Title: Prepare for Death (1 Thessalonians 04:14)
Content This world is full of problems. Politics, Economy, Society, Religion, Youth, Older, Environment, Pollution, Transportation, Family and other problems lurk around us. However, what is the most important problem among them?
The most important thing for people is how they live. However, today I would like to talk about how we will face death rather than how we should live. I am very sorry to talk about death to those of you who are old, but every believer should think about this death and always be prepared for death that you do not know when it will come.
This is because the death of a believer does not end in death, but begins again in the place God promised. The bible says about death:
1) Those who sleep (1 Thessalonians 4:14, Dan 12:2, John 11:11) 2) Leave the tent of the earth (2 Corinthians 5:1, 2 Peter 1:14) 3) The road of no return (Job 16: 22)
Likewise, the Bible describes death as sleeping, leaving the tent of this earth, and the road of no return. Meaning in the Korean dictionary: to stop breathing.
Regarding the fact that a moving object stops and dies, regardless of whether it is a saint or not, unless someone has a mental disorder, no one hates death.
There are three kinds of people in the world.
They are classified as natural persons, religious persons, and believers. Natural people are extremely afraid of death. Natural people suffer intense mental pain from death. Because death takes everything away from them. Natural people set us free from the fear of death by Christ coming down to earth. Because they do not accept the fact that they let them, they are extremely afraid because the fear of continuing to die is a fear.
Religious people are also very afraid of death. Religious people are those who know that there is another world besides this world, but do not prepare for the world to come. The fear of death is not limited to natural or religious people, but it will be the same for believers.
Why is it that even believers hate death and try to avoid it? First, in the very essence of human beings, there is a deep attachment to this world that must one day leave.
EX) Parental care, brotherly love, wealth, honor...
Second, it is because the instinct to hate death itself is strong in the human heart. There are cases where people fear and hate death, want to live long, and try various methods to live a long time, but on the contrary, some people There will be people who yearn for death. Who are those who yearn for death? They must be people who suffer from a very terrible disease and groan in pain.
I see Job confessing like this because of great suffering (Job 7:5-7), and longed to die. In addition, as they grow older, their body weakens, they lose their energy, and when they see their friends die one by one, they lose hope, they groan loudly and are disappointed without realizing God's providence. I would say.
Also, there may be some people who have tasted the joy of the noble experience of communing with God in this world and want to go and have communion with the Lord quickly. We have looked at cases of longing for death, but this is by no means desirable. It is not righteous to want to die because you are afraid of life, and it is not a good idea to try to die to avoid the troubles and worries of this world. Also, no matter how much you taste of heavenly spirits, you can freely control the life given to you on this earth. is nothing.
Those who are old and debilitated and those who are suffering from a fatal disease must realize God's providence until the end of their life and live happily according to God's will. I hope that you will be the saints who always prepare for this death, which is sure to die when you say, "We all know that we are going to die (Hebrews 9:27)."
The death of the saints can be compared to a harvest. There are similarities between grain and saints. For grain and saints, labor is absolutely necessary. In order to harvest a greater amount of crops and produce better-quality grains, the effort and labor of the farmer must be put into it. Likewise, in order for the saints to be recognized as grain when they stand before God, they must make extraordinary efforts while living on this earth. I will do it. So absolute commitment is required.
From the time a seed is sown to a grain to a grain, it is a deep mystery. The life of the saints is also buried in a mystery as deep as grain. The fact that such a small seed bears many fruits later seems so miraculous to us, and it is not necessary to mention the work of God that appears in the hearts of the saints.
Also, we don't have to worry about how God does such things. The question is whether the seeds of God's word have fallen into our hearts and are bearing fruit. Just as grain is safely transported to a barn by a farmer, the soul of the saints will also be moved to heaven by God when the time is right. The purpose of a farmer is to store grain in a barn. But that's not all. Immediate grain is piled up for use as grain. In fact, the value of grain is revealed as rain when it is used as food after harvest.
In this way, only when a believer lives his or her life as a saint becomes the value of a saint. Some people think that they lead an easy life when they go to heaven.
However, the heaven that the Bible teaches is not such a place. Of course, it is clear that heaven is a place of rest. Heaven is a place where you can rest and still serve God. Is death really that scary?
Death cannot destroy our covenant with God. Death can defeat the union between the soul and the body, but not the union of the soul and Christ. Death puts an end to the sorrows of the world. Death is our way to God, where we will have eternal joy. Death is to die to live as well as to die from life.
We must prepare for this death. Because death and disease that are to come are foretold, therefore, the saints should not dwell on death and live diligently while they are given life on this earth, acting as the word revealed in today's text.
Word: True as opposed to falsehood and falsehood, the truth and truth are the hallmarks of a believer. Word: Godliness, a life that puts God first. Right: A saint who is right before God as well as people. Words: Purity, morally modest as well as strict. Meaning of chastity Word: love Meaning of joyful, delightful, lovable Word: praise, respectful, elegant, noble, word: virtue, morally recognized and praised