Before I met Jesus, I would sometimes hear people say things like this: “If you are going to believe in a god, why believe in a god from the Middle East? Koreans should believe in a Korean god. Why should we believe in a god from the Middle East?” I used to think that way too. If there are many gods in the world, then why do we have to believe specifically in a god from the Middle East? And if there are many gods, can we simply choose one according to our own taste and believe in whichever one we like? If that were the case, I would not believe. If believing were just something you could do or not do, depending on your preference, I would not come to church on the Lord’s Day and spend the whole day here. I would just go traveling on the Lord’s Day.

But our faith is not such a simple matter. It is reality. We simply do not see it because it has not all been unfolded before our eyes, but it is an extremely serious matter. When people have room in life, they do not think about these things very much. They do not think about them right away. But imagine that you suddenly face something that cannot be solved no matter how hard you try, or something you never expected. Take illness, for example. No matter how much you struggle, it may not be resolved. To deal with it, you need a lot of money and a lot of time. And if things do not go the way you hoped, you may even leave this world in a way you never imagined. When people face something like that, only then do they finally begin to think, “What is going to happen to my life?” And they also begin to think about the existence of a god.

But we do not have that much time left, and because there are many gods in the world, they compete with one another to make contact with people. So there is a lot of interference. That is why, before such difficulties come, we must think about this first and face reality first. And as you hear the counsel of so many witnesses like this, even though you cannot force yourself to have faith, you can at least ask, “Could this really be true?” and look into it. And since God is alive and meets those who seek Him, if you struggle to meet Him, you will surely be able to meet this God. And from Him, you will be able to receive something very, very good.

If it were not something good, I would not introduce it to you. But because it is good, I am introducing it, because it is so very good. And to be honest, even when something is good, I am not really the kind of person who easily introduces it to others. When I have something good, I tend to want to keep it to myself rather than tell many people about it. But this God, the One we call God, wants more people to share in it. So because I want to be pleasing to Him, I keep telling others about Him.

So you must open your heart toward this God and make up your mind to meet Him. If you seek to meet Him, you can meet Him. He will meet you. In fact, He has already done everything He needed to do. Now the ball is in our court. Depending on what we do now, we may receive what He gives, or we may not.

The God whom we are meeting now, the God with whom we are in fellowship now, is the God who appeared four thousand years ago to a man named Abraham, who lived in the region of Iraq. This is the God who already made contact with human beings and left historical records behind. He is the God who has been working from a very long time ago and has been carrying something forward. You will not find another god like this in the world. Some people perform shamanistic rituals or seek fortune-telling. Ask the spirits they contact through those things when they began working. There is no god like this: one who has been there for a thousand years, or who has been active for two thousand years. But the God we are in fellowship with now has records showing that He has been working from four thousand years ago. And those records began to be written down about three thousand five hundred years ago.

And within those written records, there are words that this God spoke, and those words come to pass. That is the most amazing thing. His words come to pass. If we had never experienced the words spoken by this God actually being fulfilled, then there would be no need for us to hold on so firmly to what He said, because there would be no evidence. But we have experienced this: “The words of this God truly do all come to pass.”

And if you want to know how those words were fulfilled, you can read the Bible. In the Bible, people who met this God wrote down their records, people from different times, people who met Him four thousand years ago, three thousand five hundred years ago, three thousand years ago, and two thousand years ago. That is what the Bible is. So the people who lived three thousand years ago could confirm, at least in some cases, whether what had been promised three thousand five hundred years ago had been fulfilled or not, couldn’t they? And the people who lived two thousand years ago could also confirm whether the words spoken during the previous fifteen hundred years had been fulfilled, couldn’t they?

And Jesus also came to this earth and spoke words. Now, two thousand years have passed since then. That is why even in this world we say things like “A.D.” or “the year 2018.” Thankfully, because His coming had such a great historical influence, history has been divided according to the birth of Jesus, before Christ and after Christ. And yet the words Jesus spoke two thousand years ago, the words recorded in the Bible, are being fulfilled in me now. They are being fulfilled in you.

That was one of the most shocking things I experienced in my life of faith. How could words that Jesus spoke two thousand years ago, words His disciples wrote down, saying, “If you believe in this Jesus, these things will happen,” “Everyone who believes will have this kind of power,” and “Do this,” how could those words actually come to pass when I did exactly as they said? But the things that happened were not obvious things like, “If you study hard, you will get into a good university,” or, “If you work hard, you will make a lot of money.” They were things that are difficult for human common sense to accept.

There are many such things, but among the things our Lord promised, one of the simplest things we can see with our own eyes is healing. Healing from sickness. Think about how much a sick person suffers in this world. After being tormented so much in the world, they eventually come to church, cling to God, and pray in the name of Jesus. And there are so many cases where people are healed. Many of the people who come to church are those whom the world has already said have no hope. But when they pray to God, they truly experience their sickness being healed according to that word. And it is not always that they gradually get better. Sometimes they are healed suddenly. Suddenly. They can even be healed right there on the spot.

Of course, for such things to happen, the word of God and the faith of the person who believes it must come together. No matter how clearly God has spoken, if a person is only pretending to believe, it is difficult for that person to receive healing. So not everyone is healed. And those who come with the attitude, “Let’s just give it a try,” do not easily receive healing either. But among those who truly rely on that word as the word of God, who entrust themselves to it, and who pray with a truly earnest spirit, there are many who receive healing. Still, even though I say this, it is not that a person must always pray that earnestly in order to be healed. There are also cases where people are healed in an instant when they rely on the word, even without fully knowing what is happening.

So when we see things like that, we can know that the word of God truly is living and powerful, just as the Bible promised. The word of God is alive. We cannot see it with our eyes, but it is like a living being. When children are full of life, aren’t they restless? Even if you say, “Be quiet! Stay still!” they do not listen very well. Because they are full of life, they cannot stay still. The word is like that. Because the word is alive, it cannot stay still. It moves. When that word comes in, something changes.

So when we receive the words of Jesus and say, “Amen! That is truly right!” the word does not stay still. It begins to move. First, it changes our thoughts. But changing thoughts is something books in the world can do too. A person’s words can also change another person’s thoughts. But the word of God does not only change our thoughts. It moves the spirit. The spirit. When we receive the word of God, our spirit is filled with the life God gives and the blessing God gives.

But the problem is that this cannot be seen with our eyes. It is clearly the greater change, and yet it cannot be seen. So, in order to show us that this unseen thing is reality, God has very kindly allowed us to receive healing from sickness. When we receive the word of God, it is not only our knowledge or thoughts that change. It is not only our spirit that changes. Even our body, our flesh, can be changed. So this word is not merely an idea. When the word comes in, a physical change can suddenly take place. It is not always that change comes slowly to the body. When the word comes into me, a change can happen right then, all at once.

For example, two thousand years ago, there was a woman named Mary. She was Joseph’s wife, and we know her as the mother of Jesus. The word of God came to her. At that time, the way the word of God came was through an angel appearing to her. Mary heard the angel’s words and responded to them. What did the angel say? “You will have a Son! You will bear a Child!” But this woman was not yet married. She had not yet known a man. What would happen if a woman who had not known a man bore a child? In those days, she could even be put to death because of it.

So Mary said, “I have not yet known a man. How can such a thing happen to me?” But when she was told, “If the word of God comes to you and the power of the Holy Spirit overshadows you, such a thing can certainly happen,” what did Mary say? She said, “I am the maidservant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to Your word.”

So what kind of attitude allows the word to come in? It is the attitude that says, “I am the maidservant of the Lord!” It means becoming a servant before that word. If He tells you to do something, you do it. So when the word came, “You will conceive a Child! You will have a Child!” Mary received it as a command. She did not receive it as a suggestion, or simply as an announcement. She received it as a command given to her. “I am the maidservant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to Your word.” And yet, nothing happened visibly. But in reality, something must have changed.

Before the angel told Mary, “You will have a Child,” Mary had difficulty believing it, so the angel also said this: “You have a relative named Elizabeth!” Now Elizabeth was originally a woman who could not have children. She was also advanced in age. She was the kind of relative everyone would say about, “She will never have a child now. It is impossible for her to have a child.” But the angel told Mary, “You know Elizabeth, don’t you? She is already pregnant, and she is now in her sixth month!”

So Mary gained courage and said, “Ah, I am the maidservant of the Lord. Let it be done to me.” After she said this, the angel departed. Now, what would Mary do? Wouldn’t she need to confirm whether she was pregnant or not? But how could she confirm it? She would have to wait about six months for her belly to show. But there was a way to confirm it without waiting six months. How? Hadn’t the angel said that Elizabeth was pregnant? She was originally a woman who could not conceive, but because of the word of God, she had become pregnant. So Mary went to confirm it.

So Mary hurried and went to Elizabeth. Elizabeth was an older woman, almost like a grandmother. Mary went in and was about to ask, “Are you really pregnant?” If she had asked that, Elizabeth might have said, “What? How did you know? I was too embarrassed to tell anyone!” But before Mary could even ask, Elizabeth suddenly came out and confessed, “Oh, blessed woman! You are truly blessed! The word God promised has been fulfilled in you! As you came in, the baby in my womb began to move and dance! Why? The baby inside me saw the baby inside you and was so joyful that he could not stay still!”

So Mary was amazed. “This is truly mysterious. I just heard from the angel that I would conceive, and now I have come to Elizabeth. I came here to confirm whether Elizabeth was really pregnant…” If Elizabeth was pregnant, then Mary must have been pregnant too. Because the word had worked that way, because it was the word of power, Mary also must have conceived. But before Mary could even confirm it, Elizabeth had already recognized it first and confessed, “The baby in my womb saw the One in your womb and is rejoicing like this!”

At that moment, Mary was amazed by several things. She was amazed that Elizabeth knew this even though Mary had not told her. She was also amazed that this elderly woman had become pregnant. And what else did Elizabeth say? She said that the child in her womb saw the child in Mary’s womb and began leaping. That means Mary had already conceived. She had just received the word and come there. So when did the Child come into being? When did Mary’s Child come into being? The moment the angel delivered the word of God and Mary said, “I am the maidservant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to Your word,” the Child had already come into being.

This is the power of the word of God. The moment it is received, the work simply begins. Of course, for the Child to be born, Mary would have to wait ten months. Only then would she be able to see Him with her eyes. But that is natural, because even on this earth, when a seed is planted, we have to wait until the fruit appears. Yet the work of God had already begun when the word was received.

So our faith means believing this: “The word of God is alive and working, even though it cannot be seen.” We have received the word that says, “If we believe in Jesus, we will go to heaven! We will have eternal life!” But we cannot see it yet. It requires a process. And yet, because that word has come to me, I believe what I have not yet seen with my eyes. And one day, I will experience it. It is like seeing the baby with your eyes after ten months. Right now, there is no visible sign. But Elizabeth already knows the Child in Mary’s womb and blesses Him. It is an amazing thing. This is how the word of God works.

So what God promised four thousand years ago was fulfilled two thousand years later when Jesus Christ came. In other words, when God appeared four thousand years ago to a man named Abraham and said, “I will do this and that,” Abraham did not see the reality of it. If his lifespan had been more than two thousand years, he would have seen it later. But because he lived only a little over a hundred years, he died without seeing it. Yet although he died, his faith lived on. And although his flesh died, his spirit is alive. So two thousand years later, the word of promise was fulfilled. But that promise had already begun four thousand years ago. It had already been planted.

So we can experience this kind of work of God’s word as we live our life of faith.

For example, when I first went to China to learn Chinese, I later served there as a missionary and then returned. But when I first went, I could not speak Chinese, so I had to learn the language. There was a female professor who taught me Chinese. She was about forty-five years old. She took interest in me and taught me very well. And whenever I did my homework, I intentionally wrote a lot about Jesus. For example, if I had to make a sentence using the word “go,” I would write, “Jesus went up the mountain and healed the sick,” or, “Jesus went somewhere to cast out demons.” I kept writing sentences like that. Then the teacher said, “What is all this? In your compositions, you are always writing about Jesus, then demons, then heaven. What is this about?” So I kept explaining to her, “This is what it means.” And I also told her that healing from sickness happens. She had never heard of such things before, because China is a communist country.

But one day, while I was studying in my dormitory, I heard a knock at the door. When I opened it, that teacher was standing there. But it was not the beautiful teacher I knew standing there. Half of her body had twisted. Her arm was twisted, and her eyes, nose, and mouth had all turned and become distorted. Even her foot was twisted as she came to me.

I was so shocked. So I said, “Teacher, what happened?” She herself was so shaken that as she explained what had happened, she kept crying and laughing. At first, when something like this happens, a person can hardly believe it and does not even know what to do. But little by little, as the thought comes, “Ah, I have become paralyzed on one side,” she kept crying and laughing because she could not accept it. So I first told her to come in. Then I saw one more person following behind her. I asked, “Who are you?” She said she was an old friend who had gone to study in America, believed in Jesus there, and had come back. She had only recently returned from studying in the United States, but since she did have faith, when I welcomed them in, I thought, “Ah, this will help. This is good.” So we sat down together.

After that, I spoke to this teacher. She was a complete unbeliever. I said to her, “Teacher, the word of God is living and powerful, and it pierces even to the division of joints and marrow.” That is what I told her.

Think about it. What does it mean that the word pierces and divides joints and marrow? What is it doing when it pierces and divides the body? It is performing surgery. In other words, the word of God performs surgery. But when surgery is performed, it leaves a scar. This, however, leaves no scar. Why? Because the blade is so sharp. Scripture says it is “sharper than any two-edged sword.” It is exceedingly sharp. That is why this blade leaves no trace.

What happens if a blade is not sharp? Imagine performing surgery and cutting into the abdomen with a blade that is not sharp. You are making an incision. What would happen? You are supposed to make one clean cut, but instead you tilt your head and wonder, “Why isn’t this working?” and keep sawing away. Then what would happen? There would be a large scar afterward, wouldn’t there? But because this blade is so sharp, it leaves no scar. These days, people have laparoscopic surgery, don’t they? They do not even have to open everything up. They just make a small hole and perform the surgery. But the word of God does not even need to make a hole, because it is so sharp.

And then, its power is tremendous. And God is almighty. So when He performs surgery with that word, the surgery is finished in an instant, without leaving any scar. That is the word I was explaining to her. This is what Hebrews 4:12 speaks about. It is promised in the Bible. So I said to her, “According to that word, the word of God is like a surgical blade. If it operates on you, Teacher, you can be healed right now.”

Then the friend sitting beside her said, “That’s right, that’s right! If you believe in God well, you will gradually get better!” When I heard that, what do you think I said? Was what that friend said the same as what I was saying? I had said, “If you believe now, Teacher, the word of God will heal you now.” But this person said, “That’s right, that’s right! If you believe, you will gradually get better!” What is the difference? This person was saying she would gradually get better. I was saying she would simply be healed. But this person, with her own thinking, said, “That’s right, that’s right!” and then added that she would gradually get better. In fact, she was getting in the way.

So I said, “No, Teacher! That is not it. If you believe now, if you receive this word, then that word comes into you now and begins to work. That is why you can be healed now. Teacher, if you receive this word, the word of Jesus, then your spirit is saved now. You are not saved later; you are saved now. If you receive the word now and believe now, saying, ‘Jesus is the Son of God! He died for my sins!’ then you are saved now. It is not that you are saved only after you read the Bible a lot, attend worship well, pray a lot, and do many good works. That is not how you escape hell. You simply need to receive it now. If you truly acknowledge, ‘Ah, I am a sinner. Jesus bore the cross for me. So I acknowledge it now. I am a sinner who deserves to go to hell, but I believe that Jesus has forgiven my sins, and from now on, I will rely on the Lord. Thank You!’ then you receive forgiveness of sins now. In the same way, sickness can also be healed now.” That is what I told the teacher.

Then the teacher showed some kind of response. As she responded, while she was sitting there, her twisted body, she said one word in response, and suddenly it loosened and returned to its proper place. You know how, when a rubber band is tightly twisted and then released, it snaps straight? In the same way, her body, which had been all twisted, suddenly straightened out and sprang up. It was so amazing that I sprang up too, my wife beside me sprang up, and the friend next to her also sprang up in shock. The four of us praised God and clapped for quite a while.

But what do you think she said before she sprang up? I had said, “The word of God can change you right now. It can heal you!” So what do you think she said? Did she say, “Amen”? She was an unbeliever. What would she have said? In her own way, she must have said something close to “Amen.” Amen means, “Truly, truly, it is so.” So did she say, “Yes, that’s true”? An unbeliever would not really say it that way, would she? When we suddenly accept something new, what do we say? Especially when it sounds so unbelievable. We say, “Huh? Really?” If she had believed it was fake, she would have said, “Come on, that’s a lie!” But she received it as true. So she said, “Really?” How do you say that in Chinese? In Chinese, it is “Zhēn de ma?” So the moment she said, “Zhēn de ma?” her body sprang up. That is what happened. “Really?” she said in amazement. And yes, it was real.

Whether our spirit has been saved or not, when time has passed, and after we die, if Jesus comes, then even though we have died, we will be resurrected. Our spirit will be resurrected and clothed with a new body. At that time, we will experience it and say, “Ah, it really was true!” And if the Lord comes while we are still alive, our spirit will suddenly be changed. To others, it will look as if our body has changed. It will look as though our body has suddenly been transformed into a new body, an eternal body. We will experience it then, but the seed has already been planted when we believe and receive the word.

So more specifically, when is it that we believe and receive? “Believe and be baptized!” When you believe and are baptized, you are burying your old self. What kind of person was that old self? It was the self that could not have fellowship with God. Why couldn’t I have fellowship with Him? Because I was filthy. I was a liar. I was selfish. My flesh was so filthy, and my spirit was filthy too. I even had such a stench that God could not come near me. So I could not come near Him. But now, I am united with Jesus Christ. Through baptism, the old self is completely buried, and when I come up out of the water, it may look like nothing has happened. But in God’s eyes, He recognizes me and says, “You are a new person! You have been united with Me!” And from that point on, God takes responsibility for me. Hallelujah! That is how the old self is buried.

So the reason I am emphasizing faith today is that many people misunderstand. They think, “Ah, if I want to be saved, I have to keep the Ten Commandments well. If I want to be saved, I have to live according to ethics and morals.” This is how they misunderstand.

No matter how well we keep the Ten Commandments, we are sinners. No matter how morally excellent we may be, we are sinners. That does not mean those things are meaningless. But no matter how well we keep them, it is only like comparing acorns to see which one is taller. Those who have lived long enough know this. No matter how clear my conscience may seem to me, in someone else’s eyes I am still a sinner. How much more, then, in God’s eyes, we are all sinners. Don’t we freely criticize others? We criticize the president, and we criticize politicians very well. But what about you? What about us? We are all sinners. We commit many unrighteous things. Even when the light is red, don’t people just cross the street anyway? That too is breaking the law. People spit phlegm on the ground and act carelessly, don’t they? They criticize politicians, and then spit on the street and throw trash everywhere. It is the same. And when you walk down the street, sometimes it is so crowded you can hardly pass through. Why? Because people put all their goods outside. Those things also make it difficult for people with disabilities to pass by. We are harming others. All of us have so many flaws like this. Each person may think they are doing well, but everyone has many flaws. Before God, we are all sinners. We all deserve to go to hell.

So whether a person goes to hell or to heaven is not decided by, “What did I do well? What did I fail to do?” The question is this: “Do I acknowledge that I am a sinner, or not?” Those who acknowledge it can be baptized and be united with Jesus. But those who do not acknowledge it say, “Jesus? He is a sinner! Why would I believe in Him? I would rather go to hell than believe in Jesus!” And in the end, they simply receive judgment as they are. But those who know they are sinners and want to live are united with Jesus and receive salvation.

Then, the moment you are united with Jesus, the word of God has already come into you, and the life of God has already come into you. So although you will experience eternal life later, you have already become a person who is with God. That is why the Holy Spirit now comes upon you, power comes upon you, and when you pray, answers follow. And you too can experience the work of God’s word, just as I experienced it in the way I described.

It was not because I was someone who prayed a lot at that time, and it was not because I had read the Bible a lot. It was because I had simple faith, simple faith. From about three months after I believed in Jesus, whenever there was someone sick, I simply prayed for them, because I just believed that was how it worked. Only three months after coming to church, I simply prayed. Many people were healed. Gradually, unusual illnesses I had never seen before began to be healed, and later even the blind opened their eyes, and people with paralysis were healed as well.

So the word of our God works the very moment we receive it. By faith, even if you truly cannot see it with your eyes, may you become those who acknowledge the word of God by faith. I bless you in the name of Jesus.

Father God, we thank You that You have given us Jesus Christ, so that we may receive the word of God’s life. At this time, may the life of our God come upon all those who receive Jesus Christ in their hearts. Help them truly obey the word and be united with Jesus Christ. Help them also receive the Holy Spirit and experience God. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.