Title: Never-ending race
Sermon Title - The Endless Race
Sermon Date - January 03, 2007
I. Text Commentary
This text is a letter Paul wrote from prison to the Philippian church. The church in Philippi was especially special to Paul because it was a church that was planted by a woman named Lydia, a frequent merchant. The Philippian church was a beautiful, loving and obedient church. This area of Philippi was a key point connecting Asia and Europe. Because Philippi was far from Rome, Rome was unaware of its existence. It was a city formed with a grand plan to propagate Rome's beauty to the world in order to relocate Soroma.
(Example) A woman who had been abandoned by men many times met and married a truly wonderful man. Then her confession was, "I only knew what happiness was when I met this man."
Consider the meaning of “know” here. The Hebrew usage of this word is equivalent to “to enjoy.” Also, to know that we share in suffering with Christ means to be united. It means that the ability to know is alive and working. Therefore, the word ‘know’ has a deeper thought. To know is also synonymous with the word to love. When Job confesses, “He knows me, and after he has refined me, I will come forth as gold.” It means that God is watching Job's path with affection. That is the goal of life. Everything we study, pray, and learn the Word is what we aim for and is the means to the happiness of true knowledge.
Such a state of bliss is achieved through Jesus Christ. Knowing Jesus, Paul says, made all previous knowledge a loss. As I confessed earlier, being circumcised on the eighth day, Hebrews among Hebrews, etc., had previously boasted that they could not see Jesus, so they came to be regarded as excrement. Going further from this point, I am saying that I have become Christ's. A person who has a clear sense of purpose and strives to inspire is a person who one day met the Lord and was changed. I used to be confused, but now I can move toward the Lord. Now the issue is time and resources. No matter how much you know the Lord, if you do not have the resources and time, it is a fatal flaw in serving the Lord.
II. time-saving life
A. It hurts incompletely
“Not that I have caught it, not that I have accomplished it,” says Paul. It shows that he has an unbearable pain of not reaching perfection. True believers grieve that they do not know their true worth and that they do not fully enjoy happiness even though they now know Christ. If the head of the district does not feel that he is lacking even though the number of members keeps decreasing and merging with other districts, he is a person who does not know the pain of incompleteness. When human beings fall, they fall into self-satisfaction, but when they are in grace, they feel unfinished pain and suffering. Be aware that trying to be content with what you are is the point of slipping, and always be motivated. I am frustrated with my lack and have to do better.
(Yehwa) During the days of Daewongun, there was a battle with a ship that came to trade with us. Daewongun shouted to capture them, but they were technically superior and could not be defeated.
B. Interested in the future
To just forget what I've done and go for the goal ahead of me means that my thinking must be forward-looking. In the event of a fire, if you are only fighting over who is to blame for the fire, you will burn all the thatched houses. The positive meaning of the word caring for the future is that you should forget what you did well and serve well. There are not many people who are proud of their faith in the past, but who are confident in their religious life this year. People who have happy things every day do not boast of past events. In a negative sense, it means to forget the previous stagnation (沈滯). Of course, you regret the mistakes and errors of the past, but it's not good if those things stop you from moving forward. Remember the words, “There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” At the end of the year, people often give up their ministry. If any of you regret the lack of service last year, continue to serve this year better because you failed to serve last year. If you served well last year, you are serving so well, why should you come and let go now? Try again to serve better.
C. Focus on the Call
Just as Paul confessed that we are following God's calling, the calling from above, we all have a calling that is unique to us and cannot be replaced by anything else. The value of life is not determined by its length, but by the times you respond to that call. “What is my calling? A mission that makes my heart race to which I will devote all my energy, time and money!” Therefore, a living believer is one who lives in conformity with the heavenly calling that makes his heart beat. Our Jesus, too, devoted his whole life to the call given by God. So, leaving the sufferings and worries of the present behind, “The Son of Man goes as it is written” He always lived a life focusing on the fruit of his vision for the future. Therefore, we too, like Christ, should not be discouraged by the mistakes of the past or settling down by the abundance of the present, but we should move toward the goal every day. 2007-01-03