Title Are you with the Lord?
Contents
1. Words that begin
And in a few days it will be Christmas Eve. It is a holiday that celebrates the coming of the Lord Jesus to save mankind living without even knowing that sin, the road to destruction, is a sin. Even if we celebrate tens of millions of festivals during this holiday, it is meaningless if we do not bring Jesus into our hearts. Since when, Christmas has been reduced to a holiday rather than a holiday to enjoy communication without a protagonist, joy without a protagonist, and the pleasures of sin without a protagonist.
Among those who profess to believe in Jesus, there are those who respect Jesus as a saint worthy of imitation, there are those who believe that he is one of many, and there are those who believe that he is the only Savior. Believing in Jesus as the only Savior is not enough. Faith without works is itself dead. We must walk with our Savior Jesus every day until we enter the kingdom of heaven.
2. Parents who mistakenly thought they were walking with Jesus
Mary and her husband Joseph, who gave birth to Jesus, conceived by the Holy Spirit, went up to Jerusalem every year for the Passover.
The Passover is a festival of salvation that was kept from the early hours of the month of Nisan, that is, from April 14 to 15. In the morning of the 14th, they found and removed leaven in the house, and in the afternoon they slaughtered the sheep. This festival was followed by the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which lasted from the 15th to the 21st of the month. In folk custom, the two festivals were treated as the same festival, so it was commonly called the Passover. The Passover, which commemorates the Exodus, is one of the three major holidays, along with Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles, in which adult male Jewish men within 24 km of Jerusalem are obliged to attend Jerusalem.
The fact that Jesus' parents went to Jerusalem for the Passover every year means that Mary and Joseph were devout Jews who kept the Passover faithfully. Even when Jesus was 12 years old, he went up to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. The 12-year-old Jewish boy became a “son of the law” and had to keep the commandments of the law, such as fasting and feasting. There is also the opinion that he is thirteen.
When Mary and Joseph returned from the Passover period, 12-year-old Jesus stayed in Jerusalem. However, the parents did not know about it and thought that they were together. The Greek word for “accompanying” is shinodia (συνοδ??), which means 'object' (隊商), 'group of travelers'.
Pilgrims traveled in groups to prepare for the dangers of passing through the hostile lands of Samaria, to prevent damage from robbers, to give and receive assistance on long journeys, and to avoid boredom. The pilgrims were made up of relatives and acquaintances, or villagers or neighboring villages.
Mary would have thought that Jesus was going with Joseph, and Joseph would have thought that Jesus was going with Mary. Or, you may have thought that you were going with your relatives or acquaintances, or that you were going with the same age. Because of that thought, the parents went on a one-day trip without worrying about Jesus.
Even today, we think that we are going through life together with the Lord Jesus, but in reality, we do not know how many people lose the Lord Jesus. Church members and ministers who insist on their own will rather than the will of the Lord Jesus, seek their own glory, not the glory of the Lord Jesus, and live their lives according to their own standards, not the Lord Jesus, have actually lost the Lord Jesus.
I can't tell you how grateful I was to walk with the Lord after experiencing the grace of salvation and healing by believing in the Lord. What is the reason for praising the church members who have received the Lord's grace when they see the natural appearance of walking with the Lord? This is because, as you well know, there were not many people who experienced the grace of healing or blessings, and went to our church to greet them rather than walk with the Lord.
There are many church members, and some clergymen, who say that they have lost the Lord Jesus, but still think that they are walking with the Lord Jesus.
Recently, I dealt with the news that Mr. Han, who was the prime minister during the previous administration, was arrested and exercised his right to remain silent during the prosecution's interrogation while carrying a Bible over the issue of bribery of 50,000 dollars. If it is framed, it will be a huge blow to the current government, and if it is true, it is a crime of thinking that we are walking with the Lord even though we have lost the Lord. If you believe in the Lord and receive the grace of salvation, and if the members of the church who are seated in the work of the country do not follow God's word but follow the party's policy, then you are not walking with the Lord.
For the church, which should be the light and salt of a world that is crooked and rebellious, and where sin is rampant, for failing to walk with the Lord, all the clergy and members, including myself, must repent, pray, and seek the Lord. And we have to live in words and deeds that walk with the Lord. Isaiah 55:6 says to Israel, who is proud of being the chosen people, “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Come to our God, and he will forgive widely.”
Fortunately, after a day's journey, Mary and Joseph realized that Jesus had been lost, searched for Jesus among their relatives and acquaintances, and could not find them. As we go through life, there are times when we lose the Lord we need to accompany with, but we mistakenly think that we are walking with them. I hope that all of us realize that we have lost the Lord, spend our lives, seek the Lord, and meet Him.
Jesus, whom his parents found, sat among the teachers in the temple, listening to the word, and asking questions. Everyone who heard them marveled at the spiritual wisdom and answers of the boy Jesus. Astonished parents, especially Mary, said, "Child, why have you done this to us? Behold, your father and I have sought you with sorrow." Then Jesus said, "Why did you seek me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" However, the parents did not understand the words of Jesus. The parents spent their time searching for and meeting Jesus, but they have not yet achieved an inner spiritual meeting or inner spiritual fellowship. Anyway, the parents accompanied Jesus on their way home, and they received the filial piety of Jesus. Mary took to heart all the unusual words of Jesus.
3. Conclusion
All of us, of course, must return to the Word, not the early church, in order for the modern church to meet and walk with the Lord. We must return to the gospel of Christ more than ever. And we must live worthy of the gospel of Christ. All the words, including the gospel, where we meet with the Lord, are not heard with our physical ears, but with our spiritual ears. The best way to hear the Word of God, who is the Spirit, is to listen with your whole spirit, not your head and your heart. The word that we listened to with all our spirits works in us so that we can walk with the Lord.
(Poongseong Methodist Church. Book: Complete Commentary on 27 New Testament Books/ Interpretation of Difficult Scriptures I, II/ Salvation Before Jesus Came/Paul’s Understanding of Man/ Prosperous Prayer/ Seasonal Sermonbooks/ Sermonbook 18. T. 426 -3051)