Title: Happy Man / 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Who is the happy person? Who is a beautiful person? 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 shows what a happy and beautiful person is like. First, a person who rejoices is a happy and beautiful person. A person without joy is an unhappy person, and a person with joy is a happy person. Second, the person who prays is a happy and beautiful person. A person without prayer is an unhappy person, and a person with prayer is a happy person. Third, those who are grateful are happy and beautiful people. A person without gratitude is an unhappy person, and a person with gratitude is a happy person.
1 First, a happy person is a person who rejoices.
When my young son, Cheolwon, was suffering from a disease called hydrocephalus, he sang many hymns and prayed with me a lot. There were 300 hymns I sang a lot at that time. “When I go to Jesus, I am happy, I have no worries and I am very happy. When I go to Jesus, I am happy. I called a child like me.” At that time, Cheorwon and I had countless conversations like the following. "Dad, who did you call your child? Ask me this." “Yes, Cheolwon, who did you call the same child?” “You called a child like Cheorwon, right?” "Who called you?" “What did Jesus call you?” “Cheorwon, are you sad or happy?” "Happy." "Why are you happy?" "I'm glad that Jesus loves me!"
Cheorwon rejoiced in the midst of excruciating pain. Why would you be happy? I think it was for two reasons. The first was because he was in the arms of Jesus, and the second was because he was in the arms of his father. Joy is given when you are in someone's arms. Cheorwon's heart was filled with peace and joy. Why? It was because he was in the arms of Jesus and his father and mother.
The Apostle Paul always rejoiced even though he was in prison. Why? It was because we were in the arms of the Lord's love and because we were in the arms of the saints. In Philippians 4:10, the Apostle Paul confessed, "I rejoice greatly in the Lord," and confessed that the members of the Philippian church rejoice because the things they thought about themselves sprouted again. Those who are far from the Lord lose their joy. Those who are far from the bosom of the saints lose their joy. So you become unhappy. When we are in the arms of the Lord and the saints, we become happy people who rejoice when we are in the arms of the church and the servants of God.
2 Second, the person who prays is a happy person.
When my young son, Cheorwon, was in extreme pain with a fractured skull, he prayed with me a lot. Sometimes I prayed almost all day. Sometimes I went to the mountains to pray, and sometimes I prayed with Cheorwon. Then Cheorwon liked it very much. And then he used to say: "Dad is the best because he prays well!" Cheorwon liked even in pain and was happy. Why? It was because there was prayer. Prayer was like the breath of love that brought me deep into the arms of the Lord, and it was like the breath of love that brought me deep into my father's arms. Cheorwon was deeply embraced by the Lord's love while I prayed, and he was deeply embraced by Daddy while I prayed. So I liked it and I was happy.
The Apostle Paul fell deeply into the arms of the Lord as he prayed. You must have felt the happiness of being in the arms of the Lord. He confessed, “I am in the Lord and the Lord is in me.” The Apostle Paul deeply embraced the saints while praying. He must have felt the happiness of being in the arms of the saints. “I give thanks to my God whenever I think of you, and whenever I do, I always pray for all of you with joy… that you are in my heart” (Philippians 1:3,4,7). Prayer is like the deep breath of love that keeps us in the bosom of the Lord and of the saints. So prayer creates joy, creates gratitude, and creates happiness.
I think of prayer as the pollination that makes flowers bloom beautifully. If there is not enough moisture, the flower will wither. In the end it dies. When the breath of prayer ceases and the moisture of prayer ceases, a person becomes unhappy and ugly. In the end it dies. Stephen had prayers until the last minute. So he had beauty. His face was like an angel. As Stephen prayed, he deeply embraced the Lord and gently embraced the people around him who stoned him. Of course, it took some time physically, but after a while, Stephen was embraced in the arms of the apostle Paul and in the arms of the love of countless Christians. He became the happiest person. A person whose prayer is cut off is an unfortunate person who has left the bosom of the Lord and the bosom of the saints. A person whose prayers continue is a happy person who is in the arms of the Lord and of the saints.
3 Third, the person who is grateful is the happy person.
The apostle Paul was always grateful. I was thankful in prison, I was thankful even though I was beaten, I was thankful even though I couldn't eat or sleep. “I give thanks to God for his unspeakable gift” (1 Corinthians 9:15). “I give thanks to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he counted me faithful and entrusted me with his ministry” (1 Tim 1:12)
Gratitude is the mood. Gratitude is like air and sunlight. If prayer is like the pollination that makes flowers bloom beautifully, I think of gratitude as the fresh air and warm sunlight that makes flowers bloom beautifully. Gratitude is a healthy atmosphere like fresh air and warm sunlight. When air and sunlight are blocked, flowers wither. dies. Last Wednesday I bought two beautiful chrysanthemums and brought them home. A single chrysanthemum was watered for four days and exposed to air and sunlight. It grew into a beautiful chrysanthemum. No water was given to a single chrysanthemum, no air and no sunlight. The single chrysanthemum eventually withered.
Who is a happy and beautiful person? A person who blooms the flower of joy is a happy and beautiful person. Joy comes from being in the bosom of the Lord and of the saints. A person who blooms flowers of joy while breathing the moisture of prayer and the air of thanksgiving is a beautiful and happy person. Are there people who have left the bosom of the Lord? Are there people who have departed from the bosom of the saints? Are there people who have lost their joy in the shadow of lies and hypocrisy? Are there withering people whose prayers have ceased and gratitude has ceased? Recover three things. Restore joy, restore prayer, restore gratitude. I hope all of you are happy and live happily ever after. I hope you all pray and live happily ever after. Thank you all and I hope you all live happily ever after. I wish you all happy and beautiful flowers with joy, prayer and gratitude.