Title: Successful life of faith (Philippians 2:19~30)
Contents
In the Bible, both a failed life of faith and a successful life of faith appear. Who are the failed believers that the Bible records? Cain, Esau, Lot's wife, Saul, Achan, Judas Iscariot, Ananias and Sapphira. Among those who fail in their religious life, there is a text that introduces them in detail.
In 3 John 1:9-11, a person named Diotrephes appears. he is,
1) He was a person who liked to be first.
2) He was a person who did not receive the Lord's servants.
3) They slandered the servant of the Lord with evil words;
4) He does not entertain his brothers,
5) He was a person who forbade anyone who wanted to entertain him and was expelled from the church.
On the other hand, successful people of faith are also recorded.
Abel, Noah, Isaac, Abraham, Joshua, Samuel, Moses, Peter, Apostle Paul, Priscilla and Aquila (Romans 16:3-4).
If so, what conditions must be met for a successful life of faith?
1. We must hear the voice of God.
1) Abraham listened to the command of Jehovah God.
Genesis 12:1 "The LORD said to Abram, "You are a relative of your own country.
Leave your father's house and go to the land I will show you."
Genesis 12:4 "So Abram did the word of the LORD..."
2) Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord.
Isaiah 6:8 "And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send?
Who will go for us? Then I said, Am I here?
Please send me"
3) The Apostle John also heard the voice of the Holy Spirit on the island of Patmos.
Revelation 1:10 “On the day of the Lord I was moved by the Holy Spirit to sound a trumpet behind me.
I heard the same loud voice."
4) The Apostle Paul also heard the voice of Jesus in Damascus.
Acts 9:4-5 “He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying, Saul, Saul!
Why are you persecuting me?” he answered, “Lord.
“Who are you?” He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.”
Why is it important to hear God's voice?
Because hearing the voice of God is the beginning of faith. Faith requires three conditions.
The first is to listen to the voice of God.
Second, it is obedience to believe and follow the word they hear.
The third is complete trust that He will do what you have said.
This process of belief is also a process that causes us to give up our rights. Because giving up on my opinions, my claims, my greed, and my plans is the only way to hear and obey God's voice.
We simply call this whole process 'faith', and the Bible explains it by saying that faith comes from hearing, and hearing comes through the word of Christ.
2. Taking off your shoes in front of the Word.
In ancient Israel, as a sign of possession, a person placed his feet or shoes over the object to be possessed. And when the ownership changed, he symbolically expressed that fact by handing over his god. Therefore, the act of taking off the god,
① relinquish ownership;
② Recognize the rights of others,
③ Now, it is to prove that all of one's rights have been deprived.
Ruth 4:8 "Then the bearer of the inheritance said to Boaz, "You will
They said Sarah and took off their shoes (renunciation of ownership and recognition of other people's rights)"
Psalm 60:8 "I will cast my sandal on Edom"
Isaiah 20:2 “At that time the LORD spoke to Isaiah the son of Amos,
He said to him, Go, take off the sackcloth from your waist, and put your sandals on your feet.
strip off him.” And he did so, naked and bare feet.
(Israel took the right of all the chosen people before God)
an act that symbolizes the long
Deuteronomy 25:9-10 "His brother's wife came to him before the elders,
He took off his sandals, and spit in his face, saying,
This shall be done to those who do not delight in building a house for
and the house of those who have taken off his name in Israel
(Meaning of deprivation of rights in case of abandonment of duty)"
But the interesting thing is that when God calls his chosen one, he takes off his shoes.
Exodus 3:5 "Do not come near here, said God, for the place where you stand is holy.
Take off your sandals from your feet, for it is one land."
Joshua 5:15 "The commander of the army of the LORD said to Joshua, "Take off your sandals from your feet.
Take off, for the place where you stand is holy, and Joshua did so."
This is a command to "renounce all your rights from now on". It means, "If you confess that you are my servant, hand over all your rights to me now." Moses had already lost everything he had, including his power, honor, lust, and wealth, but once again God made him give up the right to think he had anything by taking off his sandals. Because giving up your rights is the only way to live by faith. Therefore, the first condition required for missionaries is to take off their shoes before the Word.
Hebrews 11:24-26 "By faith Moses, when he had grown up, was called the son of Pharaoh's princess.
refusing to do so and rather to suffer with God's people for a little while
Prefer to enjoy the pleasures of iniquity, and for Christ's sake
They counted their reproach as a greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt.
for it beholds the reward."
3. In the New Testament, taking off your shoes in front of the Word
It is expressed in three ways.
1) Take up the cross.
Mark 8:34 "He called the crowd and his disciples and said to them, "If anyone will come after me,
deny yourself and take up your cross and follow me."
2) Practice a life of service.
Mark 10:44 “Whoever wants to be first among you
It must be a paper."
3) Die every day before the Word.
Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ, so now
I did not live, but Christ lives in me.
Now I live in the flesh, because he loves me and for me
To live in faith in the Son of God who gave himself up
Ira"
1 Corinthians 15:31 “Brothers, I have in Christ Jesus our Lord you
By the pride I have with you, I declare that I die daily."
As Paul confessed, we have carnal thoughts within us that we must kill every day.
Romans 1:29-31 "Full of all unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, malice, envy, murder,
Full of strife, deceit, and malice, gossiper and slanderer
He is a hater of God, a reproacher, a proud man,
bragging, scheming evil, disobedient to parents
A foolish man, a treacherous man, a heartless man, a merciless man."
These bodily things do not disappear by themselves just because they receive grace. Consider the battle of Mount Carmel between Elijah and the prophets of Baal and Asherah, eight hundred and fifty. Fire came down from heaven and licked the altar that Elijah had prepared. Then Elijah took the prophets of Baal and Asherah to Kishon and killed them (1 Kings 19:40).
Fire may come down from heaven and burn the unclean prophets directly. But the fire came upon the altar. The fire of God's grace falls on the Most Holy of our hearts. Now, like Elijah, we too must kill ourselves of all uncleanness and unbelief within us. That is the power of those who have received grace, and it is the appearance of a successful life of faith.
4. We must win the church life.
1) You must be guided by the servant of the Lord.
Acts 7:38 “With the angel who spoke on Mount Sinai and with our fathers in the wilderness
The one who was in the church and who received the way of life and gave it to us
it's this person"
2) The relationship between the saints must be well established.
1 Corinthians 12:26-27 “If one member suffers, all the members suffer together.
received and one member is glorified, all the members
rejoice, for you are the body of Christ, and each part of it."
3) We must consecrate and serve the Lord's day, the Lord's things, the Lord's body, and the Lord's servants.
Lord's Day - Isaiah 56:2 "Keep the sabbath from being defiled, and keep your hands from
ought not to do any evil, whoever does so,
Blessed is a life that dares to catch up like this."
The Lord's - Mal 3:9 "Because you, the whole nation, have stolen what is mine.
You are cursed."
The body of the Lord - Ephesians 1:23 "The church is his body, in all things
is the fullness of those who do."
Servant of the Lord - Hebrews 13:17 “Be obedient to those who lead you and be submissive.
Let them watch for your souls, whom he will account for.
They do this with pleasure.
Do not let it be grievous and do not cause it to worry, otherwise it is good for you.
there is no"
<Conclusion>
When we stand before God in the last days, we can stand as successful believers or as unsuccessful believers. It depends on our present attitude of faith.
1. Let's do our best to listen to God's voice.
2. Let's give all our rights to God.
3. Let us die every day before the word.
4. Let's win the church life.
This is the secret to success in the life of faith, and it is the process of living by faith. When we give up all our rights and humbly follow His voice, God will be glorified, and our lives will abound with miracles and grace.