Title: Will You Laugh or Cry?
2013. 11. 17 Sunday morning worship service
Bible: James 4:7-10
Title: Will you laugh or cry?
These days, people often use the philosophy of laughter to say and try to do so with the belief that 'You don't laugh because you're happy, but you become happy with laughter' How should we assume that sinners become happy without any basis?
In the Old and New Testaments, if we compare people laughing and crying, what is the reason why people are 10 times more sad and crying than laughing and joyful? Did Jesus ever laugh? There is not even once, and the word weeping appears three times (Luke 19:41, John 11:35, Hebrews 5:7). Why does the Bible have so many sorrows and weeping? Why is there more crying than laughing in the Bible? Because if you really want to be happy, there is another way.
1. Life is a sin, so you can't be a person to laugh at fundamentally
It is terrifying to see a person who has committed a socially terrifying crime grinning and smiling. Emotionally, it appears that a person is not a person. In God's eyes, all human beings are sinners worthy of death. But are we worthy of smirking?
Text, James 4:7-8 ‘7. Therefore submit yourselves to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and sanctify your hearts, you double-minded.”
This word refers to the existence of life that the world does not know, but the sin that started from original sin continues under the control of the devil. In such a situation, laughter is not something that can be resolved.
2. If you truly seek happiness, you must weep for the soul
We humans have times when we are happy and times when we are sad. The question is, does it make you happy if you just laugh like that? Often times, I try to believe the psychological effects of 'I don't laugh because I'm happy, but I become happy with laughter', but it's momentary.
Ecclesiastes 7:14 “Rejoice in the days of prosperity, and look back in the days of trouble, for God has put these two things together, so that no man can fathom and do not know what is to come.”
So, from God's will, trying to be consistent with a smiling life is not the right way for the saints. Proverbs 14:13 “Even when they laugh, there is sorrow in their heart, and at the end of their joy there is sorrow.” New Translation (There is a time to laughter, and a time to be sad, and a time to be sad at the end.)
So I said the evangelist. Ecclesiastes 7:4 “The heart of the wise is in the house of portraits, but the heart of the fool is in the house of marriage.”
The conclusion of the text is as follows. Text James 4:9-10 ‘9. Mourn and mourn and weep; turn your laughter into mourning, and your joy into sorrow 10. Be humble before the Lord, and the Lord will exalt you.”
You can hear that some people who were called laughter evangelists just because they spread happiness through laughter have even committed suicide, and comedians seem to be always happy, but they are never.
Ephesians 4:24 “Put on the new man, which after God was created in righteousness and holiness of truth.” The saints are the new man. So the happiness is different and the way to get drunk is different. It is impossible for a savior to become one's heart to be happy with a smile
The prophet Jeremiah could not sleep and wept (Lamentations 1:1-2) in a broken state after Judah was destroyed and the world was dependent on Egypt. Today's church society is in a bad state, and it is a big mistake to say that the church is preaching in this way every day. It is wrong to expect psychological effects that even the world cannot be held responsible for.
In the past, the church was mistaken for a portrait book. The tragedy today is that the saints have no tears. Now is the time when we need to turn away from the joys and joys of the world, repent, and take a humble attitude toward ourselves. Therefore, I hope that you and I will receive the peace of the Lord again.