Title [An Opportunity to Give Again]
Contents
[Opportunity to be given again] Isaiah 10:20-27 2007.05.27. Sunday worship service
1) Opportunities are explained in advance as “the most appropriate time or occasion to do something, or a time or a spare time”. When you get a chance, you mean that you have a chance to succeed at it. It is good news to have an opportunity when you have failed at something or are in the midst of discouragement and despair. God is the One who gives us back the chance, the opportunity.
Today's Bible book of Isaiah tells us that God treats us with this kind of grace, so we must return to the presence of the Lord, who is calling a remnant to spare us to give us a chance.
2) What happened in the days of Isaiah? Isaiah received a prophecy that the Israelites would be completely destroyed and destroyed by the coming invasion of the nation called Babylon, and the people would be taken into slavery. What an absurd and terrifying prophecy. He weeps and prays to God. No, how do the people of the kingdom of God become like this? God, is this punishment irreversible? Then God answers Isaiah with this prophecy. Israel cannot escape the chastisement of the LORD because of their sins, but I, the LORD, God, will endure the most affliction and leave a remnant for my salvation. I will leave those who trust in the Lord in the most difficult times, and they will overcome all things and become the remnant, and they will have the opportunity to give me back, the opportunity to save.
3) Today, we are comforted by this God's [remnant] word. Therefore, the remnant is a person who overcomes God's circumstances of suffering and receives the opportunity that God saves.
1. God is long-suffering and gives us a chance.
1) Our God is Almighty God. His omnipotence lies in his steadfastness in his heart. As the book of Numbers says that God has no regrets because He is not a Son of Man, once a decision is made, it is fulfilled. And God is unchanging. The same is true of the intention to bless and save us. God has told us that I will surely bless you and bless you, and I will multiply you and multiply you, and he accomplishes it. This is Hebrews 6:14.
2) We confess that God is a long-suffering God faithful to his promises. Even when we, who are sinners, disobey him, God endures and accomplishes His will. Just as our Jesus taught his disciples to forgive seventy seven times, so forgive the same things infinitely, so the character of God is patience. So we know that God's blessing also begins with his perseverance. Those who rebel against themselves in this world, those who rebelled against and betrayed Jesus who came into the world to redeem themselves, even if you think you want to wipe them out completely, but He endures for a long time and leaves them as the people of salvation again.
3) The opportunity God gives begins with patience. If we can endure once more like God's patience, we will enter the place of grace. Just as Joseph obtained that blessing through perseverance, just as Daniel obtained his honor through the trials of suffering, if we pass through God's patience, we will receive the blessing of the remnant of God.
2. Through the remnant, that is, those who persevere, God creates works.
1) As a remnant, the people of God's blessing are made with patience, just like God's patience.
It is another opportunity given to those who remain who have turned to the Lord through repentance. We return to the Lord through faith and repentance. God has said that our return to God is like a man who has been debauched for many years, turning from that road to his father's house. When he is still on the road without turning back, he is always prodigal like a pig, but when he turns around, he becomes the son of a rich father. And the father gives the son a chance to turn and waits.
2) Another opportunity given is God's forgiveness like this. A woman caught at the scene of adultery, he sees death blocking the alley of life from which he cannot escape. Then the Lord asks this woman. Where have all those who condemned you gone? No one. What the Lord said then, I do not condemn you. Go and sin no more. With these words, the Lord gave the woman an opportunity to raise her from the dead. The merciful Lord is the one who gives us the same opportunity if we come to Him. Let's look to the Lord.
3) The Lord gives us the opportunity to live again. Christianity is about gaining life from death. Romans 6:23 says, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” As the saying goes, we are people who seize the opportunity to live again, that is, eternal life. For Jacob, it was a life of death until the Jabbok River. His brother Esau, the enemy, draws a sword and comes to kill him. No matter how much money he earns, how rich he gets, and how successful his children are, in the end, if he crosses this river, isn't he dead? However, Jacob had the opportunity to be raised by God at the Jabbok River. As Esau's wrath was allayed, and his brother's neck with reconciliation, and Esau withdrew his sword, death was a turning point for Jacob and an opportunity to live again. Like Jacob's Peniel, we believe that when we look to God and rely on Him, the river of death will turn into a river of grace that will live again. God gives us that opportunity.
4) The opportunity that God gives us again is an opportunity to be reconciled to God and to become one in God with those who were enemies. To become one with God is to receive the grace of salvation and be embraced by God. Just as Jacob and Esau hugged each other's necks after Peniel and became one, just as the returning prodigal son and the father who waited for him became one and embraced, it is the joy of being one. Imagine that we are one with Christ the Lord.
5) The Lord found Zacchaeus, who was being bullied as a sinner in the world. Zacchaeus made some money, but failed to be recognized by those who mattered more than money. Not everyone considers him to be a man of evil Rome's minions. How painful, tormented, and lonely was it? The Lord came to him, Zacchaeus, come down. Today I have to stay one day at your house. And the Lord gave him a chance. Entering his house, the Lord greeted him at a table, and said that today salvation has come to Zacchaeus' house. Just like the grace of the Lord who came into one house, ate and drank together, and became one, we have the opportunity to become one with the Lord and his body and community.
6) God gives those who were separated as enemies an opportunity to face each other again as one. The word community means that the two become one. The family community where husband and wife become husband and wife, the community of faith living in the same church, and the community of brothers of the Lord form one body with each other.
Newlyweds who have recently been married often file for early divorce. So, the family court gives these couples a deliberation period to think again and consider. Then, 65% of those who applied for divorce canceled the application during this deliberation period and restored their family. This meditation period was an opportunity for them to reconsider themselves. Guys, God gives us a chance. And he gives us an opportunity to contemplate and consider so that we, who are one with God, may become one with a spiritually united person. From our homes to our families, or from our community churches to children of God, we gain opportunities through perseverance.
3. To get the opportunity God gives you again
(First) We must have hope toward God who always gives us opportunities. God is there to help us. Isn't God's helping hand called Ebenezer? Immanuel means that God has helped us so far and will be with us in the future as well. This is the name of God that Ebenezer and Immanuel God taught us.
(Next) We should not be discouraged by anything. Because it is God's good work of giving us opportunities in the end even through our failures and hardships. Come to me when you fail, and look, what are you doing? give up now It is the voice of the devil. As God did with Job, God tells us not to be discouraged, not discouraged, and trust in the strength of the Lord.
No to the prodigal son who wants to go home, the door is already closed and there is no one to greet you. When you go back, you will be even more miserable. This voice is the voice of the devil. But the Holy Spirit says to rise and go to the Father.
(Thirdly) Now, under no circumstances should we go back to the past. We are people who have already started and have walked the path of nature for a long time. The way back is harder than the way forward. The road ahead is not long. That's why the Apostle Paul said, "It is said that we forget what is behind and go toward the goal ahead. A fool is a person who abandons his faith and returns to the world. They are the ones who forsake the opportunity the Lord gives them again.
Conclusion.
1) Who are the [remnants] of Jehovah's grace? These are people who truly depend on Jehovah and turn to God. Even though his people are like the sand of the sea, only the remnant whom God gives opportunity will return. Are we those who trust in the Lord?
2) Opportunity literally means a determination to receive God's grace positively. Let's have a positive faith that believes and works. Then we believe that we will receive the blessings and opportunities of those whom God has left behind.
3) I pray that God's grace will come abundantly to our members as the blessing of caring for the rest.