Title: Happiness of those who understand
Contents
♡♥♡ Happiness of those who understand / Matthew 13:10-17
*** Introduction
This text is very serious. God's Word is open to some, but closed to others. This indicates that God's salvation is not for everyone. Verse 12 says, “To everyone who has, he will receive, and he will have an abundance; but from everyone who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.” This is God's principle of creation. That is, it is the law that God has applied to all things that He has created.
So it is very important to understand the Word of God. In Psalm 49:20, it is said, “A man who is in honor, but does not understand, is like the beasts that perish.” Man is given the opportunity to gain life through God's sacrifice, but if he does not realize it, he is just like a beast that perishes.
There is a saying, 'Bujungjieo (釜中之魚)' among the ancient idioms. This word means ‘a fish swimming in a pot’. Looking at the origin of this word,
During the Han Dynasty in China, there was a man named ‘Jang Kang’ who became the governor of Guangneung County. But when the magistrate took office, there was a gang of thieves harassing the people in the palace. Tae-soo made a decision and went to a gang of thieves alive, met the boss and persuaded him with the help of a human being. The thief boss was deeply moved by the Taesu's words and said:
“We have survived by stealing in groups, but we know that it will not last long, like a fish swimming in a pot.”
It is the story of how he ended his life while saying that.
This phrase is likened to a foolish life, like “a fish swimming and playing in a pot without knowing that it will be cooked in the future.” In other words, it refers to the foolishness of playing leisurely without knowing what kind of situation one is in. It must be a tragedy of life that you do not realize.
There are many stories of foolishness that we do not understand in the Bible. In the days of Noah, Noah built the ark and preached the judgment of God. However, people did not believe and instead laughed at Noah, ate, drank, married, and married, and eventually was destroyed by a flood. Sodom and Gomorrah, who were trying to get through the angels who carried out God's judgment, took Lot's words of judgment as a joke. Then the brimstone fire fell like rain, and it was destroyed.
It is the same in our day today. We live our lives eating, drinking and having fun without knowing what will happen tomorrow. The world preaches the word of God and ridicules the saints who live by faith. Is that all? It preaches God's love, the gospel, and the word of warning, and encourages us to stay awake in prayer, but some believers consider it to be just one of the stories they've always heard. The Lord has said that the second coming of the Lord will come in an instant and in secret, as a thief breaks through, as lightning flashes from east to west. However, even the saints have become dull in their senses, so they live today as they did yesterday, and live in anticipation of tomorrow as they do today. Why is this happening? Aren't all saints led by God? The text of the text clearly gives the answer.
Jesus told the multitudes in parables, but he explained the meaning of the parable to his disciples clearly. When the disciples asked, 'Why are you speaking in parables?', the Lord said, "It was granted to you to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but not to them."
Then why did Jesus distinguish the crowd from the disciples? Both the crowd and the disciples had the same eyes and the same ears. And seeing the same thing and hearing the same thing, can it be revealed to the disciples and hidden from the crowd? If you do not understand the Word, you cannot be saved. Then, is the Lord blocking the way of salvation by allowing a few disciples to know more deeply the secret of the kingdom of heaven, but closing the meaning to a larger crowd?
The reason is that knowing the secret of the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, is not granted to all mankind. The cross of Jesus is not for everyone, but for the chosen people. Therefore, it is a privilege given to God's people to realize the mystery of the kingdom of God.
The disciples that the Lord has set apart here are those who have received Jesus as their Savior, repented, and have their sins forgiven, and they are those who follow the Lord. On the other hand, the crowds follow the Lord, but have no confession to the Lord and follow Him for their own benefit. So Jesus speaks to the crowds following in John 6:26. “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate the loaves and were satisfied.” Verse 36 “I said to you, ‘You have seen me, and you do not believe.’” He pointed out the hearts of the crowds.
Regarding the crowds who are not allowed to understand, the Lord speaks by quoting the words of the prophet Isaiah. “The heart of this people has become hardened, and their ears are dull to hear, and their eyes are closed, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, that they may turn and be healed by me.” That's right. Because people's hearts are hardened, they do not understand. To be hard-hearted means to reject God and live according to your own desires.
So are we. If your greed is ahead of you, you cannot hear or understand the Word of God. Even if they realize that they are, they are blocked by their own greed and cannot become the fruit of life. In the parable of sowing seeds, it is the heart that corresponds to the ‘field of thorns’.
There was a newlywed family less than a month after starting a family. My husband is a captain in the army, and he was about thirty. That person didn't even know Jesus and thought that everything would prosper if he lived faithfully.
I had a dream once, and even though I can't even drive a car, I drive it with confidence. While I was running happily, I woke up in shock when a huge monster-like thing came out in front of me and collided with the car. The dream was so vivid that I woke my sleeping wife. But my wife also woke up struggling. When I told him about the dream, he said that the wife was also strange. When I saw a monstrous bull biting my husband's waist and drooping, I was screaming, 'Save people.'
So that day, I thought I had to be careful with my car, and I asked the driver to ‘be careful’ several times. That day passed safely. The next morning, while riding the city bus, I had an accident and lost consciousness. When I woke up, I was in a hospital, but my back was seriously injured. After that, she was treated and recovered a lot.
After my body recovered to some extent, I was transferred to Yanggu, Gangwon-do. Until then, my health was not good, but Mr. Kwon, who lives next door, suggested that we go to church. Even so, I was anxious about my health and wanted to grab anything, so I followed without saying a word. After that, the division commander was newly appointed, and he was a devout Christian. So, in order to show off well to the division commander, I went to the unit church every week. Then, without realizing it, I began to hear it, and as I listened, I came to enlightenment, and as I realized the Word, I began to ponder the Word.
It would have been nice if I had realized earlier. Blessed are those who quickly realize the will of God in this way.
Don't we say, "I have a pod in my eye"? This refers to the fact that when one's attention is focused on one place, the other cannot be seen. Therefore, if you want to understand the Word of God, you must throw away your worldly heart and evil thoughts. The heart that faces the world never hears the word of God.
Finally, let's finish by unraveling verse 12 of the text I mentioned at the beginning. He said, “To everyone who has, he will receive, and he will have an abundance; but from everyone who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.” Why would this word become God's principle of creation?
In the world of animals and plants, these words are ‘weak meat’ and ‘survival of the fittest’. But for us Christians, it is the ‘law of holiness and fruitfulness’. Let's look at John 15:2. “Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, the Father takes away it, and every branch that bears fruit He purifies so that it may bear more fruit.” In Romans 11:17 and below, it is said that Israel, the chosen people, was a true olive tree, but it was cut down because it had no fruit, and Gentiles who were stone olive trees planted grafts on the trunk of the true olive tree.
The Lord cuts off the unfruitful branches. It is cut off because there is no fruit and the sap of the stem is wasted in vain. This is so that the fruit-bearing branch may bear more fruit. This is a policy to concentrate the sap of the stem into the fruit. Jesus speaks in the parable of the minas in Luke 19. Verse 26. "The master said, "I tell you, from everyone who has, he will receive, and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away." This means that if the saints do not use the talents they have received, they will take the playing talent and give it to someone who works well.
How are you? Are you using your talents well? Are you not aware of God's will through your absurd interest? If you realize God's will but neglect to practice it, it is the same as rejecting the blessings God has given you. Although we live in a world full of sin and temptation, I pray that you will be interested in God's will, understand God's Word, and occupy the happiness in the Word.