered himself eminently virtuous before God, then you should realize here that you are standing on very thin ice. Far from finding God’s mercy, you will be forsaken by God. In contrast, if you are like the tax collector, then you can admit that you are a sinner bound to be condemned to hell for your sins, and find mercy from God on account of this humble admission. Indeed, for all those who are humble like the tax collector, God the Father has blotted out all their sins with the gospel of the water and the Spirit and saved them by sending His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. Although there are countless people in this world, they can all be divided into two specific types: Those who have received the remission of sins and
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those who have not received it yet. The former are those who admitted their total depravity and their hell-bound fate and, as a result, yearned for God’s mercy. Such people have received the remission of sins by believing in the salvation of Jesus Christ. They acknowledge God sincerely and trust in His holiness, justice, and faithfulness. In contrast, the latter are not only refusing to receive the remission of their sins but they are also standing against God, for they neither believe that Jesus Christ is their Savior nor admit that they themselves are sinners. You must believe that God has completely washed away all your sins with the truth of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread. Only those who have this unwavering faith have truly reached their salvation. The altar of burnt offering overlaid with bronze shows us that even though we were all destined to be condemned by God for our sins, we have been washed from all our sins by believing in the baptism of our Lord and His crucifixion. But before you profess to believe in Jesus as your Savior and confess
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83 The Altar of Burnt Offering Made from Acacia Wood, Overlaid with Bronze your faith, you must first admit that you yourself deserve to be condemned by God for the countless sins that you have committed, just like the sacrificial animals that were burnt on the altar of burnt offering which was overlaid with bronze. Only if you admit your sinful self first can you really understand and believe in the baptism of Jesus Christ and His blood on the Cross as your salvation, and only then can you become one of God’s people.
Faith in the Blood of Jesus Alone Is Not Enough Some of you may be thinking, “Why does Rev. Jong keep saying that I should admit my sinful self, when I already believe in Jesus’ blood? It’s true that I have a few blemishes, but I am not so sinful that I deserve to be condemned by God for my sins. I don’t think that my every thought, every intention, and every act is so sinful that I deserve to be
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condemned.” If this is what you are thinking now, then you should realize that you are gravely mistaken like that Pharisee. You are making a huge mistake by giving such a generous assessment to yourself. The Bible states clearly that the wages of sin is death. In God’s sight, every sin is the same, whether it’s small or big. Anyone who has any sin at all in God’s sight, even if it’s the smallest of all sins, will be condemned for this sin and cast into the fire of hell. It does not matter how big or small your sins are; as long as you have any sin at all, you are the same as any other sinner in the eyes of the holy God. Why is this so? It is because God Himself is holy, and therefore He cannot tolerate any sin at all regardless of how serious or trivial you may think your sins are. It’s because God must condemn each and every sin without exception. When we honestly expose all our lives before God, none of us can claim to have committed just a few sins. If you say that you have committed just a few sins, then perhaps you consider yourself
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84 The Altar of Burnt Offering Made from Acacia Wood, Overlaid with Bronze virtuous, at least according to the standard of the world. But you are saying this only because your perception of God’s judgment and condemnation of sin is completely wrong, as you have no idea just how strict God is. In other words, you are assessing yourself based on your own criteria and selfabsorption rather than on God’s standard, and that’s why you are seriously mistaken. You must therefore examine yourself again objectively before the Law of God, asking yourself, “How do I appear in God’s sight? When God looks at me, don’t I appear as someone who deserves to be condemned? Haven’t I committed countless sins that would surely send me to hell time after time?” Like this, you ought to examine yourself objectively before God and realize clearly that you yourself are a sinner destined to be cast into the fires of hell for the wages of your sins. It’s absolutely imperative for you to recognize that anything that’s not done by faith is a sin before God (Romans 14:23), that you yourself commit such sins constantly, and that you will be condemned for
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these sins. Only after this can you realize the Truth of salvation and grasp that the Lord has saved such a depraved sinner like you from all your sins through the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen, and it is at this very moment that you can receive the remission of sins. As we look at the Word of God explaining the Tabernacle in detail, we cannot help but confess the following: “Lord, we were indeed all destined to be condemned for our sins, for we cannot help but commit sin all the time. Yet even so, You have completely delivered us from all our sins and condemnation by being baptized and shedding Your blood to save us. Just by believing in Your gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit, we have been saved from all our sins and condemnation. We were in fact all destined to be cast into hell. But thanks to You, we have been saved from all our sins by believing in the sacrificial system which was established by You. We believe that this is the gift of salvation that You have given to us. All that we can do before such
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85 The Altar of Burnt Offering Made from Acacia Wood, Overlaid with Bronze amazing grace is just believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and give all our thanks to You.” There still are countless people in this world who have not come into the righteousness of Christ yet. Too many people are still ignorant of the Truth of salvation, not realizing that the Lord has saved each and every sinner from all the sins of the world through the Truth of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread. These people have no idea just how evil they are, and how they themselves are destined to be condemned for their sins. Even though they commit countless sins all the time and they will be condemned for their sins, they don’t realize that they themselves are such depraved sinners, and they are just deceiving themselves. Moreover, they think mistakenly that they are actually doing good works before God, and they are very eager to show off their own virtues. When they approach God, they don’t hesitate to bring out their own righteousness rather than God’s righteousness. In their self-righteous arrogance, they think that they will not go to hell
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even if they have sin. They are absolutely convinced that they will never go to hell, thinking to themselves that since they have only a few sins, they just need to receive the remission of these sins. There are actually many Christians all around the world who think that even though they believe in Jesus, they still have a few sins remaining with them, and that these sins can easily be washed away just by just offering prayers of repentance; and that they will be sanctified eventually somehow; and that they will ultimately all enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Many Christians are sure that even though they remain sinful, God will not judge them just because they believe in Jesus. But no matter how many people are absolutely convinced of this, they are all destined to the burning fires of hell. If you think that you will not go to hell even if you don’t really know the mystery of salvation which is revealed in the Tabernacle’s blue, purple, and scarlet thread and fine woven linen, or if you just believe that Jesus Christ was crucified for you without believing in His baptism, your faith
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86 The Altar of Burnt Offering Made from Acacia Wood, Overlaid with Bronze then is flawed and imperfect. Like this, if you think that you will not go to hell even though your heart remains sinful, all because you somehow believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior, you then are actually challenging the holiness of God. Hell is the place prepared for precisely such arrogant people who don’t believe that they will face God’s condemnation. It’s such a tragedy that so many sinners remain so foolish that they don’t even realize that they are heading straight to hell. But just as the Bible says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), everyone must indeed be cast into hell, for everyone is sinful. The glory of God is none other than Jesus Christ Himself, who came by the water and the Spirit. Although countless Christians profess to believe in Jesus, most of them still remain unsaved as they don’t really understand that Jesus has come by the water, the blood, and the Spirit. If you neither know nor believe in this Jesus Christ who has come by the blue, purple, and scarlet thread, then you
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have not been washed from all your sins yet, and therefore you cannot enter that brilliant House of God. And if you cannot come into God’s House, then this can only mean that far from partaking in the Kingdom of God, you will be cast into hell in the end. Therefore, regardless of whether or not you are a Christian professing to believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior, if you have not been truly born again, then you must admit that you are bound to hell for your sins and believe in Jesus Christ properly from this point on. The law of God clearly states that the wages of sin is death, and you must acknowledge this divine law and believe in it without any resistance. Only if you admit that you are heading straight to hell for your sins can you believe in the God-given gospel of the water and the Spirit. God’s gift of salvation is the remission of sins, and this gift is bestowed only on those who believe in the baptism of Jesus Christ, His death on the Cross, and His resurrection. Our salvation and deliverance from all our sins did not come from ourselves, but it is God’s gift to
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87 The Altar of Burnt Offering Made from Acacia Wood, Overlaid with Bronze us. None of us was born in this world out of our own desire, but it is God who allowed us to be born on this earth in order to make us His own children. Realizing that God has enable all of us to reach our salvation if only we believe in the baptism of Jesus, His death on the Cross, and His resurrection, each and every one of us must believe in this Truth. Having established His law declaring that the wages of sins is death, God also planned to give us everlasting life in Jesus Christ our Lord. God ordered to make the altar of burnt offering out of acacia wood, overlaid it with bronze, and lit fire on it. This implies that the wages of sin is death, and that each and every sin must be condemned forever. Such God-established law can be neither broken nor changed by any of us. That’s why we must admit that we ourselves are helpless sinners and accept the Truth of salvation into our hearts by faith. It’s absolutely imperative for all of us to acknowledge and believe in each and every law that God has established and fulfilled for us. If you really have a clear understanding of the
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Tabernacle and the right faith, then God will not only save you from all your sins and the condemnation of these sins, but He will also bestow all His blessings on you. If, however, you refuse to consider your sins seriously even once, but instead obstinately think that you have hardly any sins, that you have never committed any mortal sins, or that the few sins that you have committed are nothing compared to the good things that you have done, then your soul will be subjected to God’s law of wrath. Jesus Christ is God Himself, and you can be freed from all you sins if you believe in Christ as your Savior and trust in the righteousness of God which was fulfilled by the Lord; and once you are freed from all your sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, you will surely come to abide in God forever. I give all thanks to Jesus Christ for saving us from all our sins and death through the Truth of salvation hidden in the sacrificial system of the Tabernacle.
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SERMON 4
You can download Rev. Paul C. Jong’s Free Christian Books on iPhone, iPad, or Blackberry by going to Amazon’s Kindle e-bookstore (www.amazon.com).
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89 The Altar of Incense Is the Place Where God Grants His Grace
The Altar of Incense Is the Place Where God Grants His Grace < Exodus 30:1-10 > “You shall make an altar to burn incense on; you shall make it of acacia wood. A cubit shall be its length and a cubit its width—it shall be square—and two cubits shall be its height. Its horns shall be of one piece with it. And you shall overlay its top, its sides all around, and its horns with pure gold; and you shall make for it a molding of gold all around. Two gold rings you shall make for it, under the molding on both its sides. You shall place them on its two sides, and they will be holders for the poles with which to bear it. You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. And you shall put it before the veil that is before the ark of the Free book request www.nlmission.com
Testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the Testimony, where I will meet with you. Aaron shall burn on it sweet incense every morning; when he tends the lamps, he shall burn incense on it. And when Aaron lights the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense on it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations. You shall not offer strange incense on it, or a burnt offering, or a grain offering; nor shall you pour a drink offering on it. And Aaron shall make atonement upon its horns once a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonement; once a year he shall make atonement upon it throughout your generations. It is most holy to the LORD.”
If we were to step inside the Holy Place, the House of God, we would first see the lampstand, the table of showbread, and the altar of incense. The altar of incense was put in front of the entrance to the Most Holy, where the mercy seat was located, past
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the lampstand and the table of showbread. The length and width of this altar of incense were both one cubit, while its height was two cubits. In the Bible, a cubit is approximately 45-50 cm in today’s measurement. So the altar of incense was a rather small square, measuring around 50 cm in length and width and 100 cm in height. And like the altar of burnt offering, the altar of incense also had horns on its four upper corners. Made of acacia wood, the altar of incense was completely overlaid with gold.
The Altar of Incense inside the Sanctuary Had Four Horns When the High Priest offered the sacrifice of the Day of Atonement once every year, he had to put the blood of the sacrificial animal that bore the yearly sins of the people of Israel on the horns of the altar of burnt offering located in the court of the Tabernacle. In the same way, the High Priest also had to put this
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blood on the horns of the altar of incense. As this blood was offered to God, it solved the problem of sin that was blocking the people of Israel from God. All of us have received the remission of sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and in the present age of the New Testament, this faith of ours is what enables us to remove all obstacles when we come into the presence of God to pray. Even the righteous commit sin while living in this world. However, because we believe in the baptism of Jesus and His blood of sacrifice foreshadowed by the Old Testament’s sacrificial system, we can still come before God and pray to Him boldly. Even the righteous may feel hesitant to come into the presence of God because of the sins that they commit in this world, but in times like this, they can still come out to God boldly by trusting in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. As we believe in Jesus Christ’s gospel of the water and the Spirit, we can come out to God boldly even though our bodies and
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minds may be still weak. That’s because we have already become righteous by our faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and the Lord has already delivered us once and for all from all our transgressions through the Truth of salvation which is manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread of the Tabernacle door. We must therefore always ruminate on the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Jesus has accomplished our perfect salvation once and for all through the baptism He received from John the Baptist and the blood He shed on the Cross, and there is a fundamental difference of faith between those who believe in this salvation and those who don’t. The righteous believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. That’s why they can pray to God without any hesitation, for they believe that Jesus accepted all their sins once and for all through His baptism and shed His blood for them. Everyone therefore must also believe that Jesus bore all their sins through the baptism He received from John the Baptist, and that He was condemned for all their sins
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by shedding His blood on the Cross. Only then can one become a priest of faith before God and pray for both himself and other sinners. Believing that God has saved us from all the sins of this world is what the real Christian faith is all about, and the basis of this faith is the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Through the gospel of the water and the Spirit, all of us can discover the Truth of salvation manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven line of the Tabernacle door. And all of us can enter the Kingdom of God by believing in this gospel Truth. So I ask you to believe that the righteousness of Jesus Christ is your salvation, that He bore all your sins, and that He was condemned for all your sins on the Cross. You will then be freed from all your sins forever. It’s only by believing in the gospel of the covenant of God, in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, that you can receive the remission of sins, become a righteous saint, and obtains God’s approval for having the right faith. Once you reach your salvation by believing in the
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gospel of the water and the Spirit, the very first thing to do is praying to God for His work of salvation, that is, for the spread of the gospel of the water and the Spirit all over the world. The righteous believers in the gospel of the water and the Spirit pray to God like this so that they may shine the bright light of the gospel on this world through God’s Church, the lampstand of the Holy Place of God. Faith is all the more necessary for us to support the ministry of God’s Church and bring the gospel to full bloom all over the world. It’s by hearing and believing in the precious Word of God preached by His servants that everyone throughout the whole world can receive the remission of sins and grow in faith. Your faith in Jesus as your Savior must be grounded in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. And as a righteous saint saved from all your sins, you must come out to the altar of incense and stand before the mercy seat in the Holy Place. Why is this so necessary? It’s because you need God’s grace continuously. The altar of incense is the place where
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we offer prayers to God, for the incense here implies the prayers of the saints (Revelation 5:8). We put on God’s grace whenever we come out to the altar of incense and pray to God. The altar of incense in the Holy Place shows us that praying to God by faith is the path to finding God’s grace. That’s why we the believers in the gospel of the water and the Spirit must continue to come out to the altar of incense and pray to God ceaselessly by faith, so that we may put on God’s grace time after time.
The Altar of Incense Is the Place Where We Ask God for His Help Although we have received the remission of sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we still need God’s help for the rest of our lives. For us to unite ourselves with God’s Church and bear spiritual fruit as the light of this world, God’s grace is always indispensable. So it’s very important for all of
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us to pray to God ceaselessly, asking Him, “Lord, please help me. Hold me steadfast. Give me faith. Strengthen me in both body and spirit. Strengthen my faith so that it may never waver. Cut off all my heart’s desires to follow the world. Remove all my ungodly wishes.” God wants us the righteous to come out to the altar of incense, kneel before it, and pray to Him like this so that we would find His grace in all things and receive His blessings in both body and in spirit. That’s why it’s so imperative for every righteous saint who has received the remission of sins to continue to lead a prayerful life at the altar of incense. Although we the righteous have been born again and saved from all our sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, it’s still necessary for us to pray to God to bestow His grace on us in our everyday lives. That’s because even though we the righteous have received the remission of sins, unless we continue to be clothed in God’s grace, we cannot walk on the narrow way of life that the Lord wants all of us to follow. It’s when the righteous pray to
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God that He bestows grace upon grace on them. And this is possible only when we abide in God’s Church and obey His Word. Put differently, the righteous put on God’s grace when they carry out His good work in unity with His Church. As mentioned, the High Priest put the blood of the sacrificial animal on the horns of the altar of incense once a year. This implies that whenever we the righteous come before God, we ought to confess our faith and say to Him, “Lord, You are my Savior. You forsook Your divine glory and came to this earth incarnated in the flesh of man; You bore all my sins by being baptized; and You shed Your own blood in my place, all to save me.” Only when we have this kind of unwavering faith that God is our own God and Savior can we put on His abundant grace. No matter how hard the circumstances of our lives may be, Jesus Christ is still our God and our Savior. He is the very God who has saved us from all our sins and all our condemnation. It’s when we pray to God by this unwavering faith that we are clothed in God’s grace.
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We Can Affirm Our Salvation Once Again in Our Every Prayer It’s in our prayer that we can affirm once again that God is our own God. And this faith is what brings God’s blessings to us. Put differently, we are compelled to kneel before God’s throne of grace because we are absolutely convinced that God will bless us for sure. Our faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit guarantees that God will surely answer our every prayer whenever we pray to God. God listens to each and every prayer of the righteous and blesses them all. So, whenever we pray to God, we should first ruminate on His grace as follows: “Lord, I believe in Your righteousness. I know that my life is full of shortcomings. Even though I want to live according to Your will, I have too many shortcomings. But Lord, I also know that You came to this earth incarnated in the flesh of man, that You bore all my sins by being baptized by John the Baptist, that You were crucified to death in my place,
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and that you have thereby become my Savior. You are my Messiah and my God of salvation. So I believe with all my heart that You will bestow Your grace on me, for you are my Lord.” Like this, whenever we pray to God to bestow His grace on us, we ought to ruminate on this grace of God first and put all our trust in it. We can then have the boldness to ask God for all our needs, and He will say to us, “Yes, you are indeed My own child. As unwavering as your faith is, I am truly your God and you are truly one of My own people. So I will answer your prayer and bless you always. I will meet you on the mercy seat. I can see from your prayer that your faith in Me is unwavering, that you have put all your trust in Me alone, and that you believe with all your heart that I am your God. So I will answer your prayer for all the people of this world to know that I am indeed your God.” Like this, it’s when we believe in our Lord’s Truth of salvation that God clothes us in His grace and showers us with His blessings. That we have
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been saved from all our sins is not the end of the whole story; on the contrary, if we have indeed been delivered from all our sins, then we ought to believe that God’s blessings are about to begin. It is therefore by trusting in the righteousness of God that we put on His grace every day. Only then are we able to lead a godly life. That is why we pray to God whenever there is anything that worries us in our minds, saying to Him, “Lord, please help us. Please help Your Church. Your Church needs Your help desperately to carry out Your work right now.” Even when it comes to worldly affairs, if any worries or prayer subjects come to our minds, we ought to come to the altar of incense and pray before the throne of grace with faith. We will then see the Lord clothing us in His grace in all things. You should remember here that the altar of incense is the place where we find grace from God. We the saints should pray to God for no other reason than to put on all His grace. In other words, it is to receive God’s blessings that we pray to Him. Now
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that we have been saved by faith, it’s absolutely indispensable for all of us to pray to God ceaselessly if we really want to live the rest of our lives by trusting in God’s Word of promise and receive all His blessings. Like this, the altar of incense is there for us to put on God’s grace. The biggest obstacle that we face when praying to God is sin. There is no one in this world that is living a flawless life. So, when we try to come out to God and pray to Him, the very first source of hesitation is our sins. That is why it is so important for us to ruminate on the Truth of salvation again and renew our belief that our Lord has already blotted out all our sins with the blue, purple, and scarlet thread of the Tabernacle door. In other words, we must believe unwaveringly that Jesus Christ, God Himself, came to this earth as our Savior, bore all our sins by being baptized, and was condemned for all these sins; and that thanks to our God and Savior, we have already been absolved from all our sins. Only when we have this faith can we ask God for His grace and
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blessings. Only then can we pray to God to bless us. It is to teach us this lesson, to remind us of the Lord’s work of salvation, that the blood of the sacrificial animal was put on the horns of the altar of incense once a year.
Only Someone Who Is Assured of the Remission of All His Sins Can Pray to God Boldly When we pray to God, we can ask Him for all our needs without any hesitation, calling Him our Father or our Savior. We are free to call Him in this manner because God is indeed our Father, our Lord, and our Savior. In other words, we have no hesitation to call upon God by various titles and pray to Him because He is not only our Creator but also our Savior. This is how all of us ought to pray to the Lord: “Lord, thank You for saving me from all my sins. I really need Your blessings and Your help. So help
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me Lord and watch over me every step of the way. I’ve done some things well, but I’ve also made many mistakes, and I still have some worries. I entrust them all to You, Lord. I ask you to Help me and guide my path. Lead me to lost souls so that I may preach Your gospel to them and bear abundant spiritual fruit for You. Open up their hearts and plow their hearts’ fields so that I can sow the seed of the gospel upon them. I ask You to also hold Your Church steadfast and watch over Your servants. Bless them all so that the gospel of the water and the Spirit may be preached fruitfully. Let this gospel spread all over the face of the earth. Your servants need Your protection, and so I ask you to keep them under Your watchful eyes. Bless me Lord, and bless my family. Bless my children. Bless the saints as well. Bless all my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Let Your blessings abound so that even the unbelievers standing outside Your Church would all be saved.” When we pray and entrust all our hopes and dream to God like this, He will surely answer our
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prayers and bless us. That is how we can all receive God’s abundant blessings through prayer. And that is how we can find grace upon grace every day. God is the God of all those who believe in His righteousness. He is the God of those who believe in the gospel of water and the Spirit unwaveringly. God therefore never fails to bestow His grace on all His believers who boldly approach the throne of grace by their unwavering faith and ask for His grace and blessings, saying, “Lord, I believe that You are my God. I believe that You are My Savior. Help me, Lord!” My fellow believers, I cannot emphasize just how important it is for all of us to realize that our salvation from the sins of the world is not the end of the story, but we ought to pray to the Lord ceaselessly. If your prayer is not answered by the Lord or if you don’t even know how to pray, you should then examine your faith step by step and think about who the Lord really is to you. A clear understanding of your relationship with the Lord is absolutely indispensable. In other words, you must make sure that your faith is on a sound
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footing, realizing and believing wholeheartedly that the Lord is the Creator of the heavens and the earth; that He came to this earth incarnated in the flesh of man to save you; that He bore all your sins by being baptized by John the Baptist; that He was condemned on the Cross in your place; that He rose from the dead again in three days; and that He is still alive as your living Savior. Now that you have been saved, the Lord has become your Shepherd and you are His sheep. You should therefore have no doubt whatsoever that the Lord will answer you every time you ask Him for His help.
We Ought to Pray Day and Night Those of us who have accepted the Lord as their Savior by faith and faithfully pray to God day and night will receive His abundant grace and blessings throughout their entire lifetime in this world. In contrast, those of us who don’t pray diligently for whatever reason, whether it’s because they think
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pompously that the Lord would provide for all their needs even if they don’t pray, or they lack faith in the Word of God, cannot receive God’s blessings, for the altar of incense is missing from their faith. If you think that God would give you everything you want even if you don’t pray just because you believe that He is your God, then your faith is misplaced. If this were true, then there should have been no altar of incense in the Holy Place. Do you think that God made the altar of incense just out of boredom? No, of course not! Aaron the High Priest lit the altar of incense with four kinds of incense every morning and every evening. Sweet aroma then filled the Holy Place as the smell of the burning incense spread all around it. This is a truly wonderful aroma that enables us to come out to God boldly. This incense also has the effect of covering our shortcomings before God. For example, the High Priest had to make the Most Holy Place full of incense before he entered it once a year, ensuring that the cloud of incense would cover the mercy seat that was on the
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Ark of Testimony, or otherwise he would have been put to death (Leviticus 16:12-13). My fellow believers, whenever we approach God, we must have the full conviction of the fact that we have already received the remission of sins, that God is now our God, and that He will bestow His grace on us whenever we pray to Him. When we thus come into the presence of God by this unwavering faith and stand boldly before His throne of grace, we will not only face no condemnation, but we will put on God’s grace. God is the God of mercy whose abundant grace is granted to all of us.
The Rings Attached to the Altar of Incense Were Also Made of Gold The altar of incense in God’s Sanctuary was a rectangular parallelepiped (a polyhedron with six faces) measuring around 50 cm in its length and width and 100 cm in its height, and two pairs of golden rings
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were also attached on both sides of the altar. Two poles were then inserted through these golden rings. These poles were also made of acacia wood and overlaid with gold. Although the altar of incense was relatively small, it had to be lifted by two men. Since its length and width were only about 50 cm and its height 100 cm at most, it could have been easily lifted and carried by just one man, but like all the other utensils of the Tabernacle, that was never allowed. This implies that we the righteous ought to pray to God in unity as the Lord Jesus said, “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven” (Matthew 18:19). These poles of the altar of incense also show us that we the born-again ought to serve God with our prayers. Our prayers of faith are also a way for us to serve the Lord. Now that we have been born again from all our sins, we can serve God and His Church in various ways, whether it is by praying or volunteering our services. When we pray to God, we
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don’t pray just for ourselves, but we pray for God’s work, His Church, its members, and especially for the spreading of the gospel. In other words, our prayers not only allow us to stand before God’s throne of grace and find His mercy, but they also enable us to serve the ministry of God’s righteousness. It’s by praying in unity that we can serve the Kingdom of God. When we pray for our fellow brothers and sisters, for the Church, for the lost souls, for the expansion of the Kingdom of God, and for the ministry of God’s righteousness, we do so to serve God. That is why it is so important for us to grasp the implications of the priests serving God at the altar of incense in the Holy Place. We must pray to God earnestly by this faith. Just as we preach the Word of God in order to serve God and His people, so do we also pray to God to serve Him and His people. All of us have this duty to serve God in every way possible. The most important thing you need to do to lead a godly Christian life and serve the will of God is
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faith in God and His righteousness. It’s by faith alone that you can preach the Word of God, pray to Him, spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and serve God and His righteousness. Everything we do to serve God is done by faith. You can never lead a godly life of faith unless you accept the will of God. I can’t emphasize enough just how important it is that we pray to serve God. Whenever the saints are gathered together at their respective churches, from our brothers to our sisters and even our kids at the Sunday school, they must all serve God first of all. We ought to get together to share the bread of the Word of God. And we ought to serve the righteousness of God also. Our prayers ascend to God as a sweet aroma when we the born-again pray to Him in unity, saying, “Lord, hold fast and bless Your Church, Your servants, and Your saints in the Church all over the world. Bless their souls and hearts, and give them blessed faith. Save all the souls that still remain lost.” Enjoying this sweet aroma of prayer, God then answers us and blesses us. He
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answers everything we ask of Him in our prayers. This is what it means to serve God with prayer, and I admonish you all to remember God’s work in your prayers rather than just praying for your needs. While every saint in the Church ought to pray, if you can afford more time than everyone else for whatever reason, whether it is because you are retired or even sick, you ought to pray even more for God’s Church, His servants, and His saints. This is particularly more important for the housewives. It is not because of any lack of money that we can’t serve the Lord. You are more than able to serve the Lord without any money. You can serve the gospel of the water and the Spirit as much as you want with your faith. Just as two poles were put into the rings of the altar of incense to be carried by two men on their shoulders, those who are poor can still serve the Lord with their prayers of faith if only they are united with God’s Church. Those who are rich can also likewise serve the Lord with their material possessions. Don’t just say, “I’m way too busy with my job to set aside
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any time to serve the Lord. I just don’t have any time.” Each and every righteous saint can serve the Lord and His will by faith, whether it is with his offerings, prayers, or gospel preaching. All of us are more than able to serve the will of the Lord if only we have the desire to do so. And we the born-again can all receive God’s blessings if only we yearn for them.
God Blesses All of Us Who Believe in the Gospel of the Water and the Spirit The Lord is our Shepherd. Our relationship with the Lord is so close that nothing and no one can ever separate us from Him. Let’s turn to Matthew 26:26-28 here: “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body.’ Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant,
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which is shed for many for the remission of sins.’” The name “Jesus” means the Savior or the Messiah, and we call Him our Lord to denote that He is our God and our Master. Our Lord Jesus came to this earth as our own Savior to deliver us all. God Himself had come to this earth incarnated in the flesh of man. And just before dying on the Cross, our Lord prepared the Last Supper, gathered together His disciples, and gave them bread and wine, saying to them, “Take the bread and eat it; this is My body. Take this cup and drink from it. This is My blood of covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” This means that God has saved us by coming to this earth as our own Savior and personally fulfilling His Word of promise through the water and the Spirit exactly as prophesied in the Old Testament. Having thus come to this earth as our Savior, our Lord accepted all the sins of this world by being baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. He then gave up His body on the Cross, and thereby bore all the condemnation of everyone in this
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world. And He has given us new life by rising from the dead again. That the blood of the sacrificial animal was put on the altar of incense refers to the physical death of Jesus Christ. In a similar vein, after bearing all our sins through His baptism, Jesus Christ sacrificed Himself and shed His own blood on the Cross for us. It is thanks to this sacrifice that we have been saved. It’s on account of our faith in this gospel of the water and the Spirit that we have reached our salvation. It’s not by any blind or arbitrary faith that we have been saved from all our sins, but it’s only because Jesus, God Himself, came to this earth as our Savior, bore all our sins on His own body by being baptized, and shed His precious blood for all of us. That is how God has accomplished our salvation, which is implied in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen of the screen door of the Tabernacle. The color purple here denotes that the King of kings became a Man. It teaches us that Jesus accepted all our sins by being baptized by
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John the Baptist and paid off all the wages of our sins by shedding His blood in our place. This is how the Lord became our own Savior. Faith in this gospel of the water and the Spirit is the very faith that enables us to partake in Holy Communion. When Jesus prepared for the Last Supper, He did not prepare just bread but also wine; and He told His disciples to drink and eat them both. The bread here refers to the body of Jesus, implying that God Himself became a Man in order to save us sinners. The bread also implies that by being baptized in the Jordan River, Jesus bore all our sins on His own body. The wine, on the other hand, refers to the blood of life and of salvation that Jesus shed on the Cross in our place. Therefore, whenever we participate in Holy Communion, it’s absolutely indispensable for all of us to have this unwavering faith that God Himself came to this earth incarnated in the flesh of man to save us, that He bore all our sins on His own body by being baptized, that He was condemned on the Cross in our place, and that He has thereby saved us and become our
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personal Savior. Sadly, however, most Christians do not know the exact reason why Jesus Christ has established this ritual of Holy Communion and ordered us to keep it until His return. You should never take your life of faith too lightly. If you still are not sure that Jesus is your Savior, then you should think long and hard about your faith before taking the bread and wine of Jesus in Holy Communion. Rather than getting all emotional, think carefully and ask yourself solemnly whether the Lord is indeed your Lord or not. God is your God and mine. He made your ancestors and mine. And He allowed us to be born on this earth. This God is none other than Jesus. And Jesus, God Himself, came to this earth as our own Savior. Having come to this earth as our Savior in order to save us, He bore all our sins on His body through His baptism. He then faithfully took each and every one of these sins of ours to the Cross, never relieving Himself from any of them, and bore the punishment of the Cross that only the accursed should bear, so that we would not be condemned for
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our sins. This is how the Lord has saved us from all our condemnation. You can easily understand this Truth of salvation if you just think about the gospel of the water and the Spirit even for a moment. To be saved from all the sins of the world is to accept the gospel of the water and the Spirit into your heart. I believe that the Lord has saved me from all my sins through His water and blood. There is nothing that I myself have done for my salvation. When Jesus came to this earth, when He was born in a tiny stable in Bethlehem, I was not there, nor did I intervene in any shape or form, far less did I ask God to save me. But the Lord had come to this earth incarnated in the flesh of man irrespective of my intentions, all to save me. I am absolutely convinced that it was to save me that Jesus had come to this earth, was baptized, and shed His blood on the Cross. God the Father loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son. God Himself came to this earth to save each and every human being. And
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He has indeed saved you and me from all our sins, and He has become your Savior and mine. All that we have to do to reach our salvation is to trust in Jesus Christ, who is God Himself, and accept into our hearts the work of salvation that He has done for us. Only those who are completely exhausted of their own strength, who have given up their own efforts realizing its futility, and who have entrusted their remission of sins and their salvation entirely to God—such people alone can find grace from God. Although this may seem incomprehensible to you in your thoughts, God Himself has actually fulfilled our salvation perfectly to deliver us all. There is therefore nothing else for us to do but believe in God’s work of salvation.
Entrust Yourself to God Completely It’s absolutely imperative for you to entrust yourself to God. Think about what God has done for you. God Himself had become a man. And God did
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this just to save you and me. Moreover, Jesus, who is God Himself, was baptized for us in order to bear all our sins and to blot them all out. Jesus was also crucified to death, shedding His precious blood for us on the Cross. He was thus condemned in our place, all to pay off each and every one of our sins, to deliver us from our condemnation, and to make it possible for us to escape from our judgment. He then rose from the dead again in three days to bring us back to new and everlasting life. And now, He is sitting at the right hand of the throne of God the Father and watching over all of us. He is watching out to see who is willing to entrust his everything to Him, God Himself and the Savior, and who believes in Him wholeheartedly. Those who have received Jesus are those who have entrusted their everything to God. They believe that the Lord has saved them perfectly. They know that they have done nothing on their own for their salvation. They are certain that it’s only out of His love that God has saved them through the Truth of salvation revealed in
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the blue, purple, and scarlet thread of the Tabernacle door. And to all such people who have entrusted themselves to God completely, and who have accepted God and His Word into their hearts, God has given the right to become His own children. So I ask you all to have a clear understanding of this Truth of salvation before you partake in Holy Communion. The baptism that Jesus received was to bear all our sins and make atonement for them. The physical death that Jesus suffered was to save you and me from all our sins. Having thus borne all our sins, Jesus was crucified to death, shedding all His blood in our place, and was condemned like this in order to release us from the judgment of sin and to make us righteous. To all of us abiding and praying in the Holy Place, God has given the altar of incense in order to clothe us in His grace. This is where we can find grace from God. So I admonish each and every one of you to completely entrust yourself to the Lord. Hallelujah!
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SERMON 5
You can download Rev. Paul C. Jong’s Free Christian Books on iPhone, iPad, or Blackberry by going to Amazon’s Kindle e-bookstore (www.amazon.com).
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107 The Spiritual Meaning of The Silver Sockets Used for the Tabernacle
The Spiritual Meaning of The Silver Sockets Used for the Tabernacle < Exodus 26:15-30 > “And for the tabernacle you shall make the boards of acacia wood, standing upright. Ten cubits shall be the length of a board, and a cubit and a half shall be the width of each board. Two tenons shall be in each board for binding one to another. Thus you shall make for all the boards of the tabernacle. And you shall make the boards for the tabernacle, twenty boards for the south side. You shall make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards: two sockets under each of the boards for its two tenons. And for the second side of the tabernacle, the north side, there shall be twenty boards and their forty sockets of silver: two sockets under each of the boards. For the far Free book request www.nlmission.com
side of the tabernacle, westward, you shall make six boards. And you shall also make two boards for the two back corners of the tabernacle. They shall be coupled together at the bottom and they shall be coupled together at the top by one ring. Thus it shall be for both of them. They shall be for the two corners. So there shall be eight boards with their sockets of silver—sixteen sockets—two sockets under each of the boards. And you shall make bars of acacia wood: five for the boards on one side of the tabernacle, five bars for the boards on the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the side of the tabernacle, for the far side westward. The middle bar shall pass through the midst of the boards from end to end. You shall overlay the boards with gold, make their rings of gold as holders for the bars, and overlay the bars with gold. And you shall raise up the tabernacle according to its pattern which you were shown on the mountain.”
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The boards of the Tabernacle where God dwelt were all overlaid with gold. For each board of the Tabernacle to stand upright, God told Moses to make two silver sockets. The spiritual meaning of placing two silver sockets under each board is as follows. In the Bible, gold refers to faith that does not change in time. That these sockets of silver were placed under the boards overlaid with this gold means that God has given us two gifts that guarantee our salvation. In other words, it means that Jesus completed our salvation from sin by being baptized and shedding His blood. What is absolutely necessary for us to receive this faith like pure gold that enables us to become God’s people and part of His Kingdom is the faith that believes in the baptism of Jesus and His blood of the Cross. The gospel of the water and the Spirit that God has given us to blot out all our sins is the gift of faith that is absolutely necessary for us. Because we cannot help but sin everyday and be bound to hell, we cannot make our sins disappear through our own
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efforts, strength, or will. For us to blot out all our sins, instead of relying on our own strength, we must believe only in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and only then can we be saved from our sins. It is right for us to believe in thankfulness that the Lord has given us the gift of salvation through the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit. When we believe in the gift of salvation made of these two components of the gospel, seeing this faith of ours, God makes us His perfect people. Therefore, if you still have any sin in your heart, you have to be wholly saved by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that God has given us as His gift to save us. Many people living in this world want to become God’s own people. To become God’s people, we must first reflect ourselves with the light of God’s Word and examine ourselves accordingly. Then, we will find that we are all sinners who have nothing to protest against even if we were to be condemned for our sins. We are the ones who sin everyday against
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the Law. Our true selves are such that we cannot help but lead our lives permeated in unrighteousness and sin, waiting for our judgment. Given this, how could we become God’s own people? We have thus come to realize the need to receive the two gifts of salvation that God has given us in order for us to become His own people. To us, the Lord is the Savior who has blotted out all our sins with the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen. The baptism that Jesus Christ received from John the Baptist and the blood that He shed on the Cross have completely saved us from all our sins. These two elements are indispensible to our salvation. Therefore, no one can become God’s people without believing in this Truth. Through these two gifts of salvation that God has given us, we can truly become His people. That we have become God’s children has absolutely nothing to do with our own good deeds. That we have been saved and delivered from all our sins and all the condemnation of sin is entirely possible through the
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works of Jesus’ baptism and bloodshed. In other words, it is by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that we have become God’s children. Our faith that is like pure gold has been built by receiving these gifts of God. In making the Tabernacle, God placed two silver sockets under its every board. This truth tells us that Jesus Christ came to this earth, took upon all the sins of mankind by being baptized by John the Baptist at the Jordan River, and bore the condemnation of sin by carrying these sins to the Cross and dying on it. The baptism that Jesus received and the blood that He shed on the Cross are the gifts of the definite remission of sins. You and I who are living in this age must know our own sinful selves. And those who know themselves before God must realize that because the Lord really came to this earth, took upon their sins by being baptized by John the Baptist, and died on the Cross, He has saved them from all their sins and condemnation. When we believe in the gift of
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salvation and receive our remission of sins like this, then we become God’s own children before Him. It is because the Lord has saved us with His baptism and the blood of the Cross that we have been delivered from sin; if He had not done so, we could then never completely free ourselves from sin on our own. Therefore, we cannot but believe and confess that it is 100 percent by the grace of God that you and I have become God’s people and the righteous. The silver sockets for the boards of the Tabernacle show us that our remission of sins is entirely a gift of God fulfilled through the blue, purple and scarlet thread. It is because God has bestowed on us the grace of salvation with the blue, purple, and scarlet thread that we can be wholly saved by faith. Only those who are poor in spirit, who admit that they cannot avoid but be bound to hell for their sins, are qualified to receive the salvation of God given through the blue, purple and scarlet thread. Only those who grieve and mourn over themselves, that they are destined to hell, are
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qualified to receive the gift of salvation given by God. Those who believe in the truth manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen, the gospel of the water and the Spirit that God the Father has given through Jesus Christ, can be saved from all their sins to become the children of God. Only those who receive the gift of salvation given by the Lord are able to enjoy all the blessings of God. This is a qualification that can be attained only by those who know that they are bound to hell for their sins and ask God for His mercy. This is indeed the case. That we have been saved from all our sins is because of the gift of salvation that God gave to us. This is why Ephesians 2:8 says, “By grace you have been saved.” That we have become God’s children is also because we have believed in this gift of salvation. Given this, what is there for us to boast of? Far from boasting, we cannot but only praise God, confessing that it is not we but God who has saved us. Frankly speaking, we could never have been
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saved from all our sins, had God not saved us with the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen. The truth contained in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen is made of the power of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. It reveals the Truth of salvation that Jesus Christ was born unto this earth, took upon all the sins of mankind once for all by being baptized by John at the Jordan River (Matthew 3:13-17), died on the Cross, and rose from the dead again. Because the grace with which God has saved us is so perfect, it is more than enough to make us, who are insufficient in the flesh and filled with sin, perfect by faith, to raise us up as the pillars of the Kingdom of God, and to turn us into the people of His Kingdom.
Do You Still Not Know Who You Really Are Even As You Believe in Jesus? Nowadays hundreds of TV channels are available
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for viewing from cable or satellite TV. Running for 24 hours a day, these channels carry their own specialty-programs and fascinate the viewers continuously. Among these channels, the most commercially successful specialty-channels are, above all, adult channels. There are many such adult channels where all kinds of pornographic materials are available for viewing by simply flipping through channels. As a result, so many people of this age are indulging themselves into such pornographic films. What is worse is that such people do not regard their lewd behaviors as sins anymore. However, the Bible points out that fornications, adulteries, and lewdness, which come out of every human being, are clearly sins (Mark 7:21-23). Are we not then all filled with sin? God repeatedly said that the properties intrinsic to us are sinful, that the wages of sin is death, and that sin brings forth death when it is fully grown. But do we really admit this? How is it? Can we escape from the properties of sin that are intrinsic to us by closing our eyes and covering our
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ears? We cannot help but commit all kinds of sin with the imaginations of our minds and thoughts. No matter how much we tell ourselves that we have to move away from such sins, and no matter how hard we try to do so, they are all in vain. In fact, our flesh is such that not only can we never become perfect saints who commit no carnal sin, but we actually have affinity to sin with no desire to be distanced from it. The flesh and hearts of mankind are always far removed from the things that are holy, and it is true that they not only want to be closer to sin, but they want to commit even greater sins. Each one of us is a lump of sin and iniquities. We are therefore decadent in our fundamental essence. The obscenities that we might have glimpsed are burnt into our memories for a long time, and the lingering remnants disturb our minds. This is because the heart of every human being is nothing more than a lump of sin in its fundamental essence. Therefore, we must honestly admit such traits of ourselves before God as masses of sin. And it is wise for us to
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recognize that we are bound to hell by the righteous judgment of God and ask Him for our salvation. Did Napoleon Bonaparte not say, “Impossible is a word to be found only in the dictionary of fools”? Many Christians are trying to show off their own righteousness, as if they can avoid sinning at all for themselves. But this is like mounting a great challenge against God. Such a defiant faith leaves them stuck as evil ones who refuse to receive the righteousness of God and reject even the love of salvation that He has given us. Do you consider yourselves as good? Do you think on your own that you have a strong sense of justice that cannot tolerate any unrighteousness at all, under any circumstances and in any form? Do you think that you are somehow righteous before God, just because you keep God’s commandments in your heart everyday and try to obey and act upon them out in your lives? If someone does not know the gift and grace of salvation that God has given him and just tries to act righteously even as his heart still remains
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sinful, all that he is doing is just pretending to be righteous with the righteousness of filthy human beings. The goodness of such people cannot enable them to become the pillars of the House of God, and they are just a useless lump of sin. In the countries of Eastern Asia, many learn the teachings of Confucius from birth, and so they try very hard to put these teachings into practice. In the West, on the other hand, Catholicism or Protestantism has dominated its religious landscape, and so many Westerners have tried hard to keep the Law of God. But regardless from where they spring forth, whether from the East or the West, when they place themselves before God and are stripped to their true fundamental selves, both those who try to live according to Confucius’ teachings and those who seek to live by the commandments of God are all just masses of sin and seeds of evildoers alike. Human beings are unrighteous, full of blemishes, and masses of sin made of dust and dirt. Even the good people who have done good works not for recognition but
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out of their sincere hearts, and who are actually discomforted to receive any praise for their good deeds, cannot escape from the fact that when their fundamental essence is uncovered before God, they are masses of sin and seeds of evildoers. Because human righteousness’ is a great evil before God, people cannot escape from the condemnation of sin unless they recognize their punishment and accept the gospel of the water and the Spirit, that is, the love of God. Before God, all human efforts cannot be translated into any goodness, and the will of mankind is only filthy before Him. The fundamental nature of mankind is but of dirt, wood and bronze. Human beings are a type of wood that cannot be raised at the entrance of the House of God unless He first overlays them with gold. And without the grace of salvation given by God, they are nothing more than bronze that cannot but face the judgment of fire. If we do not believe in the gift of salvation, that Jesus Christ the Messiah was baptized in the form of the laying on of hands and bled to death, we then will still remain as
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sinners. As such, those who do not know that they are evil beings before God and who have not received the gift of God to be saved, are truly pitiful. Before we knew the righteousness of God, our own righteousness had been our standard of life. I too, had been like this when I did not know God’s gift of salvation and did not have genuine faith. In fact, I had no righteousness of my own, but I still thought of myself as decent. So since my childhood, there had been many times when I could not tolerate injustice and got into a fight with people with whom I was no match. My philosophy in life was to live justly and righteously, since I was born only once and would die only once. My thoughts were, “I would rather die than to lead a worthless life like this, doing nothing else but eating. If this is what life is all about, then it makes no difference whether I die now or I live for another 50 years. Living like this is boring and disgusting. Living without any meaning without any purpose and unable to do anything righteous with no great cause in life is hell itself. What else is hell,
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after all? For a man to live like a pig, only eating and feeding his own belly everyday until he dies, is the hell of humiliation.” Like this, because I had failed to see myself before God, I was full of selfrighteousness. So I thought of myself better than others and tried hard to live righteously. But I was indeed no more than a mere mass of sin before the righteousness of God. I was not someone who could keep even one of the 613 statutes of the Law not to mention the Ten Commandments. The fact that I had the will to keep them was itself an act of unrighteousness that rebelled against the Word of God that declares, “You are an evil being who cannot but commit sin that stood against God.” All the righteousness of mankind turns out to be only unrighteousness before God. The truth is that human beings simply cannot be righteous. In fact, this present age is the last age whose current is swept across by a culture of decadence and depravity and permeated by sin. This means that our flesh is constantly gripped by such debauched and lewd sins,
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and that we actually commit these sins in our lives. In fact, our flesh is always dragged along by these indescribably filthy sins, and no goodness at all can ever be found in it.
We Had Been Unrighteous and Filled with Sin, but the Lord Has Now Made Us His Own People by Saving Us from All Our Sins with the Gospel of the Water and the Spirit We were all unrighteous, but through the gift of salvation, the Lord has saved such beings as us from all our sins. The boards of the Holy Place, the House of God, each measuring 4.5 m in height and 675 mm in width, were overlaid with gold and raised as the walls of the Holy Place. Under each board, two silver sockets were placed. These silver sockets here manifest that God has saved you and me entirely by Himself. The truth is that God has saved us from sin out of Free book request www.nlmission.com
His love. In this love, Jesus Christ came to this earth and was baptized to take upon all our sins, bore the condemnation of our sins by dying on the Cross, has thereby saved us from all the sins of the world and all condemnation. By believing in the gift of salvation He has given us, we have been born again. This Lord-given gift of salvation is incorruptible like gold, and so it is forever unchanging. The salvation that the Lord has given us is made of the baptism and blood of Jesus, and it has entirely and cleanly blotted out all our sins. It is because the Lord has saved us from all our sins that you and I could have been wholly delivered from all the sins that we have committed and will commit with our minds, with our thoughts, and with our actual acts. By believing in the gift of salvation that God has given us in our hearts, we have become His precious saints. Through the boards of the Tabernacle, which were both its pillars and walls, God is telling us of the salvation of the water and the Spirit. And through the silver sockets of the boards, God is telling us that
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it is 100 percent His grace and gift that we have become His children. If we take out our faith in the baptism and blood of Jesus, then there is nothing remaining in us. We had all been such beings that were bound to be condemned for sin. We had been mere mortals who were bound to tremble before our certain deaths in accordance to the law of God declaring that the wages of sin is death; and we were to realize and mourn over the righteous judgment of fire awaiting us. This is why we are nothing if we leave out our faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Living now in an age that is permeated with sin, we must never forget that our fate had been that of waiting only for the judgment of fire. This is who we really had been, and yet grace was bestowed upon us entirely because God has given us the salvation of the water and the Spirit. The Messiah came to this earth, was baptized by John the Baptist, shed His blood and died on the Cross, rose from the dead again, and has thereby saved us from all our sins, all our
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unrighteousness and all our condemnation. By believing in this perfect gospel of the water and the Spirit, we have now been saved from all our sins, and we can only thank God with our faith. Though we are insufficient in the flesh, our workers and co-workers, ministers, and I are preaching this gospel of the water and the Spirit throughout the whole world. Though this age is such a depraved one, because we believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we have been able to serve the Lord purely, free from any wickedness. That we have come to have this mind is not because of our own volition, but because the Lord has given us holiness by clothing us in His grace of salvation. It is because the Lord has saved us perfectly from sin and condemnation that we have been clothed in the power of this salvation, and it is entirely because of this that we have been able to serve the Lord purely. Because the Lord has saved us from all our sins with the water and the Spirit, I believe that we can serve Him in spite of our insufficiencies, no longer bound
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by our sins, shortcomings and condemnation. Truly we cannot preach the gospel throughout the whole wide world, had it not been for the grace of our Lord. Spreading the gospel of the water and the Spirit throughout the whole world and serving this gospel purely would not have been possible at all but for the grace of the Lord. It is 100 percent by the grace of God’s salvation that you and I are able to lead our lives of faith defending and serving this genuine gospel. We have become the pillars of the Kingdom of God and the people of this Kingdom by faith. Because the Lord has given us faith like gold, we now can live in the House of God. In this age when the world is covered with sin, in an era when people, swept by sin, are forgetting or blaspheming God, we have been washed with clear water and become clean, and as a result we have been able to drink clear water and serve the Lord in pureness of spirit. So, words cannot express just how profoundly grateful I am for this blessing. This is indeed how we became righteous by faith.
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How could we have become righteous? How have we been able to call ourselves righteous when there is no goodness in us? How could such sinful beings as you and I become sinless? Could you have become sinless and righteous by the righteousness of your flesh? The thoughts of the flesh, your own efforts, and your own deeds—could any of these turn you into a righteous person who have no sin at all? Could you have become righteous just by faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit? Could you have become righteous just by your faith in God’s salvation manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen? Could you have become righteous without believing in your salvation through the gospel of the water and the Spirit which was fulfilled by the Messiah and revealed in the Word of God? You could never have become like this! In short, by believing in only the scarlet thread, we can never become righteous. Because Jesus Christ, our Savior and Messiah shouldered all the sins of the world, including all the
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sins of our entire lifetime through the baptism that He received from John the Baptist to blot out all our sins on our behalf, we have become righteous by faith. Just as the sacrificial animal of the Old Testament accepted sin when sinners or the High Priest put their hands on its head, in the New Testament’s time, Jesus accepted all the sins of the world onto Himself by being baptized by John the Baptist. Jesus took upon all our sins through His baptism (Matthew 3:15). And John the Baptist testified this momentous event by crying out, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) Having received His baptism, Jesus lived the next three years of His life for our salvation, paying off all our sins and condemnation by going to the Cross and giving up His own body to God, like a silent sheep before its shearers, and has given us new life. It is because Jesus Christ took upon all our sins through the baptism that He received from John the Baptist that He could give Himself up quietly and was nailed through both His hands and feet when He
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was crucified on the Cross by Roman soldiers. Hanging on the Cross, Jesus shed all His blood that was in His heart. And He embraced the final stage of His ministry for our salvation, crying out, “It is finished!” (John 19:30) Having thus died, He rose again from the dead in three days, ascended to the Kingdom of Heaven, and has thus become our Savior by giving us eternal life. By shouldering the sins of the world through the baptism that He received from John the Baptist, and by His Cross, resurrection, and ascension, Jesus has become our perfect Savior.
Faith in the Blood of the Cross Alone and the Doctrine of Incremental Sanctification Has Not Saved You from Your Sins at All Christians cannot be saved perfectly from their sins by believing only in Jesus’ blood of the Cross. Because people commit sin everyday with their eyes and acts, they cannot blot out any of their sins just by
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believing in the blood of the Cross alone. One of the most pervasive iniquities committed in people’s lives is sexual immorality. As a culture of explicit and obscene sexuality pervades this world, this particular sin is ingrained in our flesh. The Bible commands us not to commit adultery, but today’s reality is that because of the circumstances that surround us, many people end up committing this sin even as they do not want to. God declares that having lustful thoughts alone is committing the act of adultery itself, and yet what our eyes see everyday is all obscene. So people are committing such lewd sins every minute and every second. If this is the case, how can they be sanctified to enter the Kingdom of God by offering their prayers of repentance? How can they become righteous? Do their hearts become righteous when they discipline themselves for a long time and somehow get sanctified when they get old? Can their characters become meeker? Do they become more patient? Of course not! What happens is the exact opposite.
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When people get old, they become hot-tempered and impatient. With aging comes hormonal changes, and even those who had been quite patient before find it hard to calm their anger and frustrations down. And they increasingly think of themselves before they think of others. As their bodily functions deteriorate, their instinct for self-preservation becomes stronger. So when we get older, we become more like a child. As a saying goes, what crawls on four feet when infantile, stands on two feet when young, and walks on three feet when old is none other than human beings, and everyone is like this. Among Christian doctrines, there is this doctrine called the “doctrine of incremental sanctification.” This doctrine holds that when Christians believe in the death of Jesus on the Cross for a long time, give prayers of repentance on a daily basis, and serve the Lord daily, then they gradually become holy. It claims that the more time goes by since we began to believe in Jesus, the more we are made into someone who has nothing to do with sin and whose deeds are
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good, and that by the time death approaches, we would have become completely sanctified and therefore completely sinless. And it also teaches that because we have offered our prayers of repentance all the time, we might surely be washed of our sins everyday, as our clothes are washed. And therefore when we die in the end, we would go to God as someone who has become perfectly righteous. There are many Christians who believe like this. But this is only a hypothetical speculation conjured up by manmade thoughts. Romans 5:19 says, “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.” This passage tells us that all of us are made sinless by one Man’s obedience. Jesus Christ achieved what you and I could not do when He personally came to this earth. Knowing well that you and I could not free ourselves from sin, Jesus remitted all our sins on our behalf, something that neither you nor I could ever do. By coming to this earth, being baptized, being crucified,
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and rising up from the dead, He has saved you and me and cleansed us from all our sins once for all. By obeying the will of God the Father, Jesus Christ could personally fulfill our salvation, which is also known as the remission of our sins. Obeying God’s will as the Messiah, Jesus Christ has bestowed on us the grace of salvation through His baptism, death on Cross and resurrection. By thus giving us the gift of salvation, Jesus fulfilled the remission of sin perfectly. And now, by faith we have been clothed in the grace of this salvation, for the Lord has perfectly fulfilled our salvation from sin which could never have been achieved by our own works or merits. Many people do not believe in the baptism that Jesus received, but instead believe only in the blood that He shed on the Cross and try to become sanctified through their own deeds. In other words, even as Jesus took upon all the sins of mankind when He was baptized by John the Baptist, people still do not believe in this Truth. Matthew Chapter 3 tells us that the first thing that Jesus did in His public life
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was to be baptized by John the Baptist. This is the undeniable Truth attested by all the Four Gospels. Jesus took upon all our sins by being baptized by John the Baptist, the representative of all mankind and the greatest of all who were born of women, and yet there are so many people who ignore this fact and do not believe in it. Such people believe in Jesus without believing in His baptism, and fervently praise only the precious blood that He shed on the Cross. Having much compassion for the death of Jesus on the Cross, they rouse up their emotions, make all kinds of racket in their praise, singing out at the top of their voices, “♫There is power, power, wonder working power In the blood of the Lamb; ♫There is power, power, wonder working power In the precious blood of the Lamb.” They try to go to God, in other words, fueled up with their own emotions, vigour and strength. But you must realize that the more they do this, the more sins they end up having and the more hypocritical they become.
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When it comes to believing in Jesus Christ, two graceful ministries of Jesus are absolutely necessary. What are they? One of them is that Jesus took upon all our sins by being baptized, and the other is, that He paid off all the wages of our sins by carrying the sins of the world to the Cross and being crucified to it. Whoever wholly believes in these two graceful ministries of Jesus can be made righteous for sure. Our faith in both the baptism of Jesus and His blood of the Cross, the two pivots of His gift of salvation, makes us stand firmly in the House of God. By the grace of God, we are made His truly unblemished people. By believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit given by Jesus, we receive faith like pure gold that is forever unchanging. By believing in this gospel of the water and the Spirit manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen, we become the saints who have received the salvation of the perfect remission of sin.
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The Age of Theology versus the Age of the Gospel of the Water and the Spirit Excluding the Early Church period, since the proclamation of Rome’s Edict of Milan in 313 A.D., Christianity has been spreading the gospel of only the Cross that leaves out Jesus’ baptism. From the Early Church period to 313 A.D., before Christianity had deteriorated as a mere religion, it had preached the gospel of the water and the Spirit vigorously, but afterwards the Roman Catholic Church came to dominate the religious realm of the Western world. Then from the early 14th century, a culture that centered everything on man-made thoughts and called for the restoration of humanity began to emerge from Italy. This was called the Renaissance. By the 16th century, the undercurrent of this humanistic culture that began in Italy started to spread throughout the whole western world, and scholars who studied humanistic, man-made philosophy began to study theology. Interpreting the
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Bible with their own logics and perspectives, they began to build various Christian doctrines. But because they did not know the Truth, they could not understand the Bible properly. There were so many difficult passages in the Bible, and as a result drove them to fabricate their own Christian doctrines by incorporating their secular knowledge with their philosophical perspectives. This is how Calvinism, Arminianism, Fundamentalism, Liberalism, New Theology, Conservatism, Rationalism, Higher Criticism, Mystical Theology, Religious Pluralism, Liberation Theology, and even the Death of God theology arose. The history of Christianity may seem very long, but it actually is not that long. For 300 years since the Early Church period, people could learn about the Bible, but this was soon followed by the Medieval Age, the dark age of Christianity. During this era, reading the Bible itself was a crime punishable to death by beheading. It was not until the 1700s when the wind of theology began to blow, and then
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Christianity seemed to blossom in the 1800s and 1900s as theology grew vibrant and active, but by now many people had fallen into mystical notions in their faith, believing in God based on their own personal experiences. But is this the truth? When you believed in this way, did your sins actually disappear? You sin everyday. You sin everyday with your thoughts, acts, and shortcomings. Can you then be remitted of these sins just by believing only in the blood that Jesus shed on the Cross? That Jesus shouldered all our sins by being baptized and died on the Cross is the truth. Yet there are so many people who say that their sins have been remitted by believing only in the blood of the Cross and offering their prayers of repentance. Were your sins in your hearts and consciences cleansed away by offering such prayers of repentance? This is impossible. If you are Christians, then you must now know and believe in the salvation of this truth, that Jesus Christ came to this earth and took upon all the sins of
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the world by being baptized by John the Baptist. In spite of this evidence before you, do you yet still ignore this truth, not even trying to know it, nor to believe in it? If so, then you cannot say that you truly believe in Jesus as your Savior. If this is the case, then you are committing the sin of mocking Jesus, of lowering and despising His name. You are, in other words, committing the sin of blaspheming the name of Jesus and mocking God out of your own volition. Jesus came to this earth to make our sins disappear, and in accordance with this very purpose of His coming, He was baptized to take upon all our sins and by carrying the sins of the world and being crucified, He bore the condemnation of all those sins. Yet in spite of this heavenly Truth, many people still do not believe in this salvation of Jesus Christ, and are as a result committing such an unforgivable sin against God. By leaving out Jesus’ baptism from this salvation plan which was fulfilled by Jesus Christ and believing in Him in whatever way that seems fit, they can never be clothed in the grace of salvation. Yet despite all these
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truths many Christians do not believe in the truth just as it is, namely, that Jesus has blotted out all their sins, but instead follow their own thoughts and believe in whatever twisted truths that they want to believe in. Nowadays, people’s hearts have been hardened by their mistaken doctrinal faiths, believing that their sins can be blotted out just by believing in the blood of the Cross alone. But the answer of salvation planned by God is as follows: The everlasting remission of sin is received by believing in the baptism of Jesus, the Cross, and His resurrection. Yet there has risen a countless number of people who believe in Jesus by taking out the baptism that He received from this truth of salvation, misunderstanding and misbelieving the following equation to hold true: “Faith in Jesus (the Cross and His resurrection) + prayers of repentance + virtuous deeds = salvation attained by sanctification.” Those who believe in this way are only saying with their words that they have received the remission of their sins, but the truth is that their hearts are actually filled up with piles of sins that still remain
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unresolved. Those who believe only in the Cross of Jesus actually end up with more sins. Why do you not believe in this truth just as it is said that Jesus has blotted out all your sins by being baptized by John the Baptist; but you instead believe in such man-made false doctrines, even as you profess to believe in Jesus? You must realize the fact that each board of the Tabernacle made of acacia wood had two tenons coming out, and that underneath them two sockets of silver were placed to hold the boards in place. The gospel of the water and the Spirit (the baptism that Jesus received and the blood of the Cross) is the absolute Truth. When we open the gate of the court of the Tabernacle and walk into the courtyard we would see firstly the altar of burnt offering and then the laver of bronze. What kind of place is the altar of burnt offering? It is the place where burnt offerings are given. It is the place where the sacrificial offerings that bore the sins of the Israelites are condemned for them. What kind of place is the laver? It is the place
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where bodies are washed and cleansed. It is, in other words, the place where the hearts defiled by sin are washed clean. Only when we go through this process by faith can we open the screen of the Tabernacle and enter into the House of God and not before. The screen of the door of the Tabernacle was all made of blue, purple, and scarlet thread and fine woven linen. It was woven by embroidering fine woven linen and blue, purple, and scarlet thread. To enter the Kingdom of God, we must believe in this truth. We can enter the Kingdom of God only when we have faith in the ministries of Jesus manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread. Jesus came to this earth and became the fulfillment of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread. The blue thread refers to the baptism that Jesus received, and the purple thread tells us that Jesus Christ is God Himself. The scarlet thread tells us that Jesus bore the condemnation of all our sins with the blood that He shed on the Cross. Do you still have sin that is intact in your heart? Do you have sin, in other words, sin in the center of your
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hearts? If you have sin in your hearts even as you now believe in Jesus, then clearly, there is a serious problem with your faith. It is because you believe in Jesus just as a matter of mere religion that your consciences are not clean and you still have sin. But by believing God through the truth manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen, you can also make your consciences clean. The very fact that you can now realize yourself to be sinful owing to your misguided knowledge of Jesus is extremely fortunate in itself. Why? Because those who truly realize that they still have sin will recognize that they cannot avoid but be bound to hell for this sin, and when they do so they can finally become poor in spirit and thereby be able to hear the Word of true salvation. If you really want to receive the remission of sin from God even now, then your hearts must be prepared. Those whose hearts are ready before God would admit to Him like this: “I have believed in Jesus for a long time, but I still have sin in my heart.
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126 The Spiritual Meaning of The Silver Sockets Used for the Tabernacle
Because the wages of sin is death, I cannot but be cast into hell. God, I want to receive the remission of sin.” Like this, they recognize themselves as wholly sinful beings before God. Those who recognize the Word of God, those who believe that the Word of God is surely fulfilled exactly as it says—none other than these are the ones whose hearts are ready. Such people will hear this Word, see the Word with their own eyes and confirm it, and from doing this they will come to realize, “Ah, I had believed mistakenly all this time. And a countless number of people are making the same mistake now.” And by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, regardless of what others might say or do, they then will infallibly receive the remission of all their sins. When I think about just how many throughout this world are misbelieving, and just how many are walking on the wrong path my heart aches very much. Brothers and sisters, the gospel with which the Lord has saved us from our sins was fulfilled by the baptism that Jesus received and the blood He shed on
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the Cross. Jesus took upon all our sins with His baptism, bore all the condemnation of sin with the blood on the Cross, and has thereby saved us. Hence, we must believe unequivocally that God has saved us by giving us the faith that believes in the truth manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen. I am so thankful for the fact that Jesus Christ has personally saved you and me in this way. You and I, who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, are therefore always at peace, and our hearts never waver.
Those Who Have Been Saved from Their Sins Must Defend Their Faith by Believing in the Gospel of the Water and the Spirit This world is so full of evil doctrines that even the hearts of the born-again can be tempted and defiled. That is why Jesus Christ said, “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven
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127 The Spiritual Meaning of The Silver Sockets Used for the Tabernacle
of Herod” (Mark 8:15). We cannot even count just how many such deteriorated teachings there are, defiling people’s hearts just by hearing it only once. We must realize just how this world is flooded with sexual immorality. We who believe must know exactly in what kind of age we are now living in order to defend our faith. Yet even as we live in such a sinful world, in our hearts is the unassailable truth that the Lord has delivered us from all our sins. The Word of testimony that bears witness to our unchanging salvation is the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We must have faith in the Truth that is neither shaken by the world nor dragged along by it. This world is not of the truth. Rather, it is full of Satan’s liars. However, God told us that the righteous can overcome the world. It is by their faith in the gospel of this unchanging truth that the righteous overcomes the Devil and triumphs over the world. Though we are insufficient, our hearts, our thoughts, and our bodies are still in the House of God and are standing firmly on the gospel of salvation with faith. We are standing
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steadfastly on the gospel of the water and the Spirit with which the Lord has saved us perfectly. The boards of acacia woods, which were raised as both the pillars and the components of the walls of the Tabernacle, were overlaid with gold. And because the boards stood on silver sockets, they were firmly fixed and did not waver. Likewise, the faith of those of us who have been born again of water and the Spirit is also forever unchanging. Just as the gold-leaf overlaying the boards of acacia woods did not change, nor does our faith like pure gold ever change, for you and me, the acacia woods that could not but be burnt by fire, has been perfectly saved in this way. Because of this, we are so thankful to God. No matter how sin abounds in this world, at least we the righteous truly have spotless consciences and faith that shines like gold in our hearts. We the righteous will all lead a life that overcomes the world by this faith. Until the day of the Lord’s return, and even after when we enter His Kingdom, all of us will praise this faith. We will forever praise the Lord who has saved us and
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praise our God who has given us this faith. Our truthful faith will not be shaken under any circumstances because it is built on the rock. Henceforth, no matter what happens to us as we live on this earth until the day we stand before the Lord, we will defend our hearts by faith. Even if everything in this world is destroyed, even if this world is drowning in sin, and even if this world becomes worse than Sodom and Gomorrah of the old days, we will not follow this world, but we will believe in God unwaveringly, we will pursue His righteousness, and we will continue to spread Jesus’ two ministries (the baptism of Jesus and His death on the Cross) of salvation, the true graces of God. I am utterly amazed by the grace of God, just how we have come to believe in this gospel of the water and the Spirit. I can only be infinitely grateful for how we have come to know and believe in this gospel, and how we have come to do the good works of God. As the gospel of the water and the Spirit is the grace of God that He has bestowed on us freely,
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all that we can give to our Lord is just thank Him with our faith and spread the Truth of this gospel until the day of His return. I thank God for giving us this truth.
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SERMON 6
You can download Rev. Paul C. Jong’s Free Christian Books on iPhone, iPad, or Blackberry by going to Amazon’s Kindle e-bookstore (www.amazon.com).
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The Mercy Seat < Exodus 25:10-22 > “And they shall make an ark of acacia wood; two and a half cubits shall be its length, a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height. And you shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it, and shall make on it a molding of gold all around. You shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in its four corners; two rings shall be on one side, and two rings on the other side. And you shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, that the ark may be carried by them. The poles shall be in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it. And you shall put into the ark the Testimony which I will give you. You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold; two and a half cubits shall be its length and a cubit and a half its Free book request www.nlmission.com
width. And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work you shall make them at the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub at one end, and the other cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim at the two ends of it of one piece with the mercy seat. And the cherubim shall stretch out their wings above, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and they shall face one another; the faces of the cherubim shall be toward the mercy seat. You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you. And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel.”
The inside of the Tabernacle was divided into two main parts: The Holy Place and the Most Holy.
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A veil was hung between them as a divider, and the Ark of the Testimony was located behind this veil inside the Most Holy. The covering of the Ark is also known as the mercy seat.
The Mercy Seat Was 2.5 Cubits Long In the Bible, a cubit is the length stretching from the tip of the hand to the elbow. So, a cubit in the Old Testament is generally considered to be about 500 mm in today’s unit of measurement. Then, at two and half cubits, the length of the mercy was about 1.0m in today’s measurement; its width and length, at a cubit and a half each, were around 750 mm. Below this mercy seat was the Ark of the Testimony, and the Ark was also made of acacia wood and overlaid with pure gold. At both ends of the mercy seat, there were two cherubim stretching out their wings above, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces were toward the mercy seat facing each other.
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The mercy seat, as its name goes, is where God bestowed His grace. God said to us that He would meet with us here on the mercy seat. Inside the Ark of the Testimony, there were Aaron’s staff that budded, a golden pot holding the manna, and two tablets of stone inscribed with the Ten Commandments. At the four corners of the mercy seat, four rings were put in so that the Ark of the Testimony could be carried. Two poles were made of acacia wood and overlaid with gold, and these poles could be put through the rings to carry the ark. Once a year, the High Priest brought the blood of a sacrificial animal into the Most Holy and sprinkled it over the mercy seat. He did this because through the laying on of his hands, all the year’s sins of the Israelites were passed onto the sacrificial animal. That is why our Lord said, “And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children
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of Israel” (Exodus 25:22). This was the Lord’s promise that He would bring the remission of sins to all mankind. So, when we profess to believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, it’s very important for us to have a detailed knowledge of the Old Testament’s sacrificial system. God commanded that whenever the priests moved the Ark of the Testimony, they should lift it by the poles at both sides of the Ark. What does this imply? It implies that God wants us serve and preach the Truth of His salvation with all our bodies and hearts. It also implies that God wants us to serve the Lord in unity rather than individually. That’s why God commanded that not only the mercy seat, but also the table of showbread and the altar of incense should all be carried by these poles which were put through the rings at both sides. This means that we ought to devote all our bodies and hearts to the spreading of God’s gospel. In other words, God is commanding us here to dedicate our bodies and hearts to spreading the Truth of salvation, preaching
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to everyone that our Lord has blotted out all our sins with the gospel of the water and the Spirit and made us completely righteous. That is why God commanded the Israelites to carry the Ark of the Testimony by these poles. We have received the remission of sins into our hearts by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Inside the Ark of the Testimony there was a golden pot that held the manna. Spiritually speaking, this manna means the Word of God. The Ark also had Aaron’s staff that budded. This staff of Aaron that budded implies the resurrection of Jesus, the Lord of life. Lastly, the Ark held two stone tablets of the covenant inscribed with the Ten Commandments of God. This shows us that we must serve God wholeheartedly by trusting in His Word with all our hearts.
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The Lord Said That He Would Meet with Us at the Mercy Seat Spiritually speaking, the mercy seat denotes the gospel of the water and the Spirit, where our Lord meets with us. Looking down on us between the cherubim on the mercy seat, the Lord is speaking to us of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. This mercy seat tells us spiritually about the remission of sins. The Lord has saved us from all our sins by being baptized by John the Baptist and shedding His blood. That is why we can call the mercy seat as the place where our God bestows His grace of salvation on us. In other words, the mercy seat implies our atonement, showing us that our Lord has blotted out all our sins once and for all with the gospel of the water and the Spirit. How about the people of Israel then? How did the Lord blot out their sins? He did so with the blood that was sprinkled on the mercy seat, for it was shed by the sacrificial animal that bore all the yearly sins
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of the people of Israel. On the Day of Atonement, the High Priest laid his hands on the head of the sacrificial animal to pass all the yearly sins of the Israelites, and then only did he cut its throat to draw its blood. Then this blood was sprinkled on the mercy seat to atone for the sins that the entire Israelites had committed for a year. This sacrificial system practiced during the age of the Old Testament speaks of the righteousness of God fulfilled by the gospel of the water and the Spirit in the age of the New Testament. As the heavenly High Priest, Jesus Christ has saved us from all our sins by offering His own body as the propitiation for all mankind. The screen door of the Tabernacle was also made of blue, purple, and scarlet thread and fine woven linen, just like the gate of the Tabernacle’s court was. The spiritual meaning of the blue thread used here is that Jesus bore all your sins and mine by being baptized by John the Baptist. In other words, the blue thread refers to the fact that Jesus took upon all the sins of the world once and for all by being
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baptized by John the Baptist. It’s because Jesus Christ accepted all the sins of this world through His baptism that He could be crucified and condemned for all the sins of the entire human race. This is the truth of the mystery hidden in the door of the Tabernacle. Our Lord took upon all our sins through His baptism and bore all their condemnation on the Cross. Therefore, God the Father now wants everyone to wholeheartedly believe in this Truth that His Son Jesus has blotted out all the sins of the world by being baptized by John the Baptist. God wants all the saints who have become His own people to serve the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We ought to therefore realize this will of our God and walk accordingly. Now that we have become righteous, we should realize what God wants from all of us.
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The Purple Thread Used for the Door of the Tabernacle Implies That Jesus Is the King of Kings Jesus Christ is God Himself and the Lord of eternal life (1 John 5:20). In other words, God Himself was born as a Man to deliver us from all the sins of the world. God promised this to us through the Prophet Isaiah, saying, “‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which is translated, ‘God with us’” (Matthew 1:23, Isaiah 7:14). To save all of us the sinners from all our sins, Jesus Christ forsook the throne of glory in Heaven and came to this earth through the body of the Virgin Mary, just as God had promised to the Prophet Isaiah over 700 years before the Lord was actually born on this earth. As God became a Man like this and bore all the sins of each and every sinner by being baptized, He has clothed in His righteousness all of us who believe in this Truth.
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The Scarlet Thread Used for the Door of the Tabernacle Refers to the New Life That Jesus Has Brought to Us through His Sacrifice Having borne all the sins of humanity once and for all by being baptized by John the Baptist, Jesus was crucified for us. He was nailed in both His hands and feet, and this punishment that the Lord suffered was the punishment that every sinner like you and me should have borne. In other words, the Lord Himself was crucified instead of us and thereby bore the condemnation of all our sins in our place. Through these three ministries of salvation foreshadowed by the blue, purple, and scarlet thread of the Tabernacle door, we can all understand the true work of salvation correctly. We can see clearly that as His work of salvation, Jesus bore all the sins of the human race once and for all, and that He was also condemned for all these sins. This is why the Lord is commanding us to preach this beautiful gospel of the Free book request www.nlmission.com
water and the Spirit to everyone all over the world. He is asking us to serve this gospel. The Ark of the Testimony in the Tabernacle was covered with the mercy seat. Whom does God then meet on this mercy seat which is covering the Ark of the Testimony? He meets with only those who believe that all their sins were passed onto Jesus the Lamb of God and that He was condemned for all their sins. Spiritually speaking, in other words, God meets only the believers in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. When the Day of Atonement came, the High Priest passed all the yearly sins of the entire population of Israel onto the first one of the two consecrated goats by laying his hands on its head and confessed all the Israelites’ sins on their behalf. Having thus passing all the yearly sins of every Israelite to this sacrificial goat by laying his hands on its head, the High Priest then drew its blood, took this blood into the Most Holy, and sprinkled it seven times on God’s Ark of the Testimony. This is how God met with the people of the
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Israel during the age of the Old Testament. Today God meets the believers in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, which proclaims that Jesus has blotted out all our sins by being baptized by John the Baptist for us. The Lord therefore says to the believers in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, “You have no sin. I have blotted out all your sins. I have saved you from each and every one of your sins.” Put differently, the Lord bestows God’s grace on those who believe in the righteousness of God. God’s grace refers to His gift. It refers to the fact that God the Father has fulfilled His righteousness by passing all the sins of everyone in this world onto His own Son. It means that as Jesus was crucified while shouldering all the sins of this world, He bore all the condemnation of our sins in our place. This is the very love of God revealed in the mercy seat. Our Lord, the Son of God, came to this earth incarnated in the flesh of man, accepted all the sins of this world through His baptism, died on the Cross in our place, rose from the dead again in three days, and
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ascended to Heaven to sit at the right hand of the throne of God the Father. God’s righteousness is that He has saved us from all the sins of the world, and the grace of God is bestowed on those who believe in this righteousness of God. Our God says to all of us who believe in His righteousness, “You are My people. You are no longer sinners. I have saved you all. My love for you is so great that I have saved you unconditionally out of My own volition. Not only do I love You, but I have actually demonstrated My love to you by bearing all your sins and laying down My life for you. This is the proof of My love, and I have shown it to all of you.”
What Has God Shown Us Through His Word? When we turn to the Word of God, we can see that although God speaks about our sins, He also speaks even more about how He has saved us from all the sins of the world through the gospel of the
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water and the Spirit. Having promised us our salvation, God has indeed blotted out all our sins once and for all exactly as He promised, and the output of this fulfillment is none other than the gospel of the water and the Spirit. This gospel of the water and the Spirit is the proof of our salvation written in the Bible. It’s on account of our faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit recorded in the Word of God that we can be saved from all our sins. Therefore, whenever we come into the presence of our holy Lord, we can meet Him through the gospel of the water and the Spirit, by trusting in His salvation revealed in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen of the Tabernacle door. The gospel of the water and the Spirit is Lord’s gift for us, and as long as we believe in this true gospel, our Lord will meet with us. This means that the Lord meets with only those who believe that He came to this earth to save them from all the sins of the world, that He bore all their sins by being
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baptized by John the Baptist, that He was condemned on the Cross in their place, and that He rose from the dead again to give them eternal life. God therefore bestows His grace only on those who believe in His righteousness. God is saying to us, “Even though you were mere creatures, I have adopted you all as My sons and daughters. You are now My own children. You are no longer the Devil’s children, nor are you just creatures anymore. You are My very own people. I have remitted away all your sins through the righteousness of My Son Jesus. I have therefore adopted you into My own family, and on account of your faith in Me, you have now all become My own children.” Like this, God has bestowed His grace of salvation on all of us.
The Poles Inserted through the Rings of the Mercy Seat Should Not Be Taken Out It’s very important for us to remember that the
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mercy seat had two poles at its sides for it to be carried. And they must not be removed from the Ark at all times. This implies that every believer should maintain his faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit while serving it with all his body and heart. However, the problem is that many Christians today are not only refusing to serve the gospel of the water and the Spirit with all their bodies and hearts, but they don’t even believe in this true gospel. Even though countless Christians profess to believe in Jesus and many of them claim to have been born again, they consider themselves so smart that they are not willing to believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. God is admonishing all such mistaken Christians to believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Exodus 25:15 says, “The poles shall be in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it.” This passage teaches us that we have to preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit just as it is. In other words, we ought to preach to each and every sinner the
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mystery of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread of the Tabernacle door manifested in the gospel of the water and the Sprit that has saved us from all the sins of the world. God commanded Moses to build the Tabernacle exactly as shown to him, and this implies that we must believe in Jesus exactly as shown in the Word of God. Despite this, however, too many Christians nowadays profess to believe in Jesus in their own way, leaving out His baptism from their faith. The door of the Tabernacle was made of blue, purple, and scarlet thread and fine woven linen. This door refers to the door of salvation prepared by the Lord, and all of us must enter it only by trusting in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The fine woven linen here refers to the Word of God. God’s Word was spoken to about 40 of His servants. God had given His Word of prophesy to His servants for over 1,500 years, and He has fulfilled every prophecy with His own body in His time. In other words, the Lord has fulfilled our salvation once and for all through the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
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Sadly, however, there are too many Christians in this world who neither believe in the Word of God nor preach it exactly as it is. How about you then? Have you received the remission of sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit? If you have indeed received the remission of sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, then you ought to preach this gospel exactly as it is written in the Word of God.
The Grace of Salvation That Our Lord Has Given to Us Is Greater than All Our Transgressions The Bible says that just as many became sinners because of one man’s offense, so have many become righteous thanks to the righteousness of one Man, Jesus Christ our Lord. It’s because of one man’s offense, Adam, that you became a sinner. In other words, you became a sinner automatically because Free book request www.nlmission.com
you were born as a descendant of Adam. Because Adam and Eve sinned against God, all of us became sinners by nature. However, the grace of God that Jesus Christ has bestowed on us is far greater than all our transgressions put together. Even though we have committed countless sins on this earth and will continue to do so until the day we die, the Lord has completely blotted out even all these sins once and for all with the righteousness of God which He had fulfilled. Forsaking the throne of glory in Heaven, our Lord came to this earth incarnated in the flesh of man; He bore all the sins of this world once and for all through the baptism He received from John the Baptist; He shed His own blood on the Cross in our place; and through this work of salvation, our Lord has blotted out all the sins that we have ever committed and will ever commit. He has eradicate each and every conceivable sin, even the sins of those who still have not been born in this world and the countless sins that have not been committed yet.
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By coming to this earth, our Lord has made us perfect by washing all our sins away with His salvation manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread of the Tabernacle door. Therefore, this salvation that Jesus Christ has brought to us by blotting out all our sins on this earth is far greater than all our sins and transgressions that we have been committing and will commit because of one man’s offense. This is why we have become righteous by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We have become completely sinless through our faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
God Promised to Meet Us on the Mercy Seat The Ark of the Testimony located inside the Most Holy had two angels with their wings stretched out and facing the mercy seat. What can we see there? We can see blood. Whose blood is this? In the age of the Old Testament, it was the atoning blood of
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the sacrificial animal. In the age of the New Testament, it is the blood of Jesus Christ. In other words, the blood we see on the mercy seat is the blood of the Son of God the Father. This is the sacrificial blood that Jesus shed on the Cross after bearing all our sins through His baptism. And because of this sacrifice, whoever believes in the baptism of the Son of God and His blood can receive the remission of sins. God can declare that all those who understand and believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit have no sin. He also can make them His own people. This is the truth revealed in the mercy seat. Whenever we preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we have to preach it exactly as it is written in the Bible. None of us should ever preach or serve God’s gospel of the water and the Spirit in a deteriorated way. Everyone can be saved if they just listen to the gospel of the water and the Sprit preached by us and believe in it with all their hearts. Despite this, however, some Christians ridicule us,
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saying that anyone who believes in Jesus is sinless regardless of how they believe. So, they claim that there is really no need to know and believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. But is anyone really made sinless just by believing in the name of Jesus somehow? Do your sins really disappear just by believing blindly that Jesus was crucified and condemned to death in your place? No, of course not! Yet too many Christians nowadays believe in Jesus blindly like this, as they are happy to hear that they have become sinless even though this is in fact not true. It’s understandable why so many Christians are drawn to this false sense of security; after all, if you were in prison and the government gave you a pardon, you would also be very happy. The problem, of course, is that this pardon is not real. The Bible says clearly, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). What is the way for the sins of human beings to be atoned for? How can they receive everlasting life?
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They can receive the remission of sins and obtain everlasting life only by believing in the Truth of salvation manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread of the Tabernacle door, that is, in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Only those who believe in this true gospel can become God’s children. The gospel of the water and the Spirit is the very gospel of God, and we all have the duty to preach and spread this true gospel by faith. Now we have become the spiritual Israelites by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. This gospel of the water and the Spirit must be served by at least two people or more in complete unity. Whenever we preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we must preach the Truth of salvation revealed in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread of the Tabernacle door. The Lord has fulfilled the righteousness of God exactly as He had promised us. This righteousness is the fact that Jesus has blotted out all our sins and saved us His believers by coming to this earth, being baptized by John the Baptist, dying on the Cross, rising from
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the dead, and ascending to Heaven. We must preach this gospel of the water and the Spirit just as it is, and those who hear this gospel must believe in it just as it is to reach their salvation. I cannot emphasize enough just how important it is for all of us to preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit. It’s when we preach this true gospel that the Holy Spirit works to bring salvation to our listeners. The gospel of the water and the Spirit is our salvation. It is our atonement. It’s with the gospel of the water and the Spirit that God has blotted out all our sins once for all. Each and every sin of ours was passed onto Jesus through the baptism He received from John the Baptist, and this is how atonement was made for all our sins. Moreover, not only did our Lord bear all our sins, but He was also crucified to death in our place, shedding His blood and bearing the curse that we ourselves should have shed and borne. This is how Jesus has saved each one of us from all our sins and curses. This is the salvation that God brought to us, and this is His love. You ought to
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therefore believe in this Truth of salvation exactly as it is and preach it by faith. Our Lord is the Savior of all who believe in His righteousness. It is by our faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that we ought to come into the presence of God. When we stand before the mercy seat and offer the sacrificial blood of our Lord to God, we ought to approach Him by faith, saying to Him, “God, the blood of Your Son Jesus Christ has saved me from all my sins.” It’s only then that God says, “Yes, I have indeed saved you. My love for you is so great that I Myself have saved you.” The Lord is our Savior. He has granted His audience to all those who approach Him by their faith in the righteousness of God. And He has given the right to become God’s own children to us and to all those who accept the gospel of the water and the Spirit into their hearts as well. God has delivered us from all our curses, all our condemnation, and all our destruction. He has made us His believers completely sinless. He has given us eternal happiness. And this is the very grace of God
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revealed in the mercy seat. It’s from the mercy seat that God has bestowed His grace of salvation on us. All of us must therefore come to the throne of grace by trusting in the righteousness of God. No matter how sinful and depraved you might be, you can still receive the remission of all your sins by believing in the Truth of salvation which is revealed in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread of the Tabernacle door—that is, in the baptism of Jesus, His blood, and His resurrection. You must come into the presence of God by faith like this, exactly according to the law of salvation that God has established with the gospel of the water and the Spirit. You must come out to God by trusting in His righteousness. You must believe that the Lord came to this earth to save all sinners, that He bore all the sins of the human race once and for all by being baptized by John the Baptist, and that He was condemned for all your sins by dying on the Cross in your place. You must believe that the Lord took upon all your sins once and for all by believing in His baptism by John the
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Baptist, saying to the Lord, “Lord, I believe in everything that You have done for me to save me from all my sins!” Only when you come out to God by this faith can you reach your salvation. If you want to believe in the righteousness of the Lord and receive the remission of sins, then you must believe in the Truth of salvation manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen of the Tabernacle door. That’s because the remission of sins is attained only if you know and believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit correctly. If you want to meet the Lord and receive His blessings, if you want to be truly happy, and if you want to return to God and live with Him as His beloved creature, then you must believe that to save you from all the sins of the world, the Lord accepted each and every sin of the entire human race by being baptized by John the Baptist, that He was crucified to death while shouldering all these sins of the world, and that He has thereby delivered you from all your sins. If you have faith in this Truth of salvation and
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accept God’s salvation, then you will surely be delivered. It’s absolutely important for us to remember this point whenever we preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit. God tells us that the gospel of the water and the Spirit is the only true gospel written in the Bible. Take a look at the table of showbread in the Tabernacle. The table of showbread refers to the Word of God. Like this, only when your heart has faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit written in the Word of God, can you receive the remission of sins. Nonetheless, how are the so-called “renowned preachers” of today teaching about salvation? They claim that anyone can be saved if he just believes in Jesus as his Savior somehow. And they say that all who believe in Jesus’ blood on the Cross are saved. However, if you believe in Jesus blindly like this, then none of the sins you have committed in your life has actually disappeared. The vast majority of today’s Christians have all their sins still remaining intact in their hearts. Since these mistaken Christians
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believe in Jesus just blindly while leaving out Jesus’ baptism that He received from John the Baptist, it’s impossible for their hearts to be completely sinless. That’s because they have never passed their sins onto Jesus Christ. No matter how ardently they believe in Jesus, they just cannot blot out their hearts’ sins. Even though they all profess to believe in Jesus’ blood on the Cross, their spiritual condition remains the same as before, for they do not know the Truth of salvation revealed in the blue thread of the door of the Tabernacle. In other words, because these misguided Christians are oblivious to the meaning of the baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist, their sins still remain in their hearts, and they themselves still continue to be sinners. God has clearly blotted out all our sins with the water, the blood, and the Spirit (1 John 5:6-8). By fulfilling God’s Word of promise with His pure Word of Truth, Jesus has saved us infallibly and indisputably. Put differently, Jesus has saved us from all our sins once for all through His water, His blood,
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and the Spirit manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread of the Tabernacle door. The Holy Spirit is our God. What the Holy Spirit testifies is that Jesus the true God became a Man, received His baptism from John the Baptist, and shed His own blood on the Cross to be condemned for our sins in our place. He has saved us all like this. Yet, despite the fact Jesus has saved us from all our sins through the gospel of the water and the Spirit, countless Christians still remain sinners no matter how ardently they believe in Jesus as their Savior, all because they believe in the Lord blindly while leaving out the baptism that He received from John the Baptist. It is therefore absolutely indispensable for all of us to not only believe in Jesus Christ according to the gospel of the water and the Spirit, but also preach it as it is written in the Scriptures to everyone by faith, just as the Apostle Paul did. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4: “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was
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buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” When Paul mentioned, “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,” the words “the Scriptures” mentioned here refer to the Old Testament because the New Testament was not yet thoroughly given at that time. Then, Paul was saying that Jesus Christ had atoned for all the sins of the world exactly according to the sacrificial rite of the Old Testament. It’s because Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist that He shed His blood to death on the Cross. It’s because the Lord bore all our sins through His baptism that He was crucified to death, and this death on the Cross was to bear all our condemnation. This is how Jesus Christ became our Savior by coming to this earth. God’s remission of sins will therefore descend on whoever believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. This everlasting salvation has already come into all those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Hallelujah!
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SERMON 7
You can download Rev. Paul C. Jong’s Free Christian Books on iPhone, iPad, or Blackberry by going to Amazon’s Kindle e-bookstore (www.amazon.com).
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The Ornamental Knobs For the Gospel of The Water and the Spirit < Exodus 25:31-40 > “You shall also make a lampstand of pure gold; the lampstand shall be of hammered work. Its shaft, its branches, its bowls, its ornamental knobs, and flowers shall be of one piece. And six branches shall come out of its sides: three branches of the lampstand out of one side, and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side. Three bowls shall be made like almond blossoms on one branch, with an ornamental knob and a flower, and three bowls made like almond blossoms on the other branch, with an ornamental knob and a flower—and so for the six branches that come out of the lampstand. On the lampstand itself four bowls shall be made like almond Free book request www.nlmission.com
blossoms, each with its ornamental knob and flower. And there shall be a knob under the first two branches of the same, a knob under the second two branches of the same, and a knob under the third two branches of the same, according to the six branches that extend from the lampstand. Their knobs and their branches shall be of one piece; all of it shall be one hammered piece of pure gold. You shall make seven lamps for it, and they shall arrange its lamps so that they give light in front of it. And its wick-trimmers and their trays shall be of pure gold. It shall be made of a talent of pure gold, with all these utensils. And see to it that you make them according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.”
This passage describes the lampstand of the Tabernacle. Today, I would like to explain the spiritual meaning of its ornamental knobs, flowers and lamps. God commanded Moses to first make the
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shaft of the lamp stand out of one lump of gold. So the shaft was molded first, and then from this shaft branches were hammered out. Three branches came out of each side of the lampstand, and on each branch three bowls like almond blossoms were made, and then ornamental knobs and flowers were made. Like this, seven lamps were placed on top of the branches. Oil was then put into these seven lamps to light them. The lampstand thus illuminated brightly the inside of the Holy Place and all of its utensils as well. For you and me our Lord, the King of the Kingdom of Heaven, came to this earth in the likeness of a lowly human being. And on this earth Jesus carried out the works of salvation manifested in the blue and scarlet thread. These works of salvation were fulfilled by Jesus Christ who was born unto this earth, and was baptized by John the Baptist at His age of 30 in the Jordan River, and then was condemned on the Cross. By “thus” being baptized in a form of the laying on of hands, Jesus took upon all the sins of mankind (Matthew 3:15). Because
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Jesus, who had become a man, took upon all the sins of mankind by being baptized, He was crucified and shed His blood, and thereby carried out His duties of salvation manifested in the blue and scarlet thread. This is the Truth on which God’s Church places its foundation. Our Lord has become the ornamental knob of the Church. God became the foundation of salvation for you and me who have received the remission of sins. Therefore, you and I have become part of God’s Church by believing that the Lord has saved us from all our sins with His works of salvation manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread. Through the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we have been clothed in God’s grace. This is why the word “church” is called as “έκκλησία” (Ekklesia) in Greek, meaning “the gathering of the called out from the sinful world.” He who has enabled the people of this world to escape from sin by delivering them from it is none other than Jesus Christ. He is the Lord who came by
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the gospel of the water and the Spirit and washed away the iniquities of all sinners. By believing in the Lord’s baptism and bloodshed, we have been saved from sin and become perfectly righteous. That the Lord made us righteous was achieved by our faith in the truth that He came to this earth and fulfilled all the works of salvation manifested in the blue and purple thread. This is the faith that is revealed in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread. By being baptized by John when He came to this earth, Jesus took upon all our sins (Matthew 3:13-17). This is the truth and faith that are manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread. Because Jesus was condemned for the sins of the world on the Cross after being baptized by John the Baptist, He has blotted out our sins once for all. In other words, Jesus, who shouldered all our sins, has delivered us from all sins. In this way, with His works of salvation manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread, the Lord has saved us from all the sins of the entire world. What the faith of true salvation really means
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is for us to know and believe in this truth correctly. Because we have been saved from all our sins by faith, salvation from sin is a gift of God. Like this, our salvation had been designed in Jesus Christ even before the foundation of the world, in the baptism that He received and the blood of the Cross. Before this planet was even made, and before Adam and Eve, the common ancestors of mankind, were even created, God the Father had planned in Jesus Christ and with the gospel of the water and the Spirit, the salvation of sinners from their iniquities; and when the time arrived, He came to this earth to fulfill it by being baptized and shedding His blood. Our God who created mankind has fulfilled the remission of the entire mankind’s sins as He had promised to them. This fulfillment of God’s promises was all achieved by Jesus Christ being baptized by John and shedding His blood. And to all those who believe in this, God has given the gift of salvation that delivers them from all the sins of the entire world and allowed them to receive the remission of their sins and eternal
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life. Those who believe in this Truth have been perfectly saved by God as His very own people. This Truth is the Truth of salvation revealed in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread.
The Gospel of the Water and the Spirit Is the Shaft of the Lampstand Jesus has become the cornerstone of salvation, the indispensable cornerstone for the salvation of all mankind. With the gospel of the water and the Spirit, Jesus has completed and become the foundation of salvation for us. The lampstand of God had bowls like almond blossoms, ornamental knobs and flowers. And it had a shaft. Jesus Christ has also become the flower of salvation. If Jesus Christ’ Truth of salvation is the flower, who might the ornamental knobs then be? They are, of course, the servants of God and all those who have received the remission of sins. In other words, the flower is Jesus Christ and
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we are the ornamental knobs that support the flowers to full blossom. After saving us from our sins, our Lord has made all of us the ornamental knobs of the gospel. Do you know this truth and believe it? Our pastors, elders, and brothers and sisters are all ornamental knobs. Anyone who has received the remission of sins is an ornamental knob. The Lord first laid the shaft of salvation with the blue, purple, and scarlet thread. He then saved us first with the gospel of the water and the Spirit and made us the ornamental knobs that support the flowers of the gospel so that it could bloom. Only when all of us become ornamental knobs can sinners be saved from their sins. The only difference is in size, as some ornamental knobs may be large while others are small, but the fact that we all are the ornamental knobs for the gospel does not change. Because Satan always stands opposed to God, he seeks to prevent us from believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit in order for all of us not to be freed from our sins. But as flowers blossom even in a
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ruined field when a storm have passed through, every sinner can be delivered from sin by hearing the gospel of salvation, namely, the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The Lord wants to save the lost souls from sin. In other words, He wants to spread the Truth of the water and the Spirit throughout this entire world. Therefore, God’s Church also works for the same purpose. When ministers do not serve their churches by believing themselves to be the ornamental knobs of their respective churches, such churches can hardly bear any fruit of salvation. Therefore, if any minister only seeks to be served by his congregation, he then is merely an obstructer of the gospel themselves rather than a supporter of the beautiful gospel. The reason why Satan first came is to rob us of life and kill us. But our Lord came to give abundant life to His sheep (John 10:10), and He has saved them by giving up everything He had. If anything is beneficial to the spreading of the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we must not hesitate to do that no
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matter how hard it seems to be. Such mindset makes us become the ornamental knobs of the gospel. It is even proper for pastors to work as menial workers to serve the gospel, and that is why our pastors are actually working under the burning sun. If even a single soul can be saved by their fulfilling the role of ornamental knobs even under the burning sun, then they would do this for their entire lifetime. Ministers are the ones who have the kind of faith that makes them willing to do anything to bring the flower of God’s gospel into bloom. You need to realize just how much effort and sacrifice it takes for a single flower of the gospel of the water and the Spirit to blossom. The very fact that you and I have been able to receive the remission of sins was also because of the fact that there had been the forefathers of faith who were martyred to preserve the Word of the Scriptures. The seven lamps in the Tabernacle were where God’s precious oil was poured in. By our faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we have been able to receive this precious oil and enjoy it, and by the
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grace of God, we have also become the ornamental knobs of the gospel. When we serve the gospel, we come to realize that there are so many things to do. From one thing to another, there is no end to what needs to be done. Publishing our gospel books, securing adequate funding for the ministers to preach the Word, to pray, and to lead their brothers and sisters, and for the brothers and sisters to serve the Lord—all these things must be carried out to fulfill the role of the ornamental knobs that serve the gospel. I hope you never forget the fact that God is using us the righteous as these ornamental knobs that enable the flower of the gospel of the water and the Spirit to bloom.
Taking Good Care of New Believers Is Also Doing God’s Work The cutest but at the same time the most fearsome in God’s Church are those young brothers
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and sisters who have only recently received the remission of sins. Before them, even pastors must be humble and engage them at the level of their spiritual understanding. Why? Because though they have received the remission of sins, their standard of judgment still tends to be based on their flesh. Therefore, the predecessors of faith who have believed first must become the ornamental knobs that serve those young believers who are following in their footsteps. They must serve new believers so that when these new believers grow up in their faith, they will come to realize how they had been taken care of when they were still young in the faith. They will come to be grateful for the kindness that had been bestowed on them personally, and with their faith they will in turn also return this kindness to the new saints coming into the Church. However, you should not treat them with kindness unconditionally. Being kind to someone unconditionally just in the flesh does not necessarily mean that this person’s soul would grow and prosper.
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The way to lead people to spiritual well-being is to guide them to live according to the will of God by faith. If we are blindly nice only in the flesh, then far from helping them, it can actually corrupt them. Do you know why some brothers and sisters leave the Church? They leave because they were not led by faith into a spiritual direction. Just like the lampstand was made by hammering out a lump of pure gold, those who have become the lampstand and ornamental knobs must deny their thoughts of the flesh and their own righteousness, and they must hammer their hearts and bring them under submission according to the will of God. They must become the workers of God’s Church by beating themselves to submit to God appropriately. Social workers often ponder how they can best help people. What is the appropriate course of action? Giving money to beggars, or helping them to become independent? Often, many people just hand out money and food to them. But those who have some knowledge of social works never just hand out
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money. They instead give the kind of help that plants the motivation and independence in the needy so that they may be able to live their lives independently. This is what truly helps them. So helping others also requires some highly technical skills. Likewise, this thing called the gospel-preaching ministry is also a gift of God, for it requires one to water souls with the Word of God and serve them so that their flesh and spirits would grow in harmony. Ministers, in other words, must lead souls and guide them to the Lord, and they must also lead them in the affairs of the flesh so that they may succeed in their lives of faith. Ministers must always be wide awake. Our lives of faith as the born-again are all about fulfilling the role of the ornamental knobs every day and in many different fields and occasions. Our duty is to faithfully spend our entire lifetime as the ornamental knobs of the gospel before going to the Lord. After saving us, our God has made us the ornamental knobs and entrusted us with appropriate duties so that we can serve to bring the flower of the
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gospel to full bloom. The people of this world who have not been born again are authoritarian, pretentious, arrogant, and always trying to be served by other believers. But the servants whom God has appointed as ministers in the born-again Church are well aware of His will and they are faithful to do what has been assigned to them as the ornamental knobs of the gospel. It is critically important for ministers to fulfill the role of these ornamental knobs well. Our Lord said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). This is not just a hypothetical notion, but it is the guiding principle of faith and of actual life. Those who give are indeed more blessed than those who receive. Have you experienced this yourselves? Let me tell you a story. A couple having a child late in their age, prayed that this child would grow up loved. As they had prayed, the child indeed grew up always being loved. But as time passed by, they discovered that their child, who they thought would be loved only, was instead growing up to be a selfish person who cared for
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no one else but himself. What they had done thus far was not beneficial to the child at all. As he constantly kept receiving, he came to know only how to receive, not to give, and this turned him into a child filled with greed and selfishness. The old couple then prayed again to turn their child into someone who knows how to love others. Giving is more beautiful than receiving. How much fun is it to serve the Lord? How gratifying is it? When I think that a soul comes to receive the remission of sins whenever I serve the gospel by faith, I can only be joyful and gratified. The righteous believers desire to spread the gospel to many souls. In God’s Church, the role of the ornamental knobs of the gospel is critically important. You and I must realize in which positions God has placed us as the ornamental knobs. And on these positions of the ornamental knobs, we must fulfill our roles by faith. I believe that when we serve the gospel not by the abilities and prides of our flesh, but by our faith in God, He will bring the flower of salvation to blossom fully. It is when we become the ornamental knobs of
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the gospel that the flowers of the gospel bloom, and it is through these flowers that many are blessed.
The Church Is the Lampstand That Illuminates This World with the Light of Salvation By gathering together, the righteous become the lampstand of the gospel and illuminate this world. The righteous shine the light of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Life as the lampstand illuminating the dark world with the bright light of truth—this is our lives. It is when the righteous who have received the remission of sins become the ornamental knobs of the gospel that the flowers of faith are in the full bloom in this world, and it is when this happens that the gospel of the water and the Spirit is testified throughout the entire world. Without these ornamental knobs, there can never be flowers nor any lamp. The shaft of the lampstand had four bowls like almond blossoms, each with its
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ornamental knob and flower. It is when we become such ornamental knobs and fulfill the role that has been assigned to each of us that God’s Church can spring up everywhere and many souls can be saved from their sins. When we look at the lampstand, we see that there was another ornamental knob above one ornamental knob, and that above this knob there was yet another knob along the shaft. Like this, through your serving the gospel, the flowers of the gospel have been blooming so far, and the gospel will be preached throughout this entire world. You and I are these ornamental knobs. From hearing the gospel of the water and the Spirit to spreading this gospel throughout the world to this very day, we have done countless works as the ornamental knobs. This is how you can receive the remission of your sins and spread it to others as well. We have done various works to carry out our roles as these ornamental knobs. For example, we built this chapel two years ago for our discipleship training and spiritual retreats. It took us about a
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month to build this sandwich panel building. When we built this building by faith, we thought, “Our brothers and sisters will come to this place for spiritual retreats, and many lost souls will come to our gospel classes, hear the Word, and receive the remission of sins.” Though we had faced many hardships while constructing this building, we were always keeping this thought in our minds, plowing through such difficulties and working faithfully in hope. This is how this discipleship training center was built, and how we have been able to worship in this warm and comfortable place. This was also made possible because of those who fulfilled the role of each ornamental knob. It is because you and I have become ornamental knobs that we can now worship in warmth even in this cold weather. Had there been no ornamental knob, these easy circumstances would never have come about. Before this chapel was built, this place had just been a desolate wilderness. If we were to gather in such a dreary place to hear the Word of God, would you have wanted to come? Too
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cold for worship service, you would probably have gone back home. It is because ornamental knobs have been in place that we have been able to make the flower of the gospel bloom not only to this day, but we will also continue to do so in the future. There is a famous Korean poem titled, “Beside a Chrysanthemum,” and it goes, “For one chrysanthemum to bloom, The nightingale must have wept like that since spring. For one chrysanthemum to bloom, The thunder must have rolled like that in somber clouds…” Indeed, the ornamental knobs of so many servants of God and so many saints have been placed to the tree of the gospel. To bring the gospel of the water and the Spirit to blossom, the workers who fulfill the role of such ornamental knobs have worked hard everyday. And below these ornamental knobs, the Lord has placed more bowls like almond blossoms so that we would fulfill this role of
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ornamental knobs even better. And God has also bestowed on us His grace in His time, giving us oil for the seven lamps. Knowing that we cannot do anything with our own strength, our Lord has clothed us in His grace through the Church, so that we would be able to fulfill the role of the ornamental knobs that serve the gospel. You must therefore realize that becoming these ornamental knobs does not mean that we can spread the gospel alone by our own strength. Rather, it is only by the grace of God that all of us have been glorified to become these ornamental knobs. Those who received the remission of sin now and those who received it a while ago are all the same ornamental knobs that are to serve the gospel. The reason why they are all the same in spite of the differences in their spiritual levels is because they are all called as the ornamental knobs. Each and every one of us is an ornamental knob without any exception. Just preaching the Word spiritually while not lifting a finger in other works is not what the proper spiritual life is all about. Those who are truly spiritual can do anything if it
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benefits the gospel. “My church position is this, and so I only do these things. Since you received the remission of sins now, should you do these other things while I do just mine?” This is not right. When it comes to serving the gospel, there is no one higher or lower than anyone else. We must all unite together and become the fertilizer only for the gospel to blossom and bloom.
How Can the Born-again Saints Follow the Flesh? “I am so happy now that my sins have been remitted and I have become sinless. But I would be happier if I became rich. Would it not be nice if I could finally live in opulence?” Is there anyone who wants to be successful in the flesh also now that his spiritual problems have been resolved? When I first met the Lord, not realizing that He had saved me so that I would become a perfect ornamental knob for the gospel, I thought I would fulfill this role by going into
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business and making some money. I thought I would go to church everyday, teach at the Sunday school, spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit to the kids, run a small business and work only for a few hours a day, give my daily earnings as my offering to the church, and help church planting by serving materially in this way. Of course, I also thought that apart from the few hours that I spent with my business, I would spend the rest of my time for the Lord. But regardless of what my thoughts were, when I asked the Lord what role I should fulfill as an ornamental knob, He did not want me to fulfill it by making money. My thoughts at that time had been wrong. The Lord did not allow me to do this. So now I am fulfilling my role as a proper ornamental knob by fully dedicating myself to my ministry for the spreading of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Whatever pleases God, we must do it all. If He tells us to remove a mountain, then we must remove it. If countless people are saved by removing this mountain, then we are more than willing to do so.
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Even if any given task seems hopelessly impossible and reckless, if God tells us to do it by faith, and if it is spiritually beneficial, then we believe that it will surely be achieved. Digging the mountain with hoes, our beginning may be feeble, but in time, we will blow up the mountain with dynamites and clear out the debris with bulldozers. The mountain will then disappear. Because we do not follow our man-made thoughts but only the will of the Lord, in other words, we always fulfill the role of ornamental knobs for God’s gospel by faith. This is how we carry out our roles as His ornamental knobs. The Lord has placed us inside His Church so that we would become the ornamental knobs for the spreading of the gospel. Where we are placed as ornamental knobs is the only difference, and when it comes to the spreading of the gospel, there is absolutely no place that is more or less important than another. If we have to sort out the order, then the first shall serve the last, as the Lord Jesus said, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and
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servant of all” (Mark 9:35). Is it not true that when the Lord has called us to fulfill the role of the ornamental knobs, He wants us not to strut and show off ourselves? When we fulfill the role of ornamental knobs well, marvelous works of our Lord takes place, as the light of the seven lamps on the lampstand illuminated the Holy Place brightly. It is written in today’s Scripture passage, “And its wick-trimmers and their trays shall be of pure gold. It shall be made of a talent of pure gold, with all these utensils. And see to it that you make them according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain (Exodus 25:38-40).” Among the utensils of the lampstand were its wick-trimmers. Oil was poured in and the wicks were placed in the lamps that rested on top of the lampstand. With the wicks burning, sparkles flew, and the wick-trimmers were used to pick up these sparks. These wick-trimmers were also made of gold. Priests trimmed the burnt wicks with these wick-trimmers and placed them in trays. Such utensils were used often in the Holy Place.
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When we are fulfilling the role of ornamental knobs after having received the remission of our sins, there may be times when our hearts are hardened from busying ourselves too much with just one job. So there are times when we do our entrusted works very habitually or halfheartedly. In such times, the servants of God need to change the wicks of the lampstand. Like the burnt wicks were trimmed, the servants of God renew our hearts by alternately changing the duties that have been assigned to us. Our Lord removes the cinders of our hearts so that we may be able to continue to serve the gospel with our renewed hearts, as it is written, “Old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Through this, the workers come to serve the gospel with their hearts made new once again. Do you remember that there was nothing but pure gold inside the Holy Place? To become a faithful ornamental knob by faith, you must look for new works of the Lord incessantly. Only then can we always live by faith. We must live today by faith, and
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we must live tomorrow by faith also. By faith, we fulfill new roles of the ornamental knobs everyday. We the workers of the gospel of God must remove all cinders from the wick with the wick-trimmers, tend the lamps, and keep them shining brightly and make their light be never put out. The inside of the Holy Place is glorious. The Lord has called and gathered the righteous into God’s Church so that they may become the lampstand that spreads the gospel of the remission of sins. In it, God has placed leaders, He has given to all the righteous His gifts that enable them to serve the gospel, and He has called us so that we may serve the Lord by becoming the ornamental knobs that bring the flowers of the gospel to blossom from the place that each of us has been assigned to. God has thus allowed us to spread the gospel to all the sinners throughout the whole world. This is the very “ekklesia,” God’s Church. We are, in other words, the people of God’s Church where the called-out and the saved gather together. Our God has saved us from sin
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by delivering us from all our sins and iniquities and calling us out from the world. Through our Lord’s salvation, God has saved us by making us believe in Jesus, and He has formed this Church so that we may serve the gospel by uniting together. It is this truth that has formed the gathering of the saints.
The Reason Why the Church Exists Is to Shine the Light of the Gospel of the Water and the Spirit The reason why there was the lampstand made by hammering a lump of a talent of gold is to make God’s Church unite together and bring the flowers of the gospel to blossom. This lampstand denotes God’s Church, and it exists to illuminate all darkness. This is the very purpose of the existence of the Church. The Church has first become the ornamental knob to serve us to be born again. And now is our turn. You and I, and all of us who have received the remission of
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sins, must become these ornamental knobs, and we must all keep carrying out our duties as the ornamental knobs and fertilizers so that the flowers of the gospel may be in full bloom. All of us the righteous and all God’s Church must carry out the role of the lampstand that spreads the light of the gospel throughout the whole world and serve the Lord. We are not trying to establish a new denomination. If we have to describe our denomination inevitably, then it is Jesus’ denomination. We are the righteous who have been called to serve the Lord. When we become the ornamental knobs of the lampstand and serve the Lord, we come to realize that He also fills all our needs as the ornamental knobs. Even though we don’t try anything particular to fill our needs, God Himself supplies all our needs abundantly. Everything is supplied in time just as the Lord said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you (Matthew 6:33).” The Lord adds to the righteous
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who serve the gospel all that they need. When the workers who are carrying out the role of the ornamental knobs face hard times, the Lord gives them strength, saying, “Cheer up! I am with you always.” When the ornamental knobs have no faith, then He gives them faith, saying, “Have strong faith! You can do everything through Me who strengthens you.” And the Lord also bestows His grace upon them. The Lord then solves that problem, saying, “My ornamental knob, you must really need this. I will solve this problem for you.” To use us as the ornamental knobs for His righteous works, God blesses us the righteous that have become the ornamental knobs. Whatever we the righteous do, we must do it to serve as the ornamental knobs for the blooming of the gospel. Our students must also lead their school lives faithfully as the ornamental knobs of the gospel. For our lay believers to earn their living in their workplaces, they must also do so as the ornamental knobs of the gospel. Whatever it is that we do, all of
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us must do it to become the ornamental knobs of the Lord’s gospel. We the righteous must all exist for carrying out the role of the ornamental knobs of the gospel, and this is in fact how we should actually live out our faith. Ornamental knobs are critically important for the flowers of the gospel to blossom. You must remember that we ourselves are not the flowers. The flower of the gospel is Jesus. The true Light is also Jesus. All that we do is just preach this Jesus Christ throughout the whole world by faith by believing in the Truth of salvation manifested in His blue, purple, and scarlet thread and fine woven linen. It is written in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Our lives are aimed at the spreading of this gospel by faithfully fulfilling the role of the ornamental knobs. What people worry about the most in their youth is their future. They wonder, “How will my future life turn out to be? Where is my beloved and what is my future spouse doing?” Where is my future
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spouse? He is in God’s Church, and He is none other than Jesus Christ. What then does He do? He shines the light. He is the Light of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. He is the Lord, and all of you are the brides of Christ. The Lord is telling you to come into His Church, saying that He would meet you here in His Church through the Word. The Lord is saying that He would meet you when you pray to God by wholeheartedly believing in the Truth which is manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen. He has told you that He would come to you and meet you when you believe in Him. The righteous must be always awake in their thoughts. When you fill your hearts with the gospel of the water and the Spirit, then the Holy Spirit will keep you awake everyday. All that the righteous have to do is just live their lives according to the guidance of the Holy Spirit to spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit. When we do so, we ourselves can then realize and discern the carnal thoughts from the spiritual thoughts. You probably have peeled an onion before, layer
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by layer. There is outside skin at first, and when you peel it off, there appears another layer then, looking somewhat greenish. When you peel off this greenish skin, then a white inner layer is revealed. When you peel this one off, then there is another white inner skin, the same as the one before. The whole onion is made of white layers one after another. When it is peeled off and its white inner skin is exposed, in time this exposed layer turns into a yellowish skin. But when this skin is peeled off, then the white inner skin is once again revealed. After some time, this inner skin once again turns into outside skin, and so you have to peel it off again to get a crispier layer. Our flesh is like these layers of an onion, and so we must peel off our carnal thoughts everyday. Now you might think, “I denied myself when I was saved, but should I deny myself again and again even after receiving my remission of sins? Do you have any idea just how many times I denied myself last year? It was hard enough to bend my heart, and now I have to do it again? It’s so hard!” But, brothers and sisters, it is the
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right thing for you to remove your thoughts of the flesh like this. The Lord is telling us that it is a matter of principle and the right way for us to peel off our thoughts of the flesh as we peel off an onion’s skins. Our Lord wants to meet us through the written Word. He wants to meet us at the table of showbread, at the lampstand, at the altar of incense, and in front of the mercy seat. What I am saying here is not that you should be forced to deny yourselves and pretend to have faith when in fact you do not have it, but that you should deny yourselves out of your own hearts by faith. Can you now understand? The Lord is not merely suggesting that it would be better for you to deny yourselves, but He is saying that you must do so. When you engrave in your minds that you must deny yourselves in your hearts, then self-denial is achieved on its own. It is reached on its own without you realizing it, “Ah, so this is how I can deny myself.” But if the basic principles are not taught and people are only forced to bend their will, then not only is this impossible for them to achieve, but they
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may even end up losing their faith. When we tame our hearts into submission the Lord is pleased. And if it pleases the Lord, then we must bring our fleshly thoughts under submission. Of course, there are some things that may seem out of our reach, but we still try hard to achieve them. Is this not the case? Because the Lord has saved us and made us His workers, there is nothing that we cannot do, as the Apostle Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). Moreover, when it comes to bringing the flowers of the gospel to blossom, even if we become the smallest ornamental knob of all, that blossom is still magnificent. What then is there that we cannot do? When the Lord would make the flowers of the gospel blossom and save souls if we would just become even the slightest of all ornamental knobs, can we not become His ornamental knobs? Of course we can. We must also readily admit our faith in our hearts. All that we have to do is recognize what is right as right, saying, “Yes, that is right,” and admit what is wrong as wrong, saying, “No, my thoughts
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were wrong. I was wrong.” None other than this is following the Lord, denying the self, and subjugating our own will. When we thus put down our own fleshly desires, our Lord transforms us. However, we cannot transform ourselves on our own. Becoming a spiritual person is not something that can be achieved through our own efforts. What we must do is reflect upon ourselves before the Word of God to see if we are right or wrong, and if we are wrong, then all that we have to do is admit ourselves as it is, saying, “Yes, Lord! Only You are right, and it is I that is wrong.” As soon as we do this, the darkness in our hearts is removed. Then the Lord says to us, “For even such a being as you, I blotted out all your sins. I have turned you into the light.” Our Lord is telling us, “All things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light (Ephesians 5:13).” There is nothing for us to do out of our own volition. All that we have to do is just live in the Holy Place by faith. When we thus live in the Holy Place
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by faith, the Lord then works in us. To make us even worthier ornamental knobs, God bestows on us even more grace and more blessings. Because God truly wants to spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit through us, He cannot but give us more blessings. I hope you all believe this truth. I hope you believe in all the Word of God. Do you believe? If you answer with a “yes” whenever this question is asked, then your faith will grow. The realm of faith is such that by oneself, no one can learn anything at all. Ministers are ornamental knobs, and so are all our brothers and sisters. “You are an ugly ornamental knob. But I am a beautiful knob.” I know that no one among you really thinks in this way, but when such thoughts creep up on you, you must turn around, realizing that you are moving in the opposite direction from the mind of God. What good does it do for the ornamental knobs to compete with other saints in a meaningless beauty contest for a prize? No matter how good some ornamental knobs may seem, can any of them really be more beautiful than the
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flower itself? If the ornamental knobs are more striking than the flower itself, then the flower would only turn into a useless and unappealing flower. Just as small and large bricks are both needed to build a wall, all of us, whether better or worse, are needed as the ornamental knobs that bring the flowers of the Lord’s gospel to blossom. Hence, let us not ignore each other in our arrogance. Let us instead care for one another, realizing that we are all precious. Everyone is precious. Everyone is needed. As God commanded Moses to make the lampstand by hammering out a talent of pure gold, with the law of salvation He has turned us into the righteous and made us the ornamental knobs that serve the gospel of the water and the Spirit. God is therefore pleased to spread His gospel through us. Even now, God is spreading the gospel of the water and the Spirit to all humanity through His Church. And through the spreading of this gospel and its ornamental knobs, God wants to illuminate the whole wide world with His love of the Truth. Hallelujah!
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SERMON 8
You can download Rev. Paul C. Jong’s Free Christian Books on iPhone, iPad, or Blackberry by going to Amazon’s Kindle e-bookstore (www.amazon.com).
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167 The Spiritual Meanings Hidden in the Garments of The High Priest
The Spiritual Meanings Hidden in the Garments of The High Priest < Exodus 28:1-43 > “Now take Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister to Me as priest, Aaron and Aaron’s sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. So you shall speak to all who are gifted artisans, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron’s garments, to consecrate him, that he may minister to Me as priest. And these are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, an ephod, a robe, a skillfully woven tunic, a turban, and a sash. So they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his Free book request www.nlmission.com
sons, that he may minister to Me as priest. They shall take the gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and the fine linen, and they shall make the ephod of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, artistically worked. It shall have two shoulder straps joined at its two edges, and so it shall be joined together. And the intricately woven band of the ephod, which is on it, shall be of the same workmanship, made of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen. Then you shall take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel: six of their names on one stone and six names on the other stone, in order of their birth. With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, you shall engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel. You shall set them in settings of gold. And you shall put the two stones on the shoulders of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel. So Aaron shall bear their names before the LORD on
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his two shoulders as a memorial. You shall also make settings of gold, and you shall make two chains of pure gold like braided cords, and fasten the braided chains to the settings. You shall make the breastplate of judgment. Artistically woven according to the workmanship of the ephod you shall make it: of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, you shall make it. It shall be doubled into a square: a span shall be its length, and a span shall be its width. And you shall put settings of stones in it, four rows of stones: The first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and an emerald; this shall be the first row; the second row shall be a turquoise, a sapphire, and a diamond; the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; and the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They shall be set in gold settings. And the stones shall have the names of the sons of Israel, twelve according to their names, like the engravings of a signet, each one with its own name; they shall be according to the twelve tribes.
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You shall make chains for the breastplate at the end, like braided cords of pure gold. And you shall make two rings of gold for the breastplate, and put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate. Then you shall put the two braided chains of gold in the two rings which are on the ends of the breastplate; and the other two ends of the two braided chains you shall fasten to the two settings, and put them on the shoulder straps of the ephod in the front. You shall make two rings of gold, and put them on the two ends of the breastplate, on the edge of it, which is on the inner side of the ephod. And two other rings of gold you shall make, and put them on the two shoulder straps, underneath the ephod toward its front, right at the seam above the intricately woven band of the ephod. They shall bind the breastplate by means of its rings to the rings of the ephod, using a blue cord, so that it is above the intricately woven band of the ephod, and so that the breastplate does not come loose from the ephod.
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So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel on the breastplate of judgment over his heart, when he goes into the holy place, as a memorial before the LORD continually. And you shall put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be over Aaron’s heart when he goes in before the LORD. So Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel over his heart before the LORD continually. You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. There shall be an opening for his head in the middle of it; it shall have a woven binding all around its opening, like the opening in a coat of mail, so that it does not tear. And upon its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet, all around its hem, and bells of gold between them all around: a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe all around. And it shall be upon Aaron when he ministers, and its sound will be heard when he goes into the holy place
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before the LORD and when he comes out, that he may not die. You shall also make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet: HOLINESS TO THE LORD. And you shall put it on a blue cord, that it may be on the turban; it shall be on the front of the turban. So it shall be on Aaron’s forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things which the children of Israel hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall always be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the LORD. You shall skillfully weave the tunic of fine linen thread, you shall make the turban of fine linen, and you shall make the sash of woven work. For Aaron’s sons you shall make tunics, and you shall make sashes for them. And you shall make hats for them, for glory and beauty. So you shall put them on Aaron your brother and on his sons with him. You shall anoint them, consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister to Me as priests. And you shall make for them linen trousers to cover their
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nakedness; they shall reach from the waist to the thighs. They shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they come into the tabernacle of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister in the holy place, that they do not incur iniquity and die. It shall be a statute forever to him and his descendants after him.”
The Garments of the High Priest Today we will look at the spiritual meanings hidden in the garments of the High Priest. These garments were to be clothed on Aaron and his sons. Through the garments of the High Priest we will recognize by faith the plan of God that has saved us from sin. God commanded Moses to consecrate his brother Aaron and Aaron’s sons that they might minister to God as priests. And God also commanded Moses to make their garments according to the pattern that He showed him. In verse 4, God said, “And these are the garments
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which they shall make: a breastplate, an ephod, a robe, a skillfully woven tunic, a turban, and a sash. So they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons, that he may minister to Me as priest.” First of all, the High Priest had to wear the tunic and the trousers to cover his nakedness. These garments were made of fine linen thread so that air would circulate well and therefore prevent him from sweating too much. The spiritual meaning of this is that the High Priest should cast aside his own fleshly endeavors, and just serve God according to the faith and grace He had given him already. The will of God, in other words, would be fulfilled only when the High Priest cast aside his own thoughts and devotion of the flesh and just gave the offering of atonement according to the sacrificial system established by God with faith. It was with this intention that God made the tunic and the trousers of the High Priest as such and clothed him with them. On top of these garments God then clothed the High Priest with a blue robe. And on the blue robe,
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he wore his ephod, and then placed the breastplate. The breastplate placed on the bosom of the High Priest was made out of a thick fabric folded double and artistically woven of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread and fine woven linen, and its size was a span in both its length and width. Twelve precious stones were placed on this breastplate, and engraved in these precious stones were the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. He then wore the turban made of fine woven linen. And the plate of pure gold, on which was engraved with the words of “Holiness to the Lord,” was put on a blue cord attached to the front of the turban. These are brief descriptions of the garments, turban, and gold plate that the High Priests wore. Most of the garments of the High Priest were made of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread and fine woven linen. And so was the breastplate of the High Priest. On this breastplate, twelve precious stone were mounted, and into these stones the names of the twelve tribes of the people of Israel were engraved.
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The duty of the High Priest entailed the following: He had to take from the congregation of the children of Israel their sacrificial offerings, pass their sins onto these offerings by laying his hands on its head as their representative, kill it, and give the blood of this sacrificial offerings to God. In other words, the High Priest ministered to remit the sins of his people by giving the offering according to the law of God. On behalf of the people of Israel, the High Priest laid his hands on the head of the sacrificial offering before God, cut its throat and drew its blood, and put this blood on the horns of the altar of burnt offering. He then took its blood into the Most Holy and sprinkled it on and before the mercy seat. Then the dead flesh of the offerings shall be carried outside the camp to be totally burned up (Leviticus 16:3-28). This is how the High Priest gave the offering. In this way, by giving the offering that pleased God, the High Priest fulfilled his role to placate the wrath of God. The High Priest, in other words, fulfilled the role of an interceder between his people and God.
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Like this, Jesus the Messiah has become the High Priest of the Kingdom of Heaven, the Interceder between God and mankind. By receiving His baptism from John the Baptist through which He took the sins of mankind upon His body, and by giving up His body on the Cross and being sacrificed, the Messiah has delivered the entire mankind from sin and death. In the age of the Old Testament, it was the High Priest who gave the offering that remitted the sins of his people, but in the age of the New Testament, it was the Messiah who came by the name of Jesus and fulfilled the ministry of the everlasting High Priest to blot out all the sins of the entire mankind (Hebrews, chapters 7-9). And in this age of the New Testament, God has assigned the ministry of the High Priest to the righteous who have been washed of all their sins with the Truth hidden in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread. This is why the gold plate on the turban of the High Priest was engraved with the sign, “Holiness to the Lord.” Like this, the garments of the High Priest clearly demonstrate in detail the gospel that washes
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away all the sins of mankind. The robe of the High Priest was woven of blue thread. Above all, this blue robe is related to the baptism that Jesus received. As the High Priest wore garments that were woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, as well as gold thread, His garments were magnificent and the four colors were made clearly visible. At the hem of the blue robe, pomegranates were woven, with golden bells attached at their sides. Verse 33 in the main passage says, “And upon its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet, all around its hem, and bells of gold between them all around.” So when the High Priest entered into the Tabernacle and gave the offering for his people, the people of Israel standing outside would know that he was giving the offering by hearing the sound of the bells. All these are related to the New Testament’s truth of the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and they match with each other. What the High Priest did was cleansing away the sins of the people, and it was to let us realize the will
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of God to have him clothed in such garments and to make him fulfill this duty. In the age of the New Testament, what do the people of God who are today’s priests do to cleanse others of their sins? For them to carry out this task, they must first themselves receive the remission of their sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit manifested in the revelation of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread. Like this, the garments of the High Priest clearly show us the gospel that cleanses away all our sins. And secondly in this present age, we the righteous have to perform our duties of priesthood to cleanse people’s consciences of their sins and give them holiness. This is why a gold plate was made for the tunic of the High Priest and the sign “Holiness to the Lord” was engrave into the plate. This gold plate with the engraved sign of “Holiness to the Lord” was attached with a blue cord to the turban that the High Priest wore on his head. People could discern the High Priest at first sight; looking at his head, they could see the gold plate and the blue cord clearly along with the gorgeous outer
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garments made of the blue, purple, scarlet, gold tread and fine woven linen. This shows us that the High Priest always did the work of cleansing away sin with the blue, purple, and scarlet thread.
We Must Obey the Righteous Judgment of God’s Servants The High Priest had to bear the names of the sons of Israel on the breastplate of judgment over his heart when he entered the Holy Place. Likewise we must also carry in our hearts the souls of the sinners of the world who seek to receive God, and we must pray for them. God also told Moses to place two precious stones, called the Urim and the Thummim, in the breastplate worn by the High Priest. Verse 30 of the Today’s Scripture reading says, “And you shall put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be over Aaron’s heart when he goes in before the LORD. So Aaron shall bear the
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judgment of the children of Israel over his heart before the LORD continually.” These precious stones of the Urim and the Thummim meant literally “light and perfection.” In other words, God had given a bright heart to the High Priest in order to judge the people of Israel righteously and correctly. God had given authority and wisdom to the High Priest so that he might judge what is right and wrong in the lives of His people. And the High Priest had the duty to decide what is right and wrong in the spiritual lives of the Israelites. Also in this age, God gives the same ability to each servant of God in order to judge what is right and what is wrong as well as to discern whether or not one has received the remission of sins. Within the God-given ability, His servants make sound judgment on what is the true gospel, what is the real remission of sin, what is the righteous way that God’s children should live, and whether anyone is born again or not. Therefore, all the people of God had to obey his judgments and leadership. They had to realize that refusing to accept
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the sound judgment of the servants of God was the same as refusing to accept the will of God. So the people of Israel had to yield to the judgment of God’s servants, like today’s High Priests. Likewise, in this present age, God has entrusted the duty of judging “right and wrong” to His servants. As such, we must respect what the leaders of His Church are doing and unite our hearts with their works. We must realize that it is only proper for us to follow their correct judgments and leadership by faith from the bottom of our hearts. We should not just think, “He is doing that just because he has been assigned as a High Priest, but he is the same as us in the end.” Some people might think, “I don’t like the character of my pastor! His personality is so overbearing; his decision will also be tyrannical. So although I believe in the gospel that he is preaching, I cannot agree with the decisions that he makes in his ways of thinking. I can also have a different purpose from his.” People may reach wrong conclusions by looking at the High Priests from their carnal point of
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view. But such mistaken judgment must be avoided. We must obey the servants of God who believe in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread as salvation as we obey God. Why? Because their judgment is not made from their own thoughts, but it is made according to their faith that pleases God. Put differently, because the judgment of today’s High Priests is made in the light and truth of God, it is God’s judgment and His decision. If their decisions are made without any undue influence from their own small thoughts, but are made based solely on the Word of God and according to their faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, then the judgment that they reach is correct. If such decisions do not deviate from the Word of God and His will, then we must believe that their decisions are God’s decisions. Like this, the office of the High Priest is critically important for the people. In this present age as in the age of the Old Testament, the one who leads the people of God is none other than the High Priest. In Israel, there was no other king who could lead the
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nation apart from the High Priest. Because the political system of Israel was actually theocratic, its entire population followed the decisions made by the High Priests. Now in spiritual affairs, the people of God must also believe in the guidance of the servants whom God has appointed in His Church as the Word of God and follow it. And the High Priests must decide everything according to the will of God, all based on His Word and in His providence. The garments of the High Priest give us many lessons indeed. We must first know the spiritual meanings of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the gold thread that were used to make them. We have already learnt the truth of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread. Through the garments of the High Priest also, God has told us just how necessary and important the truth hidden in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the faith that believes in it really are. These treads are the essential raw materials that show the remission of the sins of the people. That the Lord came to this earth, was baptized, and shed His
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blood manifests that only the gospel of the water and the Spirit remits all the sins of everyone throughout the whole world. As the blue, purple, and scarlet thread has taught us that the gospel of the water and the Spirit is the Truth that gives us our perfect atonement, we must all reach the correct knowledge of its meaning. If we truly know this correctly and believe in it, then we will be forever cleansed of our sins and receive eternal life. We must, therefore, have the faith that believes in this clearest Truth fulfilled by the gospel of the water, the blood, and the Spirit.
We Must Defend Our Faith in the Blue, Purple, and Scarlet Thread If we do not truly have such exact knowledge of and unyielding faith in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread, then we cannot defend the genuine gospel, and, what is worse, this gospel may even be corrupted. Religions of this world can change
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themselves as time passes by. But through the colors of the garments of the High Priest, God has shown us the absolute unchanging Truth of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread. Through the garments of the High Priest, through all the utensils found inside the Tabernacle, and through the pattern of the offerings given in the Tabernacle as well, God is making the perfect manifestation of His love and plans for us. As such, we must staunchly defend our faith in this everlasting Truth that has come to us as the gospel of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread. What must never change even as times change is our faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. This faith is the one that believes in the eternal salvation manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread. How could we actually let this gospel of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread that we believe in ever change? If God tells us that He has saved us from sin with the gospel of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread, then this is the truth. In the Old Testament, God blotted out the iniquities of sinners
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with both the laying on of hands and the bloodshed, and today, in this age also, He has fulfilled the perfect remission of sin for us with both the baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist (Matthew 3:15) and His death on the Cross. With the gospel of the water and the Spirit, God has blotted out the iniquities of all the sinners of the entire world. How reassuring this is! Gold denotes ‘faith’ in the Bible. Therefore, the gold thread used along with the blue, purple, and scarlet thread for the garments of the High Priest refers to the indispensability of our faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Because God has established the method that blots out all our sins and has not permitted it to change, even as we face difficult circumstances at times, we are still at peace. This is also because of the Truth manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread that God has shown us.
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The Waistband of the High Priest Among the garments of the High Priest was a waistband. This band, worn by the High Priest on his ephod, also was made of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread and fine woven linen. The band of the ephod is a symbol of strength. As the Bible says, “Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,” (Ephesians 6:14) the waistband of the High Priest refers the power that comes from the faith in the gospel Truth. It tells us, in other words, that the faith that believes in the Truth of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen enables us to be saved from all our sins. Hence, it is all futile to believe in other pseudo-gospels apart from what is manifested here in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen. Those who are lacking in the flesh can also be washed from all their sins perfectly by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit given by the
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Lord, for the sins of the world were all passed onto Jesus Christ by the Truth of the remission of sin fulfilled by God (Matthew 3:15; Leviticus 16:1-22). Therefore, those who believe that the works of Jesus manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread has saved them can be reassured even if their flesh and willpower is weak. When we dwell in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that Jesus Christ the High Priest of Heaven has given to us, who shall then separate us from the love of Christ? His perfect salvation can be ours only when we believe in the Truth revealed in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen. For the priests to carry out their priestly duties, they must not follow any other man-made doctrines apart from the sacrificial system shown in the Tabernacle. Likewise, today’s servants of God should not allow the different gospels that deviate from the true gospel to take root into the lost souls (Galatians 1:6, 9). Those who preach such pseudogospels, no matter how well they give their sermons,
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cannot offer any help to the lost souls for they do not bear correct witness to God’s gospel of the water and the Spirit which is manifested in the Tabernacle. They are swindlers and false teachers. When it comes to believing in Jesus Christ the High Priest of Heaven as our Savior, we cannot fail to acknowledge the sacrificial system of the laying on of hands and the bloodshed manifested in the Tabernacle system. We must realize that there are many pseudo-gospels in this world. Also, no matter who is preaching the gospel, if anyone is preaching the Truth of the gospel of the water and the Spirit based on the Word of God, we must then hear and believe. One of the reasons why today’s Christianity has so many problems is because there are so many spiritual swindlers claiming to be fulfilling their priestly duties well even as they do not know the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The first step to become the true priests before God is to believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Only those who have this faith can give proper offerings to God. Like this, those who know and believe
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in the gospel of the water and the Spirit are able to truly love everyone. What do you think God’s Church exists for? I can say to you that God’s Church exists to spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit to sinners. When we believe wholeheartedly in the Truth of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread revealed in the Bible, we will be saved from our sin and become sinless. By believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, true peace is found in our hearts, and because we live in this peace, we can never depart from God. We believe in the perfect gospel, live by faith, and then we will enter the Kingdom of the Lord and live in it. Our Lord has led us to peace, and by leading all the people of the world to God, just as the golden plate on the front of the High Priest’s turban engraved, “Holiness to the Lord,” He illuminates them with the true light of the remission of sins. God has therefore entrusted us with the works that enable them to also receive the remission of their sins. God has entrusted those of us who believe in the gospel of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread with the same
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duties of the priests of the Old Testament. We are so thankful to God for allowing us to do such precious works in His perfect light of truth. When I first heard this gospel Word from God I was overwhelmed with joy. And while I read the Bible, this gospel came across so clearly. After then my spiritual eyes were opened, and the Holy Spirit in me has taught the Word of God to me in detail. I came to know that all the passages of the Bible clearly witness that the gospel of the water and the Spirit is the only true gospel that God gave to us. In the age of the Old Testament, this gospel was manifested as the blue, purple, and scarlet thread. In the age of the New Testament as well, all the Apostles and the Bible writers told us that Jesus had received the baptism and shed His blood to perfectly save us from sin. For us to wear the tunic of salvation, we must believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit; it is not by giving our prayers of repentant that we can receive the remission of sin from the Lord. The gospel of the water and the Spirit is the only true and perfect gospel.
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The High Priest had to wear the garments that were made deliberately as God had ordered. If the High Priest, bothered by the cold wind, had thought that there was no need for him to wear the tunic that God had made for him and instead put on another thick tunic arbitrarily, he would have been put to death immediately. If the High Priest had entered into the Most Holy Place wearing only the tunic made of just fine woven linen, then he would also have been killed. He had to wear the blue robe and the ephod woven of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread. When we follow exactly the way God has planned, the Lord walks before us, leads us, and works in everything of our lives. God planned to send the Messiah for us and He has also revealed this plan to us. If we believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and follow God’s plan, He will work in our lives. This is why it is not by some acts on our part that we can receive the remission of sin, but it is by believing in God’s plan of salvation manifested in the gold, blue, purple and scarlet thread used for the
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garments of the High Priest that we must receive the remission of our sins. What we the priests of God must do is to believe in what God has planned for us and follow it accordingly. This is the genuine faith. Serving God by making all kinds of petty plans of our own is not the proper faith in God. When it comes to our efforts to spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit overseas, this too, is not achieved by doing something particular through our own man-made schemes and devices, but it is achieved by His help that is given to His people through their faith. This is the will of God. When we do something with faith, then the rest is taken care of by God. When we know the will of God and spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit, God touches the hearts of those who read our books, brings them to their awakening, makes them believe in this gospel of the water and the Spirit, and corrects their mistaken thoughts so that they may believe. And they, in turn, also come to spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
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To Spread the Gospel of the Water and the Spirit, We Had to First Believe in It Wholeheartedly I said the spreading of the true gospel is not achieved by us doing something somehow, but it is achieved only when we serve it by faith in unison with the will of God. It is not by our own efforts and devotion that souls are converted, but it is when we seek God’s will by believing in His works and the gospel of the water and the Spirit that the providence of God is fulfilled. It is by faith that we must serve the gospel of the water and the Spirit. In this present age also, we need the same faith as that of the Old Testament’s time. Now in this age, as before, the children of God must spread the faith of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread. We must believe in and spread the scarlet thread as well as the purple thread, but we must first know what is manifested in the blue thread first—that is, the baptism that Jesus the Messiah received. When Free book request www.nlmission.com
we spread the truth of the blue thread to the lost, we find that they can understand the whole picture of the Truth more easily and have faith in it confidently. Why? It is because Jesus the Messiah took upon the sins of the entire mankind onto His body by being baptized. When people, by believing in the baptism of Jesus, come to know that Jesus has washed away all their sins, they then inevitably come to acknowledge that He also died on the Cross to pay off all their sins. In other words, people come to believe in the scarlet and purple thread only when they know and believe in the mystery of the baptism that Jesus the Messiah, the real substance of the blue thread, received from John the Baptist. They come to truly realize, “Ah, He took upon all our sins by being baptized. Jesus Christ is the true God and the Savior of all mankind. This is the very Truth!” To many people, the faith of the purple thread, that Jesus is God Himself, is realized afterwards. From the moment we began believing in Jesus as the Savior, we had professed, “Jesus is the absolute
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God,” but this was merely an abstract conception. It was only later when we came to have such concrete faith in our hearts. When we receive the remission of sin by believing in the baptism and blood of Jesus, then we came to have such faith that Jesus is God Himself, the living One who helps us and works in our lives, and our faith in Jesus gradually grows. As such, for people to receive the remission of sin, they must believe in the gospel of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread set by God.
What Must Today’s Priests Serve? What did the High Priests do in the Tabernacle? What did they reveal through the sacrificial system? They manifested the truth that the Messiah would blot out all our sins with the blue, purple, and scarlet thread. The servants of God in this age also should succeed to such duty and ministry. They are blotting out the sins of people with the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
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Countless people try to put together their own version of gospel. Such a gospel can neither be biblically sound, nor save anyone at all. They are experts at borrowing man-made doctrines from here and there and fitting them together. But the gospel of the water and the Spirit is not something that has been made by fitting various Christian doctrines together. It is by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that people receive the remission of sin without fail. The Word, in other words, is the only benchmark of salvation. Washing away people’s sins is only achieved according to the standard set by God. This standard is the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Outside the true gospel of salvation no one can be remitted of his or her sins and receive holiness. To be washed of all sins before God and receive holiness is possible only by believing in Jesus who came by the baptism in the Jordan River and the blood of the Cross as the Savior. For people to be remitted from all their sins, they have to believe in Jesus Christ who came by the blue, purple, and scarlet thread as the
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Savior exactly like this. There is no other way for them to receive the remission of sins. And the servants of God who have become His priests must believe in the genuine gospel made of the gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread used for the garments of the High Priest. If they do not believe in this Truth, they cannot then be qualified as His servants. They are merely the religionists of the world. Of the countless religions of the world, they are only serving their own respective religions devised by borrowing only the name of Jesus. The real servants of God must have the faith that believes in Jesus Christ who came by the water, the blood, and the Spirit as the Savior. Therefore, they should testify His baptism to make their correct faith explicitly manifest and shine God’s light of Truth clearly. Only those who do so are the servants of God and the ones who have been saved before Him. Those who leave out the baptism of Jesus, His Cross, or the fact that He is God Himself, as well as those who preach such knowledge only as a matter of
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theory without faith, are the servants of the Devil who have nothing to do with God. Today, there are countless “so-called Evangelicals” in this world. They claim that whoever believes in Jesus can be cleansed of all their sins by faith, and thus become sinless. At first, I thought they were also preaching the Truth of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread, but in time I came to realize that this was not the case. They are not preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit, thinking and believing that the doctrines made up from their own thoughts were of the true gospel. Although they call themselves “Evangelicals,” they only pursue their own selfish and earthly welfare, whose only objective is to satisfy their own desires. There are many so-called Priests even now on this earth. But why do they refuse to accept the true gospel that can enable them to become really holy? Fundamentalists are proud of their confidence in the Word itself. But the fact is that even such people are not the conservatives actually. When the Word
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clearly manifests the gospel of the water and the Spirit, why do they leave out the baptism of Jesus from their faith? Remember that Nadab and Abihu died when they offered profane fire before the Lord God. When these priests did not give the offering according to the way that God set for them, fire came out of God and burnt them to death (Numbers 26:61). The High Priest was put to death if he did not wear even his tunic as set by God (verse 43). No matter how diligently sinners bring the blood of their sacrificial offerings into the Tabernacle, it means nothing unless they had first laid their hands on the animals’ heads. Without this faith that believes in this laying on of hands, through which they had confessed their iniquities and passed them onto their offerings, their faith is futile regardless of how much they might have believed in its blood. No matter how frequently the High Priests brought the blood, lifted up the veil, entered into the Most Holy, and sprinkled the blood on its mercy seat, if they did not come in by wearing the “blue” tunic set by God, they would
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then be put to death. Therefore, all the sectarians must throw away their old ways of faith and return to the true gospel that can lead them into “light and perfection,” that is, “the Urim and the Thummim” (Exodus 28:30). God is pleased by those who, though insufficient, believe and follow His Word and His will. This is why God has called us who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. And God has entrusted us with the gospel of the water and the Spirit. When we unite together and spread the gospel by faith, God allows us to carry out marvelous works continually. We believe that the providence of God will soon be wholly fulfilled. Truly, we are really happy before God. In our flesh, we have many shortcomings. I think I am the worst of all. If I confess myself frankly before you, my face would turn all red because of so many shortcomings in my human side. My insufficiencies are not temporal. As time goes by, the more I serve the gospel, the more I realize just how
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insufficient I am before God. And looking at our coworkers, I see that they are also insufficient like me, but thanks to the grace of God we all still serve the gospel. God has made us believe that He works in us, so that we may serve and follow Him by believing in the gospel of God and His plans. It is through us, who are insufficient, that our Lord is glorified. The more we are insufficient, the more the gospel of the water and the Spirit shines in our hearts—it is because of this that God is glorified. When we recognize ourselves to be blameless and the more boastful we become, God then begins to feel uncomfortable. This is the will of God who wants to receive praise through us, the insufficient. You and I are so insufficient. Just how insufficient are we? Beyond all description! However, everyone feels his or her own insufficiencies differently, as the depths of the ocean or the river are different from that of a washbasin. Those who truly know that they are immeasurably insufficient love the Lord more, for they know that
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they had been enormously indebted to the Lord. Those who are well aware of their insufficiencies and believe that their immense debts have been written off are bound to love the Lord much more. This is why they cherish the Lord’s gospel more, taking so much greater pride in it and following it even more. But those who do not know their own insufficiencies love the Lord less, for they think that the debts that have been remitted were only small and that the Lord expects too much from them just for writing off such small debts. How then can these people who know very little of their shortcomings come to realize just how great their insufficiencies actually are? This cannot be forced upon them. But as they serve the gospel by believing that it is God’s will for them to serve it even though they are insufficient, their shortcomings will be revealed more in time, and the more they are revealed, the deeper their love of God will become. It is of no use for us to know our insufficiencies only theoretically. We can only recognize our
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insufficiencies when we face hard times while trying to serve the gospel actually. This is why the more we serve the Lord, the more precious He becomes to us. It is because of the Lord that we can be bold, and it is because of Him that we are glorified. We can live by faith and devote ourselves to the blessed works because of the Lord. Were it not for the Lord, you and I would be nothing. John the Baptist said, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). God has given us the remission of sin and the blessed opportunities of serving this gospel. Our existence is only to be used as instruments to spread the gospel, and the Lord alone is the One who is to receive glory. The fact that the Lord uses us as such instruments is in itself something to be extremely grateful for. We give our sincere thanks to God for giving us this blessing of carrying out the duties of the High Priest. Jesus is the heavenly High Priest for us and the Great Shepherd. His servants are small shepherds. You and I have become the small shepherds who
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follow after what the Great Shepherd has done for us. You and I must believe in the Word of God exactly as it is, act according to the Word as it is, and follow it as it is written. We must serve exactly as the Lord has done. We must imitate exactly as the Lord has done, believe and follow Him accordingly. What we must do is to believe and follow as He has commanded us and planned for us, and to spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The right faith before God is to accept His Word in its purity and preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit by believing in it. We give our wholehearted thanks to our Lord who has become our own High Priest.
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SERMON 9
You can download Rev. Paul C. Jong’s Free Christian Books on iPhone, iPad, or Blackberry by going to Amazon’s Kindle e-bookstore (www.amazon.com).
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Holiness to the Lord < Exodus 28:36-43 > “You shall also make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet: HOLINESS TO THE LORD. And you shall put it on a blue cord, that it may be on the turban; it shall be on the front of the turban. So it shall be on Aaron’s forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things which the children of Israel hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall always be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the LORD. You shall skillfully weave the tunic of fine linen thread, you shall make the turban of fine linen, and you shall make the sash of woven work. For Aaron’s sons you shall make tunics, and you shall make sashes for them. And you shall make hats for them, for glory and beauty. So you shall put them on Aaron your brother and on his sons with him. You shall Free book request www.nlmission.com
anoint them, consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister to Me as priests. And you shall make for them linen trousers to cover their nakedness; they shall reach from the waist to the thighs. They shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they come into the tabernacle of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister in the holy place, that they do not incur iniquity and die. It shall be a statute forever to him and his descendants after him.”
Exodus 28:36 says, “You shall also make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet: HOLINESS TO THE LORD.” This plate was fixed with a blue cord so that it would not fall from the turban. What is God showing us with this turban of the High Priest? The turban and its ornament imply that Jesus Christ took upon all our sins through the baptism that He received from John the Baptist and
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has thereby cleansed away all our sins. To live out our faith before God, we, first of all, should have the true faith in Him. And to have faith in the truth, we first need to have the correct knowledge of the Truth. Our Lord said to all of us, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John 8:32)” Believing in God is not something that can be done with only emotions. This is why our faith must have this knowledge of the Truth, and then this should be followed by emotions, and then by our willpower. To do so, we must have the faith that clearly knows and believes in the truth manifested in the materials used for the garments of the High Priest. On the turban worn by the High Priest, a gold plate was hung and it was fixed with a blue cord. This clearly shows us the truth that the Lord took upon all our sins by coming to this earth and being baptized. That’s why today’s Scripture passage above says, “So it shall be on Aaron’s forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things which the
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children of Israel hallow in all their holy gifts” (Exodus 28:38). The faith that could solve away the problem of sin of the Israelites was manifested in the gold plate put on the front of the turban of the High Priest and in the blue cord that secured the plate.
Jesus’ Baptism Is Essential for the Salvation of All Human Beings As the High Priest wore the turban attached with the golden plate fixed by the blue cord on his forehead, if you really are today’s spiritual priests, then you must know and believe that the Lord came to this earth, was baptized by John the Baptist in a form of the laying on of hands that corresponds with the sacrificial system of the Old Testament, and has thereby cleansed away all your sins. In the age of the Old Testament, the High Priest had to know that it was through the sacrificial offering given according to the sacrificial system that every sin was blotted
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out. On the other hand, you and I who are living in the New Testament’s time must know that because the Lord was baptized by John the Baptist when He came to this earth, He took upon our sins once and for all. Because Jesus Christ was baptized, all our sins were passed onto Him and He took upon all the sins of the world once and for all. Through this baptism, all the sins of each and every person on this planet were passed onto Jesus without exception. Even the sins of John the Baptist, the last High Priest and the representative of all mankind, were also passed onto Jesus, as were the sins of the people of the entire world. What kind of faith must we then have before God? We must have the genuine faith that believes that Jesus Christ was baptized and thereby truly took upon the sins of all people. Along with the knowledge of the Truth, we must also have this faith that believes in this Truth with our hearts. When we work and spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit with the faith that believes in this Truth, people
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will hear it and believe in it with their hearts, and they also will thereby be washed of all their sins as white as snow. Jesus Christ has given the true remission of sins to all those who believe this Truth wholeheartedly. Above all, Today’s spiritual priests must have a clear faith that believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Without the knowledge of this Truth and faith in it, we cannot fulfill the duties of our spiritual priesthood. In other words, only those who have this faith that believes in the Truth of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread—that is, in the truth of the real remission of sins—can carry out the duties of their spiritual priesthood. In other words, only those who have received the remission of sins by believing in both the baptism of Jesus Christ and His blood of the Cross can fulfill the duties of the spreading of the gospel. Like this, having the correct knowledge on the Truth is essential to each and every spiritual priest. This is why the Bible clearly says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you
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have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children” (Hosea 4:6). When the High Priest came before God on the Day of Atonement, he could never come into the Most Holy Place without putting on his turban. The High Priest had to put on the turban of fine woven linen and place the gold plate fixed with blue cord on its front exactly as set by God. As you have already confirmed, the blue thread bears witness to the baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist (Matthew 3:15; 1 Peter 3:21). Everyone cannot but commit sin every day. Everyone therefore cannot avoid but be condemned, put to death, and be destroyed eternally for their sins. But the Lord came to this earth, and took the sins of mankind upon His body through the baptism that He received from John the Baptist. As Jesus said in Matthew 3:15, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness,” through this
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baptism God the Father wanted to pass all the sins of the entire mankind onto His Son Jesus Christ, and permitted this to happen. That Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist means that through John the Baptist He accepted the sins of the world onto Himself once and for all. Therefore, your sins and mine were also all passed onto Jesus at the time. Because all have sinned, all have fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). The Bible says, “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners” (Romans 5:19). Is there anyone who does not sin? No, absolutely not! Then what will our destiny be? God said that if we have any kind of sin, regardless of how it is committed, whether by our acts, hearts or thoughts, we would all be destroyed. Because God said that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), if we have a sin even as small as a mustard seed, we then must still be washed of this sin without fail. The entire mankind has sinned before God, and because of this all of them could not avoid but be condemned for their sins. However, as God
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said that “the wages of sin is death,” He made His Son to be baptized and permitted Him to be crucified. The price of sin is death. What is meant by death here? Hell is what is meant by death. Hebrews 9:27 says, “As it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” God tells us that judgment awaits us when we die. All people, whether the righteous or the sinners, those who have received the remission of sin or those who have not, will live forever beyond their physical death. That human beings were made in God’s own image tells us that because God lives forever, everyone is to live eternally absolutely regardless of his or her wish. But you should remember that there are two kinds of eternal lives: one is the blessed eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven, and the other is the cursed one in hell. Jesus Christ is the eternal High Priest of Heaven. He came to this earth as the High Priest of the Kingdom of Heaven, and He has blotted out the entire sins of mankind not by giving an earthly offering of sacrifice, but by giving up His own body (Hebrews 7:21, 8:11-12, 10:10).
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God is the very One who came to this earth and took upon all our sins by being baptized, all in order to save you and me from the sins of the world. Jesus Christ, the High Priest of the Kingdom of Heaven came to this earth incarnated into the flesh of a man and accepted the sins of mankind onto His body through His baptism. Through this, all your sins were passed onto Jesus Christ once and for all. And because Jesus Christ accepted our sins on His body through His baptism, He could go to the Cross, be crucified, shed His blood to death. This is why God had set the statute that the High Priest had to put on the gold plate engraved with “HOLINESS TO THE LORD” on the front of his turban and tie it with the blue cord so that it would not fall off. This tells us that because Jesus has washed away all the sins of the entire mankind with His baptism, those who believe can receive holiness into their hearts and come before God.
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The Gold Plate Shall Be on the Front of the Turban Exodus 28:37 says, “And you shall put it on a blue cord, that it may be on the turban; it shall be on the front of the turban.” This passage means that we must have the faith in His baptism. By knowing and believing that the sins of the world were passed onto Jesus Christ, we must receive the remission of sin. Is it wrong to say Jesus took upon all our sins when He was baptized? Why do people get destroyed? It is not because you and I have sinned that we are destroyed and abandoned by God. They get destroyed because they do not believe in this clear-cut Truth and therefore still have sin. Because Jesus Christ came to this earth and took upon all our sins once for all by being baptized by John the Baptist, and because our sins were thus passed onto Him, our Lord was vicariously condemned in our stead. We must know this with our heads and believe in it with our hearts as well. Only then can the baptism of Jesus be
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planted in our hearts as our faith. Gold in the Bible refers to faith. It is by believing in the true gospel that we can enter Heaven. All the religions of this world commonly teach their followers to reach one’s own awakening. For example, Buddhism teaches its believers to cleanse their hearts through ascetic exercises to enter into Nirvana. The objective of Buddhism, in other words, is to cast aside all illusive, mundane thoughts by immersing oneself in meditation and ultimately becoming a god on one’s own. But there is no one who can achieve this. Some religionists are trying to become a god on their own by secluding themselves in mountains. For example, even in Christianity just after the Early Church era, there arose so many monasteries that sought self-sanctification. But secluding oneself in a mountain does not mean that this person would no longer be visited by decadent thoughts. It is a huge mistake to think that if we just cut ourselves off from the world and have no contact with other human beings, we could be freed from all
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our lustful desires and emotions. On the contrary, our flesh is such that the more we seclude ourselves, the more we are haunted by the lustful desire and pleasure of this secular world. Because we have such sins in our hearts, it is impossible for us to get away from our sins no matter how much we want to do so. This is why Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Our Lord is the only Way to the Kingdom of Heaven. He is the Truth. And He is the Life. Jesus is the Lord of life. What people want to find out is the way to go to Heaven. To realize this way that lead them to the Kingdom of God, they must know and believe in the Truth thoroughly. The Truth is that God Himself came to this earth incarnated in the flesh of a man and that by being baptized by John the Baptist; He took upon all the sins of the entire mankind. We can all enter the Kingdom of God by knowing this Truth and believing that all our sins have also been passed onto Jesus. On the contrary, it is impossible for us to enter
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Heaven by our own merits, in other words, by doing many good deeds. Why? Because no matter how many good deeds we might have done, if we had broken even just one statute of God’s Law, then this only means that we have failed to keep all the Word of God. Because breaking even just one statute of God’s Law means that one is a sinner before God, it is impossible for such a person to go to Heaven by his acts. We must believe in this truth, and we must thereby pass our sins onto Jesus Christ through the baptism that He received from John the Baptist. Jesus took all the sins of mankind including yours as well upon His body. So it is by having your sins passed onto Jesus that all your sins are washed away clean. To achieve this, you must first examine yourselves to see whether there is sin in your hearts or not, and when you realize that there is sin, you then must believe in the remission of sin manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and thereby get your faith approved by God. It is by believing in the sacrificial offering of the body of Christ that we can
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go to Heaven after being saved from sin once and for all. It is not because people have sinned that they are unable to enter Heaven, but it is because they do not know and do not believe in the real truth, the gospel manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread, that they are unable to enter Heaven. We should not just say that we are ill-informed because of our ignorance and distance ourselves from the Word of God, but we must be saved by hearing and believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. As the High Priest ministered to God by offering the sacrifice with faith to sanctify his people, we, the royal priests of today, also must know the clear truth in our heads and embrace the holiness of God in our hearts. No matter when, where, and which souls ask us to give the offering of faith for them, we must first be clothed in the holiness of God. The gold plate engraved with the phrase ‘Holiness to the Lord’ will forever be on the foreheads of us, today’s High Priests. The truth of the real and clear remission of sin is the gospel that is manifested in the blue, purple, and
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scarlet thread and the fine woven linen. This gospel has cleansed away all our sins and made us sinless, holy, and consecrated. It is crystal-clear that our sins were passed onto Jesus Christ when He was baptized. It is because Jesus Christ washed away our sins once for all by being baptized that those who believe in Him can receive the remission of sins and live out their faith. Moreover, as we continue with our lives of faith after receiving our remission of sins, we must also meditate and believe deeply just how important and necessary this gospel is, and how greatly the gospel of the baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist is demanded from our spiritual lives. The gospel Word of the water and the Spirit must always abide in our hearts. Why? We should do so because we sin all the time and everyday. Among the readers of my books, there is hardly anyone who does not know that Jesus bore all the condemnation of our sins by being baptized and crucified. However, it is of no use if we just regard this truth as mere knowledge. We have to ruminate upon His baptism
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as frequently as possible, for we are prone to be stained by sins everyday. Having this faith is like bringing in the grains stored in a barn and having them as our food. In other words, ruminating about the true gospel of the water and the blood is the spiritual food for our souls. That’s why Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:53-54). We must confirm our faith in the baptism of Jesus everyday. For all priests, this faith must be even more firmly established. Only when they have this clear and determined faith can they maintain their salvation, as well as teach other sinners so that they may also be saved. Is this not the case? Of course it is! What we need everyday is the faith that believes in the baptism of Jesus, and the faith that believes in Jesus who bore the condemnation of all our sins. The turban worn by the High Priest cannot be
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found in this world. Is there any turban in this world that has a gold plate hanging onto it and tied with a blue cord? There is only one such turban, and it is the turban of the High Priest. This speaks of a profound truth to us today: The royal priests should stand firm on the faith in Jesus’ baptism. And it also shows us that you and I can fulfill our priestly duties only when we have strong faith in this truth. Our faith in Jesus’ baptism must become clearer and sharper everyday. Jesus was crucified to death because He had taken our sins upon Himself. Because He had taken our sins when He was baptized, He could say, “It is finished” (John 19:30) just before He died on the Cross. And He then rose up from the dead and came alive again. By doing these righteous works, Jesus has perfectly blotted out all our sins and become the eternal Savior of all those who believe in Him. We must remember Jesus’ baptism every day. Why? It is because our lives are full of mistakes and blemishes. Are you lacking or not? The more time
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goes by, the more we see our insufficient and frail selves. Would you still then not believe in the baptism of Jesus and the blood of the Cross?
The Gold Plate Engraved with “Holiness to the Lord” What kind of faith is the faith that enables us to become sinless and holy? It is the faith of the blue thread that believes in the baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist. It is because Jesus accepted the sins of mankind by being baptized by John that all our sins were passed onto Him. When we come to believe in Jesus’ baptism that He was baptized to take all our sins onto His body, such faith renders us a wonderful experience of having all our sins blotted out by faith. When Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, the sins of mankind were passed onto Him. So because the sins of everyone were passed onto Jesus, those who believe in this Truth have been
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washed from all their sins once and for all. Their sins have been cleansed by faith. This washing of sin is implied in the blue color of the Tabernacle system. In other words, the sins of your hearts are blotted out by faith when you believe in His baptism and confess, “Ah, my sins, your sins, and the sins of all the people in the whole wide world were passed onto Jesus Christ.” Your sins also have been completely washed away if you have this faith. Before you came to know this baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist, your hearts clearly had sin. There is no one on this planet that has been approved sinless even before knowing this Truth. Everyone has sin, and thus is destined to hell. But to blot out all our sins, Jesus came to this earth and accepted all our sins onto Himself by being baptized. The baptism that Jesus received is the same as the laying on of hands of the sacrificial system of the Old Testament; the sins of the people of Israel were passed onto the head of the sacrificial animal by the laying on of their hands. Thus, we can find so many
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phrases of ‘lay his (or their) hands on’ in the Old Testament, especially in Leviticus. Were your sins passed onto Jesus when He was baptized? When Jesus was baptized, He said, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15). The word “for thus” here is “hutos” in Greek, which means ‘in this way,’ ‘most fitting,’ or ‘there is no other way besides this.’ This word shows that Jesus irreversibly took the entire sins of humankind onto Himself through the baptism He received from John the Baptist. Because the moment Jesus took upon all our sins by being baptized is a decisive moment, I can never forget this moment. You must remember in your heads this Word that is clearly written in the original text also. And by meditating on this gospel of the water and the Spirit everyday, you must believe in your hearts. We can become sinless and enter the Kingdom of Heaven by believing in our hearts that Jesus accepted all our sins and washed them away through His
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baptism. Can we enter Heaven by any other means? You might think that you would become gentler and disciplined when you grow old, but you see the older you get, the nastier you become. If you think that you can become kinder and more self-disciplined with passing of time, you should soon acknowledge yourselves as being incapable of becoming like this. The fact is that as we grow older, we become even more impatient and are even less able to handle our anger. Had we possessed the ability to do this, perhaps we could enter the Kingdom of Heaven by keeping the Law with our acts. But because we have no such abilities, only sin, evilness, and anger arise from us. What I am trying to tell you here is that salvation cannot be attained by acts, but only by faith. Hebrews 11:1 states, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Though we have not seen Him, God still exists, and because this God is alive, He works in our lives. God created this universe unseen by us, and through His Word He has shown us the Truth of salvation. By believing in
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this truth of salvation in our hearts, we can be saved from sin and cleanse away all the sins of our hearts. And this is still effective even now. Therefore, sinners must now be saved by believing in this Truth in their hearts, not trying to be saved from their sins by their own virtuous deeds. What is it meant by the fact that the gold plate was put on the front of the turban of the High Priest and tied with blue cord? It means that we must know the gospel of the water and the Spirit and believe in it. By being baptized, Jesus took upon all the sins of everyone, including yours and mine. Jesus who is almighty thus took upon all our sins in this way. We must know this and believe in it. It is when we hear the Word of God with our ears, know it with our heads, and believe it with our hearts that our hearts are cleansed. Because we have sinned before and cannot but commit more sins now and in the future, to save us from all our sins, the Lord came to this earth and took upon our sins by being baptized. When Jesus accepted the sins of mankind and
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washed them all away, your sins were also passed onto Him. By believing in this Truth, you can be remitted from all your sins. When we believe in the baptism that Jesus Christ who came by the water and the Spirit received, you and I can be washed from all the sins in our hearts, and by believing that Jesus Christ also bore all the condemnation of our sins, we can become God’s very own children. Therefore, it is by the faith that believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that we can be born again and become God’s children. Our Lord has given us this kind of faith.
The Linen Trousers of the High Priest God commanded Moses to make the linen trousers for the High Priest and clothe him with them. They had to reach from the waist to the thighs and cover the nakedness of the priests. And God said that in order to avoid death, Aaron and his sons must wear them when they come into the Tabernacle of
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meeting or approach the altar to minister inside the court of the Tabernacle, and He also said that this should be a statute forever to Aaron and his descendants after him. They were undergarments worn to cover the nakedness of the priests. Revealing nakedness before God is revealing uncleanness before Him, and so anyone whose sins are revealed before God is put to death. This is why God commanded His priests to cover their nakedness. God, in other words, has told us to cover our sins and our uncleanness with the faith that believes in this perfect gospel of His righteousness. Then, what are the white linen trousers of the High Priest? They are the faith that believes in the righteousness of God. They are the truth of perfect salvation that God has made us sinless. Jesus Christ who is God Himself (purple thread) came to this earth, was baptized (blue thread), shed His blood and died on the Cross (scarlet thread), rose from the dead again, and has thereby completed our salvation
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perfectly. Believing that God has blotted out all our sins with His baptism and was condemned to pay the wages for all those sins on our behalf is wearing the linen trousers of salvation in our hearts. It is by believing in our hearts that we can be wholly saved from sin and that we can become the children of God and enter His Kingdom. The only way to cleanse away all the filthiness of our hearts is to believe in the baptism that Jesus received and His blood of the Cross. In particular, the faith of the blue thread, that Jesus accepted all sins with His baptism, is the core truth on our salvation that washes away all our sins, and it is by believing this that we can cover all our uncleanness. How can we come before God without hesitation regardless of our insufficiencies and iniquities? It is possible only when we believe in the righteousness of God that covers all our filthiness perfectly. With the faith that believes that God has saved us with the water and the blood, that is, with the blue, purple, and scarlet thread, we can cover all our uncleanness. Jesus came
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to this earth, made us perfectly righteous with His righteous acts, and has thereby become the Lord of our everlasting salvation. It is by believing in this that we can reach a sinless state. By believing in the righteous works of God, with which He loves us and has made us sinless, we can escape from the condemnation of sin. By believing in this righteous salvation of God in our hearts, we can receive eternal life. We sin everyday. We must therefore realize that anyone who comes to God without wearing the white linen trousers of God’s salvation that has blotted out all our sins with the blue, purple, and scarlet thread, the person will be put to death. The kind of faith that prevents us from dying when we come before God is none other than the faith that believes in His righteousness. This faith that believes in the righteousness of God is the faith that believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Because God has told us to put on such white linen trousers, we must obtain this and wear the trousers of the true remission of sin by faith in our hearts.
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When we come before God with this faith, we will not be put to death. As such, what is manifested in these garments of the High Priest is all about the truth of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. None of the garments of the High Priests is devoid of some spiritual meaning. We, the High Priests of today, cannot omit any of the garments that God has commended us to wear. What would happen if the High Priest put on all the other garments but without the linen trousers? He would surely be put to death. Whether the ordinary people wear these linen trousers or not is your choice, but if the High Priests did not wear them, they would be killed, for their shameful nakedness—that is, their sins and uncleanness—would not have been covered thoroughly. What would happen if we do not have the kind of faith that believes in His perfect salvation with all our hearts before God? What would happen if we come before God without believing in our hearts that He has made us sinless, without wearing the garments of
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salvation in our hearts? We would remain as sinners. Because ‘the wages of sin is death,’ sinners who have not been remitted of their sins must be condemned, put to death, and cast into the everlasting fire of hell. This is why your hearts must wear the garments of salvation that God has made for you. It is by believing in the truth manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and we are able to enter the Kingdom of God. This is why the Bible says that gold, the rustproof and most precious metal, denotes ‘faith.’ In the Bible, gold refers to faith, while bronze refers to condemnation. We can find the fact that the gold thread was used frequently to make the garments of the High Priest. This implies that we always have to keep a strong faith in this gospel of the perfect salvation. Believe in the Truth that is manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread. God said that this should be a statue that we must keep forever. In our minds and hearts, you and I must believe in this Truth unmistakably. True faith must be
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accompanied by true knowledge, feelings, and acts. Do you have this kind of faith and truth? Do you truly believe in the truth which is manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread with all your hearts? Do you believe that God loves you, that He blotted out all your sins by being baptized, shedding His blood, and rose up from the dead again? If you indeed believe in this Truth, then this means that you have clothed your hearts and souls with the garments of salvation. God rebuked the people of Israel through the Apostle Paul saying, “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God” (Romans 10:3). God dislikes those who try to establish and boast their own righteousness with their seemingly good deeds. Those who do not believe in the good works that God has done for us out of His love for us will all be destroyed. In what do you trust? Do you trust in the righteousness of God, or your own righteousness? Do
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you really believe with all your hearts that God loves you, and that He has blotted out all your sins with both the baptism of Jesus and His blood of the Cross? Do you believe in this Truth, and is this where you entrust yourselves to? Do you truly hold onto this Truth in your hearts and believe? Or are you still trying to receive the remission of your sins by striving to lead your lives benevolently on your own? You, of course, must live benevolently. After being born again, you must live even more benevolently. However, in the Holy Spirit, you must first recognize what the virtuous life really is. The Bible says, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). For today’s priests of God, living benevolently means serving the genuine gospel. How pitiful are those who do not believe in the gospel and God’s love for us, who do not believe that God has blotted out all their sins perfectly with both the baptism of Jesus and His blood of the Cross!
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Once there was a group of wrecked fishermen who just arrived at the mouth of the Amazon River after 10 days struggling against the storm and waves of the boundless ocean. They all got exhausted by not drinking any water for 10 days. At last, they arrived in a part where flesh water was. However, the mouth of the river was so vast that none of them could recognize this incredible fact that they were actually floating on drinkable water. As a result, they all eventually died, exhausted on the abundance of flesh water. How pitiful they were! Looking at this from a spiritual viewpoint, almost all the people of this generation are struggling desperately against their sins, exhausted spiritually, while not knowing that all the time their sins had already been blotted out through both the baptism of Jesus and His bloodshed on the Cross. Because God loves you and me, He has completed the righteous works of blotting out all our sins. By believing in this Truth we can enter the Kingdom of God. This faith enables us to be born
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again. To be born again means to be born once again as the children of God; even though we were born once as sinners, we become the righteous by the work of the Holy Spirit when we profess to believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. It is by being born again as the sinless like this that we can enter the Kingdom of God. Have you clothed your souls with God’s good and righteous garments of salvation? Have you made your souls truly believe in this gospel? What is important above all is whether or not you believe in this genuine gospel in your hearts. Instead of trying to realize the Truth on your own or hold fast onto the teachings of this secular world, you must believe in the Word of God which is taught to you by those who have received the remission of sins prior to you. The true gospel is not something that you may just know in your heads, but it is something that you must truly believe in your hearts. You must enter Heaven by truly believing in it. What blessing, brothers and sisters, has God granted to us through His Son Jesus Christ? By blotting out all our
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sins through His only begotten Son’s sacrifice, God has made us His own children. The people of this world want to do what is righteous and they also revere those who do the right things. Aren’t the works of Jesus who sacrificed Himself for the entire mankind most righteous? The gospel of the water and the Spirit has not been made by mankind. It is the most virtuous and righteous work that God has fulfilled especially for us. Because Jesus was baptized and sacrificed Himself on the Cross for all the people of this world, we recognize Him as our true Savior. No matter when and where, there is only one righteous Person and it is Jesus Christ alone. There is absolutely no one else who is righteous by himself or herself on this planet except through Jesus Christ. Do you want to become righteous? By believing in the righteous work that God has done for you, you can all become these righteous people. The righteous work of God is none other than the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Believe in Jesus who has done
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this righteous work. God has blotted out all our sins for He has loved us. When we accept His love of this Truth by faith, we also become holy, just as God is holy. God said, “You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:45). God has told us to actually lead our lives of faith by faith. Do you wholeheartedly believe in this righteous work of Jesus that has saved you perfectly from all your sins? I believe that the most righteous work in the world has already been fulfilled by our Lord’s eternal sacrifice. I believe that it has all been fulfilled through the baptism that Jesus received, His blood of the Cross, and His resurrection from death. I thank God with my faith that He gave me through His Word of truth.
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SERMON 10
You can download Rev. Paul C. Jong’s Free Christian Books on iPhone, iPad, or Blackberry by going to Amazon’s Kindle e-bookstore (www.amazon.com).
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207 The Breastplate of Judgment
The Breastplate of Judgment < Exodus 28:15-30 > “You shall make the breastplate of judgment. Artistically woven according to the workmanship of the ephod you shall make it: of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, you shall make it. It shall be doubled into a square: a span shall be its length, and a span shall be its width. And you shall put settings of stones in it, four rows of stones: The first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and an emerald; this shall be the first row; the second row shall be a turquoise, a sapphire, and a diamond; the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; and the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They shall be set in gold settings. And the stones shall have the names of the sons of Israel, twelve according to their
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names, like the engravings of a signet, each one with its own name; they shall be according to the twelve tribes. You shall make chains for the breastplate at the end, like braided cords of pure gold. And you shall make two rings of gold for the breastplate, and put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate. Then you shall put the two braided chains of gold in the two rings which are on the ends of the breastplate; and the other two ends of the two braided chains you shall fasten to the two settings, and put them on the shoulder straps of the ephod in the front. You shall make two rings of gold, and put them on the two ends of the breastplate, on the edge of it, which is on the inner side of the ephod. And two other rings of gold you shall make, and put them on the two shoulder straps, underneath the ephod toward its front, right at the seam above the intricately woven band of the ephod. They shall bind the breastplate by means of its rings to the rings of the ephod, using a blue cord, so that it is above the
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intricately woven band of the ephod, and so that the breastplate does not come loose from the ephod. So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel on the breastplate of judgment over his heart, when he goes into the holy place, as a memorial before the LORD continually. And you shall put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be over Aaron’s heart when he goes in before the LORD. So Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel over his heart before the LORD continually.”
Let us now turn our attention to the breastplate with which the High Priest judged for the people of Israel. The above passage tells us that the breastplate of judgment was made of a fabric doubled into a square measuring a span in both its length and width. This fabric was artistically woven together of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread and fine woven linen.
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On this fabric, twelve precious stones were set, three on each row for a total of four rows. God also told Moses to put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastplate of judgment. The Urim and the Thummim here respectively mean ‘light and perfection.’
The Standard of the Judgment of the High Priest As we know, every judgment can be sentenced after deliberating the case with the related standards and with the rules and regulations. Then, based on what standard did the High Priest judge for his people? He had to judge his people by the Urim and the Thummim in his breastplate, that is, ‘light and perfection.’ The basic faith that enabled him to judge properly was the faith in the truth manifested in the five threads that the breastplate of judgment was made from. In other words, it was based on the faith that believed in the truth made of the gold, blue, purple, and scarlet
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thread and the fine woven linen that the High Priest made judgment for all the people of Israel. Put differently, the judging standard of the High Priest is the truth, which is ‘light and perfection,’ manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen used for the breastplate. By believing in the truth which is manifested in the five threads, the High Priest could reach his authoritative decisions for all the people of Israel; whether they were spiritually right or wrong. The breastplate was placed over the heart of each High Priest, and the Urim and the Thummim were put inside of it. This implies that in the heart of a High Priest, the truth of light and perfection was so firmly established that he could always lead the people of Israel and judge whether or not their faith was right, whether or not they gave offerings according to the sacrificial system of God, and whether or not they followed His commandments. Today, we, the royal priests of God, also have to bear the same standard and judge the people of this
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age. We must reach the same conclusion that if people believe in the truth manifested in the five threads used for the breastplate, then they can become the light of the world before God, and if they do not believe, then they are to be condemned. Some may disagree with this Word arguing that there can be many routes to reach a mountaintop. Climbers may say, “You took the easiest course last time, but I will take the eastside course, the most difficult cliff to conquer this mountain.” Sure, when it comes to the case of mountaineering, such an alternative way is very possible. However, when it comes to our spiritual realm, it admits of no dispute or compromise. The only standard is what God has established. For us to become the light of the world before God, we do not have several methods, but there is only one way: This way is to know and believe in the shining truth of salvation manifested in the gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen, which are the materials of the breastplate and the ephod, and thereby receive the remission of our sins
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and become God’s own children. There is no other way to become the light of the world but by believing that God has blotted out all our sins and made us righteous with the blue, purple, and scarlet thread. Only by believing in the truth of the materials used for the garments worn by the High Priests can sinners become righteous and the imperfect can become perfect. Likewise, when we are judged whether or not we have been saved before God, we are judged based on the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit that has become the shining light of truth. If we truly want to be properly judged before God whether we are to go to Heaven or hell, we must have this faith that knows and believes in the materials used to make the breastplate of judgment. For us to see others and be able to discern whether they wholeheartedly believe in the truth of the water and the Spirit, we must first have believed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit ourselves. What we must realize is that the truth manifested in the gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and the fine woven
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linen is precisely what enables us to reach the right judgment about the remission of sins, and it is this truth that bears witness to the right judgment. Can you now understand this? Who then is the first one who can render the right judgment on the remission of sins today? It is Jesus Christ, the eternal High Priest of Heaven. Jesus Christ took upon all our sins by taking the sins of mankind onto His body with His baptism, and by dying on the Cross and rising from the dead again, He has forever delivered us from the sins of the world. So, whoever believes in Jesus Christ according to this truth can become a royal priest and have the right to judge people correctly. Now, we the born again have the duty to judge the unsaved according to God’s given standard, the gospel of the water and the Spirit. And we must perform this duty faithfully before Jesus Christ, the Supreme Judge. There are some people who dislike the verdict rendered by us the spiritual priests. They stand against us, saying, “You are not God! You are just a
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human being as lacking as I am, how can you determine whether I have received the remission of my sins or not? The right judgment of sinners is rendered only by God! Who do you think you are? How dare you judge whether I have been saved or not? God only knows this. Are you God? Do you think you are better than everyone else?” But the reason why the decisions of the spiritual priests are flawless is because they have been entrusted with such a right from the Lord. When the priests of God determine what is right and wrong, then we must believe in this judgment, for it is the right judgment. As it is doctors who can diagnose the illnesses of their patients, it is up to the spiritual priests to examine souls and determine whether they are still sinners or they have become righteous. It is by the faith that believes in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen that we can become such spiritual priests. These spiritual priests are the ones who have been remitted of all their sins and who have received the Holy Spirit from
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God by believing in the gospel of the Truth. Those who thus have become the priests can discern sinners from the righteous. Because we have received the remission of sins by hearing and believing in the gospel manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread, we are now able to heal sinners and lead them to Christ.
You Have to Brave It Out When People Challenge Your Priesthood Sinners, in their own thoughts, also try to reduce the power of the just judgment rendered by the righteous. What is worse, however, is that we might not be convinced of our own priesthood even though we have already been born again. When we the bornagain judge others, it is possible for us to think, “Am I not being arrogant by any chance? Am I not making a mistake here?” But there is nothing wrong here, for only those who have become God’s priests spiritually
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can make this spiritual judgment correctly. So, we the born-again have to brave it out when sinners challenge our authority to judge them. Jesus has given such a right to His disciples, saying, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained” (John 20:23). Those who have become spiritual priests can lead others with the gospel that has enabled them to receive the remission of sins. Throughout the world, there are the many saints who have received the remission of sins through our Christian literature ministry. Along with this remission of sins, God has given them the power of the Holy Spirit so that they also can discern spiritually whether others have received the remission of sins or not. Those who know and believe in what the gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen are telling them are the ones who have the power to judge others by faith. Through these priests, God has saved people from their sins and condemnation. It is by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that we have
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become God’s children spiritually. After becoming God’s children, we have become the spiritual priests, and therefore we have the right to judge both who has received the remission of sins and who has not. We should tell the sinners unhesitatingly that they are heading for hell because of their sins and that they have to receive the remission of their sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We also should judge our fellow believers, who have been already born again of the water and the Spirit, in order to lead them to the right path. You must not think that it is wrong for us, who have become the spiritual priests, to judge sinners who have as yet not received the remission of their sins. You should not think, in other words, that it is arrogant for you to discern such people as sinners. On the contrary, because we are always carrying the breastplate of judgment on our chests as the spiritual priests, we must fulfill our duties even more vigorously. Setting all other things aside, we must, on
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behalf of God, sentence these sinners to be doomed in hell. These sinners will then recognize the judgment of the spiritual priests as the judgment of God, accept this judgment, believe in God’s grace of the washing away of sin which is manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen, and thereby be saved from all their sins. This is why if a judgment is rendered by faith, it is then the right judgment. Then, with what criterion can we determine whether others have received the remission of sins or not? We can determine this based on the very faith that believes in the five threads of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen. Put differently, we the royal priests can judge others on the basis of the gospel of the water and the Spirit: Jesus Christ the Son of God took upon all our sins by being baptized by John the Baptist, died on the Cross, was buried and then rose from the dead again, and has thereby washed away all our sins and bore the condemnation of all those sins. Those who believe in
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this Truth are the ones who have received the remission of sins, and those who are do not believe like this deserve to be sentenced as sinners. The standard of judgment for the righteous—that is, whether they have lived spiritually worthwhile lives or not—is also based on how well they have served the gospel of the water and the Spirit. By the way, for all judgments, the question of whether or not one believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit constitutes the core standard that is the most important. Anyone who does not believe in this genuine gospel before God will remain a sinner. Anyone who leaves out even a single one of the four threads of the Old Testament—that is, the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen— from his or her faith will forever remain unsaved from sin, for God’s salvation requires the faith of all these four threads. Among today’s Christians, there are many who say that they have been born again by believing in the blood of the Cross alone. Judging the faith of
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these Christians who believe only in the blood of the Cross, we can conclude that their faith is an insufficient one, for their faith was fabricated while leaving out the blue thread (the baptism of Jesus). Could Jesus have taken up the sins of mankind when He died on the Cross? The reason why it was possible for Jesus to be crucified, shed His blood, and die on the Cross was because He had first taken upon all our sins by being baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River beforehand. Had Jesus not been baptized by John, how could the sins of the world have been passed onto Him? It was because our sins were passed onto the body of Jesus Christ through His baptism that Christ could shoulder all the sins of this world, be crucified, and shed His blood to die to complete our salvation. Jesus was crucified because He had accepted the sins of mankind when He was baptized by John the Baptist. But for His baptism, how else could He have taken upon our sins? Who could He hang on the Cross to fulfill the will of God the Father? If Jesus
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Christ had not already taken upon our sins by being baptized, in other words, how could He then die on the Cross? Is this not the case? If Jesus Christ had not been baptized by John the Baptist, all your sins would still remain intact within your heart. If the body of Jesus Christ did not take the sins of the world, then what was the reason for Him to die on the Cross in our place?
Questions That Are Raised from the Ignorance of the Gospel of the Water and the Spirit There are some people who ask, “If it is true that Jesus took upon all our sins by being baptized, then this means that Jesus had sins on His body, and if this is the case, how could this sinful Jesus have become the Savior of sinners?” This is a frustrating question arising out of complete ignorance of the gospel of the water and the
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Spirit. It was upon His flesh that Jesus took the sins of mankind when He was baptized. He did not, in other words, take the sins of the world upon His Spirit. The divine nature of the baptized Jesus remained perfectly holy. He was baptized only in His flesh, and therefore He took the sins of the world only upon His body. It was because Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist that He could be crucified and condemned for all sins, shedding His blood and dying on the Cross. Jesus Himself committed no sin at all in this world (2 Corinthians 5:21). But because Jesus Christ took upon the sins of the world by being baptized by John the Baptist, these sins of the world were placed on His own body. Had this not been the case, Jesus Christ could never have become our Savior. What I actually want to tell such ignorant people is that Jesus did not take upon the sins of the world on the Cross. Let me say this to you again: “That Jesus died on the Cross is because He had taken upon the sins of the world when He was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River.” If this is not true,
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then there would have been no other opportunity for Jesus to take upon the sins of the world. Although Jesus became the sacrificial Lamb of all sinners, fundamentally speaking, He had no sin at all in His heart. It is not the case that Jesus had sin from His birth, but rather, by being baptized by John the Baptist, He accepted the sins of the world which was passed onto His body. This is how Jesus became the lawful offering for all the sins of the world. In other words, because Jesus took upon the sins of mankind by being baptized, He then had to shed His blood, die on the Cross. After all, He rose from the dead again, and thereby become our true Savior. By doing so, He bore all the condemnation of sin. Therefore, by faith that believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, you must be saved from all your sins if you still have sin in your heart.
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The History of Corrupted Christianity In the Early Church period, it was by believing in the baptism of Jesus and the blood of the Cross that the Apostles such as Paul and Peter and the early saints could also become and work as spiritual priests. Historically speaking, after the passing of the Early Church period and the era of the Church Fathers, the Truth of the gospel of the water and the Spirit began to be corrupted, and the Edict of Milan in 313 A.D. accelerated such decaying process. I believe that it is from this corruption that Christian sinners have sprung up today. Since then, a large crowd of nominal Christians have arisen, and they claim to have received the remission of sins even as they believe in only the blood of the Cross. From then on until now, the gospel manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread had not been testified but remained hidden. It is a disturbing fact, that there have arisen many Christian sinners who consider Christianity only as a mere religion of this world.
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When we judge today’s Christians based on the faith that has enabled us to become spiritual priests, we can see that many of them have misunderstood and misconstrued the salvation that allows them to receive the remission of sins. We can see that every statement of faith of all the denominations of today’s Christianity is quite similar to one another. They only differ in their denominational names; when it comes to their faiths, they all think that they have been delivered from sin by believing only in the blood of the Cross. But their hearts have not been truly remitted of sin. Even as they remain ignorant of God’s gospel of the water and the Spirit, they think themselves to be good Christians. We can see that even though these people believe in Jesus as their Savior and in the blood of the Cross, they are still obsessed only with their prayers of repentance, for they still do not know the Truth that enables them to wash away all their sins. There are, in other words, people who try to wash away their sins even as they still remain oblivious to the power of the gospel of
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the water and the Spirit. This is why we are now spreading this genuine gospel of the water and the Spirit once again to all the people in the entire world. Because throughout the world people are ignorant of the baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist, we recognize that we must preach to them this gospel of the water and the Spirit manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread used as the materials for the Tabernacle. All of us are preaching to the people of this whole world that because Jesus bore the sins of the world by being baptized by John the Baptist, He bore all the condemnation of sin by being crucified and dying. We owe it to these people who do not know the gospel of the water and the Spirit to spread this gospel to them. We therefore realize the need to give them an opportunity to hear this genuine gospel so that they may come to believe. In some countries, the history of the Christian faith goes back over 1,000 or even 2,000 years. But it is clear that most Christians still do not have a lucid
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understanding on the gospel of the water and the Spirit. When we judge them based on the truth of the gospel manifested in the Tabernacle, there are many who must believe in Jesus as the Savior all over again. What I am trying to say here is that regardless of how long they might have believed in Jesus, if they still have not received the remission of sins, we must then lead them to believe in Jesus again correctly. We have to teach the gospel of the water and the Spirit to them urgently. The Apostle Paul also had the same mind as us, saying, “For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!” (1 Corinthians 9:16).
Jesus Christ Is God Who Came in a Human Body to Save All Sinners Some people, though they believe that Jesus is the Son of God and their Savior, do not believe that
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Jesus is God. They do not believe in Christ’s ministry of the purple tread. These people will actually be destroyed, for in their hearts they do not have the faith that believes in the whole Truth revealed in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen and have therefore not received the remission of sins. Those who do not truly believe in their hearts that the Lord has blotted out all their sins do not have the Holy Spirit in their hearts because they don’t have the Word that bears witness to the washing away of their sins. When we call Jesus as our “Lord,” the word “Lord” here means the Master, signifying that we believe that Jesus is God Himself. This Son of God is also the true God. To explain this, I often use the following metaphor. When human beings conceive, they give birth to another human being. When dogs give birth, they give birth to puppies. Birds give birth to birds. In other words, just as there are different kinds and species, God the Father has given birth to the only one Son, and He is also God. (Psalms 2:7).
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He is actually equal to God Himself in His essence (Philippians 2:6), but He emptied Himself and became like us humans. To save us from sin, He came to this earth, was baptized, died on the Cross, rose from the dead again, and, as our true Savior, has thereby given us the true faith of salvation. However, there are so many people who deny that Jesus is God. In schools, they teach publicly that Jesus is one of the Four Sages which appeared in ancient times. Such a notion is originated even from the Church Fathers. Even though they heard the true gospel from their predecessors of faith, some of them had such a strong faith that they made the confession of their faith by embracing martyrdom, but others denied the divinity of Jesus. Some Church Fathers even wrote literary works propounding that Jesus is the Son of God but not God Himself. Recently, many theologians have begun supporting religious pluralism. Their claims are that people can be saved from sin and enter Heaven even if they believe in different religions other than
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Christianity. Catholicism is the first that declared such a creed publicly. The reason why these nominal Christians support such a standpoint is because they themselves do not believe that Jesus is God Himself and the Creator. They want to believe in Him as the Word speaks, but they cannot construct this true faith upon such a false teaching. They are the foolish men who built their houses on the sand (Matthew 7:26). They love to learn everything from other religions. For example, some western churches are practicing Buddhist meditation programs once a week. From a humanistic point of view, such a program seems beautiful and more progressive. But anyone who does not believe that Jesus is God Himself cannot be saved from sin. How about you? How do you believe? Genesis 1:1-3 states, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.”
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God created the heavens and the earth through His Word in the beginning. The Word has existed from the very beginning, and this Word is God Himself. Therefore, the world was made through Jesus Christ, the incarnation of the Word. (1 John 1:1, John 1:10). This means that Jesus Christ is none other than God Himself, God of the Word. Jesus Christ is the Creator who made this universe and the Savior who came to this earth to save us. It is only right for us to believe that this Jesus Christ is God Himself who forsook the throne of the glory of Heaven and personally came to this earth in the flesh of a man. Through His servants, God Himself had prophesied about the coming of the Messiah, and according to these prophecies the Savior was conceived in the body of the Virgin Mary and incarnated into the flesh of a man. That is, the One who was conceived and born through a human body is God Himself. And when He turned 30, as the High Priest of Heaven, He took all our sins and the sins of the entire mankind upon His own body by being
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baptized. He then died on the Cross, rose from the dead, and has thereby saved us perfectly from all our sins. Jesus, in other words, has become our true and everlasting Savior. In His fundamental essence, Jesus is God Himself who is equal to God the Father. For us, this Jesus who is fundamentally equal to God the Father is the same God. The Father of Jesus Christ is also God for us, and so is Jesus Christ Himself. Why? Because the world was made through Him, and through Him we were also made as human beings. God said in Genesis 1:26, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” When God made man in His image, Jesus Christ was there. He is the One who made us. It is He who made us and it is He who has saved us from sin. Jesus Christ who came to save us is our true Savior. Because Jesus Christ has given us salvation, and because He is also God Himself, we believe Him to be the Lord of our salvation. As such, you and I should no longer wander around in our confusion, but in our hearts we must believe in the
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Lord God who came by the gospel of the water and the Spirit as the Savior. There are people who keep insisting that they are God’s children even as their hearts still remain sinful. Can they really be God’s people even when their hearts have sin? Can they go to Heaven even when their hearts remain sinful? Of course not! It does not matter whether they are Christians or not; if they have not received the remission of sins because of their ignorance of the gospel of the water and the Spirit, none of them can enter Heaven. Yet in Christian communities throughout this whole world, there are so many people who have this kind of faith. Who then must spread the correct and true gospel of the water and the Spirit to such people? We—that is, you and I—must make the right judgment for them and preach the gospel truth of the water and the Spirit to them. The gospel manifested in the Tabernacle is not the kind of truth that should be preached only once or twice and then given up entirely. It is the Truth of the real salvation that must
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continue to be spread until the day our Lord returns. Do you know this gospel of the water and the Spirit that enables you to receive the remission of sins? If people have sin, then they are not the children of God. They must have the faith that believes in the gospel truth of salvation which is manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread used for the Tabernacle as its materials. We must spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit until the end of the world. Are we too embarrassed to preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit? In the old days, when God told His servants, “Go out and continue to prophesy,” then they continued to do so, and when God told Isaiah, “Go prophesy naked,” he went out and prophesied naked (Isaiah 20:2-5). Only when we preach this gospel of the water and the Spirit as it is manifested in the Tabernacle to all people can they escape from the wrath of God. This is why we must continue to spread the gospel. How about you? Do your hearts in fact have the Word of faith that brings you true salvation? When
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people throughout the world do not have the Word of the remission of sins and still belong to Satan, how could you just sit still and do nothing? You cannot just sit around. There are many partners of ours all around the world. They clearly believe in the gospel of the remission of sins, the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Some of them have confessed to us that they were persecuted when they spoke of the gospel of the water and the Spirit to their colleagues. They have braved it out against the opponents of the gospel of the water and the Spirit, saying, “You are not God’s people because you still have sin in your hearts. You are heading for hell because of your filthy sins owing to your unbelief in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Now I cannot call you ‘brother,’ even though you call me ‘my brother’, for I am not a sinner like you anymore.” We have never led them to act such a way, but the Holy Spirit in them leads them what to do. There is no need for you to be intimidated, for you have in your hearts the gospel of the water and the Spirit that
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constitutes the standard based upon which you are able to judge all others. This ability to correctly discern others’ remission of sins has been accrued to you because you have believed in the gospel of the Truth manifested especially in the Tabernacle. We must stand before God with the faith in the Truth that with these three threads of the blue, purple, and scarlet colors, the Lord has saved us from all our sins and made us righteous.
Let Us Use the Correct Measuring Rod of Salvation We call the Word of God the ‘canon.’ The word ‘canon’ derives from the Hebrew term qaneh and the Greek term kanon, both of which refer to a measuring rod. When we need to measure something, then we have to use a ruler or a measuring rod to measure it correctly. Like this, when we need to discern someone’s spiritual status, that is, whether a
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person has been born again or not, then we have to investigate that person with the measuring rod of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen. Like a tailor using his ruler to measure the size of his customers, we must investigate whether or not that person has indeed been saved from sin. The way to do this is with the truth manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen. Based on this Word of God, in other words, we must select every aspect of the person’s faith and clearly distinguish what falls below its standard and what exceeds it. In particularly, we need to inspect our faith thoroughly with the measuring rod of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread, that is, the gospel of the water and the Spirit. If someone believes in Jesus only of the purple and scarlet tread, then their salvation cannot be approved by God like the royal priests of His Church. Whoever wants to be remitted of his sins must believe in the whole truth of salvation manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread. We must all believe that Jesus came to this
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earth to save all humankind from sin, took upon all our sins by being baptized, died on the Cross, rose from the dead again, and has thereby become our true Savior. All of us must have this standard of right judgment. It is based on the Word of God so that we can decide whether people are sinners or righteous. We cannot do this based on our own knowledge and emotions in an ad hoc fashion. This work is necessary for the spiritual priests to carry out their duty of giving the sin offering for their people. Now in this age, you and I must judge all the people of the world with such a correct standard. The same standard applies equally to all, to our children, wives, husbands, fathers and mothers, in-laws and grandchildren. We must discern the faith of others with the Word of God. Those who have become priests must place the measuring rod of judgment to everyone’s heart. “Do you know and believe in Jesus’ truth of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen? If you believe like this, then you are saved, but if not, then you are not saved.” Render a clear judgment
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like this is the right thing for us to do. If this is what the High Priest did before, then you and I who have become today’s spiritual priests must also do this without failure. If we do not do what we have to do as His priests, then we can never avoid being rebuked by God. Some people say, “That’s not the way to evangelize someone. This is how you evangelize! If we were all to evangelize people like you, who would ever believe in Jesus?” In theology, there is a training course called ‘the Art of Evangelism.’ It provides a how-to guide for evangelization. Once, the term ‘Friendship evangelism’ was a phrase on every preacher’s lips in this field. Its adherents still teach that when we try to evangelize people, we must befriend them first and then gradually lead them to church. They are right. They also say that when the person decides to believe in Jesus by their evangelical efforts, then they make that person repeat the so-called prayer of receiving Jesus, so that Christ would come into that person’s heart and he or she would be saved.
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But what is the final result of this approach? Do the sins disappear from the hearts of such new converts then? This is not the case. They go to church, but they still have sin—in other words, the new converts have only become another religious practitioner of Christianity. Having thus made such people believe in Jesus, they then make them give tithes or thanksgiving offerings. In the end, although they have become Christians, they cannot escape from the judgment of God, for they still have sin. They tell us that our method of gospel spreading is wrong, saying, “How can you ask people if they have sin or not when you have just met them? How can you raise the issue of salvation so quickly, rendering your judgment on whether they are saved or not, when you barely know them?” Of course, we need to give some consideration to what they say, because the soul we want to save has a personality that can be easily hurt by our lips. But sooner or later, we must preach the gospel of salvation to unbelievers we are in touch with. No matter how closely we
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befriend them, since we must preach the gospel to them sooner or later, we cannot fail to make a chance to preach the gospel by faith. Why? It is because if we do not tell them about this Truth to the end, then we would not be spreading the gospel properly. Therefore, we must ask all people, whether in the beginning or the end of our conversation for evangelism, “Do you have sin in your heart?” If the answer is yes, then we must preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit to them. Of course, we can be rebuked by them for our seemingly aggressiveness. But because we are the spiritual priests after all, we must remember that it is our solemn duty to sound the gospel trumpet of the water and the Spirit to all people clearly.
One Lord, One Baptism, and One God We have been remitted of all our sins, and the purpose of our life lies in spreading the gospel
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throughout the world. As we have been given the same duties of the evangelists who preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we work together. Why are we doing this? Because we believe in the same God, we have received the same eternal life, and we will enjoy the same glory. We are all different from one another, each with our own personalities and characters, but the reason why we set ourselves aside and unite together with each other is to lead our lives only for God. God has put the breastplate of judgment over the hearts of those who have become today’s priests. And the breastplate was to be fastened “by means of its rings to the rings of the ephod, using a blue cord, so that it is above the intricately woven band of the ephod, and so that the breastplate does not come loose from the ephod” (Exodus 28:28). This phrase emphasizes once again how indispensable the baptism of Jesus is in every judgment we make. So, the Apostle Paul also declare the importance of Jesus’ baptism, saying, “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your
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calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Ephesians 4:4-5). We have the responsibility to judge whether people’s souls are saved or not based on whether they believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. And to those who are yet to receive the remission of sins, we must preach the gospel, and for those who have received the remission of sins, we must give them recognition and help them grow in their faith. When we have been remitted from sin, is it right for us to put on the breastplate of judgment spiritually or not? Put differently, is it right for us to avoid the correct judgment of salvation on someone? This is not right. We must spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit throughout the whole wide world to everyone who have as yet not been saved.
Then, Are We Perfect in Our Flesh? When we judge sinners, it is not their acts that we
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are judging. Rather, it is with the light of this true gospel and the righteousness of God that we discern them. What is the true light for them? Becoming God’s children by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit is this light for them. The children of God are the light for this world. Does this then mean that those who have been wholly remitted of sin are perfect in their acts? In their hearts, of course, they are perfect. But in their flesh, they are utterly insufficient. In our flesh, we are all selfish, evil, insufficient and weak, but before God we are His perfect people. Are those whose acts are insufficient but who believe in the gospel of the water and the Sprit God’s children or not? We who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit are the children of God whose salvation is perfect spiritually. In other words, it is not the acts of those who have received the remission of sins by believing in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread that is perfect, but it is their salvation that is perfect. Because our faith that has saved us is whole,
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we can commune with one another in God’s grace. And because we reach our decision with the exact truth of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread, our faith and our judgment are never flawed. God has told us to place this standard of judgment over the hearts of priests always. We must embrace all the people of this world in our hearts. We must embrace their souls, pray for them, and actually spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit to them. This is why we must always have the breastplate of judgment in our hearts. And today and tomorrow, we must always judge all sinners as sinful in order to preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit to them. It is my sincere desire that this truth of faith is found in your hearts. If this truth is in your hearts, it means that the right to judge all has been given to you. Believe in this Word of truth. Make your judgment always based on the Word of God in this way, and at all times believe in and spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit with all your heart. Every day, I remember this breastplate of
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judgment in my heart, judge everything before God, and continue to spread the gospel. Repetition, in fact, is an extremely effective means of spreading the gospel. How forgettable we are! Pedagogists insist that the education by reputation is the most traditional and effect way of education. A linguist once asserted that a baby can sound a word correctly by repeating the word over one thousand times. Likewise, when we continuously and repeatedly spread the Word of the truth of the water and the Spirit, it gets engraved in our hearts. I have written this gospel Truth over and over again so that when people read our books they may come to reach a clear understanding of the truth of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen, and to believe in it. That’s why we continue to preach this gospel Truth. Brothers and sisters, we the saints must confess our faith to each other. When we confess our faith and share God’s grace with each other, our hearts can truly commune with one another, and any mistaken
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knowledge or misunderstandings that we might have had can be corrected and rectified. And it is through this that we can grow spiritually. As our faith grows, our lives of faith also move forward. Just how many times have we thought wrong? Just how much of our previous knowledge had been flawed? And how much of it had been only theoretical in reality? All the beliefs that we had before we came to know the gospel of the water and the Spirit were merely theoretical. The Apostle Paul said that anyone who preaches any other gospel than the gospel that he had would be accursed (Galatians 1:9). Paul also said that he counted all that he knew apart from the truth of God as rubbish. However, in today’s Christianity, those who only boast about their own rubbish religious knowledge become powerful. Because we who have been saved through the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen commune with one another, we can unite together with our hearts. And we are not ashamed of
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this gospel of the water and the Spirit, for this Truth has delivered us from the eternal punishment of hell. Rather, we cannot help but preach the gospel Truth which is hidden in the blue, purple, and scarlet tread to the end of the world without hesitation. This mission is what we have to do urgently. When I first came to realize that this gospel of the water and the Spirit is the only Truth, I was greatly shocked. “Ah, this is it! This is it and yet I had not known it until now. Do Christians throughout the world know this? Do theologians speak of it?” I wish that there had been someone among the theologians who knew and spoke of this Truth. So I investigated all the theological branches in Christianity as long as I could to find out if there was a slight trace of the gospel of water and the Spirit in them, but it was all in vain. So the very first prayer that I gave after realizing this gospel Truth was this: “Lord, I believe in this gospel of the water and the Spirit. I believe that You took upon all my sins by being baptized, died on the
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Cross, rose from the dead again, and that You have now saved me. But Lord, all the people of this whole wide world do not know this Truth yet. Let me spread this Truth throughout the entire world. Allow me to preach Your original gospel just as it is.” It is a wonderful blessing that I have met you, my fellow workers. It is much better to meet a few truthseekers who are looking for God, to preach the truth of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen to them, and to believe in Him and serve with them together like this, than to meet and teach a thousand people who neither listen to nor believe in the Word of God. I am so thankful to God since you all believe in His Word! Truly, few in the world are as happy as you and me. Who in this world has as many genuine brothers and sisters as we do? All these things have really come from the God of truth. When God has given us such precious blessings, when God has given us such precious salvation, and when God has entrusted us with such a precious priesthood, how could we not
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work for His gospel, how could we not judge sinners, and how could we not spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit? When we are spreading the gospel, how could we not separate those who have received the remission of sins from those who have not? As God separated light from darkness when He created the heavens and the earth, we also separate sinners from the righteous clearly. God is not pleased when we mingle the truth with falsehood. And so He says, “You shall not sow your vineyard with different kinds of seed, lest the yield of the seed which you have sown and the fruit of your vineyard be defiled. You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together. You shall not wear a garment of different sorts, such as wool and linen mixed together” (Deuteronomy 22:9-11). That’s why we have to separate the sinners, and make judgment for them clearly. Now is the time for those who have heard the Word of God to believe it as the truth even if it does not suit their preferences. Those who believe in the Word of God become the light of world in His grace,
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but those who do not believe cannot escape from darkness. It is because we believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that we have become the Urim and the Thummim, that is, ‘light and perfect.’ We have become the ones who have been wholly saved from sin in God. Have you wholly become God’s children by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit? We are now leading our lives doing the works of the royal priesthood, all thanks to Jesus Christ who has become the King of kings to this world. I thank God for giving us this gospel of salvation. I pray that God would enable us to successfully carry out our duties of the royal priesthood while we remain on this earth. Hallelujah! I praise our God forever.
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SERMON 11
You can download Rev. Paul C. Jong’s Free Christian Books on iPhone, iPad, or Blackberry by going to Amazon’s Kindle e-bookstore (www.amazon.com).
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The Sin Offering To Consecrate The High Priest < Exodus 29:1-14 > “And this is what you shall do to them to hallow them for ministering to Me as priests: Take one young bull and two rams without blemish, and unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil (you shall make them of wheat flour). You shall put them in one basket and bring them in the basket, with the bull and the two rams. And Aaron and his sons you shall bring to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and you shall wash them with water. Then you shall take the garments, put the tunic on Aaron, and the robe of the ephod, the ephod, and the breastplate, and gird him with the intricately woven band of the ephod. You shall Free book request www.nlmission.com
put the turban on his head, and put the holy crown on the turban. And you shall take the anointing oil, pour it on his head, and anoint him. Then you shall bring his sons and put tunics on them. And you shall gird them with sashes, Aaron and his sons, and put the hats on them. The priesthood shall be theirs for a perpetual statute. So you shall consecrate Aaron and his sons. You shall also have the bull brought before the tabernacle of meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the bull. Then you shall kill the bull before the LORD, by the door of the tabernacle of meeting. You shall take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and pour all the blood beside the base of the altar. And you shall take all the fat that covers the entrails, the fatty lobe attached to the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar. But the flesh of the bull, with its skin and its offal, you shall burn with fire outside
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the camp. It is a sin offering.”
Today we turn our attention to the consecration of the High Priest. Here God ordered Moses how to consecrate Aaron and his sons in detail. The word “to consecrate” in verse 9 means to sanctify, to prepare, to dedicate, to honor, or to treat as sacred. In other words, being consecrated means being sanctified by and dedicated to God. Therefore, “being consecrated as the High Priest” means “being set apart to be given the authority and duties of the High Priest.” God gave Aaron and his sons the right of the High Priest and the priesthood, which enabled them to render his people the remission of sins. God commanded Moses to clothe Aaron with the garments of the High Priest and put the turban on his head, and his sons with tunics. Then for Aaron to be consecrated as the High Priest and his sons as the priests, they had to take a bull and two unblemished rams for their consecration. The most important duty
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of the High Priest was to offer the sin offerings on the Day of Atonement for the remission of sins of entire Israelites. And in order to do so, Aaron himself and his sons had to be cleansed of their own sins first of all, and that was why they had to offer the sin offering for themselves first on the day of his consecration. What we must realize here is that even the High Priest had to lay his hands on the head of the sacrificial offerings before he killed them to offer their blood to God, all in accordance to the very sacrificial system He had established. For seven days, the High Priest had to give such offerings as the sin offering along with the burnt offerings, the wave offerings, and the heave offerings for his consecration. Just like the offerings that were given for the High Priest himself and his household, he also had to lay his hands on the heads of the sacrificial animals to pass the Israelites’ sins onto them before killing them, and draw its blood. For the duty of ministering
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to God as the High Priest, he had to learn in detail how offerings should be given for the remission of his people’s sins. That the High Priest gave the sin offering to wash away his own sins first means that he was being trained on how to give offerings for his people—that is, by also laying his hands on the heads of the offerings, drawing its blood and putting this blood on the altar of burnt offering, and pouring the rest out on the ground. Here, the High Priest had to remember that to pass his sins and his people’s sins on; he had to lay his hands on the head of the offerings. As Exodus 29:10-12 states, “You shall also have the bull brought before the tabernacle of meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the bull. Then you shall kill the bull before the LORD, by the door of the tabernacle of meeting. You shall take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and pour all the blood beside the base of the altar.” The High Priest and his sons were commanded
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that they infallibly had to lay their hands on the head of the bull, their sacrificial offering. Because when Aaron the High Priest and his sons put their hands on the head of the sacrificial animal, all their sins were passed onto it. And because this sacrificial offering accepted the sins of the High Priest and his sons by their laying on of hands, it had to bleed and die. After this, the High Priest then drew its blood, put its blood on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and poured the rest out on the ground. He should take all the fat that covers the entrails, the fatty lobe attached to the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that was on them, and then he burnt them on the altar. In case of the sin offering for the atonement for sins of anyone of the common people who have committed sin unwittingly, he shall bring as his sin offering a kid of the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin that he has committed. “And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill the sin offering at the place of the burnt offering. Then the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger,
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put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour all the remaining blood at the base of the altar. He shall remove all its fat, as fat is removed from the sacrifice of the peace offering; and the priest shall burn it on the altar for a sweet aroma to the LORD. So the priest shall make atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him” (Leviticus 4:29-31). This laying on of hands and the bloodshed of the offering constituted the essential elements of the sacrificial system set by God. Even before the foundation of the world, God set this plan in Jesus Christ to remit all our sins with the truth hidden in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen. God promised the people of Israel that He would meet them whenever they give Him the burnt offering. Exodus 29:42 states, “This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the LORD, where I will meet you to speak with you.” The burnt offering that the priests gave every morning and evening is the offering to be given
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throughout generations even by us, the spiritual people of Israel who have received the remission of sin by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. God is telling us that He would meet us through these offerings.
What Is the Meaning of the Burnt Offering Given by the High Priest? Because the sacrificial offering accepted all the iniquities of the sinners who laid their hands on its head, it had to die in their place and be condemned by being burnt. What God wants from us through the sin offering of the sacrificial system is for us to confess, “Because I have committed such and such sins before God, I must receive such condemnation of sin.” For us to wash away our sins, in accordance with God’s law of salvation, we must lay our hands on the head of our sacrificial offering, draw its blood, put this blood on the horns of the altar of burnt
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offering, pour the rest of the blood out on the ground, burn its flesh on the altar of burnt offering, and thereby receive the remission of sins according to the grace in the righteousness of God. First, we must acknowledge before God all the sins that we have committed with both our hearts and acts. And we must recognize that we cannot avoid being condemned of these sins. But we cannot thank God enough for His perfect salvation. God so loved us that He gave His only begotten Son. Jesus Christ took all our sins through His baptism and atoned for all those sins with His death on the Cross in order that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. The sacrificial system requires that the offerings should be given through the laying on of hands and their bloodshed. This denotes the evidence of the faith that remits all our sins, and we must therefore believe in it. That every sinner laid his hands on the head of the sacrificial offering means the passing of his sins onto it. Even the High Priest also had to
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confess, “I have such sins before God, and I must be therefore put to death,” when he offered a sin offering. But by believing that God has given us the offering of atonement to deliver us from sin, and that God has enabled us to receive the remission of sin by believing in this offering, we can be saved. God said, “I will meet you there.” He said this not only to the High Priest, but also to every common people, meaning that God would give the remission of sins to all of us and thereby make us His own people. How then does God meet us? Because God has the plan of salvation for us, He surely meets only those who give their sin offerings according to the sacrificial system which was established by Him. Because God knew very well that human beings are born sinners and that they are bound to sin as well, He wanted to wash away all our sins according to His mercy which is manifested in His sacrificial system of salvation, and thereby make us His own children. This was why God had established the sacrificial system through which countless people of Israel
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could pass their sins onto their offering of sacrifice as they laid their hands on its head. The method by which the people of Israel passed their sins onto the sacrificial offerings was through the “laying on of hands” like this. The people of Israel broke the law of God countless times and committed all kinds of sins. But because they could pass all their iniquities onto their sacrificial offerings through this method of the “laying on of hands,” they were able to wash away all their sins. It was through this that God could dwell with those Israelites who believed in Him, become their God, make them His own people, lead them, and give them the blessings of Heaven as well as the blessings of the fatness of this earth. All these things could come true through their faith in the sacrificial system of the Tabernacle. All such facets of the sacrificial system of the Tabernacle were set by God beforehand, and the people of Israel could be washed from all their sins by laying their hands on the head of their sacrifice and thereby pass all their sins onto it according to the
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method set by God. Because God enabled all those who came to Him by believing in the power of the laying on of hands and the bloodshed established by Him to be washed from their sins, those who believed in this Truth could walk with the holy God. Without the offering that was given with both the laying on of hands and bloodshed, God could not dwell with the people of Israel. Regardless of how insufficient the Israelites were and how many sins they had committed, God could however dwell with them because of this God-given law of salvation constituted by the lawful sacrifice—the laying on of hands on the head of the sin offering and its bloodshed. Therefore, we must all realize and believe that the salvation from sin permitted to us by God is made of both the laying of hands on the head of the sacrificial offering and its bloodshed. The priests had to give burnt offerings every morning and evening. They had to do this because after giving a burnt offering in the morning for their sins, they went on to commit many more sins during
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the day, and so it was necessary to pass their sins and wash them again by giving another sacrificial offering in the evening. The burnt offerings that were given everyday reminded the Israelites of the faith that remembers and believes that Jesus would come to this earth, take upon the sins of the world by being baptized by John the Baptist, die on the Cross, and thereby blot out all the sins of the whole world. Likewise, we must all give the offering of faith every morning and evening, for we continue to sin ceaselessly throughout the day. This offering of faith that was given in the time of the Old Testament is the same as being washed of all the uncleanness of the heart in the New Testament’s time by believing in the baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist and in His bloodshed. God the Father meets us when He finds this faith in our hearts that believes that Jesus our Savior has remitted all our sins away. In accordance with the sacrificial system of the Old Testament, Jesus Christ came to this earth in His time and accepted all our sins
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by being baptized by John the Baptist at the beginning of the New Testament era (Matthew 3:15). This is why Jesus said, “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force” (Matthew 11:12). By believing in this gospel Truth, we could be freed from all our sins and be cleansed from them perfectly. Regardless of the fact that Jesus Christ came to this earth, people have been committing countless sins, and we Christians, both before and after knowing Jesus Christ, have also been committing innumerable sins. But Jesus Christ came to this earth, and with the baptism that He received from John the Baptist and His bloodshed on the Cross, He has washed away all the sins of the world. Hence, when God said that He would meet the people of Israel through the burnt offering, it means that God would meet those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. God loves those who thus believe that He has truly eradicated all their sins with the blue, purple, and scarlet thread. But He certainly does not
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love those who reject this Truth. In this age of the New Testament, it is by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that we can meet God. In the Old Testament’s time, it was by believing in the Truth manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen that one could receive the remission of sins. The laying on of hands and the bloodshed—the union of these two concepts constitutes one perfect gospel. The Old Testament prophesied God’s perfect salvation in detail, and the New Testament is the fulfillment of those prophecies and the completion of the promised gospel. Therefore, Hebrews 1:1-2 states, “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, as in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds.” Jesus is the King of kings and the Almighty God, but this God came to this earth incarnated into the flesh of man, was baptized, died on the Cross, rose
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again from the dead, and has thereby washed away all our sins and saved us from all the condemnation of sin. By believing in this gospel with which God has made us righteous, we can become whole. It has now become possible for us to receive the remission of our sins, which we had sought after so earnestly. We have wanted to wash away all our sins so desperately, and God has remitted them once for all through the sacrificial system of the laying on of hands and the bloodshed—that is, through the baptism of Jesus and His bloodshed on the Cross, the actual substance of the gospel of the water and the Spirit (1 John 5:6-8). It is when we believe that God has remitted all our sins perfectly that He makes us His own people and meets us.
The Importance of the Laying on of Hands Leviticus 1:1-4 say, “Now the LORD called to Moses, and spoke to him from the tabernacle of
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meeting, saying, ‘Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When any one of you brings an offering to the LORD, you shall bring your offering of the livestock—of the herd and of the flock. If his offering is a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish; he shall offer it of his own free will at the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the LORD. Then he shall put his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him.’” Pay attention to verse 4 here that says, “Then he shall put his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him.” In other words, God would accept the offering in pleasure when a sinner offered his burnt offering after laying his hands on the head of it. On whose head were the sinner’s hands to be laid on? It was the head of the sacrificial offering. Only by this method, God promised to blot out the sins of the people of Israel. So in the Old Testament it was on the head of the sacrificial offering that
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hands were laid, but what about the New Testament? Who is the true offering of sacrifice in the New Testament’s time? It is none other than Jesus Christ the Savior of all humankind. Jesus Christ is the one and only offering of sacrifice for blotting out the sins of the entire humankind. It is because of one man that all became sinners, and it is also because of the very Jesus Christ that all human beings can be cleansed of all their sins and receive eternal life. By faith, we must lay our hands on Jesus’ head and pass all our sins onto Him. In other words, we must put our hands on His head in true faith so that God would accept this offering of sacrifice in pleasure. Jesus said in Matthew 11:12 that only the violent could take His Kingdom by force. Because the laying on of hands enables us to pass all our sins onto the offering of sacrifice, God accepts in pleasure this sacrifice of faith. Because John the Baptist laid his hands on the head of Jesus Christ and passed all the sins of humankind onto Him, God has enabled everyone to be washed from sin and delivered them from the
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condemnation of sin when they believe wholeheartedly in both His baptism and His vicarious death on the Cross. It is by believing in the baptism Jesus Christ received that we can pass all our sins onto Him. God had given the Israelites the sacrificial system, and it foreshadowed the eternal sacrifice offered by Jesus Christ with His own body. In other words, Jesus Christ has completed the law of salvation promised in this sacrificial system with His baptism and His blood of the Cross. Out of His endless love for us, God has saved us by giving us Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son. Now is the time for everyone to be saved by believing in the baptism of Jesus Christ and His bloodshed on the Cross. The Omniscient God planned His perfect salvation for sinners even before the creation, and fulfilled it correctly according to His timetable. It was in accordance to this plan of salvation that John the Baptist was born six months prior to Jesus. John the Baptist was the greatest of all mankind. As Jesus Himself said, “Among those born of women there has
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not risen one greater than John the Baptist” (Matthew 11:11), John the Baptist, in other words, was the representative of mankind. John the Baptist was a servant of God who was greater than even Moses, Elijah, and the Prophet Isaiah. Many people consider John the Baptist only as someone who lived an ascetic life in the wilderness. But he was in fact sent to be the representative of all mankind by God. John the Baptist was indeed the greatest of all the people of this world. He came from the household of Aaron the High Priest (Luke 1:5-7). As kings were born from the royal family, John the Baptist, the last High Priest, was also born from the household of Aaron the first High Priest, and as the representative of mankind, he baptized Jesus in the Jordan River to pass the sins of mankind onto Him. John the Baptist is the greatest of all on this earth. But there are some people who question this, as if determining themselves not to believe, asking, “Where in the Bible does it say that John the Baptist is the High Priest?” Let me answer them by demonstrating clearly that
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John the Baptist is indeed the representative of all mankind and the High Priest, for this is all written in the Word of God: “For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come” (Matthew 11:13-14). God had promised to send Elijah in Malachi 4:5. And Jesus Himself said that this Elijah who is to come is none other than John the Baptist. It was because John the Baptist was born as a descendant of Aaron that he fulfilled the role of the High Priest. In the Old Testament, when a sinner passed his sins by laying his hands on the head of the sacrificial offering, the offering then was put to death by shedding its blood and burnt by fire. Anyone who sought to be remitted from his sins had to put his hands on the head of the sacrificial offering without fail to pass his sins onto it. When people laid their hands on the head of the sacrificial offering, it meant that their sins were passed onto it. And, on the Day of Atonement, Aaron the High Priest had to lay his hands on the head of the scapegoat to pass all the
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yearly sins of the Israelites onto it. Here also, the laying on of hands was indispensible, and it means, spiritually speaking, the transfer of sin. John the Baptist passed all our sins onto Jesus through His baptism, and through this baptism Jesus accepted all the sins of the world and then shed His blood on the Cross. By being baptized by John the Baptist and thereby taking upon all our sins, and by shedding His blood on the Cross and rising again from the dead, Jesus Christ has become our perfect Savior. The people of Israel also gave their offering to God by laying their hands on its head in this way. When the people of Israel sinned against God and thereby became sinners, they had to pass their sins onto their offerings by putting their hands on the head of the animals in order to give their sin offerings to God properly. God accepted in pleasure the lawful offering that was burnt with fire after hands were laid on its head and it was killed. It was because the people of Israel had given Him this lawful offering of sacrifice by passing their sins
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through the laying on of their hands on its head and that God met them. It was because the sacrificial offering had accepted their sins through the laying on of hands and was vicariously condemned for their sins that God met those who came to Him by believing in the grace of God implicated in this offering. That’s why God was so pleased to accept such sacrificial animals. He is so merciful that He cannot bear anyone to be sent to hell Like this, what cleanse us from all our sins are both the baptism that Jesus Christ received and His blood of the Cross. It was because Jesus Christ took upon all our sins by being baptized by John the Baptist in order to blot out the sins of the world that He could die on the Cross and bear the righteous condemnation for our sins. It was because Jesus was baptized to take upon all our sins and bore the righteous punishment of the Cross that He could deliver and free us from sin. Therefore, by believing in His baptism and the sacrifice of His bloodshed, we can now be born again as the righteous and meet
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Jesus Christ. By believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, through Jesus’ righteous acts, in short, we can all meet the holy God. Jesus Christ has become the everlasting Savior of those of us who believe in this Truth. We must indeed meet the holy God. By believing in Jesus Christ the Savior who came by the blue, purple, and scarlet thread, we can meet God by faith. Those who seek to meet God must hear His Word and believe in the God-given sacrificial system that consists of both the laying on of hands and the bloodshed. If they cannot quite understand it fully with their own carnal thoughts and have even the slightest doubt about this, they must open the Word of God and confirm it for themselves. And they must believe what the Word of God says is right. We must not believe in God with our own thoughts. Instead, we must stand firm on God’s Word of truth, and based on this Word, we must discern the other gospels from this genuine gospel. We must not insist on our thoughts alone, relying on our own
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understanding and learning. None of your own thoughts can ever be right. Human beings are so weak, so stubborn, and so hardened before God that they are inclined to front their own righteousness and thoughts first and leave the Word of God behind. Opening our hearts before God and believing in His Word is the real way to life and blessings. When the High Priest gave a bull as his sin offering for being consecrated, God told him to take all its fat that covered the entrails, the fatty lobe attached to the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that was on them, and burn them on the altar, while the flesh of the bull, with its skin and its offal, were to be burnt with fire outside the camp. The High Priest gave the offering just as God had commanded Moses. When the burnt offering was given, the High Priest also brought a ram without blemish as the offering of sacrifice and laid his hands on its head. For himself and his household, morning and evening the High Priest and his sons laid their hands on the head of such an offering, cut its throat and drew its blood, and put this blood on the
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horns of the altar of burnt offering. They then burnt all its unclean parts such as its offal and its head outside the camp, but the carved pieces were burnt on the altar of burnt offering. The burnt offering that was given during the consecration of the High Priest was also offered in this way. In particular, during the consecration of the High Priest, all the fat of the sacrificial offering had to be burnt to God. That God was pleased with the aroma of the fat of the sacrificial offering manifests itself that it certainly is according to His Word and the sacrificial system set by Him that God makes us be born again. The fat here, in other words, manifests God the Holy Spirit. God has given us the sacrificial system, and He has made us, in accordance with this sacrificial system; by putting our hands on the head of the sacrificial offering, killing it, and offering it to Him by burning its flesh on the altar of burnt offering. Only when the sacrificial offering was given according to the sacrificial system set by God like this and with faith in Him did God accept it in pleasure.
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Exodus 29:10 says, “Aaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the bull.” This was God’s command. Moreover, of the garments that the High Priest wore during his consecration, the ephod had to be woven of five threads without fail—that is, it had to be woven of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread and fine woven linen. The gold thread here speaks of faith. The blue thread refers to the baptism that Jesus Christ received, which is the same as the Old Testament’s laying on of hands; the purple thread tells us that Jesus is the Son of God, God Himself and the Savior; and the scarlet thread refers to the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made; and the fine woven linen refers to the Word of God that has made us sinless. The golden thread manifests the faith that believes that God has remitted all our sins and turned our hearts as white as snow. We must have this faith, believing that God has blotted out our sins with the baptism of Jesus and the blood of the Cross. We must believe in Jesus Christ exactly according to what God has told us all, according to how He has blotted out
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all our sins. We must believe in God according to how God set the sacrificial system of salvation, and how He has blotted out all our sins through Jesus Christ who has completed the sacrificial system. Many people say, “Why don’t you believe in Him just like this? Why are you so picky? Maybe it’s because you have a detail-oriented personality and you like to be certain all the time, but my personality is all around, and so I believe both two conflicting opinions can be right at the same time. Does God accept only people who believe like you? If I say that I somehow believe in God, should this faith not be enough in itself?” If you believe like this, God will not be pleased with you. He is the God of truth. God has not saved us in such a wobbly and uncertain way. God is the extremely bright light whose Word is like a sharp, double-edged sword. He judges with the Urim and the Thummim, which mean that He has saved us with light and perfection. God is more precise than even the most advanced microscope that can recognize and discern the
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smallest of all measurements from one another. He is not someone who approves our salvation when we believe in whatever way we like to. Because God is the truth, He knows everything, from our hidden thoughts to our temporary feelings, from the sins that are in our hearts to our acts, from the sins that we committed before to the sins that we are committing now and the sins that we will commit in the future, hidden and revealed alike. This is why God has determined that He would surely remit all such sins away with both the laying on of hands and the blood of the sacrifice, and this is why we must certainly believe in God’s salvation according to the sacrificial system set by God. The Lord said that we should put our hands on the head of the sacrificial offering, and that He would then accept it in pleasure. When a sinner lays his hands on the head of the sacrificial offering, he must then kill this offering and put its blood on the horns of the altar of burnt offering. Here, putting the blood of the offering on the horns speaks of the blotting out
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of the sins that are recorded in the Book of Judgment (Revelation 20:12-15). After this, the rest of the blood is poured out on the ground. This means that his heart is washed from sin. For you and I, Jesus Christ was baptized, died on the Cross, rose again from the dead, and has thereby saved us all. The High Priest also had the same faith as ours. The faith that you and I have in this present age is absolutely no different from the faith that the High Priest had. For the High Priest, too, it was by his faith in the truth manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread that he could fulfill his priestly duties, and it is by this same faith that you and I have also become righteous. It is because we have received the remission of sins by this faith that believes in the salvation given to us by God that we can now meet Him, ask for His help, lead our lives as His own people, and spread the gospel to sinners as we fulfill our priestly duties.
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Earthly High Priests and the Sacrificial System Were Set by God The High Priest and the sacrificial system were set by God. Hence, the earthly High Priest did what God commanded him to do, and by doing so he fulfilled his priestly duties to remit the sins of his people. How did Jesus Christ the Son of God then blot out all our sins as the High Priest of Heaven? Instead of using an earthly sacrificial offering, He took His own unblemished body as the sacrificial offering and put all our sins onto it. Jesus took upon the sins of mankind by being baptized by John the Baptist, shed His blood and died on the Cross, rose from the dead again, and has thereby saved us from all the sins of the world. How amazing is this love, and how marvelous is this salvation! Can you do this? For the sake of someone else, can you take upon this person’s sins and be crucified to death in his place? Impossible! Moreover, your body cannot be qualified as a lawful offering, for it is
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not without blemish. There are, of course, some people who have done righteous things for a greater cause than themselves—for their nation for instance. But though there may be some who can do this, everything done by human beings is all but futile, for they cannot even solve the problem of their own sins, far less save others from sin. There is no one else who can save mankind from sin but Jesus Christ the Holy Son of God. The Bible tells us that there is no other name under Heaven given to us by which we can be saved but Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12). By any chance, is there anyone among you who, being strong-willed who thinks, “I can do it? I can dedicate myself to someone else, and I can sacrifice myself for someone else also”? Such a sacrifice and dedication may be appreciated among the mortals, but in the passing of time and as things improve, such a virtuous work will eventually all be forgotten. Hebrews 13:9 tells us, “It is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them.”
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What enrichments and benefits do our hearts have come to receive from God? It is God’s love of salvation that immerses and fills our hearts with His grace. Being helped physically by another human being is nothing for our eternal lives. When we are comfortable once again, we are all prone to forget about such assistance. Socrates, Confucius, and Siddhartha have been hailed as the greatest sages of the world. However, can these sages ever be your Savior? Can Siddhartha cleanse you from sins? None of them can. Who can then be the Savior of mankind, when no human being can even solve a single one of his or her own sins away? Even the High Priest could not blot out the sins of his people on his own accord. The sins of the people of Israel could be washed away only when they had faith in the God-given sacrificial system and received the remission of their sins by giving their offering to Him according to this sacrificial system— that is, by passing their sins onto their offering by laying their hands on its head, putting the blood of
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this sacrifice on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pouring the remnant out on the ground, and burning its fat on the altar of burnt offering. To be remitted of a year’s worth of sins, on the th 10 day of the seventh month, the High Priest had to lay his hands on the head of the sacrificial offering before God and thereby pass the sins onto it, take its blood into the Most Holy, and sprinkle it on the east of the mercy seat—that is, toward the direction from which he had entered. When he sprinkled the blood for seven times, the golden bells that were hanging at the hem of his blue robe rang out. (These golden bells were hanging between the pomegranates woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread.) The elegant sound of these golden bells was heard whenever he walked or sprinkled the blood. This is none other than the gospel. This sound implies the Good News, the powerful gospel that has blotted out all our sins. Just as the High Priest could bring the remission of sins to his people not by giving any offering on his own accord but only by giving it according to the
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statute God had established, in the age of the New Testament, Jesus Christ has saved you and me from all our sins by coming to this earth, being baptized, dying on the Cross, and rising from the dead again, all according to the same statute. Jesus Christ could also make us righteous only when He fulfilled his works according to the law of salvation that He Himself had set. Whoever wants to be truly born again can receive the remission of their sins, only if they are agreeable, pleasant and like to hear the Word of God with an open-minded disposition, that is, like the ‘Berean’ spirit. Those who are disagreeable cannot believe in this Truth and cannot receive the remission of their sin no matter how many times the Word of God is preached to them; they are the most foolish. How can anyone not believe in the Word just as it is spoken by God? How far can human knowledge really reach? It falls far short of the wisdom of the Word of God. Even so, they continue to boast of their own achievements and refuse to believe in the Word of
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God. It would be hard to find someone as foolish as these people. Brothers and sisters, the world is rapidly changing. Technology also develops so rapidly that human cloning is said to be almost possible technically. Atheism is also widely prevailing, and the era of religion is now passing. However, even though this world will become even more confusing and harsh, we the born-again cannot help but minister faithfully to God as His royal priests. Now, the gospel of the water and the Spirit is spreading all over the world more rapidly, regardless of the sweeping tide of ungodliness. We are the only ones who can go against the current of the times. I believe that the gospel of the water and the Spirit, the salvation according to the sacrificial system given by God, will blossom and bloom even more and be spread throughout the whole world in the near future. We the priests of today will pray for ourselves and all the souls of the whole world and continue to lead our lives by testifying this gospel. I
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believe that when we live by faith, we will become the ones who walk with God and achieve even greater works of the spreading of the gospel. When we search for and fulfill such works that please God in these end times, I believe that the works of the gospel will progress even further to every nook and corner of this world, as the sweet scent of flowers spreads along with a gentle breeze. I give all my thanks to God for consecrating us as the priests to minister to Him and counting us in His ministries.
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SERMON 12
You can download Rev. Paul C. Jong’s Free Christian Books on iPhone, iPad, or Blackberry by going to Amazon’s Kindle e-bookstore (www.amazon.com).
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251 The High Priest Who Gave the Offerings On the Day of Atonement
The High Priest Who Gave the Offerings On the Day of Atonement < Leviticus 16:1-34 > “Now the LORD spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered profane fire before the LORD, and died; and the LORD said to Moses: ‘Tell Aaron your brother not to come at just any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, lest he die; for I will appear in the cloud above the mercy seat. Thus Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: with the blood of a young bull as a sin offering, and of a ram as a burnt offering. He shall put the holy linen tunic and the linen trousers on his body; he shall be girded with a linen sash, and with the linen turban he shall be attired. These are holy garments. Therefore he Free book request www.nlmission.com
shall wash his body in water, and put them on. And he shall take from the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats as a sin offering, and one ram as a burnt offering. Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house. He shall take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for the LORD and the other lot for the scapegoat. And Aaron shall bring the goat on which the LORD’s lot fell, and offer it as a sin offering. But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make atonement upon it, and to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness. And Aaron shall bring the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house, and shall kill the bull as the sin offering which is for himself. Then he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from the
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altar before the LORD, with his hands full of sweet incense beaten fine, and bring it inside the veil. And he shall put the incense on the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the Testimony, lest he die. He shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east side; and before the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times. Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people, bring its blood inside the veil, do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat. So he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, for all their sins; and so he shall do for the tabernacle of meeting which remains among them in the midst of their uncleanness. There shall be no man in the tabernacle of meeting when he goes in to make
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atonement in the Holy Place, until he comes out, that he may make atonement for himself, for his household, and for all the assembly of Israel. And he shall go out to the altar that is before the LORD, and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around. Then he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, cleanse it, and consecrate it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel. And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place, the tabernacle of meeting, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat. Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in
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the wilderness. Then Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of meeting, shall take off the linen garments which he put on when he went into the Holy Place, and shall leave them there. And he shall wash his body with water in a holy place, put on his garments, come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people. The fat of the sin offering he shall burn on the altar. And he who released the goat as the scapegoat shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp. The bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be carried outside the camp. And they shall burn in the fire their skins, their flesh, and their offal. Then he who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp. This shall be a statute forever for you: In the seventh month, on the
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tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether a native of your own country or a stranger who dwells among you. For on that day the priest shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the LORD. It is a sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever. And the priest, who is anointed and consecrated to minister as priest in his father’s place, shall make atonement, and put on the linen clothes, the holy garments; then he shall make atonement for the Holy Sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tabernacle of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the children of Israel, for all their sins, once a year.’ And he did as the LORD commanded Moses.”
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254 The High Priest Who Gave the Offerings On the Day of Atonement
It was the High Priest who gave the sacrifice of the Day of Atonement for the people of Israel. This sacrifice was given once a year on the tenth day of the seventh month in the Israeli calendar. On this day, as the High Priest Aaron gave the offering on behalf of the people of Israel for their sake, all their iniquities were actually passed onto this offering of sacrifice and cleansed away. The Day of Atonement therefore became the greatest festival for the people of Israel. Like other offerings, the sacrifice of the Day of Atonement also had to be accompanied by the three fixed standards, namely, the unblemished sacrificial animals, the laying on of hands, and the bloodshed. And God then accepted the sacrifice with pleasure that was given in this particular way. The difference between this sacrifice and the other sacrifices was that the High Priest had to take the blood of the sacrificial offering into the Most Holy Place. After giving a bull as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering for himself and his house, Aaron the High
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Priest then offered two goats to God for the people of Israel. He first offered one of them to the Lord God in accordance with the sin offering that he had offered with a bull. And then he offered the second goat as the scapegoat. He then passed the sins of the people of Israel onto the scapegoat by laying his hands on its head before the presence of all of Israelites, and this goat that had accepted their sins was then sent out into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man.
The Offerings of the Day of Atonement Cleansed Away All the Sins of the People of Israel On the Day of Atonement, the High Priest who was representing the people of Israel passed their yearly sins onto the head of the sacrificial offering by laying his hands onto it. He brought two live goats, cast lots for them in order to select the first one to be offered to God
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and the other one for the people of Israel. The “laying on of hands” here means passing all sins onto the sacrificial offering by the laying of hands onto its head. This laying on of hands was the method used for the washing away of sin which was set by God; and similarly in the New Testament’ time, this same method in a form of the laying on of hands had to be applied equally for Jesus to wash away all the sins of mankind as well. To remit a year’s worth of the sins away from the people of Israel, Aaron the High Priest was compelled to lay his hands on the head of the goat, and thereby passed all their sins onto it. Because the High Priest passed the sins of the people of Israel onto the sacrificial offering by the laying of his hands on its head, a year’s worth of the sins of the Israelites were all blotted out completely. Like this, through the offering of the Day of Atonement, the people of Israel could thank God for saving them from all their sins that they had committed in the last year. Everyone who has sin is to be unavoidably
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condemned. For a sacrificial offering to be vicariously condemned for the sins of all of Israel, it first had to accept all their sins. If the High Priest were to give an offering to God without laying his hands on its head, this offering would then have been a blasphemy to God, and so he had to make sure of never committing this sin. To save the whole of humankind who had turned into sinners, God had to establish His plan of salvation fulfilled through this method of the laying on of hands. To blot out the sins of the people of Israel, God raised up a High Priest as their representative and made him pass the sins of all his people for that year by laying his hands on the head of the sacrificial offering. As such, all the sacrificial animals that were offered to God in the Tabernacle accepted the sins of the Israelites with the laying on of hands, and they bore the condemnation of sins on their behalf, shedding its blood and dying. To fulfill the righteousness and the love of God wholly, the Israelites had to offer this sacrifice on the
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Day of Atonement by the laying of the High Priest’s hands on the head of the sacrificial animals and cutting its throats to draw its blood vicariously once a year. Through this offering, in other words, God wanted to wash away a year’s worth of all the sins of the Israelites once for all. This was the law of God’s love that satisfies both His mercifulness and His justness. Because God is just, to blot out His people’s sins all at once in accordance to His just law, God prepared Jesus Christ the sacrificial Lamb, had Him take upon all our sins through the laying on of hands, and made Him bleed on the Cross. Jesus, who had offered Himself as the eternal sacrifice, took everyone’s sins upon Himself once for all through this method, shed His blood once, and has thereby completed the salvation from sin for all of us. Therefore, we must also come before God with this faith that believes in the truth of salvation which is manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen. It is only by this faith that all our sins can be remitted once for all. Therefore,
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whoever wants to receive the remission of sins all at once must come to God with a faith that truly believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
The Meaning of the Laying on of Hands The laying on of hands means to pass on, to transfer, or to bury (Leviticus 1:3-4). When anyone of the common people of Israel sinned unintentionally and then became aware of it, they had to give a burnt offering to God (Leviticus 4:27-29). They first had to bring a sacrificial animal without blemish, and then had to pass their sins onto it by laying their hands onto its head. And then they had to cut its throat, draw its blood, and then give this blood to the priests (Leviticus 4:27-28). Then the priest had to take some of this blood and with his finger, put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour all the remaining blood out at the base of the altar. He also had to burn its fat on the altar, and God then
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smelt the soothing aroma of the burning fat that was given in this offering. We have already learned that to blot out the sins of the people of Israel, God prepared the sacrifice of the Day of Atonement where the High Priest’s hands were laid on the sacrificial animal and its blood was drawn. In this case also, God could not wash away the sins of the Israelites without the laying on of hands on the sacrificial offering. Like this, the sacrifice of the Day of Atonement that was given in the Old Testament is closely related with the baptism and the blood of Jesus in the New Testament. Just as the sacrificial offering of the Old Testament had to be an unblemished animal, in the New Testament’s time also, Jesus came as the unblemished Lamb of God, and was baptized and shed His blood on the Cross to wash away the iniquities of all sinners. As the sacrificial animal had to accept the iniquities of sinners with the laying on of hands in the Old Testament, all the sins of the world were passed onto Jesus when John the Baptist
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laid his hands on the head of Jesus to baptize Him in the Jordan River (Matthew 3:15). The Old Testament’s unblemished sacrificial offering and the New Testament’s Jesus the unblemished Lam of God alike had to receive the laying on of hands and bleed and die in the same manner. Therefore the sacrifice of the laying on of hands and the bloodshed was the same sacrifice that was prepared for sinners in both the Old and New Testaments alike.
The Sins of Mankind Are Unavoidably Followed by the Wrath of God Before God, we had been sinners who could not but die for our sins; just as the sin offering that was to be killed on account of the sins it had taken on. When we picture this sacrificial animal being cut into pieces and burnt with fire on the altar of burnt offering, we can realize God’s merciful salvation that we had also been bound to be destroyed before God,
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and yet the Lord has saved us by being baptized by John the Baptist and shedding His blood. Therefore, those who have not been truly born again yet must acknowledge themselves as sinners facing fiery condemnation for their sins before God and rapidly believe in the baptism and blood of the Lord as their salvation. To save us from all our sins instead of punishing us for them, God prepared the unblemished offering of salvation, passed all our sins onto this offering of everlasting sacrifice, made Him bleed, and has thereby remitted all our sins once and for all (Leviticus 16:1-34, Romans 8:3-4, Hebrews 10:10-12). Do you still have sins in your heart? If so, then you must first admit before God that you are a sinner facing His condemnation for sin, and you must then believe that through Jesus Christ, God has fulfilled the plan of salvation that He had designed even before the foundation of the world. Sins cannot be atoned for without paying a proper ransom for them. That is why God gave the people of Israel the sacrificial system. In this sacrificial system,
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only the offering that was accompanied by the laying on of hands and its bloodshed was considered the true offering of faith that could wash away the sins of Israelites. By faith, we must also give to God this sacrifice that has the laying on of hands and the bloodshed, all in accordance with the sacrificial system as written in the Scriptures. The Lord shed His blood because He had taken all our sins through His baptism, vicariously bore the condemnation of sin in our place, and thereby has blotted out all these sins of ours (Matthew 3:15; John 1:29; Isaiah 53:1-7). When we believe in the Word of the water and the Spirit, and when we put our hands on the Lord who has become our sacrificial offering and thereby pass all our sins onto Him, we can receive the remission of sin by believing that the Lord who took upon all our sins also bore the condemnation of sin in our place. By believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit like this, we can pass all our sins onto the Lord who has become our sacrificial offering, and we can die with Him and live with Him in
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this Truth (Romans 6:1-11, Galatians 3:27). The spiritual lessons that we must fully recognize from the sacrifice of the Day of Atonement are as follows: First of all, we must recognize our sins and the condemnation of our sins without fail, and then we must give the sacrifice of faith that God wants to receive, that is, we must have faith in Jesus Christ who fulfilled our salvation with both His baptism and bloodshed on the Cross. We must lay our hands on the head of Jesus by believing in His baptism. Why? Because only when we lay our hands on the unblemished sacrificial offering by faith and draw its blood can we be saved from all our sins. Like this, anyone who wants to be remitted from their sins before God must pay the ransom of life, for the wages of sin is death. Regardless of whether rich or poor one might be, there must be this sacrificial offering that pays the wages of that person’s sins and the price of the atonement of life. Unless you follow Gods commands like this, no one can receive the remission of sins by faith.
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The Sacrifice of the Day of Atonement Let us turn to Leviticus 16:6-10: “Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house. He shall take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for the LORD and the other lot for the scapegoat. And Aaron shall bring the goat on which the LORD’s lot fell, and offer it as a sin offering. But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make atonement upon it, and to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness.” To enable the people of Israel to receive the remission of their sins by faith, the High Priest, on their behalf, gave the sacrifice that was accompanied by the laying on of hands and the bloodshed. How can we describe the faith of today’s Christians? It is not a faith whose sacrifice is seeking to receive the
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remission of sins by passing all their sins onto it? If your faith is not the kind of faith that has passed all your sins onto Jesus Christ through the laying on of hands, then you have a problem at hand. Unless your faith is a type of faith that believes in both the baptism of Jesus and His blood on the Cross, it cannot be a true faith that God approves. We cannot but have failed miserably to keep the Law before God and committed all kinds of sins throughout the past year. So if we had lived in the Old Testament’s time, we would have needed to receive the remission of our sins by believing in this sin offering that the High Priest would have given on our behalf. To give the sacrifice of faith to God, we must first acknowledge that we are bound to be destroyed for our sins without fail, and we must then believe in the laying on of hands that passes all our sins onto the sacrificial offering that God prepared for us and the bloodshed of this offering. Because the laying of hands on the sacrificial animal and its bloodshed had the power of salvation,
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the people of the Old Testament could receive the remission of their sins through this sacrifice that the High Priest gave according to the sacrificial system set by God. By laying his hands on the sacrificial offering, the High Priest passed a year’s worth of his people’s sins onto it, cut its throat to draw its blood, and sprinkled this blood before the mercy seat and on its eastern side seven times. By doing so, he never ceased to give the right offering to God once every year. This is how the people of Israel could receive the perfect remission of their sins during the Old Testament times. Like this, through the sin offering that the High Priest gave, the people of Israel believed and affirmed in their hearts that all their sins were thus remitted. What the Old Testament’s sacrifice of the Day of Atonement is showing us is that in the New Testament, Jesus Christ took upon the sins of the world by being baptized by John the Baptist and shed His blood on the Cross, and that we must believe in this Jesus Christ as our Savior and receive the
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everlasting remission of our sins by faith. All the souls of this world whose hearts are suffering and agonizing over their sins must realize that they can receive the eternal remission of sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and they must engrave this gospel in their hearts. Like this, the sacrifice of the remission of all sins was set by God beforehand and was promised by Him to be fulfilled, and this promise of salvation is also manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen that were used as the materials of the Tabernacle.
The Sacrifice of the Day of Atonement Carried Out in the Tabernacle On the Day of Atonement, to take care of all the sins of the people of Israel, the High Priest laid his hands on the head of the sacrificial offering before the presence of all of Israel (Leviticus 16:20-23). It
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was absolutely necessary for him to pass their yearly sins onto the sacrificial offering by laying his hands on its head on their behalf. When Aaron the High Priest gave the sacrifice of the Day of Atonement inside the Tabernacle for the people of Israel, no one else could enter into the Tabernacle. It was an extraordinary event, because many priests used to be in the court of the Tabernacle doing their duties but they had to vacate it on this Day of Atonement. The High Priest passed the sins of the people of Israel onto the sacrificial offering by putting his hands on its head, took the blood of this sacrifice into the Most Holy, and sprinkled it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east side; and before the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood seven times (Leviticus 16:14). During this time, as the golden bells that were attached to the hem of the robe of the High Priest were bound to ring, and so each time he sprinkled the blood before the mercy seat and on its eastern side, these bells rang out and the people of Israel who were standing outside the Tabernacle
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heard the sound of these bells. When the Israelites heard this sounding of the golden bells, they realized that the High Priest was now giving the sacrifice to God on their behalf. And having heard the sound of bells for all seven times, they then sighed in relief, for they knew that the sacrifice of the Day of Atonement inside the Tabernacle was now almost finished, confirming the completion of the offering that forgave a year’s worth of their sins. After this, Aaron the High Priest came out of the Tabernacle, took the other remaining goat as another offering, and gave this animal of the Day of Atonement before the presence of the people of Israel. God commanded the people of Israel to do nothing on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:20-21, 29). With the huge crowd of the Israelites gathered around to see the giving of this sacrifice outside the Tabernacle, the High Priest laid his hands on the head of the sacrificial goat to fulfill his duties and sent it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. On the Day of Atonement, the High Priest
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brought the scapegoat before the people of Israel, laid his hands on its head, and confessed all the iniquities and transgressions of the children of Israel, passing them onto the goat. He might have said, “Lord, I confess all the sins that this people of Israel have committed during the past year. We have failed to keep all the Law wholly, we have committed countless sins against You and each other, we have failed to live the life that You had commanded us to live, and we have done those things which you commanded us not to do. We have broken so many of Your commandments during the past year. We have lied. We have murdered. We have committed adultery. We have stolen.” Like this, the High Priest passed all the sins of the people of Israel onto the scapegoat by putting his hands on its head before their presence, and then sent it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. Because the wages of sin is death, God could not let the scapegoat go alive after accepting the sins of the people of Israel. The scapegoat that was
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abandoned into the wilderness had to suffer and die in the wilderness, for it had shouldered all the iniquities, blemishes, and transgressions of the people of Israel. Now, all the people of Israel started to enjoy the Feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:34) because through the sacrifice of the Day of Atonement, they had discarded the sins that had bound them for the past year. The laying on of hands is the means by which the sins of all people are passed onto the sacrificial offering. When the High Priest laid his hands on the sacrificial animal, all the sins of the people of Israel that had accumulated for a year were passed onto it once for all. Every single sin of each and every Israelite was all at once passed onto the sacrificial offering through the High Priest’s laying on of hands. Can all the sins of today’s people also be passed onto the sacrificial offering with the laying on of hands, just as the iniquities of the people of Israel were passed with the laying on of the High Priest’s hands during the Old Testament time? If this were
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not possible, where is the way for the people of today to receive the remission of their sins? Who passes their sins, how, and to whom? In accordance with the sacrificial system established by God in the age of the Old Testament, Jesus Christ took upon the sins of the world by being baptized by John the Baptist in the New Testament’s time. Just as a year’s worth of sins were passed onto the sacrificial goat once for all through the sacrifice of the Day of Atonement that the High Priest offered for the people of Israel, so likewise were our sins passed onto Jesus Christ who was baptized by John the Baptist, the last High Priest. Where, then, are all the sins of today’s people? They are now on the head of Jesus Christ. Just as the scapegoat accepted all the sins of the people of Israel through the High Priest with the laying on of his hands, Jesus became the unblemished sacrificial offering of the everlasting remission of sins for all of us who are now living in this present age. Jesus who became our own scapegoat offered Himself to God as the sacrificial
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Lamb for our sins. Jesus, in other words, was baptized by John the Baptist and gave Himself up to be crucified, as in the Old Testament God had set the offering of sacrifice for the people of Israel and passed their sins onto this sacrificial animal and condemned it instead. The scapegoat that was sent out into the wilderness could not survive, for there was no water but only burning unrelenting sun in the desolate desert. Likewise, Jesus, too, could not avoid but be crucified, for He had already taken upon the sins of the world through His baptism. As the scapegoat was abandoned in the lifeless wilderness, Jesus who took upon the sins of the world was also hated and despised by many people. If the sacrificial goat were led into the desert and abandoned in the desolate, lifeless land of wilderness, would it not have wandered around, only to die in the end from thirst? In the same manner, Jesus who had accepted our sins was rejected by many people, had to be crucified to bear the condemnation of all our sins, shed His blood and died. This was the
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salvation that Jesus Christ fulfilled for us through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The people of Israel saw this process of the atonement of their sins with their eyes and believed in it with their hearts. Like them, we too can now receive the remission of our sins by seeing, hearing, and believing in the righteous works of Jesus Christ in our hearts. This tells us that Jesus Christ was baptized by John the Baptist, carried the sins of the world, was crucified, shed His blood, died, and rose from the dead again, and that we thereby can be saved by seeing all these things with our spiritual eyes and believing in them with our hearts. This sacrifice of the Day of Atonement will go on as long as the Israelites continue to exist. They still give the sacrifice of the Day of Atonement on the 10th day of the seventh month in their calendar, because God had commanded them, “This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the children of Israel, for all their sins, once a year” (Leviticus 16:34). By making the people of Israel
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give the sacrifice of the Day of Atonement like this, God bestowed His mercy on them so that all their sins would be washed away and they would be delivered from the punishment of these sins. Just like this, for today’s people also, God has enabled them to realize that Jesus bore all the sins of the world upon His own body by being baptized by John the Baptist, was crucified, and has thereby wholly completed the everlasting cleansing of sin. Jesus Christ shouldered the entire sins of mankind with His baptism and has become the eternal High Priest of Heaven. Now, there is nothing else that remains for us to do for our own salvation but only to believe in this Truth.
The Sacrifice of the Great Atonement That the Messiah Gave to God the Father with His Own Body Why did God command the people of Israel to Free book request www.nlmission.com
give Him the offering of the Day of Atonement? He did this so that they would look forward, with their faith, to the day when God the Father would have His Son Jesus Christ offer the great atonement for the sins of all human beings with His baptism and bloodshed. This is why Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God the Father and the Savior of all humanity, came to this earth to blot out all the sins of everyone, fulfilled everything with the love of God, and revealed God’s salvation unto mankind. By being baptized by John the Baptist to take upon all the sins of us as mankind and shedding His blood on the Cross, Jesus has blotted out all the sins and inequities of the world, was condemned for them, and has thereby become our true Savior. God called Moses and gave him the Law first. And then He ordered him to build the Tabernacle with such materials as blue, purple, and scarlet thread and fine woven linen, and He gave him the sacrificial system. By doing this, God enabled the people of Israel to realize the importance of the laying on of hands and the bloodshed.
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And in turn, He showed them Jesus Christ, the door of salvation prophesied in the Tabernacle, would come to this earth, take upon the sins of the world by being baptized, be crucified and shed His blood. The salvation of the washing of sin that God has given us is manifested clearly in the materials that were used for the gate of the Tabernacle. Among the materials used for the gate of the Tabernacle, the blue thread implies that Jesus took upon the sins of the world once for all by being baptized by John the Baptist; the purple thread shows that Jesus is the King of kings and the Lord of lords, for He is the true God who created the universe; the scarlet thread tells us that because Jesus had been baptized, He bore the condemnation of sin for all sinners by shedding His blood on the Cross; and the fine woven linen tells us that the Bible is describing elaborately about these three ministries manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet threads, and God has given the remission of sins to those who truly believe in His Word. Now, all believers must remind themselves once
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again and believe that this Truth, that is, Jesus Christ is their Savior and He has washed away all their sins by being baptized by John the Baptist and shedding His blood on the Cross, which is also manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen used as the materials of the Tabernacle, and they must thereby receive the remission of their sins. Through Moses, God established the law of salvation, the law of the remission of sins for mankind, and when the time came, He sent Jesus Christ to this earth and had Him baptized by John the Baptist and shed His blood on the Cross, so that Jesus would become the sacrificial offering that would wash away the sins of the world. And by doing this, God has enabled all those who truly believe to be washed from all their sins by faith. Therefore, when we profess to believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior, we must believe by knowing the baptism that Jesus received and His bloodshed on the Cross. Just as the sacrificial offering of the Old Testament accepted the iniquities of sinners with the laying on of hands and
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was vicariously condemned by shedding its blood in their place, Jesus Christ came as the sin offering for everyone living on this earth, took upon the sins of the world by being baptized, was crucified and shed His precious blood, and has thereby forever blotted out, all at once, the sins of those who believe in this Truth. We must believe in the Truth of the written Word exactly as it is. The biblical Truth is that with the same method as the sacrifice of the Day of Atonement that the High Priest gave for his people in the Old Testament, Jesus came to this earth, was baptized and crucified, and shed His blood to save us from all the sins of the world once for all. We must therefore believe in the Bible exactly as it is written. We cannot avoid but be forever condemned for our sins, but Jesus Christ came to this earth and has saved us from all our sins with both His baptism and blood. Not believing this, even though God has forgiven all our sins like this, is a sin that can never be forgiven by God. He has blotted out all the sins of the world except the only one sin, that is, “the sin of
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blaspheming the Holy Spirit” (Mark 3:28-29). Therefore, those who truly want to receive the remission of sins must believe in the Truth that Jesus Christ was baptized, shed His blood, rose from the dead again, and has thereby delivered us from all the sins of the world. Apart from such faith, what good deeds would ever be necessary for our remission of sins? Now the time has come for us to know what the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit is, and to believe in this Truth. Everyone must realize and believe that the Truth manifested in the gate the Tabernacle woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread and fine woven linen is the gospel of true salvation, and the shadow of Jesus Christ to come. Insofar as believing in Jesus Christ, the baptism that He received and the blood that He shed on the Cross are essential to our salvation, and we must therefore believe in them. The indisputable and irrefutable Truth is that Jesus has given salvation to the believers in His baptism, His bloodshed on the Cross, and His resurrection from death, and that all of which
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were completed to save us from the sins of the world.
The Sacrifice of the Son That God the Father Wanted Let us turn to Hebrews 10:5-9: “Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: ‘Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come—In the volume of the book it is written of Me— To do Your will, O God.’’ Previously saying, ‘Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them’ (which are offered according to the law), then He said, ‘Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.’ He takes away the first that He may establish the second.” What is it meant by this passage of Scripture that God did not desire sacrifices and offerings, nor find pleasure in them? This passage quotes from Psalm
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40:6-7. It means that all the sins of the world could not be completely blotted out with the daily offerings of the Old Testament, and that to give the everlasting sin offering, Jesus Christ therefore came to this earth, was baptized, shed His blood, rose from the dead again, and has thereby become the Savior of all of us. The meaning of Psalm 40:7, which says, “Then I said, ‘Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me,’” is that Jesus Christ came to this earth and washed away all sins with the laying on of hands and His bloodshed, exactly as is written in the Old Testament. In the age of the Old Testament, the sins of the people of Israel were remitted as the sacrificial animal was offered to God on the Day of Atonement with the laying on of the High Priest’s hands and the bloodshed of the offering. Likewise, Jesus Christ who came to this earth to become the everlasting sacrificial offering for all mankind, took upon the sins of the world by being baptized in a form of the laying on of hands, and bore all the condemnation of the sins of the entire mankind
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by carrying these sins of the world to the Cross, being crucified, and shedding His precious blood to death. By doing this, Jesus has given eternal salvation to all those who believe. Exactly as God had promised through the Tabernacle system, in the New Testament Jesus came to this earth and has thereby fulfilled our salvation once for all. Those who believe in His salvation have therefore been saved from all their sins. In the Tabernacle was the promise of God that Jesus would forever blot out the sins of all people once for all by being baptized and shedding His blood. And Jesus indeed came and fulfilled that promised salvation by actually being baptized and shedding His blood, and thereby fulfilling the Word of God to perfection. All God’s promises of salvation, in other words, have indeed been fulfilled in Jesus Christ. The people of Israel believe that only the Law and the prophecies of the prophets of the Old Testament are the Word of God. But they are unable to believe in Jesus Christ who came to us in the age of the New
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Testament as God and the Savior. All the people of this world, including the people of Israel, must now realize that Jesus Christ is God Himself and accept into their hearts that He is the Messiah to come.
For What Did Jesus Come? As Jesus came to fulfill the will of God the Father, He is the Savior of all those who believe that He came to this world to forever wash away all their sins. As Hebrews 10:10 states, “By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” We must clearly realize and believe that it was by the will of God the Father that Jesus Christ was born unto this earth, that He was baptized according to the Father’s will, that by this will He was crucified, shed His blood to death on the Cross, rose from the dead again, and has thereby become the Savior of those who believe in Him. To blot out all our sins according to the will of God the
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Father, Jesus Christ had to fulfill the salvation of mankind by blotting out all sins with His baptism and bloodshed. Like this, He willingly gave Himself up to be sacrificed, thereby giving us perfect salvation. Because Jesus Christ sacrificed Himself to blot out not only the sins of the people of Israel but also the sins of the entire Gentiles, we can be saved only if each of us believes in this with our own hearts. Through His 33 years of life, Jesus was baptized only once, sacrificed only once, but these righteous acts of our Savior have saved the sinners of the world once for all. This is the only and perfect salvation. Just as Jesus has all at once blotted out all the sins committed by humankind from the beginning to the end of the world, He has also enabled us to be saved once for all by faith. By offering His own body once for all, Jesus Christ has made us forever perfect. As He was baptized by John the Baptist and was condemned for all our sins by shedding His blood, we must now gladly believe in this genuine gospel in our hearts and thereby be saved from all our sins. By the will of God the Father, Jesus Christ came to
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this earth to bear all our sins and pay the wages of life, and He successfully revealed His true salvation through the love of God in accordance to the Father’s will. This Word is surely the truth that you and I who are now living in this modern world must believe. We must bind the baptism of Jesus and His bloodshed on the Cross together and believe in both of them as the only one set of truth that saves us perfectly. If we fail to do so, we will for sure lose the everlasting remission of sins. Therefore, we must believe according to the written Word of God, according to the Truth of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The gospel of the water and the Spirit sheds the light of salvation, but if we add anything else to it or subtract some essentials from this true gospel when we believe in God, or if we do not believe in the Truth as it is, then this light of the gospel of salvation will be extinguished, only to be hidden and then to disappear. We must not fall under the illusion that the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit is also merely one of
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the worldly doctrines, just like the Christian sinners do. They teach that one can somehow receive the remission of sins through prayers of repentance by asking God to forgive one’s sins on a daily basis. God said clearly in Hebrews 10:11, “And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.” Here, God told us that the sins that we commit everyday cannot be washed away just because we ask God to forgive us of our daily sins with our faith in only the blood of the Cross. Because the sacrifice that Jesus Christ gave to God the Father by being baptized by John the Baptist and dying on the Cross was the perfect sacrifice of salvation, we have been wholly saved by believing in this sacrifice. It was because the sins of the world was passed onto Jesus Christ once for all when He was baptized by John the Baptist and because of this, Jesus could carry these sins to the Cross and die on it to end the condemnation of their sins. And the sins of those who believe in both His baptism and bloodshed
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have thus been washed away. By believing in the baptism that Jesus Christ received and His blood of the Cross, we also have died with Jesus Christ and have been brought back to life with Him by faith. Romans 6:23 states, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The wages of sin is death, no matter what they maybe, and therefore its wages must be paid with life. This is why it was necessary for Jesus Christ to come to this earth incarnated in the flesh of man, be baptized by John the Baptist, and shed His blood on the Cross. The actual passing of your sins onto the body of Jesus was accomplished by His baptism, and by shouldering these sins and dying, Jesus paid the wages of your sins and has thereby blotted them out once for all. Yet despite this, even as God has given us this genuine gospel, there are many people who still plead God to forgive their personal sins every day. They are simply ignorant of the Truth of the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
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When people have sin in their hearts, they cannot help but be terrified before God for their sins. It is true that there are many who, still remaining ignorant of the gospel of the water and the Spirit and yet to be washed from their sins, are gripped by fear because of the agonizing sense of guilt. However, Jesus came to this earth to save them from all their sins, was baptized by John the Baptist, shed His blood on the Cross, and has thereby saved them perfectly. Then, for what reason do we need to be worried, when the gospel of the water and the Spirit, the gospel of God’s salvation, has wholly saved us and taken away all our condemnation for sin? Those who know and truly believe that Jesus has blotted out all the sins of mankind through the gospel of the water and the Spirit can indeed be saved perfectly by faith, just as God had promised, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18). We can all be saved by faith, for there was the baptism of Jesus
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who accepted the sins of this world according to the sacrificial system in the Old Testament that had passed all sins onto the sacrificial offering with the laying on of hands. It was because Jesus took upon the sins of the world by being baptized by John the Baptist that He could die on the Cross, and it was because the salvation that God spoke of in the Old Testament was fulfilled that we could be saved from all our sins only by our faith. Yet despite this infallible Truth, we still see some people who believe in Jesus just emotionally and sympathetically. They weep and cry everyday to enhance their faith because the basis of their faith is to sympathize with Jesus in His deadly pain on the Cross. The hearts of such people are thoroughly misguided and flawed, and they must now abandon this mistaken faith. It is you and I who need God’s mercy that Jesus our Savior could give to us through His baptism and blood, not Jesus who needs our sympathy or devotion. The simple truth is that it is we who desperately need Jesus Christ the Savior, and
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yet there are many people who believe in God for no particular reason of their own, thinking that it is God who is lacking in something, as if He is begging them to believe in Him. But such faith that believes patronizingly like this is the kind of faith that God utterly despises. The hearts of those who condescendingly say to Jesus that they would believe in Him, as if they are doing Him a favor, find their own level higher than that of God, and so in their arrogance they can never accept into their hearts the gospel of the water and the Spirit that saves them perfectly from sin. They have so little regard for the Word of God that they consider it little different from what any of their neighbors say, scorning and patronizing it, as if to believe in it is doing God a favor out of their sympathy. In the end, they are the ones who do not believe in the baptism and bloodshed of Jesus for the remission of their sins and stand against God. They believe that their sins can be washed away through their agonizing prayers of repentance without even
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believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Because they take the name of God in vain, they neither know nor believe that Jesus Christ the Savior has completely blotted out all their sins, and as a result of this they cannot be saved. God said, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion” (Romans 9:15). If God decided to save sinners with the law of salvation out of His mercy, then He will do so as exactly as He decided. We must therefore believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and thereby receive our true salvation. Those who do not believe in this gospel Word of the water and the Spirit will personally discover just how great God’s severity and His wrath against them really is. On the other hand, those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit will see just how great and merciful God’s love for them really is. Whoever acknowledges his sins before God and recognizes and believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, God’s gospel of perfect
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salvation, will be delivered from all their sins. Those who believe that Jesus Christ took upon all their sins by being baptized will be delivered from all their sins. Those who despise this truth, in contrast, will face the fearful condemnation of sin for their sins. All the people of this world must therefore believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, the real Truth of salvation. Those sinners who do not fear God’s judgment and do not believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit will surely be condemned for their sins. But those who believe in this Truth of Jesus’ washing of sin away will be saved from all their sins. Everyone whose conscience has sin is ill at ease, and so people come up with unfounded, groundless doctrines of salvation that are completely different from this genuine gospel of the water and the Spirit. They try to comfort their distressed consciences with such preposterous doctrines. There are even those who say, “Since I believe in Jesus, it is okay for me to have sin in my heart.” But we must not forget that all who have sin in their hearts will surely be cast into hell, for God will surely render His just judgment onto such people for their
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sins. Because they are siding with Satan, God simply cannot leave them alone. But those who know about the justice of God, and know that there will be His infallible judgment for sin, ask God for His merciful love, want to earnestly be saved from all sins, search for the Truth, and desire to stand on God’s side. For such people, here is the Truth that Jesus Christ took upon the all the sins of mankind by being baptized. Every sinner must receive the remission of sins by believing in it. Through His baptism, Jesus Christ accepted all the sins of the entire world once for all, died on the Cross once, and has thereby blotted out all our sins and made us righteous. Through the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, all of us must now realize clearly what our true salvation is, and in our hearts we must all have the faith that truly believes in this gospel. All who believe in this Truth in their hearts, no matter what kind of sins they might have committed, will indeed be washed from all their sins by faith and receive the true remission of sins and eternal life. Do you not
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want to believe in this gospel Word that makes all the sins of your hearts disappear? Those who believe in this gospel of the water and the Spirit before God will surely receive the remission of sins.
Your Prayers of Repentance Cannot Save You Today, most Christians give their daily prayers of repentance, asking God to forgive them of their sins. They lead their lives of faith by giving their sacrificial offerings to God everyday like in the Old Testament’s time. But this is not the life of faith that you would want to live. Does Jesus shed His blood on the Cross to wash away your sins whenever you give your prayers of repentance? This cannot happen. The truth is that you must wash away all your sins once for all by believing that the power of the baptism and bloodshed of Jesus Christ lasts forever. Those who try to be washed from their sins by giving their prayers of repentance everyday cannot receive
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the everlasting remission of sins, nor do they have the faith that enables them to receive true salvation. If everyone’s sins could be forgiven through such prayers of repentance or any man-made rituals, then God would not have established the law that declares that the wages of sin is death. For people to be remitted of their sins, they must actually give the offering that passes their sins onto the body of Jesus by faith. What we must have is not the kind of faith that gives prayers of repentance everyday, but the faith that believes in the gospel of the water and the blood which is manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen used for the screen gate of the Tabernacle. In other words, we must realize that only the faith that believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit can bring us the true washing of sin, and we must believe this in our hearts. Just as the sinners of the Old Testament had passed their sins onto their sacrificial animal by laying their hands on its head when they gave their sin offering, we must also pass our sins onto Jesus
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Christ by believing in His baptism, and by this faith that believes in both His baptism and His bloodshed on the Cross, we must come out to God and receive the everlasting remission of sins. God said, “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation,” and “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:10, 17). John 1:29 says, “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’” This passage describes the testimony that John the Baptist gave on the very next day he had baptized Jesus. When John the Baptist saw Jesus approaching him, he said, “Look people! There goes the One!” This caused a commotion among the crowd who were gathered around John the Baptist. John shouted out above the din, “Behold! Here comes the Lamb of God! He is none other than the Son of God, the very Lamb of God who took upon the sins of mankind through me. He is our Savior. He is Jesus Christ, the
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Lamb of God. Behold! Here goes the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!” It was because John the Baptist had baptized Jesus Christ and passed the sins of the world onto Him that John himself could personally bear witness to Jesus like this. Because John had passed all our sins onto Jesus by baptizing Him in this most fitting way, Jesus Christ became the unblemished Lamb of sacrifice who took upon all our sins according to the will of God the Father. In the Old Testament, the remission of sin was received by giving sacrificial offerings to God, but in the New Testament, it is only by the faith that wholly believes in the baptism of Jesus and His blood on the Cross that we can be remitted of all our sins. Because God took such livestock as bulls, lambs, and goats as sacrificial offerings to blot out the sins of the people of Israel, countless animals were killed and bled, cut into pieces, and burnt on the altar of burnt offering. Myriads of sacrificial animals were indeed put to death because of their owners’ sins.
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But in the age of the New Testament, Jesus did not offer such sacrificial animals, but He offered His very own body for us. Because Jesus the Lamb of God who came to this earth, accepted the sins of the world onto His body through His baptism, and shed His blood on the Cross, He has enabled those who believe in this Truth to be saved from all their sins once for all. It was to forever end our sins with the water, the blood, and the Spirit that Jesus came to us. God is now commanding you and me to believe in this Truth of real salvation. He is telling us, “I have blotted out all your sins, for I have loved you so much. I have saved you like this. So believe! I have blotted out all your sins by giving My own Son as the sin offering for you. I let My Son live on this earth for 33 years of His life, I had Him baptized, I made Him shed His blood on the Cross for your sake, and by doing all this I have wholly delivered you from all your sins and condemnation. Now by believing in this Truth, you can become My very own children whom I cherish, and who can be embraced in My
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arms.” Know and believe in this Truth in your hearts! Those who believe in the baptism that Jesus Christ received and the blood that He shed will not only be saved from all their sins, but they will also receive the right to become God’s own children.
Did Jesus Remit All the Sins of This World? Let us turn to Hebrews 10:14-18: “For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, ‘This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,’ then He adds, ‘Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.’ Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.” This passage of Scripture makes it abundantly clear: “Where there is remission of these, there is no
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longer an offering for sin.” Listen to this blessed news that all our sins were passed onto Jesus through the baptism that He received! Not only every sin that you and I commit in our entire lifetime was passed onto Jesus, but all the sins of the entire mankind were passed onto Him as well. To fulfill all the righteousness of God, Jesus was baptized into and out of water in a form of the laying on of hands, and thereby He allowed all sins to be passed onto Himself. Shouldering all our sins like this, He was crucified and thereby bore the condemnation for all the sins of mankind, and therefore those who believe in Him in this Truth have now been delivered from all their judgment. Just as the High Priest had passed the sins of the people of Israel onto the sacrificial animal by putting his hands on its head, John the Baptist passed all our sins onto Jesus by baptizing Him. And Jesus, in turn, shouldered these sins and was crucified, and thus has delivered everyone who believes in Him from sin. Therefore, those who believe in this heavenly truth can receive the right to
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become God’s own children. Romans 10:10 states, “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” For everyone of you, it is by believing in the righteousness of God with your heart that you can be justified, and by believing in the Truth of salvation with the heart that you can receive the remission of your sins and enter Heaven. Dear fellow believers, have you been saved by believing with your hearts and confessing with your mouth that the baptism and blood of Jesus are the essential constituents of “the righteousness of God,” “the Truth of salvation,” and “the gospel of the remission of sins”? Under the sacrificial system of the Old Testament, the sins of the Israelites were not blotted out just by killing the sacrificial animal without the laying on of hands that passed their sins onto the offering. Likewise, if you believe only in the blood of the Cross and leave out the baptism that Jesus received, then all your sins cannot be washed away. “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will
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remember no more. Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin” (Hebrews 10:17-18). Why did God say here that He would no longer remember our sins? Though we cannot help but continue to sin until the day we die, because Jesus took upon all the sins of the world once for all by being baptized, our salvation is now accomplished and will last forever, and those of us who believe in this are now sinless. This is why God has no need to remember our sins anymore. The righteousness of God means His justice. The justice of God the Father denotes that just as He is holy, those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit are also holy and sinless. From the very beginning, God loved us so much that He desired to make us His very own children. But no matter how much He wanted to make us His children, He could not do so because of our sins. So God the Father came up with a solution to resolve this problem. God set aside the unblemished animals that would be vicariously sacrificed on the Israelites’
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behalf and had decided to wash away their sins by passing all their sins onto these sacrificial offerings through the laying on of hands. Because this was the prefiguration of His real salvation, Jesus did not hesitate to be baptized, to become our own offering of sacrifice, to be vicariously condemned in our place, and to thereby give the everlasting sin offering with His own body. And through this sin offering, God fulfilled His providence to cleanse those genuine believers from their sins and make them His own children. Now, those who believe in this gospel of Truth are remitted from all their sins before God. Because Jesus has already washed away all the sins of this world by being baptized, if we believe in this Jesus who has cleansed away mankind’s sins by being condemned vicariously, we no longer need to give any offering for our sins. Do we still need to offer sacrifices for our sins, brothers and sisters? No, absolutely not! Do you know why Jesus Christ was crucified, even as He was sinless and pure? Although Jesus was
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crucified, He had done nothing wrong at all, in fact. It was only because Jesus had accepted all the sins of mankind by being baptized in the Jordan River that He had to die in our place. The reason why He had to die on the Cross was because He had already accepted the sins of the world by His baptism and was ready to fulfill all righteousness. When the Son of God was baptized to fulfill all righteousness in this way, how could we not thank Him? It was because Jesus had taken upon all our sins that He, like a sheep before its shearer, quietly bore the suffering of the Cross. We must all remember both His baptism and Cross forever, for had He not been crucified and condemned, then we ourselves would have had to be condemned for sure. Our Lord not only took upon all our sins, but He Himself also bore all the condemnation of our sins. Put differently, Jesus the Savior Himself, who had taken upon all our sins, became our own sin offering and quietly bore the punishment of the Cross, all in order to save us from sin and thereby fulfill all God’s
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will. This is why the Bible says, “‘Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.’ Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin. Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus” (Hebrews 10:18-19). Do you now understand why Jesus Christ was crucified? We must not believe just in Jesus’ blood of the Cross, but we must grasp the reason why He had to die on the Cross, and we must properly understand and believe that this reason lies in the baptism that He received. If you and I want to know and believe exactly where and how our sins were washed away, we must realize and believe that it was because all our sins were passed onto Jesus when He was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River that we have been washed from all our sins by faith.
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By Knowing and Believing in the Truth of the Gospel of the Water and the Spirit, We Can Now Be Saved from All Our Sins What I have told you so far is the Truth of the gospel of the water and the Spirit that the Bible speaks of so elaborately. And this Truth is the salvation that had been planned even before the foundation of the world, and this salvation is also manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread, the materials used for the screen gate of the Tabernacle. Together with my fellow workers, I have been preaching this Truth manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread to countless people in this world. And even now, at this very hour, this gospel is spreading throughout the entire world through our Christian books. Yet there are still many people who claim to believe in Jesus even as they are ignorant of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. I can dare to call such people fools, for this gospel of the water and the Free book request www.nlmission.com
Spirit is the core Truth that tells us of the true sacrificial system fulfilled through Jesus Christ, the actual substance of the shadow of salvation manifested in the Tabernacle. Now, it is your turn. If you had believed without knowing this real Truth, now is the time for you to turn around, believe in this gospel of the water and the Spirit, and receive the remission of all your sins. The baptism of Jesus and His death on the Cross had been promised even before the foundation of the world, and they were manifested also in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen. To fulfill this promise, and to actually save you and me from all our sins, Jesus was baptized, died on the Cross, rose from the dead again, and is now sitting at the right hand of God the Father. Are you still trying to believe in Jesus by following your own experiences or emotions without knowing this Truth? There are many such people in this world, but they must now turn around from their misguided faith and wholeheartedly believe in the Truth of the gospel of
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the water and the Spirit which is hidden in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen manifested in the gate of the Tabernacle. Hebrews 10:19-20 says, “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh.” When Jesus Christ, having taken upon the sins of the world by being baptized, was crucified, the veil of the Temple was torn into two, and the sins of mankind were washed away with the baptism of Jesus and His blood on the Cross. The veil of the Temple, also woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread and fine woven linen, was so strong that it could not be torn even when pulled in opposite directions by its four corners by four horses. That this sturdy veil of the Temple was nonetheless torn into two from top to bottom, even as it was touched by no one, reveals that the very moment Jesus Christ completed His mission; the gates of Heaven were opened wide. The tearing of the veil of the Temple from top to bottom
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means that all the walls of sin were brought down, showing us that through Jesus Christ, God tore down these walls of sin. What does this then mean that the walls of sin were torn down? This means that anyone can be remitted from all his sins by believing in the baptism that Jesus Christ received and His blood on the Cross. What God sought to make manifest through the torn veil of the Temple is that the salvation of mankind has now been fulfilled once for all through the ministries of Jesus shown in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen. It was because our everlasting atonement promised by God to all of us was fulfilled that the veil of the Most Holy Place woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread and fine woven linen were torn into two from top to bottom, not by the hands of men, but by the hands of God Himself. This reveals that Jesus Christ who has become the everlasting sacrifice for the sins of mankind has saved perfectly those of us who believe in the gospel
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of the water and the Spirit. God the Father has set that whoever believes in the baptism Jesus Christ received and His bloodshed on the Cross can receive the remission of sins and stand before His presence. Will you believe in this Truth or not? Just as God has loved you, so has Jesus Christ the Son of God loves you, and He has given you perfect salvation by being baptized by John the Baptist and was crucified. By receiving this love of God given to us through Jesus Christ, and by believing in the Truth that enables us to enter the Kingdom of God, all our sins have disappeared. By believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, even all our personal sins have been taken away, for all our sins and condemnation were already washed away with the baptism of Jesus and His blood on the Cross. Hebrews 10:22 says, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” The Bible continues to speak of the washing of sin. We can be
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saved from all our sins by believing in the Truth that Jesus Christ has washed away all the sins that we commit with our flesh and mind through His baptism. Just as the High Priest also washed away his uncleanness at the laver of bronze after giving offerings, after cleansing away all our sins by believing in the baptism of Jesus, we must also remember this Truth everyday. As the High Priest washed himself at the laver of bronze, we must wash away our personal sins by remembering and believing everyday that all our sins were already cleansed away with the baptism of Jesus, for as we live in this world, there are times when we are exposed to its filthiness. All our sins, whether they have been committed with our bodies, hearts, or thoughts, belong to the sins of the world. With what faith can we wash away all these sins of the world? We can wash them away only by believing in the baptism that Jesus received. Those who have once become cleansed by believing in the baptism of Jesus must keep their clean hearts,
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and whenever they commit sins, they must wash them again by faith. Those who remember the baptism of Jesus everyday and wash the garments of their acts by faith are the blessed. Because all our sins were passed onto Jesus Christ through the baptism He received from John the Baptist, by ruminating on this Truth and believing in it everyday, we can be wholly delivered from all our sins forever. You must believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit so that all your sins are always passed onto Jesus Christ when He was baptized by John the Baptist. You have nothing to lose from believing in this gospel, for the Omnipotent God had planned it even before the foundation of the world, before the age of the Old Testament. The Truth that Jesus accepted all your sins by being baptized in the Jordan River and bore all the condemnation of your sins by going to the Cross has enabled you to reach the righteousness of God and your salvation. This Truth has enabled you to realize that Jesus the King of kings has forever saved you from sin. And this pure
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water of Jesus’ baptism has been sprinkled in your hearts so that your body and conscience can be washed cleanly and perfectly. This pure water of Jesus’ baptism here denotes the very gospel of the water and the Spirit. The gospel of the water and the Spirit is the indispensable Word for your life, and it shines even more brilliantly when you believe in it. During the 3 years of His public life, the very first thing that Jesus did to save the entire mankind from sin was to be baptized. Jesus Christ, in other words, had to take upon all our sins, and to do so He had to go before John the Baptist and be baptized by him. So, all the Four Gospels write this critical incident at their very beginning. Do you believe this? You and I, in fact, were all bound to die for our sins. But what happened? Our Lord came to this earth, took upon all our sins by being baptized by John the Baptist, became the Lamb of God, carried all the sins of the world to the Cross, was nailed through both His hands and feet for our sins, shed all the blood that was in His heart and died, was buried
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and then rose from the dead again. This is why Jesus said, “It is finished!” in John 19:30, when He took His last breath on the Cross. Everything that Jesus told and did is the truth. Jesus became our sin offering to save us, and rose from the dead again in three days. And after rising from the dead, He bore witness to His resurrection for 40 days, ascended to Heaven, and now sits at the right hand of the throne of God the Father. This Jesus Christ will come again to this earth to take us away. Jesus came as the Savior when He first came to this earth, but when He comes again for the second time, He will come as the Judge to condemn all those who do not believe. You must realize now that Jesus Christ will return to this earth as the Judge, to call and receive as the children of God those who believe in the salvation of the water, the blood, and the Spirit that He fulfilled through His 33 years of life on this earth and enable them to live in the Millennial Kingdom and the eternal Heaven, and to render His eternal judgment on those who do not believe in this
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gospel of the water, the blood, and the Spirit and have as a result rejected the love of God. Now, you must no longer ignore the gospel of the water and the Spirit and pretend to be unaware of it, but you must believe in this Truth of salvation. And you must realize that just as God had promised through the Tabernacle system and the sacrificial system, Jesus Christ came to this earth, was baptized in a form of the laying on of hands, was crucified, and has thereby saved all the nations of the whole world from all its sins, and you must receive the remission of your sins by believing in this Truth with all your hearts. Even so, the nation of Israel still has its back turned away from this Truth and is waiting for another messiah. But the Israelites must realize that regardless of how ardently they wait for a messiah other than Jesus, there simply is no other messiah apart from Jesus Christ. That there is no other messiah but Jesus on the face of this earth is this selfevident truth, and as even the people of Israel are no
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exception to the rule when it comes to this truth, nor is there any other Savior for them either. Therefore, the people of Israel must repent from their sin of not believing in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and they must believe that Jesus Christ is indeed their true Messiah and accept this as the infallible truth. By once again affirming and believing that Jesus Christ is the very Savior to come, the nation of Israel must become the true, spiritually chosen nation of God. Even now, the people of Israel are still waiting for a majestic, capable, and powerful messiah who can save them from the pains and miseries of this world. But Jesus Christ already came to this earth in the flesh of a man as the Messiah and has saved them, who cannot avoid but be judged by fire for all their sins. Therefore, they must acknowledge this truth and believe in it. For their souls, Jesus Himself came to this earth as their sin offering of sacrifice as promised in the Old Testament, has saved them forever from all their sins, and has made them God’s own people.
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Jesus Christ who came as the Savior has saved all of us through the gospel of the water and the Spirit, the Truth manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen. And He will surely enable those of us who believe this to reign over the Millennial Kingdom with Him. After this, He will also allow them to take part in the everlasting Kingdom of God and live forever with God Himself in happiness and glory. Therefore, while we are still on this earth, all of us must believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit with all our hearts and become God’s own children. Only those who believe in this gospel of Truth can become the sinless children of God and are guaranteed to receive all the blessings that await them in the next world. Hallelujah! I thank the Lord with my faith for giving us the spiritual blessings of Heaven. Our Lord promised that He would return soon. Even so, come, Lord!
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SERMON 13
You can download Rev. Paul C. Jong’s Free Christian Books on iPhone, iPad, or Blackberry by going to Amazon’s Kindle e-bookstore (www.amazon.com).
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The Materials Used for the Garments of The High Priest < Exodus 28:1-14 > “Now take Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister to Me as priest, Aaron and Aaron’s sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. So you shall speak to all who are gifted artisans, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron’s garments, to consecrate him, that he may minister to Me as priest. And these are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, an ephod, a robe, a skillfully woven tunic, a turban, and a sash. So they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his Free book request www.nlmission.com
sons, that he may minister to Me as priest. They shall take the gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and the fine linen, and they shall make the ephod of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, artistically worked. It shall have two shoulder straps joined at its two edges, and so it shall be joined together. And the intricately woven band of the ephod, which is on it, shall be of the same workmanship, made of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen. Then you shall take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel: six of their names on one stone and six names on the other stone, in order of their birth. With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, you shall engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel. You shall set them in settings of gold. And you shall put the two stones on the shoulders of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel. So Aaron shall bear their names before the LORD on
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his two shoulders as a memorial. You shall also make settings of gold, and you shall make two chains of pure gold like braided cords, and fasten the braided chains to the settings.”
Let us now turn our attention to the materials used for the garments of the High Priest. Ephod was a unique item among the garments worn by the High Priest. This ephod was woven of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread and fine woven linen. This holy garment of the High Priest was made by a craftsman who artistically embroidering these five threads. The golden thread mentioned here in the Bible speaks of the true faith. The blue thread used for the garments of the High Priest refers to the baptism that Jesus Christ had to receive from John the Baptist in order to take upon the sins of mankind (Matthew 3:15). The purple thread speaks of the King of kings, and the scarlet thread speaks of the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made when He bore the condemnation
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of the sins of mankind. The white linen used for the garments of the High priest manifests the righteousness of God that has blotted out everyone’s sins with the blue, purple, and scarlet thread. Among the duties of the High Priests, the most important one was the duty of giving offerings to God. By fulfilling this duty of offering sacrifices to God in accordance with the sacrificial system, the High Priest not only served God, but this also meant that he helped the people of Israel to be delivered from their sins. We must remember that the first and foremost of all the duties of the High Priest was to give offerings to serve and worship God. To prove this point, let me refer you to an incident as told in Exodus 32. When Moses went up Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments, the people of Israel, seeing that he was delayed in coming down from the mountain, said to Aaron, “Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of
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him (Exodus 32:1).” Aaron then took the Israelites’ gold bracelets, earrings, and rings, and made a molded calf out of them. The people of Israel then said, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt! (Exodus 32:4).” Seeing this, Aaron built an altar before the calf and proclaimed the next day to be a feast to Jehovah God. When the next day came, the people of Israel offered burnt offerings and brought peace offering; they then sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. This became a great sin before God, making the people of Israel suffer His fierce judgment. We must keep this event in mind. The High Priest Aaron also had a weak side to him, of course, but despite this he still had to obey the will of God, not forgetting that for him to serve God was his most important duty as the High Priest. But Aaron had failed to be faithful to his duties as the High Priest. To carry out the duties of the High Priest, he had to give burnt offerings and bring peace offerings in accordance with the sacrificial system which was established by God, no
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matter whether his people followed him or not. In short, Aaron the High Priest should have only served God. Like this, pastors these days all too often work only for people, and not for God. It saddens me deeply to think that many of today’s modern priests are espousing such misguided thoughts. But I am not so terribly worried yet, for the right priests could still be found among them. In order to atone for people’s sins, the priests must fulfill their responsibility to give offerings to God properly according to the sacrificial system. We should pay special attention to this passage where God says to Moses, “Now take Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister to Me as priest” (Exodus 28:1). God clothed Aaron with the garments of the High Priest which was made especially for him in order for him to serve God first and foremost. Every priest ministering today should not forget this: The garments of the High Priest were made of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread and fine woven linen.
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To Fulfill the Duties of the High Priest On the Day of Atonement, and in order to remit the Israelites’ sins once a year, the High Priest had to pass all their sins onto the sacrificial offering by laying his hands on its head, draw its blood, and then put it on the altar of burnt offering and sprinkle it on and before the mercy seat. Likewise, Jesus, our true High Priest of Heaven, came to this earth, received the baptism through which He took upon the sins of mankind, shed His blood and died on the Cross, rose from the dead again, and has thereby brought the victory of salvation to those who believe. While serving God as the High Priest, Aaron had to wear a peculiar garment called the “ephod,” which was made of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread and fine woven linen. With this garment of the High Priest, God is teaching us how we must give our offerings in order to receive the remission of sin. To realize the profound meaning that is held in the gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven
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linen used for the garments of the High Priest, we must know the remission of sins which was fulfilled by God’s righteousness and His love. Through the five threads used for the garments of the High Priest, God has shown us that He established the everlasting remission of sin in Jesus Christ even before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). Hence, for us to carry out our duties of priests well, we must first understand the mystery of the washing away of sin held in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and believe in it. This is the predestined providence of salvation that God the Father has established for us in Jesus Christ. For the High Priest to fulfill his priestly duties well he had to give offerings to God properly—that is, for the remission of his people’s sins, he had to lay his hands on the head of the sacrificial offering and pass their sins onto it properly according to the sacrificial system. On the Day of Atonement, the High Priest laid his hands on the head of the sacrificial offering and cut its throat to draw its
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blood. By this laying on of hands, all the yearly sins of the Israelites were passed onto the sacrificial offering. And by the shedding of its blood, all their sins were atoned for. He then sprinkled its blood and burnt its flesh for the completion of this sacrifice. He thus offered this sacrifice for the remission of sins of his people. Here we have to pay great attention to this point: The High Priest had to teach his people that their sins were already passed onto the sacrificial offering before being burnt by fire, and that the remission of their sins was fulfilled through the laying on of hands and the shedding of blood of the offering. This was the greatest duty of every High Priest. The High Priest was someone who had to defend the Truth. In other words, he had to be a faithful guardian of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Although the High Priest was also a weak human being like the common people of Israel, by believing in the Truth manifested in the sacrificial system and giving offerings to God for them, he nonetheless enabled his people to
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receive their remission of sins. In the same manner, although we are insufficient beings, by believing in what Jesus Christ the High Priest of Heaven has done for us and receiving our remission of sins, we are able to walk with God. This sacrificial system which is revealed in the Tabernacle system is the wisdom of salvation that has come from God. The wisdom of God that has saved us from sin is held in the gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen used for the garments of the High Priest. For the High Priest to successfully fulfill his duties, he must teach that the only capable way of making mankind sinless is reached by the sacrificial system which was set by God. We, as today’s royal priests (1 Peter 2:9), also must always bear witness to the fact that Jesus came to this earth, took upon the sins of the world once for all by being baptized, shed His blood and died in our place, was buried, and rose from the dead for us. Can human beings blot out their own sins? Can the religions of this world make the sins of mankind
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disappear? The disappearance of our sins is made possible only by the Truth of salvation constituted by Jesus’ baptism and His blood that the High Priest teaches us. It is only through the gospel of salvation which was established by God that we can receive the remission of all our sins. Remitting the sins of mankind is something that can be done only by Jesus Christ, the eternal High Priest of Heaven. In other words, because Jesus Christ who is God Himself came to this earth in the flesh of a man and took upon all our sins by being baptized by John the Baptist, He could shed His blood on the Cross to wash away all the iniquities of us the sinners. It is because the Lord shouldered all our sins with His baptism that He bore the condemnation of all our sins by being crucified, shedding His blood, and dying on the Cross. And He has completed the salvation of mankind from sin through this righteous act (Romans 5:18). Were it not for what Jesus had accomplished for us, we could never have been saved. This High Priest of Heaven who made us the children of the Holy God by
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completely blotting out all our sins with the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit is none other than Jesus Christ. The spiritual High Priest of Heaven knew all about the Father’s plan of salvation which was predestined for our remission of sins. That is why the Lord said, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last” (Revelation 22:13). With His perfect knowledge of the beginning and the end, the Lord fulfilled our salvation according to His promises shown in the sacrificial system. He has made it possible for us to never be condemned and be destroyed for our sins and weaknesses. What the High Priest of Heaven has done for us—that is, taking upon the sins of mankind by being baptized and blotting them out by shedding His blood, He has thus completed the perfect salvation for us. The wisdom of God provides salvation of all human beings from their sins. It was fulfilled with the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen. In Jesus Christ, God the Father
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planned the everlasting remission of sins with the Truth hidden in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and to all believers in this Truth, He has permitted this perfect salvation.
Band of the Ephod for the High Priest Among the garments of the High Priest was a band for the ephod. This band, a waistband worn by the High Priest for his ephod, also was made of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread and fine woven linen. A band usually denotes “strength.” It tells us, in other words, that the faith that believes in the salvation having come by the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen has the power to save us from all our sins. Only this genuine gospel of the water and the Spirit has the power of God that saves everyone who believes (Romans 1:16). And so, it is a futile exercise to believe in any other pseudo-gospels apart from what is manifested here in the blue,
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purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen. Those who have many shortcomings can also be washed from all their sins perfectly by believing in this Lord-given gospel of the water and the Spirit, for the sins of the world were all passed onto Jesus Christ by this Truth of the remission of sins which was fulfilled by God (Matthew 3:15-17; Leviticus 16:1-22). Therefore, those who believe that these righteous works of Jesus which is manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread has saved them can be reassured even if the willpower of their flesh is very weak. When we dwell in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that Jesus Christ the High Priest of Heaven has given us, what could possibly cut us off from the love of God? Our faith in God’s salvation has been completed by our faith that believes in the Truth revealed in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen. For the priests to carry out their priestly duties, they could not tolerate any false gospels that did not obey the sacrificial system which was clearly shown
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in the Tabernacle. Those who preach such pseudogospels, no matter how articulate they deliver their sermons, cannot offer any help to anyone because they are not bearing witness to God’s genuine gospel of the water and the Spirit which is manifested in the Tabernacle. Therefore, they are merely swindlers and wage-earners. When it comes to believing in Jesus Christ the High Priest of Heaven as our Savior, we cannot fail to acknowledge the sacrificial system of the laying on of hands and the shedding of blood which was manifested in the Tabernacle system. We must realize that there are many pseudo-gospels in this world. Also, no matter who the preacher is, if the preacher is preaching the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit, we must then hear and accept all his or her teachings. The five materials used for the ephod and its band denote our true salvation. They were the materials which manifested the sacrificial offering which brought the remission of sin to sinners when it was offered exactly according to the God-given sacrificial
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system in the Old Testament, and this mainly consisted of the laying on of hands and the shedding of blood. These materials eventually manifested itself in the New Testament, by the baptism of Jesus and the shedding of His blood; Jesus has thus brought the salvation of the remission of sins to those who believe. Whoever believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit wholeheartedly receives the remission of sins and eternal life. This Truth was spoken into all the truly born-again who have been entrusted with the duties of today’s High Priest. The earthly High Priest passed the sins of his people by laying his hands on the head of the sacrificial offering; he then cut its throat and drew its blood, sprinkled the blood on the mercy seat, and thereby fulfilled his priestly duties of defending the genuine gospel before God. But the High Priest of Heaven is the One who was baptized to take the sins of the world upon His own body; He has wholly blotted out all the sins of His people by giving up His body, shedding His blood on the Cross, and rising
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from the dead again. By doing so, He has enabled His people to be remitted of their sins and brought the providence of God to its fulfillment. Today, it is when the disciples of Jesus spread this gospel that Jesus Christ has eradicated all the sins of mankind and that they are successfully carrying out their priestly duties. One of the reasons why Christianity today has so many problems is because there are many spiritual swindlers in its communities who claim to be fulfilling their priestly duties well even as they do not know the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The way to become the true priests before God is to believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Only those who have this faith can give proper sin offerings to God and truly love other people. For what do you think God’s Church exists? I can say to you that God’s Church exists to spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit to sinners. And this is how to serve God and love all souls which were created in His image.
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Everyone in the World Must Know the Gospel of the Water and the Spirit Today’s Christianity throughout the whole world must know the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Our Lord said, “You are the salt of the earth…. You are the light of the world (Matthew 5:13-14).” We who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit are the true light and the spiritual salt of the world. Those who know and believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit are the spiritual priests who bring benefits to people and enable them to receive the remission of their sins. But, on the other hand, those pastors who claim to be fulfilling their priestly duties even as they do not know this gospel of the water and the Spirit are no more than mere wage earners. Those who carry out their priestly duties only as wage earners may be able to make people nominal Christians, but they are unable to wash away the sins that are found in all their followers. The true priests are those whose sins have been
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atoned for, those who stand sinless before God by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. It is by giving them their priestly duties and making them give the lawful sacrificial offering that cleanses away all the sins of His people that God enables everyone to be washed from all their sins. It is through such priests that God has enabled mankind to know His works of salvation, believe in them, and thereby return to Him and lead righteous lives. The priests are the ones who have the responsibility and the duty to make everyone realize the mystery of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and to spread this Truth. Therefore, the spiritual priesthood is as critically important as the gospel of the water and the Spirit itself. God has given us the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit so that we may fulfill our spiritual priesthood powerfully. We must thank Him for giving us this faith (gold thread) that believes in the genuine gospel which is manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen.
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When we study the garments worn by the High Priest, we can discover how mankind’s remission of sin has been fulfilled. Upon a closer examination of the garments of the High Priest, the gospel of the water and the Spirit becomes crystal-clear. It is not through the pseudo-gospels which are propagated by liars that God has saved mankind from the sins of the world. But rather, God has planned our salvation from sin in Jesus Christ before the foundation of the world, and He has fulfilled this plan exactly through the baptism and the bloodshed of Jesus Christ. Among the garments of the High Priests, there were also a skillfully woven tunic and linen trousers. We also wear undergarments, but these garments of the High Priest were different from the undergarments that we wear. The tunic of the High Priest was a long garment extending all the way down to the knee. Because it was woven of fine linen thread, air could circulate freely. When the priests gave burnt offerings, they had to bring the pieces of the offerings to the altar of burnt offering to burn
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them on it. This altar was set relatively high, and therefore the lower part of the High Priest’s body could be exposed when they come near the altar of burnt offering. So, God ordered Moses to make a tunic and linen trousers to cover the lower part of the High Priest’s body thoroughly lest he might incur iniquity and die. How splendid are the garments of the High Priest? The breastplate placed on his chest glittered with twelve precious stones which were placed on it, and the shoulder straps also had precious stones. The breastplate was fastened to the shoulder straps with the two chains of pure gold made like braided cords, and it was bound to the band of the ephod so that it would not come loose from the ephod. So when the High Priest walked, these braided cords of pure gold swung back and forth and glittered. Moreover, the twelve precious stones on the breastplate of judgment also dazzled, the large precious stones placed on the two shoulder straps also glimmered, and the forehead also glittered in gold with the gold plate which hung
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on the turban made of fine linen. Just how much gold was in the Tabernacle? All its boards were overlaid with gold, and the mercy seat, the lampstand, the table of showbread, and many such utensils of the Holy Place were all made of gold. The Tabernacle was simply magnificent. Likewise, when we enter into the dominion of Jesus Christ, we can realize just how splendid this realm is. When looking from the outside, the Tabernacle may not seem that impressive, but anyone who knows about the amount of gold used for it knows that the combined weight of this gold amounted to over one ton. The total gold used for the Tabernacle was twenty-nine talents and seven hundred and thirty shekels (Exodus 38:24) and when we calculate this into today’s measurement it will be over one ton or thereabouts, because a talent or kikkar (= 3000 shekels) weighed 42 kilograms. Have you prepared the garments of faith made of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen yet? The gold thread here refers to faith; the blue thread refers to the baptism that Jesus received;
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the purple thread refers to the Divinity of Jesus as God Himself; the scarlet thread tells us that because Jesus Christ took upon all our sins with His baptism He had to shed His precious blood on the Cross; and the fine woven linen speaks of the Word of God that reveals the righteousness of God. Like this, the blue, purple, and scarlet thread used for the door of the Tabernacle and the garments of the High Priest tell us that God has blotted out all our sins.
When We Come before God with the Faith in This Truth, We Can Receive the Remission of All Our Sins When we come before God, we must have the faith that believes in the Truth of salvation held in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen manifested in the garments of the High Priest as well as in the Tabernacle’s door. When the High Priest gave the sacrifice of the Day of Atonement, he Free book request www.nlmission.com
had to lay his hands on the head of the sacrificial offering and then cut its throat to draw its blood. By this laying on of hands, the sins of all his people were passed onto that sacrificial animal and by this shedding of blood, all those sins were remitted. Anyone who does not have this faith cannot go to God. Trying to give offerings to God without this faith is completely absurd. The sacrificial system and the materials of the Tabernacle are all related to the faith that believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. It was by his faith in the Word spoken by God that the High Priest could come before God and fulfill his priestly duties for his people by giving the sacrifices that blotted out all their sins. How, then, is our faith? In this present age, you and I who know and believe in this Truth and live before God by faith are also the royal priests of Him (1 Peter 2:9). Is your faith the same as the faith that believes in the sacrificial system revealed in the Old Testament? The true faith must be the faith that believes in the genuine gospel spoken of by the Old
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and the New Testament. The external forms of faith can differ from time to time, but the content of true faith must be the same. The High Priests who are approved by God are the ones who give their offerings according to the sacrificial system. When the Bible says that the ephod was “artistically worked,” it means that it was elaborately embroidered in fine detail. The High Priest had to wear the ephod that was wholly woven, with no thread of the five specified threads missing from it. Like this, it is by the faith that truly believes in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen that those who have become priests can first be clothed in holiness, and then only come before God, and give the offering of the remission of sins for others. How is your faith then? Do you know and believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit correctly? The faith of the priests of the Old Testament that believed in the Truth which manifested itself in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen is the same as the faith that believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit in the age of the New Testament. This faith is the
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absolute Truth of salvation that no one can alter. Without this faith, no one can come before God, nor spread His holy gospel. Ultimately, this means that those who have not received the remission of their sins by this genuine gospel cannot fulfill their priestly duties for others. Through our homepage, we hear news from many other countries. We hear from all around the world, from Peru to China and from Uganda to Holland, that people are receiving the remission of sin through our Free Christian Books. Through these books that hold the gospel of the water and the Spirit, people whom we have not even met yet are receiving the remission of their sins. If people in each country receive the remission of sins and they in turn spread the gospel as our co-workers, just how much great works would be accomplished? If our Free Christian Books can only make their way into every country, it will not be too difficult for many people throughout the world to be truly born again. Countless souls throughout the whole world are now receiving the remission of sins by reading our books. We must therefore continue to be faithful to our priestly duties and
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spread this Truth of salvation which is manifested in the Tabernacle system by faith. Dear fellow believers, it is only when you become sinless and holy that you can spread the true gospel to the people of the entire world, and not before. For us to become priests, we must have and spread the faith that believes in the four truths which are manifested in the Tabernacle. Our Lord, who is the true God Himself, has remitted all our sins with the blue, purple, and scarlet thread. By coming to this earth, being baptized, and shedding His blood, our Lord has washed away all our sins, and by vicariously bearing the condemnation for all these sins in our place, He has saved those who believe from all their sins. Anyone who believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that makes us righteous and sinless can wear these holy garments. When we wear these garments, come before God, pray to Him, ask for His help, and serve Him, we can then fulfill our priestly duties by spreading this gospel. Have you received the remission of your sins yet by believing in this gospel of the water and the
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Spirit? Is faith like this gold thread found in your hearts? It is not enough for us to just know this gospel Truth for ourselves, but we must also believe in it wholeheartedly. We must not leave out any one of these truths found in the four threads used for the garments of the High Priest and the Tabernacle’s door; every single one of them must be found in our faith. Who are pseudo-believers today? When something looks similar but on closer examination its content is very different, we then call this an imitation. Is this not what pseudo-gospels are about? Those who do not believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit but instead believe in some other fake gospels are all just people having a bogus faith.
Defend Your Faith and Fight Your Battle as Spiritual Soldiers For a while, there used be many quasi-reporters pretending to be true journalists and defrauding
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people of money. These bogus journalists carried forged credentials and were quite good at pretending to be real journalists, many people were conned by them. Today, there are in fact many people who are spreading some other pseudo-gospels that may resemble the genuine gospel, but the truth is, they are in fact different from the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Therefore, before believing in any gospel, we should examine it closely by paying particular attention to see whether or not it contains each single thread of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen, and whether or not anyone of these has been left out. God ordered Moses to make the garments of the High Priest by weaving all of them artistically without leaving out any one thread; this means that today’s priests should not leave out any element from the gospel of the water and the Spirit when it comes to their faith. If we do not believe that God has fulfilled our salvation with these four threads—the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen—we then cannot be approved by God.
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How can we discern whether or not someone’s faith is spurious? When we look at the colors of the garments worn by the High Priest, we can realize that today, only the faith of those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit is whole. If someone believes in the true gospel like these people, then you can consider this person as someone who has been wholly remitted of their sins. There are many people who think that their faith is whole, even as they do not believe in the truth of the blue thread, the baptism of Jesus, and only believe in the blood of the Cross. Such people are not the ones who believe in the perfect gospel. Because these people do not know the true gospel before God, they cannot preach about the spiritual remission of sins. Dear fellow believers, you must be able to discern the faith of those who believe in the pseudo-gospels from that of those who believe in the true gospel. There are many pastors on this earth who believe in such pseudo-gospels. In the Old Testament, the garments of the High Priest were made with five materials, and it is
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by having this faith that we have received the remission of sins. This is why we are waging our spiritual battle against Satan. The Apostle Paul addresses this issue in the Book of Ephesians. Let us turn to Ephesians 6:10-18: “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit,
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which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.” The Apostle Paul is telling us to “be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might,” and to “put on the whole armor of God” so that we “may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” What is this whole armor of God? It is the Word of God. Paul is telling us, in other words, to fight against these pseudo faiths by believing in the Word of God, by wearing it and by holding on it. This is why he says, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” He is admonishing us to fight against the rulers of this age, against those who are on the side of this world, and against the evil spirits of the Devil. Paul is telling us, “Take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil
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day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Paul tells us this so that we, having done all these things, may stand before God. Because we believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit before God, we receive the remission of sins and stand before God to enjoy everlasting life with Him. We are all weak in our flesh. We must therefore put on the girdle of faith. By telling us to put on the breastplate of righteousness, Paul is telling us that we must believe in this gospel with all our hearts. As the High Priest wore twelve precious stones on the breastplate above his chest and the name of each tribe of the twelve tribes of Israel was engraved on each stone, he is saying that we should embrace all people in
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our hearts and lead them to Christ. That the High Priest wore these twelve precious stones which were mounted on the breastplate and carried it on his chest means that he bore all the people of Israel in his heart. As the Apostle Paul said here, “having girded your waist with truth,” we must definitely and definitively have the faith that believes in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen. When we do not fear our weaknesses but hold onto our faith in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread in our hearts, our hearts are then strengthened. It is by this faith that we can stand firmly on our unwavering faith. Therefore, we must put on the breastplate of righteousness and believe in it in our minds and also in our hearts. It is not enough for us to just know this true gospel in our heads, but we must also believe in it in our hearts. We must then wear the shoes of the spreading of the gospel with the preparation of the gospel of peace. With the gospel of the water and the Spirit, God has given us peace. God has told us to believe in this gospel
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of the water and the Spirit that has brought us peace and to lead our lives by serving the gospel. God has also told us to take “the shield of faith” and “to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.” In ancient times, fiery darts were often the first weapon of choice to be deployed in a battle. Paul is telling us that this is how Satan attacks us. The Devil pinpoints and directs his attack on our weaknesses and insufficiencies, saying, “Just who do you think you are? Your thoughts and acts that creep up from inside your hearts are all filthy, and yet you espouse to spread the gospel? What kind of nonsense is this? Don’t you think you are too conceited? Why don’t you straighten yourself out first?” Struck by this fiery darts, if we should then capitulate and say, “You are right. Then what kind of a priest am I when I can’t even manage myself,” then if this happens our souls will end up dead. This is why the Apostle Paul told us, Above all, take the shield of faith. What protects us from these fleshly thoughts that Satan tries to implant in our hearts making us fall into our
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weaknesses? It is the unwavering faith that believes in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen. This is the shield of faith. When the fiery darts rain on us indiscriminately, our Lord has told us to ward them off with this faith: “The Lord has made me righteous with the blue, purple, and scarlet thread. I believe in this wholeheartedly.” It is by such faith that we can repel these fiery darts and all the schemes and attacks plotted by Satan. Are you insufficient? Your flesh is surely insufficient. Given this, you must deal with all things with the faith that believes in the providence of God and the gospel of the water and the Spirit. After receiving the remission of sins, at first you may be able to deal with small issues by faith, but later on, many other hardships that truly cannot be dealt by any other means but only by faith will come knocking at your door. At the beginning, your weaknesses might show only a little, but in time, such weaknesses will continue to be revealed in an
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even greater degree and far more bluntly. Eventually, you will be flooded by so many weaknesses that they will make you recoil from yourself. It is in times like this, when you begin to have doubts about whether you have actually received the remission of your sins or not, that Satan launches his severe attacks against you. With your faith, therefore, you must be able to take care of your weaknesses also. In other words, you must prevent yourselves from having such kind of fleshly thoughts that leads you to your own self-destruction because of your weaknesses. With the shield of faith, you must repel Satan’s attacks and shout, “Get behind me, Satan! As Romans 1:17 says, ‘The just shall live by faith,’ I am still righteous by my faith in the righteousness of God even though I have many shortcomings.” The righteous must live by faith. Is there anything we have that can boast of yourselves in this world? We have nothing to boast of in a worldly term, but we can still talk confidently before the people of this world. The people of the
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world might say to you, “If you are righteous, then I am also righteous. Then you should answer them, ‘Listen, if you are righteous, then I am the mother of all the righteous.” There are many people who have no understanding and attack us by dragging out our shortcomings. “You are not a good student. You can’t do this, and you can’t do that either.” Even if they attack us like this, there is absolutely no reason for us to be concerned. You can reply, “You are right. I am not so good at that. But nevertheless, I believe in this genuine gospel. Do you know what this gospel is? Do you know what the blue thread is? What the purple thread is? What the scarlet thread is? What the fine woven linen is? Look into the original texts. It will most probably take you at least a month of Sundays before you can find their meanings. No, actually, you would be lucky if you could decipher its mystery even after a year. It would probably take you 500 generations before you even begin to realize them. Do you know what the gold thread is? Well, unlike you, I know and believe in all these things.”
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Like this, you must ward off all the attacks of Satan boldly with your faith. You must have strong faith, and with this faith you must repel him. “Though I am insufficient, I still serve the gospel of God. Serving the gospel of the water and the Spirit is serving God. Even though I am lacking, I am still a king in the Kingdom of God. I am a royal priest who is like a king. If I don’t spread the gospel, you will then all end up in hell.” Brother and sisters, you must all have such a bold faith. This faith is not something that you can attain by force, but it is something that God has given to us, and therefore all that you have to do is just take it by believing. Have you received this faith by believing? In Ephesians 6:17 the Apostle Paul admonishes us to “take the helmet of salvation.” You know what a helmet is, right? Remember the knights of the Medieval Age? They wore helmets made of metal and dueled against each other on horseback with long lances. When they wore these helmets which covered their faces, their wounds were rarely bad enough to
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kill them unless they got pierced through the eyes. What warded off such lance attacks and protected them were these specially made helmets. Likewise, the helmet of salvation plays such a role. Like this, in our heads also, our knowledge of the Truth must be perfect. The gospel Truth must be well-organized intellectually in our knowledge as well. “Is this true or not? Is this right or wrong?”— instead of dithering about in our uncertainty like this, we must have our understanding clearly sorted out in our heads: “The Lord has made me perfectly righteous with the blue, purple, and scarlet thread. I believe in this.” Only when we do this would there be no crack through which Satan can attempt to get in. This is to equip ourselves with the helmet of salvation. We must believe with the exact knowledge of the Truth. And Paul also told us to have the sword of the Spirit. This sword of the Spirit is the Word of God, and so when we learn, know, and believe in the Word, it is like having a great weapon. Satan attacks
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shrewdly through other people, through money, through the opposite sex, and through your weaknesses as well, but we can repel them all with our faith in the Word of God. In Ephesians, using this analogy from the garments of the High Priest, the Apostle Paul explains to us what true faith is in this way: “Put on the breastplate of righteousness.” He is telling us, in other words, to put on the breastplate of the Truth that God has made us righteous. Paul also told us to “take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit.” By using this example, he is telling us to fight against Satan, to strike and defeat him by having the complete knowledge of the Truth and believing in the Word of God. He is telling us kill off without any hesitation all the evil obstacles that hassle our faith. Those who have pseudo-gospels are the ones who claim to have washed away all their sins even as they only believe in one part, that is, Jesus’ blood of the Cross and His divine attributes as the Son of God. What we must reject and cast aside
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is precisely this bogus faith. The faith that believes in Jesus without His ministry of the blue thread is like the High Priest wearing fake garments. Yet in this world, there are so many phony Christians who leave out the blue thread from their faith that we cannot even count them all. However, we put the gospel of the water and the Spirit in our books and bear witness to this gospel that has come by the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen, the gospel in which we believe. Regardless of whether people believe it or not, it is to give them at least an opportunity to read, know, and believe in the Truth that we make our books holding to the exact Word of God. Those who only believe that Jesus is God and that He has washed away their sins by shedding His blood on the Cross are prone to place the basis of their faith on their emotions by deceiving others and even themselves. But we who believe in the Truth know, believe, and preach that it is by being baptized and bleeding to death on the Cross that Jesus, who is God
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Himself, has saved us perfectly. Do you now believe that the garments of the High Priest were made of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen? Those who have been wholly clothed in holiness are the ones who are wearing these garments made of these five threads. Those who in their hearts believe in the remission of sin that has come by the gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen are the true people of faith and spiritual priests who believe that they have truly been saved from all their sins. There is something that those who have now become spiritual priests can never forget. It is the implication of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen, the shadow of the true gospel. It is with these five faiths that we make the holy garments of the remission of sin, wear them by faith, and come before God. This speaks of our true faith. For our faith that believes in this Truth, God has made our hearts holy, just as He had done so for the High Priest of the Old Testament. By believing in
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this Truth, we have all become priests before God. We are the royal priests who serve God. Brothers and sisters, I ask you to have the faith that believes in This Truth, and with this faith fight against Satan and fulfill your priestly duties. And by doing so, I hope and pray that you would all carry out your priestly duties faithfully forever. I say this because if you cease to believe in the gospel of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen, your priesthood will be taken away from you. I pray that all of you would become even more faithful priests who please God with your unwavering faith in the genuine gospel. It is my hope that you would all believe in the true gospel until the end, so that you may not lose the gospel of eternal life, defend your faith, and perform your priestly duties forever.
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