Title: Stay in this Faith
In verse 22, we read, “Strengthen the hearts of the disciples and abide in this faith.” It says that you will have to go through many tribulations to enter the kingdom of God.
However, here is not just belief, but there is a referential pronoun ‘this’. This word has an important meaning.
First, this belief is a belief that is based on the mind and not the material. Today, human trafficking, kidnapping, murder, over-consumption, sexual assault, drug addiction, gambling, drunkenness, power absurdity, collective selfishness, creating a real estate storm with big hands, reducing costs by blowing up apartments, using the distribution structure to make consumers cry, public money The money and material things are all because of money and material things.
According to the Bible, when Simon, who was thrilled when he saw that Paul was casting out evil spirits, begged to buy the power with money, Paul shouted out loud.
He rebuked them for not buying and selling God's gifts with money. Simon believed in money, but Paul believed in Jesus and performed great miracles by the power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, a person who is immersed in the idea of alimony is called a Simonist.
Anani and Sap also believed in money. So he deceived the Holy Spirit and died. So he was buried in a pile of stones and killed along with his family.
Simon believed, he believed, but he believed in money. In the thug world, we believe in fists. I think it works with fists. Even in the den of beggars, they have their own beliefs. As such, not all beliefs are good. Therefore, ‘this belief’ is not a belief in material things, but a belief that is based on the mind.
In Korea, there is an old saying called five blessings, which refer to Yiwal longevity, Yiwal wealth and glory, Samwal Kangmyeong, Sawal Yuhodeok, and Owal Gojongmyeong. It is a blessing related to all material things. However, the Apostle Paul emphasized that faithfulness when young is true loyalty, giving thanks in difficult times is real gratitude, evangelism in difficult times is real evangelism, and believing in difficult times is true saints.
Second, it refers to faith based on the Spirit, not on the flesh, that is, spiritual faith.
“Exercise is good for your health” is what we commonly know about physical health. However, if a Christian is faithful to his mission, he is spiritually rich and filled with the Holy Spirit and is healthy. If you look at people with deep faith, it is common to see that they do not exercise much, but maintain good health and live a long life.
It is not that the priests do a lot of exercise to maintain their health. When you immerse yourself in the inspired life of faith, you are protecting your physical health with the realm that God provides.
We pray when we eat.
"Lord, I believe that eating this food will make you full."
This prayer and eating is faith for the flesh. But when we pray, "Lord, eat this food and do your work. Eat this food and do your mission well. Eat this food and fulfill your duty with good health." This is the prayer raised with spiritual faith. you can say
Not long ago, I was thrilled to see the scene where five members of the Orona expedition team put the Taegeukgi at the North Pole and hurrahed at the North Pole. They achieved their goals by overcoming many difficulties such as heavy food and equipment, cold, gusts of wind, thin ice sheets, icebergs, and drifting beasts.
However, the most difficult thing was that communication with the base camp was lost and he was lost in the snow for a while.
I later found out that it was a communication disturbance caused by the movement of sunspots, but when the radio went off, they thought they were dead. When fighting gusts of wind, cold, or wild beasts, you can call a helicopter through communication, but if this communication is cut off, all life's paths are cut off.
Likewise, we believers can overcome any difficulties or adverse conditions with faith, but if the line of prayer, which is the spiritual communication with God, is cut off, we will inevitably become powerless.
Miner Sang-Chun Yang was able to survive from the pit of dozens of underground roads because he was able to communicate through a telephone line connected to the ground. No matter what difficulties you may be in, keep in mind that if the life of prayer, which is spiritual communication with God, is cut off, you will die, and if you are alive, you will receive blessings.
I saw a painting called 'Tempest at Sea' by the painter William Turner. When you look at the picture, you feel as if you are being quickly swept away by a wave like a large chunk of flesh.
One of my friends asked Turner how he could make such a realistic painting. Then Turner got on a boat to paint that picture, went out into the middle of a stormy sea, tied himself to the top of a mast, and endured the wind and storm and waves. Even the deck would take a lot of effort, but if you were hanging on the mast, you would have felt like your body would break. In this way, a masterpiece was born.
Third, this belief is not temporary, but lasting. It means faith based on heaven and the afterlife, and faith based on eternal life. This is a permanent belief. It means to abide in a permanent faith based on the invisible blessing of eternal life, not a temporary faith that appears for a moment.
It is often said that successful people need to meet four people well.
It is said that you must meet the first parents, the second teacher, the third friend, and the fourth spouse. However, our members can become successful only when they meet God well. Because Moses met God at Horeb, Saul at Damascus, and Pascal at Mass, they were able to become great people.
Measles injection is to put pathogens into the body. Vaccination is what makes the body immune to disease by putting germs into it. Just as we must get vaccinated and strengthen our immunity to overcome the epidemic, we must go through tribulation and overcome it to enter the kingdom of God.
To abide in the overcoming faith means to be faithful. So what does it mean to be faithful? It does not mean that you may or may not tithe, you may or may not evangelize, you may or may not pray, and that you should live your life of faith as you like.
You must do it, you must be faithful.
There are times when I cry out to God and pray and live a life of faith with fervent determination, but at times I become discouraged and hate even going to church. At one time, I received an experience saying, "If God heals you, I will dedicate myself to the Lord." But again, I become discouraged.
The artist of the Last Supper went around looking for the statue of Jesus. I saw a member of a church choir singing graciously and drew a picture of Jesus as a model for him. Now, while I was looking from street to street to find the statue of Judas Iscariot, one night I saw a man in a bad shape, drunk and lying on the side of the road. When I asked how much money I paid to stand as a model, I asked, "Aren't you the one who drew me a while ago?" If you look closely again, you can see that the very person pictured as the image of Jesus had the ugly appearance of Judas Iscariot.
We have the same ambivalence as ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’. Therefore, we must always control the power of evil and be faithful to the Word of God.
Fourth, "abide in this faith" is not a belief in physical change, but a belief in chemical change.
However, chemical change refers to a change in shape, just as wood burns to ashes. When an egg matures, it becomes a chick, when a caterpillar sheds its skin, it becomes a butterfly, and a person who lived an evil life melts in the Holy Spirit and becomes a precious priest of the Lord, and this is a chemical change.
This is a chemical change. It seems that this person is the owner of the true faith who abides in ‘this faith’ through the work of the Holy Spirit. But he said, "Still, I can't take care of myself. I'm always careful."
We are not sure of our faith. You have to live day by day, being careful about what kind of test will come.
Amen.
(1991.11.3)