Title: Person of Exception / Philippians 2:19-24
Contents
A person of exception/Philippians 2:19-24
“They all sought their own, not the things of Jesus Christ…” (V21)
There is a proverb that says, 'The scoundrel is the one who disgraces the fish market'. There is also a saying, ‘If a goby jumps, does the grasshopper jump too?’. Even if the caterpillar eats pine needles, silkworms cannot eat the pine needles. In the Bible, even when many people and all people sin and become stained by the world, there are those who received grace who kept their righteousness and faith as exceptional people who were not included in their crimes and genital mutilation. Consider some of them.
1. Noah: (Genesis 6:11-13) “In those days the whole earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was full of violence.” There was an exception, Noah, who was not included in that corrupt and violent flesh and blood. On the day when the whole earth was judged with water, only him and his entire family of 8 were saved.
2. Descendants of Levi: (Ex 32:26) “When the people of Israel made a golden calf and bowed down to God, the exception was the descendants of Levi, who were on God’s side and followed the instructions of Moses and killed about 3,000 idolaters with the sword. slaughtered.
3. Nemuel: (Numbers 16:1) Among the sons of Eliab, when Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the great son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliah, the sons of Reuben, and On the son of Peleth formed a party and rebelled against Moses and Aaron. Nemuel was an exception. (26:9) The brothers were judged by God when the earth opened its mouth and fire came out, but Nemuel was an exception.
4. Elijah: (1 Kings 19:10) “I am the only one left, and they seek my life.” Elijah was an exception when all Israel served Baal and the prophets prophesied lies. Elijah did not see death, but ascended into heaven in a chariot and was given the glory of the exception.
5. Sardis Church: (Rev 3:1-6) Although it had a name of being alive, it was actually a dead church. But there was also a man in Sardis who did not soil his clothes. He said that he would be recognized as worthy of the Lord, and that he would wear white clothes with him and dwell with the Lord.
In today's text Philippians 2:19-24, Paul introduces the exception. He was born to a Jewish mother and a Greek father. He seems to have learned the Bible from his mother from a young age. He apparently first met Paul at Lystra and became his attendant. He is in prison with Paul. Now, it seems that Paul had a plan in his heart to send Timothy to the Philippian church. He wanted to know the circumstances of the Philippian church and be comforted. Verse 20 says that there is no one but one who thinks in the same way and in truth. There are many people who are overly self-assertive or, on the other hand, false flattery. But Timothy was an exception. Verse 21 says that all seek their own, not those of Christ Jesus. But Timothy is not like that. Those who seek first the work of Christ Jesus. Verse 22 tells us that as a child does to a father, he and Paul spare no effort for the gospel.
No one can deny that Korean society is becoming corrupt and the Korean church is becoming more and more secular. Will we join the fight against crime, corruption and secularization? Like Noah, like the Levites, like Elijah, like Nemuel, like some of the Sardis, like Timothy? You must choose. Even if everyone in the world commits crimes, compromises with the world, and becomes secular, we, Hanyang Church members, are the only exceptions, and I hope that they will follow faith and righteousness. Should a locust jump just because a goby jumps? At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord required a final choice and decision. Is it a narrow road? is it wide? The narrow way is the way of life, and the broad way is the way of destruction. Will you build it on sand? Will you build on the rock? There must be a clear decision. Even silkworms cannot eat pine needles just because the caterpillar eats pine needles. Even if everyone sits in the counsel of the wicked, in the way of sinners, and in the seat of the arrogant, may we only rejoice and meditate on the law of the Lord, so that we may enjoy the blessing of the exception, the salvation of the exception, the praise of the exception, and the glory of the exception.