Title: Unshakable Faith / Matthew 11:1-6
Contents
Introduction,
Korea's economy, which had been enjoying remarkable growth with the interest and envy of people around the world for a while, fell into a crisis of national bankruptcy.
Now, a lot of people have recovered through the efforts of the people, but the reality is that they are still suffering from many aftereffects.
In this reality, people know how to think, “Can we not live without this economic downturn?”
The same is true of the religious life.
How great would it be if you could live your life of faith with unwavering faith?
However, it is a concern of all of us that even when our faith is growing well, conflicts, doubts, and shakes occur.
So when does faith stagnate? And how do we overcome the stagnation of faith?
We can find the answer by looking at the case of John the Baptist in the text.
Ⅰ. When we suffer, our faith is shaken.
1) John the Baptist knew Jesus better than anyone else and proved to people that Jesus is the Son of God and Savior. But John suffers.
① King Herod was hated for taking the wife of his brother Philip and rebuking him for taking his wife, and he was put in prison.
2) John the Baptist is a man who has lived by burning his life for God.
① He was a man who rejected good circumstances and suffered in the wilderness, and cried out so that the people of Israel would repent and return to God.
②When Jesus appeared, he humbly confessed that he had no qualifications as a servant and only testified of Jesus.
③ And he is the one who pointed out the sins of King Herod with the heart of Jesus.
④ However, as a result, John was imprisoned.
1) We, too, often experience our faith shaken when we suffer.
① I come out on Sunday evenings to try and live a life of faith, I pray every day, I try to do well in my life of giving in a difficult environment, and I try harder than others to live righteously and evangelize.
② Life does not get better, and there are many cases where problems cannot be solved.
③ It would be more tolerable if it was as it is, but the problem is that it becomes more difficult than before.
④ Irritability increases, business goes bankrupt, the body becomes weaker and sicker.
2) Dear saints, do not be discouraged. John the Baptist was even more difficult.
① Therefore, the more difficult it is, the more I hope you will seek the Lord. John also sought the Lord.
② He sent his disciples to Jesus to hear the word of the Lord and to have strong faith again.
3) Please don't get discouraged and give up asking, "Why does my faith shake even if I have a little difficulty?"
① There were times when even people of great faith were shaken.
②This was the case with John in the text, and the great prophet Elijah also had a period of stagnation.
③ As God supported John and Elijah, I hope that you and I will also be able to sustain you and become believers who depend on the Lord as the difficulty increases.
II. Our faith is shaken by a misunderstanding of Jesus.
1) The society at the time of Jesus was a mass of sin.
① The poor are turned away
② Soldiers use violence to exploit wealth
③ Tax office employees fill their pockets by collecting taxes illegally.
④Religious leaders were plausible only in their words, and their conduct was selfish, self-righteous, and decadent.
⑤The moral corruption of political leaders has reached its peak.
2) At this time, the Savior Jesus came. But Jesus does not punish the wicked.
① In John's view, what Jesus has to do now is to restore order and just judgment against the wicked, but Jesus does not do that.
② This was the reason for John the Baptist's second conflict.
③ If Jesus is the true Messiah, he must immediately destroy the sins of the world, but it seems that he tolerates them.
1) Even today, there are people whose faith is shaken because of conflict like John. If God truly lives,
① Can you leave the world full of sins and contradictions?
② Can you let the people who are good-natured people put their strength on their shoulders by committing illegality and evasion?
③ On the other hand, do you just let the sincere and sincere people suffer and suffer from the unrighteous?
④Why do you turn away from the painful reality of a wonderful young pastor who suddenly died in a car accident and his wife and children are terrified because they have nowhere to go?
⑤ Even some people say that they will believe only when God grants them what they want.
※Dear brothers and sisters, if we know about Jesus incorrectly, we will have false expectations, and when those false expectations are broken, our faith will be shaken.
2) John the Baptist also sent his disciples to Jesus when his expectations were broken.
① Are you really the Messiah we are waiting for? Or do I have to wait for someone else?
② At that time, Jesus said, “Go and tell John what you hear and see, that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor are preached” (4-5) did the
③ This is a quotation about the Messiah prophesied by the prophets of the Old Testament, and what Jesus is doing now is not wrong.
3) Then why are you preaching the gospel without judging right away?
① First, because only the gospel can change this society.
㉮ The sins of this world cannot be replaced by force or law.
㉯People have enacted many laws, but the evil in this world has not diminished at all.
㉰The number of good police officers and prosecutors is increasing, but the number of criminals is increasing.
㉱Only the gospel of life can change people's hearts.
② Second, the Lord does not judge us right away because He loves us.
㉮Of course, you will be judged in the end, but the gospel was preached to save even one more soul.
㉯The Bible introduces the heart of God like this.
“The promise of the Lord is not slow, as some consider slowness, but is patient with you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to repent” (2 Peter 3:9).
Dear brothers and sisters, please do not misunderstand.
① The true power to get rid of and change the sins of this world is in the gospel.
② It is not because God is indifferent or irresponsible that the Lord does not immediately judge sinners.
③ Please remember that it is because of the love of God who loves sinners infinitely.
conclusion,
Satan keeps trying to shake us up. We try to shake when we are suffering.
When we do not know rightly about Jesus and the truth, our faith is shaken.
However, in such a case, I hope that you will become a person of faith who will continue to move forward by relying on the Lord and drawing closer to Him.