Main reference: Jas 2:26
What should we believe and what actions should we have? Does a person have real faith just by claiming to believe in Jesus? Does a person have proper actions just by acting according to his or her own thoughts?
In fact, the Bible contains the promises we must believe and upon which we must act (Jas 2:14-26). The faith that was necessary at the time of the first coming was to see and believe that Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament. The faith necessary at the time of the second coming, therefore, is to see and believe in the fulfillment of the New Testament when it is fulfilled (Jn 14:29). What, then, are the actions we must have?
Jesus prophesied in Mt 24:15-16, “When you see the abomination of desolation—spoken about by Daniel the prophet—standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those in Judea must flee to the mountains.” Thus, when this prophecy is fulfilled, believing in this fulfillment and actually fleeing to the mountain is the appropriate course of action. Can anyone who refuses to believe in this word and flee to the mountain be considered a true believer with proper faith and actions? Imagine a man who pays mere lip service saying, “I believe in Jesus,” without fleeing to the mountain. Can we say that such a man has faith and can attain salvation?
In the time of the Old Testament, the Israelites believed in Moses and followed him to escape Egypt. As time passed and in spite of the exodus, the Israelites failed to maintain their faith in God. They were all destroyed in the desert for turning from God (refer to Nm 14:22-38; Heb 3 ~ 4). Later, these chosen people of God—the Israelites—prayed three times a day in eager anticipation of the fulfillment of the Old Testament. Did they believe, however, in the fulfillment that came according to the Old Testament promises? Did they follow and believe in Jesus who fulfilled the Old Testament? No. Instead, they cursed, persecuted, and crucified Jesus (refer to Mt 27). Were these people who persecuted and killed the prophets and apostles gentiles or were they believers who claimed to be God’s chosen people? Were they laypeople or were they religious leaders?
Christians (i.e. the people of Spiritual Israel) today claim to read and believe in the Bible. They too, are praying and eagerly awaiting the fulfillment of the New Testament. Do they believe that the New Testament has been fulfilled today? Do they believe in the testimony about the fulfillment of the New Testament?
Today is not so different from the times of Moses and of Jesus’ first coming. Can a person who sees the fulfillment of God’s promises and refuses to believe be said to have true faith? Can a person who claims to believe in the Bible without acting according to its promises be said to have proper actions? The time has come for us (i.e. believers) to soberly repent.
Are those who have been harvested to Shincheonji today carrying out their appointed tasks? The world’s churches, which are the harvest field, neither believe nor do they act according to the promises in the Bible because of their ignorance of the scriptures. The people of Shincheonji, however, must keep the new covenant because they have gained understanding of the word by having seen and heard the fulfillment. We must not follow the example set by the people of Moses’ time. They failed to enter the Sabbath rest because of their disobedience, which was caused by their disbelief (Heb 3:15-25).
Heaven, hell, eternal life, and eternal punishment are laid down before us. We can accomplish God’s promise—the completion of the 144,000 who are sealed—if we unite with one heart and gather our strength to work as one. We can only fail if we fail to believe and act according to our beliefs. There are no other possible reasons. Since our obedience to this command determines whether we live or die, there is nothing we cannot accomplish.
If we were able to ask the people in Moses’ time why they lost faith and failed to act, what would they say to us? Today, although we claim to believe, if we cannot gather the 12,000 people God promised to seal in each tribe, future generations will say it was our disbelief that caused us to fail just like Physical Israel. Let us, then, believe and carry our tasks to completion.
Please, let us embrace this message and run this race just like Jesus and his apostles. Let us become workers who fulfill their appointed tasks. I urge you earnestly to work. Please be obedient. Let us complete our appointed tasks and enter the Sabbath rest as the chosen harvesters!
We are the sons of God, given birth through the word of truth (Jas 1:18). The duty of the sons created by God is to act in filial piety to accomplish the will of their father just like Jesus and the apostles. We will live with God, Jesus, the angels, and the martyrs (i.e. the prophets and apostles) in heaven, which is our final destination (refer to Rv 21:1-6). The qualifications for living in heaven are having proper faith and actions (refer to Jas 2; Rv 1:3).
We have received what no one else in this world has ever received. We have been doing what no one has been able to do. We have mastered the Bible and established the twelve tribes of God’s kingdom (Rv 7, Rv 10, Rv 14). We have also been re-created by God as the new people of heaven (refer to 2 Cor 5:17). To complete our objectives, we forgive, love, and bless others just like the prophets, Jesus, and the apostles did. To accomplish our objectives, we are working harder than anyone else in the world.
This world, however, ignores the commands of the Lord. They criticize, judge, persecute, and curse us. They even rationalize murder. In spite of what the world is doing to us, we have been praying and running this race in obedience to the Lord’s commands and in order to fulfill the tasks appointed to us. Right now, our appointed task is to seal the 144,000. There is no reason for us not to fulfill this task. Let us accomplish this work as soon as possible! The 144,000 of the twelve tribes are God’s house, kingdom, and priests like kings (Rv 1:5-6, Rv 5:9-10). Revelation 7 promises that a countless multitude dressed in white robes will gather from the north, south, east, and west after the completion of the 144,000. Let us swiftly fulfill the objective of sealing 12,000 in each tribe and enter the Sabbath rest.
SHINCHEONJI: Healing All Nations
http://cafe.daum.net/scjschool/E3qZ/144
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