Title: Our Faith / Matthew 9:1-8
Contents
Our Faith / Matthew 9:1-8
The text tells the story of four friends carrying a paralyzed man while Jesus was in Capernaum and being healed.
First, we need to consider what kind of faith their beliefs were.
1. Their faith was absolute.
They had the absolute belief that if Jesus went on, they would surely be healed. That is why Jesus said [seeing our faith]. The record of the Hebrew writer who once said [faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen] seems to be a very good explanation of faith.
The reason Bartimaeus the blind woke up was because of his absolute faith, and Jairus, the leader of the synagogue, came to Jesus because of his daughter's business. Also, it was because of her absolute faith that the Syrobonic woman came to Jesus because of her daughter's illness, and endured and begged to the end despite being despised and despised.
Now we must be convinced that Jesus is the Son of God and our Savior, who not only comes as the Holy Spirit now to do His work, but will also come as the Judgment Lord. We believe that amazing miracles happen where there is absolute faith.
2. Their faith was an active faith.
Faith is by no means limited to contemplation or contemplation. Action must follow. Therefore, James said, "I have faith, and without works, it is dead faith."
As mentioned earlier, the ancestors of various beliefs had practices according to their beliefs. In other words, Noah built a large boat, and Abraham left his hometown without a destination. Also, Moses finally went down to Egypt and led all Israel, and Jairus went out to find Jesus right away. In particular, looking at the traces of the lives of the disciples of Jesus and the apostle Paul, they devoted their lives as preachers and practitioners of the true word until they drank the cup of martyrdom.
Folks, we are living in a very complicated time right now. Too much noise is exhausting our minds and bodies, and too much logic is clouding our minds. Therefore, it may be that this age is not needed much. Actions rather than words are desperately needed.
Everyone, let's all show an attitude of practical service. If we don't do what we have to do towards this society, we will be criticized and we will be turned away from society.
It is said that the church in Europe is dinner time, the church in America is lunch time, and the church in Korea is called the morning church. What would this mean?
It means that the churches in Europe and America are losing their mission to the extent that society does not need them. But what guarantees that the sunset will not come to our Korean church? Therefore, in order to become a church that always wakes up in the morning, we must strive to fulfill the mission of the church toward the society in which we live.
3. Their faith was a cooperative faith.
We can see well-coordinated cooperation through the four friends in the text. They divided the four corners one by one and carried the sick patient in good pace to Capernaum, as well as tearing down the roof and pulling it down. Indeed, their collaboration was perfect.
The world of the past has been thought of as a great and distant place. But today's world has become a very small and close stage. In fact, East and West became like neighbors. America's work became Korea's work, and Korea's work became America's work. Therefore, the world does not mean that I am the only one who wants to live well. It must not be forgotten that all human beings in the world have a common destiny.
If you look at the history of the past, there was a time when we were obsessed with self-righteousness and did not want to know or think about our neighbors. But now is the time when that is not possible. Obviously, one country's political, economic, military, cultural, religious, etc. problems are emerging as global problems. Moreover, both sides of the East and West are investing huge amounts of money in the arms race, and mankind around the world is trembling with the nuclear threat. Therefore, the world will be a better place to live in only when we can avoid spending the entire world and military spending and invest huge amounts of military money for peaceful purposes.
Today, more than ever, cooperation and cooperation are urgently required. Without cooperation, true peace cannot be maintained. Today's world gets sick. Nature has also become ill with pollution, and almost 40 years have passed since even our land was crippled. We must save the sick world, sick nature, and this crippled mountain. The four friends in the text succeeded in saving a friend through their cooperative faith.
Ladies and gentlemen, we should all exert our utmost efforts to accomplish the miraculous work of saving this nation and this nation by exerting absolute, active, cooperative, and faith-based faith.