April 8, 2018_He Who Believes in Jesus Does the Work of Jesus

The Son of God performed the Father’s work, and the church shall do the same work by the Holy Spirit

God is one. God is revealed in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, but the work is one. If anyone has seen the work of Jesus, he has seen the work of the Father. Jesus did His work by the Holy Spirit.

Amazingly enough, the Holy Spirit has come to us in this day and age. It was an angel who led the Israelites out of Egypt, through the wilderness and to Jerusalem. Since angels cannot enter into a human body, they used external persuasion to lead them. But unlike angels, the Spirit guides us from within.

The Holy Spirit indwells us and helps us, just as Jesus promised when he said that He would send us “another Helper” who would be with us forever. (John 14:16) When a person loses the joy and power of the Holy Spirit because they have neglected their spiritual walk, they might be inclined to believe that the Spirit has left them. But once the Holy Spirit comes to a believer, He never leaves him even if he or she grieves the Holy Spirit. Therefore, instead of being discouraged by our shortcomings and failures, we must let the Spirit work through us.

The work of the Spirit is not a new thing. It is the will of God and it is the same work that Jesus did. This same work is now performed by the Holy Spirit through the churches.

He who believes in Me is baptized

Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.” (John 14:12) Do you really believe in Jesus? Can Jesus point to you and say, This man believes in Me?”

Jesus said, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved.” (Mark 16:16) whoever believes in Him should be baptized. Still some people say, “I’m not ready to be baptized yet, I’m not worthy. I’ll get baptized later.” This is not humility but pride. John baptized with water, but the baptism of Jesus is with the Holy Spirit. To purposefully refuse it is comparable to blasphemy.

What happened when the disciples received the Holy Spirit and began preaching the gospel after Jesus ascended into heaven? Those who heard the message were pierced through the heart and repented and three thousand souls were baptized that day. And what did the Ethiopian eunuch do when Philip preached the gospel to him while he was traveling back to his country? When they came to some water, he stopped the carriage and was baptized. (Acts 8:26-39) Whoever refuses to be baptized because they “are not ready,” denies the grace that the Son bestowed on us by His sacrifice. They have chosen to obey their conscience and are foolishly asking to be judged according to their deeds.

The Law and man’s conscience had the same role: to define what was good and what was evil. The Law came through an angel. When a person hears the gospel and still chooses to rely on his conscience or the law, he submits to an angel in a show of false humility. That man’s reward will be taken away. (Colossians 2:18)

Whoever hears the gospel of Jesus and believes should be baptized immediately. Even though a person only knows a little bit about Jesus and has not yet received the Holy Spirit, as long as he has heard the gospel and believes it, he can be baptized. What is the gospel? It is the good news that no man had ever heard before Jesus came. Every creature on earth that draws breathe will eventually die. Jesus is the exception. He said, “I am the resurrection and the life: he that believes in Me, though he were dead, he will live again” and have eternal life. He said whoever believes in Him will also resurrect to eternal life. Therefore, whoever has hope in and yearns for the resurrection should be baptized immediately, regardless of his imperfections and shortcomings.

He who believes in Me receives the Holy Spirit

Jesus said whoever believes in Him would receive the Holy Spirit. John 7:38-39 says, “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.”

Mount Hermon is on the north side of the Sea of Galilee. The water flowing down from the mountain disappears into the ground and re-emerges near the Sea of Galilee. In this way the Sea of Galilee has a constant supply of fresh water from the north which flows through the Jordan river to the south and into the Dead Sea. Despite their names they are actually both lakes. However, the Sea of Galilee is supplied by fresh water but the water entering the Dead Sea has no place to go so it is an inhospitable environment which is unable to sustain life.

Jesus said, “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of him will flow rivers of living water.” We ought to be filled with the Holy Spirit and experience the work of God every moment of our lives just as Jesus said. We should not have merely an appearance of godliness, but the power of God at work in our lives. (2 Timothy 3:5) For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk, but of power. (1 Corinthians 4:20)

Signs will follow the believers

Jesus said that signs would follow those who believe in Him. Mark 16:17-18 says, “And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Some claim to honor God’s word, but they deny its power. And some, rather than address their lack of power, have even tried to delete these words that Jesus spoke from the Bible.

From the very beginning of His ministry when Jesus called His disciples, He gave them the power to heal the sick, cleanse lepers, raise the dead, and cast out demons. (Matthew 10:8) They experienced Jesus’ word being fulfilled in them because they obeyed Him. Jesus said that whoever believes in Me will manifest such powers. And the word is still true for us as well.

Whoever believes in Me will do the works that I do

Jesus said, “Whoever believes in Me will do the works that I do.” Before we can do the works that Jesus did, we must know what He did. What people pray for and what the Lord expects are generally quite different. They pray for bigger houses, better jobs, financial success for themselves and their children, even a good husband or wife.

Jesus once attended a wedding feast with His mother. (John 2:1-12) What did Jesus say when His mother informed Him they had no more wine? Did He not say, “What does that have to do with Me?” Jesus said He came to give His life as a ransom for many so that they would not perish but have eternal life. (Matthew 20:28; John 3:16)

We are members of Jesus’ body. The church is the body of Jesus and we are the members that make up the body. A body is supposed to function in concert with the head. Each part is supposed to function harmoniously as a single unit. In this way, whoever believes in Jesus should be involved in the work of Jesus as a member of the church.

It is advantageous for our souls to live a long life on the earth so that we can do the Lord’s work as members of the church. By this we have the opportunity to lay up treasure in heaven and work toward the heavenly crown that the lord will give to those who labored for the Kingdom of God. In order to be born healthy, a child must develop fully in its mother’s womb. Children born prematurely suffer a great deal. Similarly, we must prepare for eternal life through service in the church in order to receive our crown of glory in heaven.

The Lord came to the earth to shed His blood. We commemorate this by taking the Holy Communion. 1 Corinthians 11:26 says, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.” And the next verse warns that whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself which may lead to weakness, sickness, and even death. (1 Corinthians 11:27-30)

Therefore, we must not only believe in Jesus, but also do His work. Jesus said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves… do this in remembrance of Me.” (Luke 22:17,19) 1 Corinthians 11:26 says, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.” We should be the cup from which people can drink the wine from heaven; we should be the bread from heaven which people can eat and experience fellowship with Christ. This is what Jesus did.

He who believes in Me will do greater works than these

Jesus said that those who believe in Him will do greater works than He did. (John 14:12) What does He mean by greater works? Baptism. Jesus came to the earth and redeemed man from their sin through His death on the cross, but not once did He Himself perform a baptism, through which people may experience redemption. It was only after His resurrection that He said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:19) Of course, His disciples baptized before that, but it was a baptism by water like the baptism of John. (John 4:1-2)

Baptism is an experience in which a man’s soul is united with God. Since, as Jesus’ disciples, we have been charged with saving-souls, we ought to preach the gospel and baptize anyone who believes.

Each one of us is like a seed. Unless a seed falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone, but if it dies, it produces much fruit. (John 12:24) All of our external displays of godliness are meaningless if we do not bear fruit.

Jesus said, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:19) It means that if the church tells a man, “Your sins are forgiven,” God will acknowledge it. Therefore the church must preach the gospel and help people to believe and be baptized. (Matthew 16:16)

As the body of Christ, the church must continue the work which Jesus did when He was on earth. Not only that, the church must do greater things. They must baptize people. Jesus spoke with sincerity and hope concerning those who believe. We must become true believers of Jesus.

What is Pastoral ministry?

Pastoral ministry must start with the inspiration and philosophy that comes from the divine mission of one who starts their own church. Even if there are many pastors in one church, there is only one main pastor. There may be many assistant pastors, but they are there to assist the main pastor. If they start to parade their own inspiration and philosophy, then the church will fall into chaos. If they have their own inspiration and philosophy, then they should pursue that sense of mission and start their own church. They must not start advocating their own inspiration and philosophy in a church established by another and start challenging that person’s ministry.

Pastoral ministry and the church itself are clearly different. What is the church? It is the gathering of believers who have received baptism in the name of Jesus Christ and have met together in a holy assembly to put into practice their sacred duty. What is pastoral ministry? It is when one person uses the inspiration and philosophy that he has received by faith, turns it into a purposeful mission, embraces the souls that he has been given responsibility over by God, and makes the church grow in faith. Pastoral ministry is when an Overseer channels his inspiration and philosophy into a purposeful mission and strives forth to put it into practice.

But there are some people who are confusing the implications of pastoral ministry with that of the church. The core component of pastoral ministry is inspiration and philosophy, and the core component of the church is the assembly of Christians that have been saved from their sins. Therefore, the way the main pastor is to prosper in his pastoral ministry is to revive the spirit of the church. But if one does not revive the spirit of the church, he is not conducting a prosperous pastoral ministry. The work that the main pastor does and the work that the church does are different from one another.

I am a person who has been chosen to be a true pastor. Through faith and prayer, I have received inspiration from the Lord, and from the philosophy that comes out from my inner person, I started this church. For my whole life, I have focused on this inspiration and philosophy, and have nurtured growth in this church. There may be those that have different ideas from me, but this is to be expected since each person’s amount of inspiration is different. I have completely immersed myself in the inspiration and philosophy that I received, and the result was an admirable church. I endeavored with all my heart and strength to produce a church that I am pleased with, and I believe that this is the church that God himself desires.

I have seen those who have denied that I am a true pastor, how they have raised distressing alarm in the church, and have stolen some of the sheep of the flock. The reason that they do this is because they are not true pastors. There are many churches in the outside world, but you cannot expect that the form of this church is to be the same as theirs. This is because there is always one main pastor in each church, and they conduct their pastoral ministry with the inspiration and philosophy that they have each received from the Lord.

In the past year, our church suffered a huge trial, but I have not been shaken in the least. This is because I have steadfastly pursued the inspiration and philosophy that I have received from the Lord and have embraced it as a purposeful mission. I can rise up again. But those who cause chaos and division amongst the members of this church will never be able to conduct an adequate ministry. They are full of the ideas of fleshly man and have absolutely no inspiration. They are full of greed and have no philosophy. It is useless to consider if they have any worthy sense of mission to conduct an adequate pastoral ministry.

Pastoral ministry is inspiration and philosophy that an Overseer has. If anyone wants to pursue their own pastoral ministry, they must leave the property already owned by another. They must start anew their own work by using the inspiration and philosophy they have received from God and pursue their own purposeful mission.

Coming Soon

Outline translated by Sarah Lee
Letter translated by John Kim
Interpretations by Daniel Hong
Korean Summary by Ki-Taek Lee