Title: Paul Rejoices in Suffering
Contents
Worship on the 19th of Lent>> ----> Wednesday
Title: Paul Rejoices in Suffering
Bible: Colossians 1:24-29
Quiet Prayer: Together
Hymn: 154
Representative Prayer: Brother Jeong Tae-ho
Starting Point of the Word>>
Today, this time we share the words of the text under the title of “Paul who rejoiced in suffering.
If you look at the contents of the letters the Apostle Paul sent to each church while preaching the gospel, you can see that it contains a tearful confession of faith that follows in the footsteps of Christ.
According to Acts 8:3,
“When Saul was going to destroy the church, he went into every house and took men and women and put them in prison.
There is a saying.
Before Paul had the grace to meet Jesus Christ, he thought that destroying the church and arresting and imprisoning believers was a sign of his power and authority.
For him, the sufferings of Christ were merely the death of a sinner who disturbed the nation.
We see him meeting Christ through the words of Acts 9.
I heard that there were people who believed in Christ in the city of Damascus as always that day, so I was going to arrest them and put them in prison.
But when he arrives on the Damascus road, he experiences the grace of meeting Christ.
He didn't know who he was facing.
Then a voice is heard from heaven.
The words of Acts 9:4,
“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”
Saul didn't even know who was speaking to him now, and he didn't even understand, so he asks:
The words of Acts 9:5,
“Who are you, Lord?”
Then Jesus answered.
“I am Jesus whom you are persecuting”
At that time, Saul had no choice but to fall down before the Lord.
He persecuted him and thought he was good at what he was doing, but the Lord, who was now persecuted, found Saul.
Saul has now become a lifelong keeper of this event.
How could he forget the incident in which the Lord met him now, who persecuted him and afflicted many churches and saints?
If you look at Paul's life afterward, he must have given up everything he had to preach the gospel, and if it was the way for the Lord, he would have resolved to bear it with joy, even if it was a way of hardship.
We must be able to rely on the Lord who has only called us to this place now.
The path of following the Lord is by no means an easy path, but just as Paul walked along the path of suffering with joy, we too must become believers who have the faith to rejoice in suffering through Christ.
Go to Word>>
Today, as we look at the Word, we hope that it will be a time for us to overcome the sufferings of Christ with joy just like Paul, thinking about what kind of confession of faith Paul could have made so that we could rejoice in that path.
First, the first confession of faith of the Apostle Paul is, “I die daily.”
According to 1 Corinthians 15:31,
“By the boasting in you that I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, brethren, I affirm that I die daily.”
There is only one way we can experience the Resurrection in this world.
That's right to die.
The Apostle Paul confesses that he dies every day through his confession of faith.
Although it is not recorded in the Word, if you look at the appearance of Paul who continued to preach the gospel after that, we can see that he was a man who died and was resurrected every day at the same time.
What does the confession that Paul die every day mean?
We don't really face physical death.
Paul crucified the lusts of the flesh in his daily life.
We must become saints who kill what we should kill in our lives.
When Paul confessed that he was dying every day, he was saying that he killed his own desires and had only the heart of Christ.
The Lord's heart is not an attribute of sin.
The Lord's heart is not about boasting about me and putting me out there.
The Lord's heart was not a life for himself, but a life that was thoroughly considerate of others.
The heart of the Lord makes people good, not the world.
How many people must have followed when Paul preached the gospel?
However, he did not follow his own desires, but rather loved the cross of the Lord.
According to Philippians 3:8,
“And I count all things as loss, because the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord is the noblest; for for his sake I lose all things, and count as dung I gain Christ.”
is confessing that
According to Galatians 6:14,
“But I have nothing to boast about except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
confess that.
Paul confessed that he didn't boast about anything else to the church and the saints who stayed with him in the gospel, but only about the cross of Christ, and for that purpose he threw away the world's filthy lusts like excrement.
Saints!
Are you dreaming of the resurrection?
Then, like the apostle Paul, we must be able to live a life of dying every day.
Everyone, please realize that what we are proud of is not the conditions and circumstances of our lives, but the cross of Christ.
Second, Paul confesses that I have the marks of Christ on my body.
According to Galatians 6:17,
“Let no one trouble me from now on, for I bear the marks of Jesus on my body.”
Those of us who believe in Jesus must show the traces of Christ.
Paul was a man who knew what kind of suffering the Lord suffered and what kind of cross he took.
So he was able to bear the hardships and persecution that came to him as he preached the gospel for him and preached the truth.
In the words of 2 Corinthians 11:23-30, Paul lists the hardships that Paul suffered while preaching the gospel of Christ, being imprisoned, being beaten many times, and by his fellow countrymen and other people while traveling.
But looking at verse 30,
“If I must boast, I will boast in my weakness.”
He boasted about his weakness because he could see the crown of glory and righteousness that the Lord had prepared.
So, only the cross was in Paul's heart, and Paul could always rejoice by the grace of the cross.
This is because it is the mark that those who serve Christ as King and follow Him completely should have it.
Third, and finally, Paul confesses that the sufferings of Christ fill my body.
According to Colossians 1:24,
“Now I rejoice in your sufferings for your sake, and I fill the rest of the sufferings of Christ in my flesh for the sake of his body, the church.”
Paul suffered a lot for the church, the body of Christ.
To such Paul, the Lord poured out his overflowing love and comfort.
Therefore, suffering in Christ could have been rather a joy to him.
Many Christians these days pursue a comfortable life of faith.
That is why we prefer large churches that can only offer Sunday worship services, and do not take responsibility for their dedication and sacrifice to God.
I also see them living a life that tries to avoid the path of suffering while saying they follow the way of the Lord with their lips.
I made a pilgrimage to Europe last year, and the words of the church deacon who was my guide are still vivid in my ears.
“Now the churches in Europe are empty. However, it is expected that the Korean church will soon follow that path.”
I looked around many churches in Europe and found that most of the church's operations were operated by admission fees obtained through foreign tourists.
Do you know why this is happening?
In Europe, the gospel of Christ was preached far before us, and under the influence of Christianity, it became one of the most outstanding peoples in the world.
But they began to lose the grace of Christ, and they began to think of themselves before the church.
The footsteps to find the church began to decrease, and the appearance of worship and devotion for the church began to disappear.
It is even said that Europeans visit the church three times in their lifetime.
And yet, he confesses with his mouth.
“I am a Christian. Our state religion is Christianity.”
But now, the Korean church is following it.
There are even churches that accept donations online for believers who cannot keep Sundays.
Everyone, please take a look at us.
Do we contain the suffering of Christ in the image of us who knew and realized the sufferings of Christ, who were saved through His sufferings, and became children of God with the price of His blood?
If we keep the traces of Christ's suffering in our hearts, we cannot live a life of faith.
Realize that our lives are transformed when the traces of our Christ remain.
At the end of the speech>>
Organize your words.
Or are we not avoiding the path of suffering when we say we follow the way of the Lord?
Please remember that the glory of the Lord or the glory of Paul came after suffering.
When we remember those sufferings and try to follow the Lord, those sufferings will come to us as joy.
Like Paul's confession today, I hope that the suffering of Christ will become a confession of joy for us.
In the name of the Lord, I pray in the name of the Lord that you and all of our saints will be able to imprint the traces of Christ by nailing us to the cross every day, and to taste the glory of God on the day of resurrection by engraving the rest of Christ's sufferings in our hearts.
United Prayer>>
We praise and glorify the God who loves us until he sent his only begotten Son, Jesus, into the midst of this earth for us.
Thank you for choosing us to be slaves in the chains of sin and allowing us to experience the true truth and grace.
Have mercy on our weakness and folly, and do not leave us in the world, but lead us by your strong hand.
Let us accept the sufferings of Christ with joy like the Apostle Paul, and let us all rejoice in the glory of the resurrection on the day of your resurrection.
Help me to live in the world, imitate Christ, and live a life of service, become a small candle to light the world, and a salt to taste and lead a life of change in the world.
Let our faith grow through Lent, and let us become those of us who live and leave your mark on the world.
Even now, we pray in the name of Jesus, who took the suffering of the cross by loving us.
Amen.