Title: How to be a Well-Being Soul
2013. 9. 1 Sunday morning worship service
Bible: 3 John 1:2-4
Title: How to be a Good Soul
3 John 1:2-4 '2. Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in good health, as your soul prospers. There is no greater joy than to hear that the children walk in the truth.' -Amen.
The total length of the blood vessels, arteries, veins, and capillaries of the human body is 120,000 km, and the circumference of the earth is 40,008 km, which is the length to go around the earth 3 times. In the human body, blood vessels surround the whole body, and there is no disease when the blood is clear.
What you eat and exercise is to keep your blood clear, and in fact, if the blood becomes cloudy or stops, you will die. As for human existence, the equivalent of blood is the soul.
1. The soul is the essence of man
In order to live a healthy and well-lived life, people are looking for different ways to the spiritual world, such as meditation and horse training. This psychological theory is in line with the principle of the spiritual world of Lao-tzu's ideology of innocence or the ruthless indifference of Buddhism, but the problem is that it only concentrates on emptying the brain.
The real soul as a Christian is because of people like Dr. Cho, who interprets the phrase '...as your soul prospers' in verse 2 as a Korean sentiment and teaches that you can succeed if you have a positive heart. The fact is that you are missing out on how to do well. They even misunderstand that ‘if everything goes well and you are strong, your soul is prosperous’.
If you look at the text, “As if the soul is prosperous” appears first. It is a absurd misconception to believe that the environment and good health are good for the soul.
The Bible says that if you think and act according to the truth, your soul will improve.
2. The soul prospers when you practice the truth
If you look closely at the text, it will be interpreted that the well-being of your soul is because you are walking according to the truth. Hearing the truth, knowing a lot, and demonstrating well does not mean that the soul is in good shape. At that time, the souls of the lawyers, priests, and elders were in a state of corruption. Similarly, today's church is a corrupt Korean church even though it appears to be prosperous and revived. It is prevalent with other gospel ideas that Paul pointed out (Galatians 1:8-).
A pastor who tells the way to success like the gospel, so if something goes well, it's God's blessing, but that doesn't mean that the soul is good. On the contrary, if you are full, your soul tends to be corrupted.
What is the good condition of the soul that the Lord will approve? When we follow the truth well, it is normal when suffering must come along. Just having fun is not the attitude that happens when the gospel meets the world.
2 Timothy 3:12 “Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”
2 Timothy 4:5 “…you… suffer afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, and fulfill your ministry”
Health seems to be the biggest concern in Korean culture in the 21st century. It costs a lot of money and time for physical health. The problem is, my mental health is lousy.
Among the 34 OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries, the happiness index ranks at the bottom of the 32nd, the Transparency International Organization ranks our country 45th in the world for transparency, and the public's trust in the Korean church is 17.6%. This problem is a countercurrent phenomenon compared to the revival of the Korean church, and it proves that we did not live the truth.
Now, we need to focus on practicing the truth rather than the study of the truth. Now we need to focus on godliness rather than revival. Now, rather than propaganda with words, we need to show it with our lives. There is a saying in the 45th chapter of Lao-tzu: “To speak loudly, it seems to be stuttering.” The more modifiers and more sophisticated the expression, the more it reveals that the background is not right. I pray that your soul will prosper and God's protection will be full as you become a man of truth.