God has come to save the lost from heaven; He does not want anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance and salvation. So, God has told His loving children to preach the good news to the whole world, so that all people can have an opportunity for salvation.

At the beginning of 2016, our brothers and sisters in Zion all around the world made a resolution to preach God’s word to seven billion people in obedience to God’s holy will, and they have been working hard together with one mind. Of course, it is not easy to preach the gospel to all people. In the process, we may encounter various obstacles and numerous 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 Gordium, the capital of Phrygia, there was the chariot of Gordius, which was tied to a pole with an extremely complicated knot. According to an ancient prophecy, the one to untie this knot would conquer Asia. So, many individuals tried to undo the knot, but they all failed.

Alexander the Great heard about it while he was passing through the region, and went to see the chariot. When he arrived there, he saw that the knot was tied in such a complicated and intricate manner that nobody could untie it. Then Alexander drew his sword and brought it down on the knot; he cut the knot in half with a single stroke of his sword. True to the prophecy, he later became the ruler of Asia.

This legendary Gordian knot is often used as a metaphor for an intractable, unsolvable problem. When preaching the gospel, each Church or individual may also encounter many complicated, intractable problems. However, we can solve them all at once if we have the same wit as that of Alexander the Great. When we run into a knot that cannot be untied simply by pulling on it randomly, the only way to undo it is to cut through it. All the strands of the knot will eventually be unraveled by God’s children, the protagonists of prophecy.

2 Co 7:9–11 . . . yet 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 . . .

Worldly sorrow brings death, but godly sorrow brings an amazing result—salvation. Let us draw the sword of the Holy Spirit and defeat all our worldly worries and sorrows with a single stroke. Doing the will of God leads us to salvation.

If we put our full trust only in God, we can also draw the sword to cut the knot. Instead, if we just cling to pulling out each strand from the knot one by one, we will never be able to untie the knot; it will only become tighter and create another knot.

The method of destroying Jericho

When the twelve spies returned from exploring the land of Canaan, ten of them were tied up in complicated thoughts. Although they had a goal to conquer Jericho, they had no idea how to win no matter how much they thought about it. Jericho had high, strong walls, and the people living there were of great size and had many weapons. Considering all these things, the ten spies felt that they could not take the land. The more they tried to untie the knot by their own thoughts, the tighter it became; it produced another knot that would never be untied.

Those who just kept worrying were caught up in negative thoughts and grumbled about everything. However, Joshua and Caleb were different. They said, “We will swallow them up. God is with us.” As a result, the Israelites had to spend 40 years in the desert, until all the grumblers—expect Joshua and Caleb—perished. Then, finally, they stood before the city of Jericho, the first gateway to Canaan. They encountered the same situation again, and said to themselves: ‘How can we conquer the fortified city?’ ‘How can we defeat all the strong enemies?’ Then their leader, Joshua, encouraged them to have faith again, saying, “Don’t worry. God is with us! If we obey God’s word, He will surely allow us to defeat Jericho.”

Joshua did not worry about how to conquer Jericho, nor did he plan his own strategies and battle tactics. All he 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 it seven times, and as God said, “Shout!” they shouted together. If Joshua had tried to solve the problem with his own strategies, the city of Jericho would still have remained an impregnable fortress. However, since he did what God had told him, the knot was untied very easily.

Heavenly Mother has said we are the very “people who have the mission of Joshua.” In order to preach the gospel to seven billion people, we need the same kind of faith that Joshua had.

1 Ti 2:3–4 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

All men include all seven billion people living in the global village. Since God wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth, we must let them know the truth. That is why all of us have risen together and are now carrying out the movement to preach the good news of God to all seven billion people on every continent and in every country and region, so that the door of salvation will be opened to them all.

It will surely be done because God has said He will accomplish it. All we have to do is preach to whomever we meet. God has already shown us, His children, how to deal with the knot; He has told us to cut the knot with a single a stroke, instead of trying to untie it.

Put God’s word into practice 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 carrying out the movement to preach the gospel to all seven billion people is also to save the world—not just to let them know the truth. For this, we must cut all the knots of worry and fear that entangle us, without any hesitation, and obey what God says.

Lk 19:10–26 “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.’ ”

The servants who gained ten and five more minas respectively were the ones who knew how to untie the knot easily. They went at once and put their money to work and produced more minas. Putting the money to work in the parable means preaching the gospel. So, gaining more minas means leading many souls to salvation by preaching the gospel.

One servant did not invest his master’s money at all and ended up tied in the knots of fear and worry, while the other two servants obeyed the words of their master and worked hard with their master’s money. ‘What should I do? How should I do it?’ Being tied up in his thoughts, he did nothing and just kept worrying until the day when his master came back. Finally, he was labeled as a wicked servant and was even deprived of his mina.

Instead of just worrying like the servant who hid the one mina, let us preach the gospel eagerly right away according to God’s command, like the servants who put their master’s words into practice immediately. Once you get started, it will get easier. If you put God’s words into practice, God will surely pay you back with great blessings.

The solution lies in the goal of salvation

Once upon a time, there were some children who were playing together and one of them fell into a big earthen jar filled with water. Among them, one child ran towards the adults in his village for help, and another just kept stamping his feet without knowing what to do. Then another child went some distance away and picked up a piece of heavy stone. Then he ran back and broke the jar with it.

The other children also wanted to save the child, but they overlooked one simple fact—the child could live if they just drained the water out of the jar. The only way to save the child was to break the jar with a stone. If the jar had not been broken, the drowning child could have died before the adults arrived. The child who just kept stamping his feet did not give him any help. Only the one who thought about saving the drowning child by any means possible broke the jar and rescued him.

It is the same for us. 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 child from drowning in the big earthen jar. Preaching to seven billion people is the movement to save all mankind. It is important to put the movement into action, instead of just worrying about it and discussing how to carry it out. If we only focus on saving them 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 that was used to cut the complicated knot and as the stone that was used to break the jar to save the child.

Mt 28:18–20 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.”

When the Israelites conquered the city of Jericho, God had told them everything in advance; He had commanded them to march around the city once each day and seven times on the seventh day and to shout, and had even shown them what would happen, saying that the walls of Jericho would collapse when they shouted. Likewise, God has clearly shown us that the work of salvation will be carried out throughout the world when we baptize people in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teach them to obey everything God has commanded us.

Their words have gone out to the ends of the world

God has already prearranged a gracious outcome for everything He plans and manages. If we rely on God’s method and follow His will, everything will be accomplished.

Ro 10:11–18 . . . “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.”

If we preach the good news, it will reach the ends of the earth without fail. Just as the walls of Jericho collapsed when the Israelites shouted together, the spiritual Babylon will fall when we shout together. ‘They have a larger number of members and wield their vested rights; they seem stronger than us. So, we can hardly defeat them.’ This is the same kind of thought that the ten spies had. God has said that this gospel will be preached in all the earth.

Ps 19:1–4 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 . . .

Since the Bible has prophesied this, we should believe it, shouldn’t we? All we have to do as the protagonists of prophecy is put into practice what God has said: “. . . teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

When the Israelites conquered Jericho, God had taught them how to conquer it. They obeyed God and the result was in accordance with God’s word. It is the same with Babylon the Great. It will fall when we do as God has told us. Satan is desperately trying to create all kinds of obstacles to hinder people from hearing the good news. However, God will destroy all the obstacles of Satan, just as He broke down the barriers of Jericho so that they would collapse, no matter how high they were.

Day by day, the gospel is being preached to more and more people. No matter how hard Satan tries to stop us, God always opens a door for us. So, we must diligently tell people the good news that Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother have come to this earth and also teach them that they should be baptized in Jesus’ name—the name of Christ Ahnsahnghong who is the Savior in the age of the Holy Spirit—and do His will.

Those who do not believe God’s word but just keep focusing on the size of Jericho become discouraged; they fail to untie the knot, and only end up with another knot. Only the people who cut the knot at once with faith, not creating another knot, will be the protagonists of prophecy to accomplish world evangelism by conquering Asia, Africa and all the other continents of the world through 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 many people we meet in our daily life, wherever we are—students at school, soldiers in the army, and employees at work, God will surely pay us back with the gift of salvation and precious fruit as well. God wants everyone to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. So, I earnestly ask all of you, 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 by preaching the gospel to seven billion people, which Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother desire.