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God has come to this earth to save all of His lost children from Heaven. He does not want anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance and salvation. God has told His beloved children to preach the gospel to the entire world, in order for everyone in the world to have an opportunity to receive salvation.
Our brothers and sisters in Zion throughout the world are firmly determined to preach God’s word to all people in obedience to God’s holy will. They are working hard together with one mind toward this goal. It is certainly not easy to preach the gospel to everyone in the world. Throughout the process, we may encounter numerous obstacles and a variety of complicated problems; however, the solution is simple.
The Method of Untying the Gordian Knot
You may have heard the story of the Gordian knot. In Gordion, the capital of Phrygia, there was once the chariot of Gordius, which was tied to a pole with an extremely complicated knot. According to an ancient prophecy, the one who was able to untie this knot would go on to conquer all of Asia. Subsequently, many individuals tried to unravel the knot, but all of them failed.
Alexander the Great heard about this unfulfilled prophecy while he was passing through the region, and immediately went to see the chariot. Upon his arrival, he saw that the knot was tied in such a complicated and intricate manner that not a single person was able to untie it. At that moment, Alexander drew his sword and sliced the knot in half with a single stroke of his sword. True to the prophecy, he later became the ruler of all of Asia.
This legendary Gordian knot is often used as a metaphor for a complex and unsolvable problem. While preaching the gospel, every Church or individual may also encounter many complicated, seemingly unsolvable problems; however, we can solve all of them at once if we have the same kind of wisdom as that of Alexander the Great. When we run into a knot that cannot be untied by simply pulling on it somewhere randomly, the only way to undo it is to cut through it. All strands of the knot will eventually be unraveled by God’s children, the protagonists of prophecy.
. . . now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death . . . 2 Co 7:9–11
Worldly sorrow brings death, but godly sorrow brings the amazing result of salvation. We should defeat all of our worldly worries and sorrows with a single stroke of our sword of the Holy Spirit. Following the will of God leads us to salvation.
If we completely put our trust in God, we can also draw the sword to cut through the knot of whatever problem we may be facing. Alternatively, if we just cling to the method of trying to pull each strand out from the knot one by one, we will never be able to untie the knot. It will only become tighter and in turn create another knot.
The Method Used to Destroy Jericho
When the twelve spies returned from exploring the land of Canaan, ten of them were tied up in complicated thoughts. Even though they had the same goal to conquer Jericho, they had no idea how they were going to win the battle, no matter how many times they thought about it. Jericho had high, strong walls, and the people living there were of great size, with many resources and weapons. Considering all of these things, the ten spies no longer believed that they could actually take the land. The more they tried to unravel the problem with their own thoughts, the more complicated it became. Eventually, those thoughts produced another knot that could never be untied.
Those who continuously worried about the situation were consumed by negative thoughts, and they began to grumble about everything; however, Joshua and Caleb were different. They confidently said, “We will swallow them up. God is surely with us.”
Consequently, the Israelites had to spend 40 years in the desert, until everyone who grumbled came to perish, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb. Then, the day finally came when the Israelites stood before the city of Jericho, the first gateway into Canaan. The Israelites encountered the same exact situation again, and they continued to say to themselves: “How can we conquer this fortified city? How can we possibly defeat all of these strong enemies?” At that time, their leader Joshua encouraged them to have faith again by saying, “Don’t worry. God is with us! If we obey God’s word, He will surely allow us to defeat the city of Jericho.”
Joshua never worried about how they would conquer Jericho, nor did he create his own military strategies and battle tactics. The only thing Joshua did was rely solely on God and carry out God’s word. As God said, “March around the city seven times,” Joshua and the people marched around Jericho seven times. As God said, “Shout!” they all shouted together in unison. If Joshua had tried to solve the problem with his own strategies, the city of Jericho would still have been an unconquerable fortress; however, since Joshua did exactly what God had told him to do, the knot was untied very easily.
Heavenly Mother has said that we are the ones who have been given the mission of Joshua. In order to preach the gospel to all people throughout the world, we need the same kind of faith that Joshua had.
This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1 Ti 2:3–4
Since God wants everyone in the world to be saved and receive the knowledge of the truth, we must first preach the truth to them. That is why all of us are now carrying out the movement of world evangelism by arising together and preaching the good news of God on every continent, in every country, and in every region around the world. Through this movement, the door of salvation can be opened widely to everyone.
This will surely be fulfilled because God has already said that He will accomplish it. The only thing we have to do is preach to whomever we meet. God has already shown us, His children, how to deal with the knot of any complicated situation or circumstance. He has told us to cut the knot with a single stroke, instead of trying to untie it.
Practice God’s Word Without Being Caught Up in Worry and Fear
God has come to this earth to seek and to save the lost. The reason we are preaching the gospel is to save the world. We are not preaching to simply share the knowledge of the truth. In order to fulfill this, we must cut all of the knots that entangle us without hesitation, knots such as worry or fear, and we must obey everything God tells us.
“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” . . . He said: “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back.’ . . . He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it. The first one came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned ten more.’ ‘Well done, my good servant!’ his master replied. ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.’ The second came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned five more.’ His master answered, ‘You take charge of five cities.’ Then another servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.’ His master replied, ‘I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! . . .’ Then he said to those standing by, ‘Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.’ ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘he already has ten!’ He replied, ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away.’ ” Lk 19:10–26
The servants who gained ten and five more minas, respectively, were the ones who knew how to easily untie the knot. They immediately put their money to work and produced more minas. The phrase “putting the money to work” in the parable refers to preaching the gospel. To “gain more minas” refers to leading many souls to salvation by preaching the gospel.
The parable warns about the one servant who did not invest his master’s money at all due to being tied up in the knots of fear and worry. On the contrary, the two other servants obeyed the words of their master by working hard with the money they had received from him. The servant who produced nothing came to think, “What should I do? How should I do it?” As a result of being tied up in his own thoughts, he did nothing and continued to worry until the day his master returned. In the end, he was labeled as a wicked servant and was even deprived of the original mina he had initially received.
We should never follow the example of the servant who constantly worried and chose to hide his mina in the ground. Instead, we should be the ones who preach the gospel eagerly without hesitation according to God’s command, following the example of the servants who immediately put their master’s words into practice. Once you decide to start, it will naturally become easier. When you put God’s words into practice, God will surely repay you with great blessings.
The Solution Lies in Pursuing the Goal of Salvation
Once upon a time, there were some children who were playing together, when one of them suddenly fell into a large earthen jar filled with water. Among the rest, one child ran toward the adults in his village for help, while another child continued stamping his feet without knowing what to do. The last child walked a short distance away to pick up a heavy stone, which he used to break the jar and save the drowning child.
The other children also wanted to save the drowning child, but they overlooked the one simple fact that the child could live if they simply drained the water out of the jar. The only way to actually save the child was to break the jar with a stone. If the jar had not been broken, the drowning child would have died before the adults from the village arrived. The child who continued stamping his feet did not provide him any help at all. The one who only thought about saving the drowning child by any means possible was able to rescue him by breaking the jar.
This represents the same situation for us spiritually. If we only think about saving people, we can have wisdom like that of the one who picked up a piece of heavy stone to rescue the drowning child from a large earthen jar. The most important thing for us to do is to take action, as opposed to only worrying about how we can lead all mankind to salvation and discussing various methods. If we only focus on saving souls by preaching the gospel diligently, God will open all doors for us. When we preach the gospel fervently, it will serve as the sword of Alexander the Great, which was used to cut the complicated knot, and as the stone that was used to break the jar and save the drowning child.
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Mt 28:18–20
When the Israelites conquered the city of Jericho, God told them everything they needed to know in advance. He commanded them to march around the city once each day, and seven times on the seventh day, shouting loudly in unison. God even gave them detailed results about what to expect, by telling them that the walls of Jericho would collapse once they shouted. In the same way, God has clearly told us that the work of salvation will be carried out throughout the entire world when we baptize people in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey everything He has commanded us.
Their Words Have Gone Out to the Ends of the Earth
God has already prearranged a gracious outcome for everything He’s planned and is continuously managing. If we rely on God’s method and follow His will, everything will be accomplished and fulfilled.
. . . “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did: “Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” Ro 10:11–18
As long as we continue to preach the gospel, it will reach the ends of the earth without fail. The spiritual Babylon will surely fall when we shout together, just as the walls of Jericho collapsed when the Israelites shouted together. What if we think to ourselves, “They have a larger number of members and they seem a lot stronger than us, enjoying a privileged position in society. We can never defeat them”? This is the same kind of thought that the ten spies had. God has already said that this gospel will be preached throughout the entire earth.
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world . . . Ps 19:1–4
Since the Bible has prophesied this, shouldn’t we believe it? All we have to do as the protagonists of prophecy is put these words of God into practice: “Teach them to obey everything I have commanded you.”
When the Israelites conquered Jericho, God had already taught them how to conquer it. They obeyed God and the result they received was in accordance with God’s word. It is the same with Babylon the Great. It will surely fall when we do exactly what God has told us to do. Satan is desperately trying to create all kinds of obstacles to hinder people from hearing the gospel. Despite these desperate efforts, God will destroy all of the obstacles of Satan, just as He broke down the barriers of Jericho and caused the walls to collapse, regardless of how high they were.
The gospel is being preached to more and more people every day. No matter how hard Satan tries to stop us, God will always open the door for us. Therefore, we must diligently tell people the good news that Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother have come to this earth to save them. We should teach them that they need to be baptized in the new name of Jesus, the name of Christ Ahnsahnghong, who is the Savior in the Age of the Holy Spirit. We must also teach them how to correctly follow His will.
Those who do not believe in God’s word and instead continue to focus on the size of the spiritual Jericho will become discouraged and fail to untie the knot. Consequently, they will only end up with another knot. Only those who immediately cut the knot with faith and do not create another knot can become the protagonists of prophecy. These people will evangelize the entire world by conquering Asia, Africa and all of the other continents through fervent preaching of the gospel.
Wherever we are, we must preach the gospel diligently in obedience to God’s will. This is an act of cutting the knot right away. I believe that if we always strive to preach the gospel to the many people we meet throughout our daily life, God will surely repay us with the gift of salvation and precious fruit as well. It is our duty to preach the gospel wherever we are. Students should preach in their schools, soldiers in their respective service branches, and employees in their workplaces. God wants everyone to be saved and come to have knowledge of the truth. I earnestly ask all of you, the people of Zion throughout the world, to put on the full armor of the Holy Spirit and accomplish the work of salvation for all mankind. This is what Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother genuinely desire.