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 the 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 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 the 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, he/she must live his/her life of faith in order not to defile this holiness.
How the righteous live their lives is on a whole 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 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 so, 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 didn't 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, that 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 into the 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 into 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 deeds. They climb up 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 2.25 m in any way." 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 into 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 into the court of the Tabernacle, when they try to enter into 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.
This means that when we first believe 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 proof positive that they can be saved and greatly blessed by believing so. Only with our faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit can we receive the approval of God and the 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 the 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 into the court but look at the Tabernacle from outside the fence, we would be able to see that the Tabernacle is twice higher than 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 receive the remission of their sins by believing in Jesus and thereby entered into the gate of the court of the Tabernacle must confirm their proper faith at the altar of burnt offering and the laver, and then enter into the Holy Place. To enter into 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 please by such people who draw this dividing line, and He bestows His blessings on 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 people can receive the remission of their sins. And when you enter into the Holy Place by believing in this, God will bestow on you even greater grace and blessings.
The Mercy Seat Is the Place Where the Grace of Salvation Is Received
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 people of God and are eligible to enter into the Holy Place.
Among the many Christians of this world, there are some whose faith has allowed them enter into the Holy Place, while others do not have such faith with which they can enter into the Holy Place. What kind of faith do you have? We need the faith that can draw the clear line of salvation and enter into the Holy Place of God, for by only doing so 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 the clear line of salvation, he constantly attempts to blur this line. "You don't have to believe in that way. Not everyone else believes like that, 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 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 sin like to remind themselves of their salvation. They like to dwell on the gospel of the water and the Spirit over and over. Meditating on the gospel is good and essential to 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'm getting so tired of it!"
Is there anyone who might be saying this? I would be sorry 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 and the Spirit. "Salvation, life of faith, faith, spiritual living, fight 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 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 to 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 revere Him, and to live a life that does not pursue evil. Are you not happy that you have heard once again and believed in the Word of truth that allows you receive the remission of sin? I, too, am 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 happiest when I am speaking of this 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, too, 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 as this one. I thought today's story might be somewhat special, but the conclusion tells me that it was the same story again. But still, I'm 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 for us and spreading the truth of the water and the Spirit through the written Word are none other than what God's Church is supposed to do. We are now leading our lives of faith in the Church. 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 the lives of faith given by God. Receiving the remission of sin and living the lives of faith are what the 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.
(culled from bjnewlife.org)
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