Title: Famous Faith (1 Thessalonians 1:1-10)
rumored belief
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
The Thessalonian church was the most exemplary and gracious church. It was a church that had no reproach and was an example to others, but also had many conditions of praise and thanksgiving. Paul praises the Thessalonian church members for living a good life of faith and hope.
Faith kept during the war
Elder Tamotsu Hasegawa in Japan is a person who united Japan into a crucible of love by caring for tuberculosis patients, orphans, widows, and disadvantaged elderly people with the love of Jesus throughout his life. When he was young, he went to the Sino-Japanese War.
Then he said, "Lord, I am a Christian. Now I go to war. But the Lord said in the Bible, 'Do not kill. Love your enemies.' I love the Chinese. It's not enough, but if you can, please use me to make the war end as soon as possible."
He gave up his commission as an officer and enlisted as a general by declaring "I don't have the money to buy lethal swords and pistols." It was the first time in Japanese history. He prayed with faith and went to war in China.
However, on their first expedition, they happened to encounter a flood in China, and Damotsu rescued a Chinese child who was drowning in the river. He then took the lead in providing relief food to many flood victims who had washed away their homes, livestock, food and families in the flood, and caring for many sick people.
In the end, as he had prayed, he spent four months of war in mainland China, during which he did not hurt or kill a single Chinese person, and in fact, he was able to save hundreds of Chinese people from death. He believed that his all-night prayer before he left his hometown had been answered and thanked him.
Prayer does not require any other conditions. It is only if the condition of belief is met. You too should pray the same.
Even in the seemingly impossible reality, believing in God's power and help and moving forward is the faith of believers. Believers must spread good rumors and beautiful rumors. Because we are the fragrance of Christ.
2 Corinthians 2:15 “We are the fragrance of Christ before God both to those who are being saved and to those who are perishing.”
There must be a history of faith in order for rumors to come out.
The Bible says, "Without faith you can do nothing." And "Faith without works is dead." We became children of God through faith and entered the realm of salvation. Therefore, the people of heaven who have been saved in this way must keep the Bible and live by faith. There is a difference between life and death between those who act by faith and false faith without works. After we have faith, we must show that faith in our lives.
A traveler went to the edge of the Grand Canyon and his foot slipped and rolled down a cliff. Then he managed to grab a small branch and managed to hang it. He was terrified and shouted.
"Anyone over there? Someone save me."
Then a voice was heard.
"Here I am. The Lord your God."
“Lord, I am so glad you are there.”
"I'll save you. But before that, let me ask you one thing. Do you believe me?"
“Lord, I do believe. Lord, I go to church every week as well as morning prayer meetings. I donate a few dollars each.”
The Lord asked again.
"Do you really believe me?"
"You don't know how much I trust you. I trust you."
"Okay! Then take your hands off the branch you're holding on to."
“But… Lord…”
"If you really believe in me, get your hands off that branch."
But he remained silent for a long time. Then he screamed and cried.
"No one else up there!"
Faith - Faith is a decision. At the end of finite human time, the world of infinite eternal life opens, and the door of the heavenly warehouse opens only when you throw away your daily experiences and the calculator that bounces back.
To believe only what is seen is not true faith. The work of faith must take place concretely in our lives. Acts of faith must appear in the field of our lives. It can be said that this is the history of faith.
The Lord said in Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
Even though we say we have faith, are we not able to let go of what we need to throw away and not let go of what we need to let go of? If you are still living in sinful ways, the work of faith will not appear. Nor would you be able to spread rumors of faith.
However, the Thessalonian church members who appear in today's text had faith deeply immersed in their lives. If I can't do the works of faith because of something I like or value more than God, I need to become people of faith who can throw it away. When you do that, you will experience the work of faith. When we let go of things to throw away and let go of things to let go of, the work of faith happens. Dear saints, I pray that you will become saints who spread good news through a life of faith.
It takes a lot of love and labor to get the word out.
Thomas Acampis, famous for his book “Imitation of Christ,” said, “There is no life in love without pain.” In other words, with love comes pain. In a sense, it would not be true love if sacrifice and hard work were not followed. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus was worried and grieved over the cup of the cross that was to come, but he prayed, “Not as I will, but as you will.” The Lord who prayed in this way demonstrated God's love for us by offering his body as a ransom for the redemption of mankind. In this way, the history of true love is revealed when you sacrifice yourself.
In Marseilles, France, there was a man called the ‘old man Dontaryeong’. He had no children to pass on his fortune, but he worked day and night collecting money. Neighbors made fun of him as a 'money man.' No one knew how much he really had.
One day, he was found dead in his room. There was no one to attend his funeral. City officials held the funeral for him. However, in his will, it was written:
“I have seen numerous times that the citizens of Marseilles get sick and die prematurely because of unclean drinking water. I decided to provide clean water to the citizens even at the cost of my life. This is the reason why I saved money by eating the curses around me. Now all my fortunes are donated to City Hall. We hope that this donation will provide clean water to the citizens.”
Love is helping ‘you’ by sacrificing ‘me’.
Love is the greatest gift, and there is no one in the world who hates love. But love is the joy of giving, not of receiving. Because love is giving, it must be labored. Love that comes with hard work is true love. A love that is only words without effort would be a false love. If you love Christ, you must work for Christ, and if you love the church, you must work for the church. Dear saints, I pray in the name of the Lord that we need to become a church of saints with love to become a well-known and well-known church.
You must have the patience of hope in order for the word to spread.
Every human being has a hope. Some people have low and low hopes for things, while others have high and precious hopes.
This is the story of F. J. Crosby, who wrote 23 touching songs such as Hymns 219, 337, 434, and 492. Fanny is only 6 weeks old
He became blind and lived without seeing the light for the rest of his life. But she said that she neither complained nor resented the fact that she was blind.
One day, a pastor came to her and asked.
"Sometimes I wonder why the Lord gave you so many gifts and didn't give you sight."
And Fanny Crosby replied:
All of her songs of praise are filled with gratitude and longing for the Lord. It is because the true vision of wishing for heaven is in it. So in her hymn there are many verses about seeing the Lord in heaven.
“When all the work that the Lord has entrusted to you is finished and the clear and bright morning comes, I will cross the Jordan River and hold your hand and see Your face with joy” (Chapter 231).
** A traveler always goes to his hometown **
Our members have hope for the kingdom of God, the second coming of Jesus. It takes patience to make this wish come true. Patience is also needed to fulfill the hopes of the world. Without patience, nothing can be achieved.
The hope of a farmer is the hope of a harvest that requires patience for a year. A student's wish for academic excellence requires ten years of perseverance, and a professional's wish for success requires a lifetime of perseverance. As such, the greater the hope, the greater the patience. The believer's hope for the second coming of Jesus is the greatest hope in this world. Therefore, the greatest patience is required. If we do not persevere to the end, our hope of the Lord's return will be in vain.
Dear saints, I hope that you will have a lot of patience to make your great hopes come true. As long as we persevere, we will be able to achieve what we desire.
I bless you in the name of the Lord that you will experience God's amazing blessings through the patience of hope and become believers who are notorious for living a still life.