Title: Those Who Overcame God (14)
Contents
2010, 3, 14 weeks. Those Who Overcame God (14)
Paul's Devotion to the Lord
(2 Timothy 4:6-8)
Hummingbirds are the smallest of all birds.
The smallest of these hummingbirds is 5 cm long and weighs about 1,8 g.
The hummingbird needs to flap its wings diligently to get nectar while still in the air. You should be flapping at most 80 times per second. It requires tremendous energy.
Ornithologist John Moulton says:
“If a person wants to have that kind of energy, he would eat 1,300 hamburgers a day.
The heart must beat 1,260 times per minute.
When you do that, your body temperature will eventually rise to 385 degrees and your body will burn.”
This ferocious bird has a short life span of only one year.
If you keep it, you can't live. In extreme situations where they are caught as prey, they cannot withstand the stress and die within seconds. They also do mysterious things.
Some American hummingbirds migrate 3,200 kilometers in search of flowers. Fly 800 km across the Gulf of Mexico in one flight. How can this energy-consuming little bird fly that far? Science has yet to find an answer.
There are people who have lived a life like this hummingbird.
That person is the Apostle Paul.
At this time, I want to receive grace together with those who have overcome God (14) under the title, “First,”.
1, Paul's life when he did not know Jesus
Paul was a disciple of Gamaliel, the greatest scholar of the law at the time.
Gamaliel means Iran, and he refers to Laban Gamaliel I, grandson of Rabbi Hillel. He was a great scribe of the Pharisees at that time.
He studied under that great scholar of the law, and he was a great intellectual at the time.
Most of Jesus' 12 disciples were from sailors, who were later included as apostles, but the inclusion of such a great intellectual was an amazing providence of God.
In Acts 7:54 and below, the scene of the martyrdom of Stephen the deacon is introduced.
While preaching the gospel to his fellow Jews, he cried out that at the moment of martyrdom, the heavens were opened and he saw the glorious figure of the Lord standing at the right hand of the throne. At that time, the persecutors shouted loudly, covered their ears with one heart, and ran up to him and stoned him.
In the meantime, they took off their clothes and put them at the feet of the young man who said (Acts 7:58). Furthermore, in Acts 7:60, it says that Saul deserved his death.
Is that all? When Saul heard that there were believers in Damascus in a foreign land, he was so zealous that he went to the high priest with a warrant to arrest them. When Paul did not know Jesus, he judged Jesus by the standard of knowledge that he had the law.
Judging by that knowledge, Jesus was not the Messiah.
We can see the futility of human shallow knowledge.
There is no absolute knowledge of the world. It keeps changing.
It is an age in which the truth of today is regarded as ordinary tomorrow.
We must realize this and be humble before God.
The knowledge we know, it cannot be absolute.
We need to be able to accept that it is variable.
Especially the spiritual part can be more serious.
2, The situation of meeting Jesus.
Stephen was a representative figure among the seven deacons of the Jerusalem church. He was used for something more special than an ordinary butler. He not only preached the gospel with power, but also caused wonders and miracles because God was with him.
Every time he delivered a message, a cloud-like crowd gathered.
These things were bound to be the object of envy and jealousy of your religious leaders, the Pharisees and Sadducees, the lawyers, and the priests.
Because it was gaining popularity with a huge crowd. Due to this simultaneous persecution, many of the church members in Jerusalem were scattered.
Acts 8:1, On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all but the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.
When the legalists saw this visible phenomenon, they were even more inspired and worked hard to get rid of those who believed in Jesus at the source. Saul, who was influenced by this atmosphere, also aimed his sword at Christians living abroad in earnest.
So, with a warrant from the high priest, he decided to go to Damascus and acted.
We must learn this zeal to act.
Saul became angry with the disciples of the Lord.
He was approaching Damascus.
Upon arrival in Damascus, anger against the Christians flared even more.
This is because the people who were chosen as God's chosen people, forsaking the law and following Jesus, considered it to mean that they had abandoned God.
But something amazing happened.
In Acts 9:3 and below, it is recorded that suddenly a light from heaven shone all around me. He said it was noon.
Noon is the time when the sun is the hottest.
Daylight in Israel is unimaginably hot.
The heat is great.
However, the light from God overwhelmed the light of the sun.
The light had power as well as brightness.
It is said that the strong typhoon that occurs with the strong light that flashes when the atomic bomb is dropped will quickly turn all buildings to ashes.
Again, the light of the Lord that shone on Paul was enough to conquer the tough Paul at once. Paul was torn apart by the power that came upon him with that bright light.
He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" And he answered, "Lord, who are you?
He said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.
Arise, go into the city, and someone will tell you what to do.
What he was to do, that is, what the Lord provided for Saul, Acts 9:15, This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.
Despite God's will, Saul didn't know the Lord, so he walked the wrong way and wasted way. If so, please remember that some of you are like this.
3, Paul's life after meeting Jesus
Acts 9:19- Saul immediately preached in each synagogue that Jesus was the Son of God.
People were startled.
Because he knew why Saul had come to Damascus.
Because they are doing something against the purpose of coming to Damascus.
However, in front of the fact that he was finally able to do the work pleasing to God, Saul more boldly proclaimed that Jesus was the Christ, that is, the anointed Messiah of God.
His evangelism brought the hardened Jews to their knees in Damascus.
We must learn an important fact here.
When Saul realized he was doing something wrong, he immediately turned around.
An immediate response to this truth, we must imitate this as well.
Because we know, but we often don't act on it.
After Paul discovered the truth on the road to Damascus, he ran for the truth without resting his whole life. We can commit for a certain period of time.
You can try and work hard for a certain limited period.
But staying focused for the rest of your life is not difficult.
But Paul was persistently focused on the gospel.
I have never looked anywhere else in my life.
The one thing the masters of art have in common is the fact that they walked a single path to the end. It is said that the same artist held the brush even when he died. It is said that he collapsed and died on the spot while painting. To do that, I think about how patiently I had to fight with myself.
When asked in a newspaper interview at the age of 95, "You are considered one of the greatest cellists of all time, why do you still practice for six hours a day?" he replied, "Because I still think I'm making progress little by little."
Such persistence is also required in the life of faith.
In a way, you must have more than the persistence required in the academic world in your life of faith. The reason is that the life of faith is a matter of eternity.
We must first set spiritual goals.
I will faithfully attend the Sunday worship service.
I will not miss the Wednesday service.
I will have a morning worship service.
I will obey the word of devotion.
If you have set this goal, I hope you will risk your life from now on.
No matter what trials or pains come your way, don't stop; persevere.
This is the secret to our spiritual victory.
Look at Paul. Paul was stoned to death while preaching the gospel in Iconium.
Acts 14:19 The Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and overpowered the crowds, stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. At this point, Paul actually died.
But the Lord saved me. At that time, Paul preached the gospel again.
We need to learn this passion and perseverance.
The Lord called Paul and told him a prophecy about him.
Acts 9:15, Said the Lord, This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.
I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.
Paul was not afraid of the Lord's prophecies about himself.
He faithfully preached the gospel to fulfill that prophecy.
The trials and persecutions he suffered because of the gospel were unimaginable. Nevertheless, he did not give up.
If you look at 2 Corinthians 11:23-27, below, we do not know how much trouble Paul had to walk in order to preach the gospel. Every day was painful and life-threatening.
It was a road full of hunger, thirst, and nakedness, even though it was ridiculed and ridiculed by people because of the gospel. It was a path that could not be pursued without giving up one's life toward the Lord.
Is that all?
Now Paul has been confiscated by Emperor Nero as an arsonist in Rome. After giving his life for the gospel, he is now imprisoned in prison to offer up to his last life as a sacrifice for martyrdom. Paul never ran away or gave up in the midst of so many hardships.
The reason is that he was convinced that what he was doing was the right thing to do and the way of truth.
As a result of such a life, I was able to sing the triumphal song of victory.
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith. From now on there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that day, and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearing. Nira.”
There is a reward for those who risk their lives to follow the Lord.
It is the greatest award, the most glorious award.
If there is one most honorable prize in this land, it would be the Nobel Prize.
However, the crown we will receive from the Lord in the future is an unprecedented award that is incomparable with the Nobel Prizes of this world.
The Nobel Prize is awarded only annually, but the crown is a glorious award given to all who devote themselves to the Lord. Believers should be able to put value here.
Paul, who risked his life for the Lord, confesses that the crown is ready.
If so, I pray in the name of the Lord that we too can receive the crown that God has prepared because we risk our lives for the Lord.