Title: With the Lord
Contents
Matthew 28:20 With the Lord
A big British company put out a big advertisement in the newspaper. The question was about the fastest way to get back and forth from London, the capital, to Edinburgh, Scotland. A lot of people applied because it was such a big prize. Some replied that the plane would be the fastest. One person suggested that taking the high-speed train to a certain point and then changing to a taxi could save a little more time.
Another person argued that the fastest way to get there is to take a car at dawn and go to this or that shortcut. In any case, people suggested their own methods and argued that their methods were the fastest. However, as a result, the answer of the person who won the first prize was unusual. It was an entirely different answer. His answer was: “You can come and go with the person you love.”
That's right. Because when you are with the person you love, you always feel close, no matter how far away. The same is true from a spiritual standpoint. No matter how long and rough the road we have to go, if we are with Jesus, we will be able to walk that road with joy and joy.
There is a Korean pianist named Professor Seo Hye-kyung. He is one of the world's three greatest pianists by Carnegie Hall in the United States. As such, she is a world-renowned pianist. However, he left for the United States to study at a young age. It is said that she cried a lot because of the loneliness that came from the unfamiliar and cold land.
Such was the driving force behind her overcoming all adversity and successfully completing her study abroad life. It was her mother's phone call once a week. His mother always asked the same question. "Son, are you studying hard? Are you eating on time? How is your health?"
Her mother never asked her daughter these questions. Every afternoon, every afternoon, her mother would call her beloved daughter and ask these questions. "Son, did you go to church today and worship God well?"
Her mother wanted her beloved daughter to live by faith. So, I always called and asked if my daughter had gone to church or if she had worshiped God well. Because of this, Hyekyung Seo was able to keep her faith firmly while attending church every Sunday and worshiping God without missing a single point during her study abroad life.
And she was able to overcome all adversity and successfully complete her study abroad life with the belief that Jesus is always with her whenever it is difficult and difficult. That's right. With Jesus, we can overcome all the storms in the world. With Jesus, we can live a life of victory every day, anywhere, anytime.
Missionary Livingston preached the word of God for 16 years in a frightening Africa teeming with cannibals. This is the first time he has returned to London to report on his mission in 16 years. Many people were surprised to hear this precious story, a young man asked. "How was the missionary able to preach the word of God in that dreadful place?"
Then Livingston did not hesitate to memorize two of his favorite Bible verses. “I will not leave you orphans” (John 14:18), “Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20). He confessed that he could win anywhere.
I hope that the confession of Missionary Livingston like this will be yours and me. Many people say that Canada is a good country to live in. But here in Canada, it's not just angels. It's a world of sinners. Sinners from Africa, sinners from Arabs, sinners from South America, sinners from Asia, and especially sinners from Korea, sinners from all over the world, live in a tangled mess.
And here in Canada, there is always the devil who wants to steal, kill, and destroy us. Therefore, the situation here is not satisfactory. But don't forget. Here, too, the Lord is with us. Even if you and your spirits are blinded from seeing the Lord with me, don't forget that the Lord is with me, even for a moment.
There was a middle-aged couple in America. However, my wife's eyesight was so bad that I had to have eye surgery. However, the operation went wrong and he became blind at the age of 34. After that, the husband drove his wife to work every day and drove her home after the day's work.
But one day, the husband suddenly told his wife to go to work alone because the jobs were too expensive for each other. At this, the wife was very upset with her husband, and she even felt betrayed by her beloved husband for saying such a thing. And after making the decision to live with my teeth clenched, I started going to work alone from the next day.
While riding the bus with a cane, I fell a lot and started to train alone while crying. And, after two years of getting used to it, a bus driver said to this wife one day. "Your wife has a lot of hallways, because every day her husband sits on the bus with him, watches her as she enters the office building, and gives her invisible encouragement by waving her hand behind her back."
Upon hearing this, the woman stopped crying. Ladies and gentlemen, doesn't this image of a husband watching his wife remind us of the Lord who watches over us all the time? The husband was always by his side and accompanied his wife, but the wife was blind and could not see. Maybe we too are spiritually blind, so we cannot hear God's voice and we cannot feel Him?
But keep in mind. God is with us. Never fear, despair, or become discouraged just because we cannot feel the Lord now. What we see with our physical eyes is not everything. Please think of the Lord who always watches over me with the eyes of love, even if we cannot see it.
Gentlemen, the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew is Immanuel. Immanuel means "God is with us." That is, God is with us.” Matthew 1 records the birth of Jesus, who is Emmanuel, and the last chapter of Matthew 28 also says, “Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.” As you said, we are ending with the God of Immanuel.
And in Matthew 18:20, the middle part of the Gospel, there are these words: “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” That is, the Gospel of Matthew tells us that Jesus will not change and will be with us to the end.
Ladies and gentlemen, when we are in trials, in conflicts, in sickness, when our business goes bankrupt and we are in trouble, no matter what troubles we are in, no matter what we are in a situation where we are in frustration and disappointment, our Lord Please believe in this promise to always be with us.
The Gospel of Matthew is full of the events of Immanuel. Our Lord dwelt with them to heal the sick, and He dwelt with them to set them free. He also dwelt with the poor to bless them, and he dwelt with them to take away the anxieties of the troubled and anxious. And above all else, he even heard the nickname 'the friend of sinners' because he lived with sinners to find and save the lost. And because He is still alive, He is with us in the field of our lives at this time.
Gentlemen, what is the greatest and most essential blessing that humans can receive from God? The Bible tells us that blessing. What God does with me, that is, the blessing of Immanuel, is the most essential and greatest blessing. I pray in the name of the Lord that this greatest blessing may be with you and me.
There was a nursing home founded by Queen Victoria of England. There were old people who had no other to rely on. Once, a man visited the nursing home and asked the elderly who built the nursing home. The old men replied that it was built by Queen Victoria. Then, when a visitor asked if the Queen had ever visited this nursing home, the elderly replied that they did occasionally.
Again, the visitor asks, "Then, did Jesus, the King of kings, come here?" When asked, an old man said, "No, why is Jesus here? Jesus didn't come, He was here from the beginning." That's right. Folks, Jesus has been with us from the beginning. He is with us in our lives and is with us to the end of the world.
We are not afraid because the Lord is with us. Because the Lord is with us, we can live with courage even in this foreign land. The Bible says “I will always be with you until the end of the world.” "Do not be afraid, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed. For I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you, yea, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand" (Isaiah 41:10).
I would like to finish today's sermon with one more illustration. It happened when a man named Ziegler in the United States held a family worship service. Ziegler told the family: “Children, there was a general Goliath of 6 ships. He called for war to come into Israel. The Israelites were so afraid that they hid behind trees, in forests, and in caves. When Israel was burning like a lamp in the wind 17 David, a young boy who is only a few years old and has only downy hair, and does not need a razor, went out to fight bravely.
When the story continued up to this point, my son suddenly stopped the sermon and said: "Dad, it's not David that's brave, it's Goliath that's brave." Ziegler asked curiously. "Son, David is brave, and why is Goliath brave?"
Then the son said. “Dad, no matter how small the boy David is, God is with him, so it is natural for him to go out and fight bravely. However, Goliath, no matter how big he is, God is not with him, so how brave is he to fight only by believing in himself?”
Father Ziegler then slapped his knee and said: "Oh, that's right! There are worldly brave people like Goliath who do not believe in God and live on their own, and there are really brave people like David who trust and depend on God no matter how weak and young they are!"
Everyone, I want to ask you. Where did your strong faith, your precious peace, and your blessed happiness come from? Is it from the worldly environment, from material things, from oneself, or from something human? Or is it because you are with God? If your faith, hope, and love come from being with God, you are truly a brave person. You are truly a happy person. I pray that this happiness with the Lord will always be with you and me in this foreign land and until the end of the world.