Title 沼と?地
Contents
2009. 7. 19 Sunday Worship
Everyone, it was a little hot yesterday and today, isn't it?
Now that the rainy season is over, the real heat begins.
Yesterday I was hot, but after moving a little, I was very thirsty. So, I drank the cold bottled water.
However, the cold bottled water was only for a while, and I felt a strong thirst immediately.
So, what action would I have taken?
Yes, I ran to the refrigerator, got some bottled water, and drank it gully. Then it was cool for a while.
But within a few minutes I had to repeat the same behavior.
So, in the end, only my stomach came out and I was still thirsty, so I had to spend a painful day. Have you ever had this kind of experience?
In life's thirst, no matter how much you drink, there are times when you only feel empty and do not feel satisfied at all.
Today's text is about living water. Masaru Emoto is famous for collecting artistic photos of water crystals and publishing a photo book. Through a book titled “Water kara no?言” (Message from Water)
He seemed to want to say that water is the source of life for all living things and that water is a living being. It can be seen as a book that expresses water better than any other book.
However, we can see that the living water in today's text means living water that is completely different from that.
This living water flows across the biblical text.
I want to share this grace with you today by paying attention to this living water.
Korea was colonized by Japan for 36 years.
It was the darkest and most humiliating history for the country and the most painful history for the people. Meanwhile, World War II broke out, and many Koreans were forced to work in Japan. They worked so hard to death that so many people died.
There was no hope for them.
Japan's annexation of Korea "Korea-Japan annexation" nominally claimed that Japan and Joseon were one country.
In fact, it was an incident in which the country was lost to Japan because of the lack of power in Joseon.
Many Joseon people thoroughly tasted the suffering of the people without sovereignty, and the people gradually fell into despair. So, there were patriotic martyrs who gave their lives because of the tragedy of losing their country. On the other hand, some intellectuals and young people continued the struggle for independence without giving up hope until the end, dreaming of restoring their homeland. The people of the Republic of Korea can never forget this history. In today's Bible, some similar historical facts are recorded.
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, invaded Jerusalem again, and many Jewish people were taken captive at that time. Ezekiel is among those captives. And it has already been 5 years since I was taken prisoner.
Now Ezekiel is with his people in a concentration camp in Babylon by the River Gebar. He now sees a vision of the River of Life.
This is a dream full of hope. It is the grace of God that promises the restoration of the Jewish people.
The text is the part that records the “vision of the river of life flowing out of the temple” that is remembered as the most powerful impression along with the vision of the resurrection of dry bones in Ezekiel 37.
It has already been 130 years since the northern kingdom of Israel was destroyed by the Assyrian invasion, and this book of Ezekiel was written in the midst of upheaval in the southern kingdom of Judah at the crossroads of the storm.
The first half of Ezekiel prophesies the destruction of Judah.
However, in the second half of the book of Ezekiel, it does not say that because Judah was destroyed, the kingdom and history of God's people were finished.
In the second half, it is predicted that the history of a great reversal will unfold like a dramatic drama.
The water that springs up from under the threshold of the temple gate becomes a river and flows into Abara.
And because of this water, the sea water will be healed, and wherever this river flows, living things will increase in abundance, and the trees around it will bear fruit every month.
What does this prophecy imply?
These are the words of hope that convey the joy of the work of life that comes from God.
What Ezekiel saw was not reality, but a vision.
These mystical visions necessarily require a spiritual interpretation.
Like Joseph, we can understand God's will through dreams. But, of course, this dream does not always fulfill a prophetic function.
And some people experience visions, which are clearer revelations that are easier to understand than dreams.
Water is absolutely essential for the existence of living things. So astronomers start by looking for traces of water in many stars in the universe to determine whether there is life or not.
Without water, no living beings, let alone humans, can survive.
Human history shows that civilizations arose and prospered in areas with abundant water.
Typical examples are the Nile River in Egypt, the Yellow River and Yangtze River in China, the Ganges River in India, and the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in Mesopotamia.
And even in modern times, the development of cities is centered on rivers. Such are the Han River in Seoul, the Seine River in Paris, and the Thames River in London. But strangely, there was no river in the city of Jerusalem where there should be water. But in verse 12, it says, “The water comes out of the sanctuary.”
This is an allusion that goes far beyond destroying the stereotype that water sustains human life. This is the part that conclusively emphasizes the fact that it is not in the organism ‘water’ that saves humans.
It was only in the New Testament era that these allusions were understood.
That fact has been proven by Jesus Christ.
Jesus said that only the gospel can provide true ‘water’, ‘living water’ to all.
This gospel is living water, and this gospel is Jesus Christ.
Jerusalem did not have a river to revive life, but it did have the Gospel, the lifeline.
The Bible says that this gospel will go from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.
Now, I have heard reports that children in poor African countries are dying from exposure to diseases due to the lack of access to clean water.
When I heard the news, my heart ached and I was about to cry. When you hear such news, you too will say, “Ah, poor African children… "I don't know if you'll cry.
But everyone, the misfortune of not being able to drink bottled water is not just a tragedy for these African children! But my eyes were opened.
As I said before, we are the ones who always live in contact with a lot of water.
However, people who are indifferent to the gospel, which is water that revives our souls, not water for our bodies, and who lives far from Jesus Christ, the living water, will always suffer from thirst.
In a sin-stained life, even if you drink or drink, your thirst will only increase, but you will never feel the coolness of the sea.
The children of Africa, or life without Jesus Christ, or thirst for living water is one thing.
Although the Israelites were bitten by fiery serpents while blaspheming God in the wilderness and taught that if they saw the bronze serpent that Moses lifted, they would come back to life, but many people did not want to look at the bronze serpent and died painfully. This brass serpent symbolizes Jesus Christ.
Living water is abundant all around us. Even when the gospel overflows nearby, they are too passive. The more you drink bottled water, the healthier you are. As our bodies are, so are our souls.
Why not actively seek and look to Jesus Christ? Is it because Jesus Christ is not enough to save us?
Living water is common, but too few people earnestly desire and actively seek the living water that truly gives eternal life.
This is the tragedy of modern people who reject today's brass snakes.
In the text filled with the words of Israel's restoration and blessing, only verse 11 contains the words of the curse. You must pay attention to this part.
'Jinpearl and mudflat' refers to swamps and wetlands on the beach.
This refers to the lowlands surrounding the Dead Sea. When this area floods, the water from the Dead Sea overflows, forming large puddles, and during the dry season, the puddles dry up and the entire area is covered with salt.
Even if the Dead Sea is burned, the surrounding swampy areas still remain as dead land. Those who come into contact with the truth of the gospel have vitality and bear abundant fruit, but those who are close to the gospel but do not come into contact with the truth will wither up like a dead person.
No one seems more difficult to be saved than a religious unbeliever.
Those who are touched and stimulated, but never obey the Word,
They hear the gospel, but they do not try to lead a spiritual life by incorporating the word into their lives.
So, the ‘silver and muddy’ that eventually became salt land symbolizes proud and self-righteous people who cannot bear fruit forever because they reject the living water of God’s grace.
The 'land of mud and salt', chosen as the title in today's text, is a warning that even the Israelites who were promised blessings, even those who go to church well, do not receive this living water continuously if they do not receive it, the water will become dry and salty. that is the word.
This is why we need to be grafted onto Jesus Christ.
There are times in life when we feel exhausted. Then you should realize.
The pearls and mudflats have been revealed. I must bring the river of the gospel back into my life!
You should feel it right away.
Some hear the word of God, but in vain.
Some learn the Word but do not put it into practice.
Some people hear a sermon and make a decision, but do not act.
So there are a lot of people who are just Christians.
There are many who have become habitual religious people.
So the pearls and mud flats became salt land.
Now let us confess with my lips.
I will no longer give up my vain labor and listen to the word and just throw it away so that I will no longer become a believer like the salt land!
So let's decide. So let's put it into action.
So, while living in God's abundant blessings, let's avoid the unhappiness of becoming a ridiculously salty land.
Those of you who have heard these words today, never regret it belatedly.
Let's live with this gospel and living water, Jesus Christ, in our hearts.
So, I pray in the name of the Lord that all the members of Akashi Church who bear many fruits of the gospel by allowing living water to flow well in my life.