God is eternally living. He is forever from eternity to eternity. No creature can see God. However, God revealed Himself to us. Therefore, we must know Him. To know and follow Him is our faith.

According to the Old Testament record, many people have seen God since the beginning of the world. But what they saw was not the form of God, but rather the angels sent by God. It wasn’t until Jesus Christ appeared in the world 2000 years ago that men were able to see God.

We must have a clear understanding about our own faith. Many think that the hunger and thirst they feel in their spiritual life is a part of their faith. However, the spirits of those who have met God are filled with the fullness of the Spirit of God and they are characterized by contentment and joy, not spiritual thirst. If you still feel empty in your spiritual walk, that’s because you can’t get a response from God when you pray and you can’t lay hold of anything even though you grasp with your hands, as it were.

Religions generally emphasize ethical conduct and morality. Consequently, religious people attach importance to self-discipline. The problem is that fostering self-discipline only helps to stabilize the mind and body, so regardless of how high the level of discipline, all the effort disappears the moment the body dies. Christians’ faith is not about building up their moral character. Many people say about Christians, “If he is a Christian then why does he behave like that?” However, they say that because of the prejudice and misunderstanding that exists against Christians. The distinguishing characteristic of a churchgoer is that they have obtained salvation and eternal life, nothing else.

It is proper that Christians should experience salvation and life. The fact that a man of faith becomes discouraged and overwhelmed by the various difficulties and challenges of this life, suggests that he didn’t have any faith to begin with. Even when a violent gale was rising on the sea and water was coming into the ship, the Lord was sleeping soundly with His head on the stern. When the disciples were overcome with fear, He woke up and rebuked them, saying “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” They may have had faith, but they didn’t have the faith that came from the heaven. The faith that will not be shaken even in the face of adversity, that is the faith that comes from heaven.

Everyone has convictions. Even though they can bring success to what a man does, they cannot save his soul. Convictions are just one’s own subjective beliefs, but faith is the assurance that comes from God. No matter how active someone is in the church, if he does not know God, it is just an emotion from his own convictions. Left unchecked, it could progress into mysticism. It has nothing to do with God. What we need is the faith that God gives. It is only in God given faith that we will find salvation, power, resurrection and everlasting life. If we abandon that faith, then God will also forsake us. God is concerned with those who are interested in the faith that He has given.

We can have the faith that God has given to us, because the Word, who had been with God from eternity, became flesh and came to the world 2000 years ago. Of course, we who live in the 21st century, have not seen Him in person. However, believing the words of those who saw Him walk on this earth 2,000 years ago is like seeing Him in person. Keep in mind that Jesus said, “I do not pray for these only, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word” (John 17:20). And Hebrew 11:1 also says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

The New Testament is the book of record of those who saw Jesus with their eyes, touched Him with their hands and found uncommon consolation through Him, when the Word of God came to this world 2,000 years ago. We usually call the Bible ‘God’s Word’. However, it also contains the words of the Devil, of spirits of seduction, of demons and of men. Then, can the words of the Devil or of demons save men? No. The only thing that can save us is the Word of God, and we believe in Him because the Word came as flesh.

Jesus came to this world after the Roman Empire implemented the family registration system. This is very important because it proves that Jesus is not a fictitious person from someone’s imagination, but rather He is a historical person. Since the beginning of the world, many people have come into the world and gone, but none of them is God. Only Jesus who was born in Bethlehem and crucified in Jerusalem is God. God the Father and the Holy Spirit both testify to the fact, and many other people have also done the same at the risk to their own lives, even to this day.

People in the world sometimes criticize us and questions us by saying, “How can you say that he is God, who was born of a man? We watched him grow up from his childhood. How can he be God?” But we need to be convinced of that. Not to simply believe it, but to know God, to trust and experience the God who came to this world. The reason that God came to this world in the flesh was to taste and experience life as a man.

He was conceived in His mother’s womb and grew there for 9 months. After birth, He tasted all the bitterness of life, including diseases, poverty, hunger, thirst and oppression, and finally He died on the cross. He is the Creator, but He also knows all the weakness that humans go through.

The Word of God is quite different from human languages and writings that people use to communicate. John 1:14 says “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”We should be able to see that Word now.

Jesus taught many things while He was on the earth, often in parables. When the disciples asked why, He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, so that ‘Seeing they may see and not perceive, And hearing they may hear and not understand; Lest they should turn, And their sins be forgiven them.'” (Mark 4:11~12) The Law (of Moses) and the Prophets are all parables. Jesus said that the Law and the Prophets cannot bring remission of sins. In other words, the Law and the Prophets cannot save men.

Therefore, we must know the truth.What is the truth? Jesus said, “I am the truth.” We must know Jesus in order to be saved. Only those who know Jesus have been saved and possess everlasting life. Jesus said, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32) Therefore, men who know Jesus also have freedom. They are free from the law, sin and the punishment of hell.

The Holy Spirit helps us know the truth. Jesus said, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” (John 16:12~13) Many people say they know the truth, and yet, when they share the gospel they say, “Believe in Jesus, and your business will thrive!”But that is not what God meant when He said “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”We must clearly understand what was said and bear witness of it.

When Jesus said that “you must drink my blood and eat my flesh”, many were shocked and stopped following Him. They did not accept what Jesus was saying because they were unable to understand it. Those who know Jesus think it’s reasonable to drink His blood and eat His flesh, but to those who don’t know Him it sounds strange. Therefore, we must know Jesus. We must know the Word. We must know the truth.

John 12:44 says, “Then Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me.”Jesus is the Word of God that became flesh, and the truth. He who believes in the Word believes in God, and he who believe sin the truth also believes in God. Here, believing does not mean simply listening and acknowledging, but it means obeying. When we believe in the Word of God and the truth, it is not just listening but obedience. John 12:45 says “And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me”. Jesus is the express image of His person. To see Him who came into this world as a historical being is to see God. And, even though 2,000 years have passed, believing the testimony of those who saw Him at that time is also believing in Him. When we hear about an event through the news media, we believe it even though we haven’t witnessed it ourselves. How much more should we believe the words of those who witnessed Jesus and testified about Him at the risk of their lives! Listening to those who saw Jesus and believing what they said about Him, is like seeing Jesus for ourselves and it is also like seeing God.

What is the name ‘Jesus’? Matt 1:21 says, “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins”. He who has the name ‘Jesus’ can say “I’ve been saved”. He no longer needs to worry about going to hell because of his sin. Jesus Christ came to this world to save sinners, not to judge them.

Nevertheless, many people still fear Jesus. When their children are playing outside and they get hurt, they wonder if the Lord is punishing them for their sins. We must remember that Jesus Christ didn’t come to punish us but to save us. Jesus Himself said, “for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.” (John 12:47)

Misunderstandings about Jesus Christ can destroy a man’s soul. As we draw nearer to Jesus, we receive more help from Him and He provides life and comfort for our souls, not fear. Formerly, when God revealed himself as Jehovah and operated through the agency of an angel, sinners had no choice but to fear God. That’s because during that period of time offenses were punished immediately. However, Jesus Christ is concerned with saving sinners. Therefore, you who have committed any sin, do not be afraid but rather draw near to Him.

John 12:48 says, “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him-the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.” The Word will judge. That is, those who don’t have the truth in their hearts have already been judged. Those without the truth do not have God’s righteousness, and they have already been judged as unrighteous. Therefore, we must draw near to Jesus.

Jesus is God! He is not God if He isn’t omniscient and omnipotent. He is not God if He can’t complete all things. He is not God if He is not self sufficient. Jesus is God. Jesus is the truth! Jesus is the Word. He came to save us, to help us, to perfect us. Therefore, we do not need to be afraid of Him but trust and depend on Him. When we do, the Holy Spirit of truth will help us, and the works that Jesus Christ did will be manifested abundantly in us.

This past week, like the previous week, I have been brutally attacked all day long and every day. My body has not been attacked, but my reputation and my heart have been. However, though they may trample on my name to destroy it, they can never destroy my soul. My soul is not my own for it belongs to the Lord Jesus, and it has been His for a long time. All my life, I have lived as Jesus’ very own possession. So then, what can they possibly do to my soul that abides with Jesus? Some even hope that I die, thinking that Semuon must die, but Semuon will never die according to people’s desires.

They approached the sacred pulpit, opened the Bible, and read from it, but their only objective was to remove Semuon from the hearts of the people in the church. And they have removed the attitude and devotion which ‘Berea’ stands for by inciting their hearts with grumbling and insulting words, they turned the people against and even caused them to spit on the Berea Movement. Moreover they have proclaimed that they would erase the very name of ‘Sungrak’ Church. Unfortunately there are too many naive and innocent people, believing that everything preached in the worship service is God’s word, and are saying ‘Amen, Amen’ even to those insulting and accusing words, and not to the true gospel.

God’s Word must be treasured in our hearts and in our souls, but instead of hearing God’s words they are being fed slander and vicious insults against Semuon, making their souls sick and killing them. They are fed Wormwood, so their souls are dying. Even if I had become corrupted, I was still their teacher and shepherd, and yet they trample on me and choke me with very nasty words.

Are they truly speaking by the Holy Spirit? They are speeding forward toward the objective of dividing and selling the church’s property, like driving an old broken down car with no brakes. Nevertheless, they are the ones whom I once taught, ordained, and assigned the tasks in the church, so I cannot help but have compassion for them in my heart.

Even if my body dies, I will give thanks to God, even if my reputation which has been shining for all my life becomes tarnished, I will endure it. I have nothing to say but the word, ‘Let us return to the Bible, to the end, as Bereans!’ Those who walk in the flesh speak the words that pertain to the flesh, and those who walk in the flesh listen to them, but those who belong to God receive God’s word; that s how we discern between the spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

My dear saints, feed your souls with spiritual food and drink so that we may remain alive together. I, Semuon, alive in my soul, will follow the Lord, even this coming week. Though my heart, my honor and my flesh be down-trodden, I will continue to take up my cross. Please pray for Semuon, Berea, and Sungrak church more than ever before. Pray, Pray, and Pray.

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Outline translated by Sarah Lee
Letter translated by Sung-In Hong
Interpretations by Sarah Lee

Chief Editor: Helen Nam
Korean Summary by Ki-Taek Lee