Title: Those Who Overcame God (10)
Contents
2010, 2, 14 weeks. Those Who Overcame God (10)
Luke's upright loyalty
(2 Timothy 4:9-11)
There is a scene from hell in Dante's Divine Comedy.
A person who had been watching Hell went down to the bottom of Hell for a while and saw a small door with the words “Forsaken Hope” written on this door.
Dante followed the guide and opened the door and entered.
In the first room there were people complaining with grumbling and groaning, worrying and weeping.
Dante asked. Who are these people? The guide answers.
These people were the so-called neutrals when they lived in the world.
They did not betray God, nor did they do good things according to God's will. They are dogmatic egoists who only buy what is good for them.
They became the object of the lowest rank in Hell and were assigned to the first room. Even in this day and age, there are many people whose affiliation is unclear whether they are believers or non-believers.
Elijah vomits a bloody scream to them.
How long will you hesitate between the two (1 Kings 18:21)?
There is no neutrality in faith. Believers in the gray area deserve their identity to be questioned. We need to show clear colors. Joshua declared that only me and my house would serve the Lord. At this time, we want to receive grace together with the words of “those who have overcome God (10),” Luke’s upright loyalty, risking their lives.
1, Luke received the grace of the Lord.
Luke is a Gentile of Greek origin, born in Antioch, Syria.
He received the gospel from Paul and came to believe in Jesus Christ. He was a doctor by profession.
Even at that time, being a doctor was a good job with a guaranteed future.
But after realizing that there is an eternal world through Paul, the purpose of life changed.
The meaning of the name Luke is “Giver of Light.”
It must have been built by his parents to mean living a life that gives hope to those who are sick and have lost their tomorrow. Thousands of people are still dying in hospital beds.
Or, there are countless people suffering from diseases that modern medicine cannot cure.
A job that can truly comfort them is very valuable. With this sense of duty, Luke studied medicine and became a doctor. While working as a doctor, he met the evangelist Paul. Since he did not describe the scene where he met the evangelist Paul, we do not know the details, but we met by some chance.
Luke may have met Paul because of a disease he called Satan's thorn that often plagued the evangelist Paul. He met Paul, heard the gospel of life, and received Jesus Christ. Life is all about who you meet. We must become dedicated to the gospel that the Lord has commanded, no matter how we came to believe in the Lord.
In the 1890s, when we were under strong Japanese influence, medical missionaries from the United States, Australia, England and Canada came to Korea with the Gospel. At first, Korea did not accept missionaries, so they all entered Korea as medical missionaries.
They treated Emperor Gojong exclusively.
Therefore, it played a big role in helping the door of the Gospel slowly open by making people realize the excellence of Western medicine.
They were excellent doctors who could live well in their own country, and they came to the world's poorest country at the time, a dark and hopeless country, and built schools and hospitals for generations and moved people by sacrificing treatment and devotion.
So, in a dark season with no future in sight, he armed the people with hope for the gospel.
Luke was in a similar situation. Those who have received the Gospel must now dedicate themselves to it.
This is what those who have received the Gospel should do. If so, I hope that you, too, can have a great desire to devote yourself to the gospel of the Lord with the instrument of music.
2, Luke gave himself for the grace he received.
He wrote Acts and Luke, as we know it well.
His bitter motive was not to reveal himself, but to apologise for the gospel to a man named Theophilus.
Luke 1:1- There are many people among us who have taken up a pen to write a story about the fact that has been fulfilled by those who have been eyewitnesses of the Word from the beginning and were ministers of it. After considering everything from the very beginning, I also thought it would be good to write it down to you in turn, so that you may know the certainty of what you have been taught.
It is not clear who Theophilus was, but it is the fact that Luke wrote the Gospel in order to make Theophilus know the truth about the Gospel he had experienced.
However, the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts are recognized as the most literary excellence in the New Testament.
He uses his literary talents to the full, revealing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Messiah sent by God, the truth, and the Savior.
It is the most beautiful and blessed thing to testify to God who has given him the talent he has given him. I hope you all become dedicated to this work.
Because he was a senator, biblical scholars claim that many medical handwriting appears in the Gospels of Luke and Acts he wrote. When the beggar begging at the beautiful gate of the temple, Peter and John said to me that gold and silver I do not have, but what I have I command you to walk in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, the lame arose.
Then, in Acts 3:7, he took his right hand and got him up, and immediately his feet and ankles gained strength, and he jumped and stood up and walked.
Biblical scholars explain that these verses are sharp linguistic features that only doctors can use.
Anyway, because such a doctor helped Paul by his side, he was able to walk the path of an evangelist who preached the gospel to the end. Just like his brother Aaron, who was good at speaking, was supporting Moses by his side. This is hard work. And it's something that doesn't make sense.
Nevertheless, Luke continued to serve Paul. Such dedication is desperately needed in this age.
We must live as participants, not as spectators of faith. We must not forget that next to the great evangelist named Paul, there was a great co-worker like Luke who was by his side and supported him until the end.
3, Luke was faithful to the end.
But when do people change?
It changes when things are bad. You turn away when you feel you have nothing to gain from that person. This is characteristic of the human world. So betrayal is common in the world.
They gather when the other party is in power.
When the other person has money or popularity, he does not persistently fall even if he calls the torch to go away.
However, the principle of the world is to run away mercilessly when the power, wealth, or popularity of the other person falls. So a man like Demas followed Paul well, but when Emperor Nero caught him as the mastermind of an arson, he left Paul without any regrets. Looking at Demas, Paul confesses to Timothy alone.
Demas, because he loved this world, left me and went to Thessalonica,
As we know, Demas was a co-worker who helped Paul well.
It was enough to carry out the first and second missionary trips. He served even while in prison in Rome.
Even though Paul acknowledged Demas as my co-worker, he left.
Dear saints,
May you never betray Jesus Christ.
To betray Paul means to betray the Jesus Christ whom he serves. It is the greatest tragedy of life.
Luke testifies that he was always with Paul.
Col 4:14, Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you.
Mon 24 And Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers, greet you.
Verse 11, only Luke is with me.
Working with Paul at this time was very dangerous.
The reason was that the emperor Nero was under suspicion of being the one who set fire to Rome.
So, Emperor Nero arrested the leader Paul and sent him to Rome to claim that all these things were done by Christians. So Paul had no hope.
Now I knew I was going to be martyred. Because of this circumstance, Demas, Nuchiquite, abandoned Paul and fled to his hometown Thessalonica.
Paul was in a very lonely situation.
There must have been a lot of medical help.
Even though he was the teacher Paul, who was now facing death, he was only afraid.
Because sparks can even bounce on you.
Nevertheless, Luke still cared for Paul with all his heart. It cannot be a beautiful loyalty. I hope you can imitate this loyalty.
It is said that a British newspaper has put a bounty on it and solicited justice for it. Numerous people have submitted definitions of friends,
Among them, the winning
“A friend is someone who comes to you after the whole world has turned its back on you.”
(A Friend is the one who comes in when the whole world has gone out)
It's so touching my heart.
Dear saints,
We must be like whoever we are with the Lord.
It is because our Lord also took up the cross for us to the end even though we all turned our backs on it. Because He died on the cross for me in solitude, we have eternal life. We must always keep this grace and become people of faith who never turn back for the Lord. Who he is, what a wonderful life.
Dear saints,
This is a world full of treachery and deceit.
It is a world that does not choose any means and methods for small, visible interests. In this world, we should be able to imitate our great predecessor Luke. Many spiritual juniors are still rising due to the dedication of Luke, who risked his life for Paul, the teacher who risked his life for the Lord. In this age, we pray in the name of the Lord that you will be walking the path of loyalty that Luke walked.