Title Before Winter Comes (2 Timothy 4:21)
Contents
It is called spring because it 'sees flowers' and summer is called summer because flowers bear fruit. The word “winter” was born from the fact that autumn is harvesting (falling) the grains that have yielded fruit, and winter is when you finish farming and stay in the house (winter). Last Tuesday the 7th was Ipdong. Winter, which seemed unlikely to come this year due to the long heat, has come without fail. Now it's only a matter of time before winter deepens.
Every year, I have been preaching the sermon under the title of "Before Winter Comes" with this text around the time of 20,000 in the church. I am giving this sermon at this time to prepare for the deepening of winter. God is also a God who prepares. Therefore, we too must become his people who always live in preparation. The God who sought Abraham was the God of "Jehovah Jireh." The Lord has said that He will prepare a place for us. “I am going to prepare a place for you; if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, you may be also” (John 14:2-3).
The word winter appears only about 10 times in the Old and New Testaments. Among them, today's text is the apostle Paul's message to Timothy, the son of faith, to come to his face as soon as possible before winter comes. When winter came, Paul and Timothy's meeting could never be easy, so he sent a letter asking him to come quickly before winter.
1. Winter comes to everyone.
The coming of winter is a natural law ordained by God. Genesis 8:22 "As long as the earth endures, planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease." Winter is by no means unfamiliar. Therefore, it is necessary to be a wise person who prepares for winter in advance before winter comes. Christians must learn to nourish their souls before the winter of life comes.
Proverbs 6:6-11 "Go to the ant, you lazy, and see what it does, and be wise. The ant has no commander, no servant, no ruler, but prepares its food in summer, and gathers food at harvest. When will you be awake and wake up? Sleep a little longer, sleep a little longer, put your hands together and lie down a little longer, and your poverty will come like a robber, and your poverty like a soldier." It is said that the ants have no commander, no staff, and no sovereign, but prepare food and food in summer and autumn respectively. So it is a wise insect. There are a lot of people who don't do it, and even though there is no one to order and no one to supervise, the ants prepare themselves for winter.
2. A person who prepares is a wise person.
In a world that works correctly, you will never succeed if you are not prepared. You can do it in moderation in a chaotic world, but today's world is not the same as it used to be. In such an accurate world that does not allow even an inch of error, we are living now, and the world will be even more so in the future. God's providence is correct. Therefore, we must prepare and live. Hebrews 11:7 says, “By faith Noah, being warned of things not yet seen, with reverence prepared an ark to the salvation of his house, by which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.”
1 Kings 20:22 "The prophet came to the king of Israel and said, "Go, strengthen your strength, know what you are going to do, and prepare yourself. When the sun comes back, the king of Syria will come against you." There is an article in 1 Kings 20 about a great victory.
In "Multiple City," the movie about a cloned human, the main man's lifelong dream was to sail the world on a frozen white yacht. After letting the clone do the work for him, he finally rents a yacht. The yacht was owned by a couple. Acting with envy, I finally went out with them to the blue sea of my dreams. However, less than 30 minutes after starting the voyage, he makes him dream far away from the ship. At the end of the voyage, he was almost dead. What I wanted to do for the rest of my life was actually only causing motion sickness.
If you are not prepared, chances are rather sadness, pain, and suffering. If you are not prepared, you will not be able to enjoy the opportunity in ecstasy when it comes.
3. The End of the Unprepared
One of Jesus' parables is the parable of the ten virgins. This parable shows the end of the unprepared. Those who had been prepared went to the wedding feast together, and the door was shut. And to those who were not prepared, he said, "I never knew you."
We live our life of faith, believing that God will remember us even though this name is small. But, how sad it would be to say, "I don't know you. I don't remember you."
The Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 9:2 and below, “I boasted to the Macedonians that I had prepared for you a year ago in Achaia, and indeed your zeal has stirred up many people. We do not want our boasting to be in vain, but so that we may prepare as I have said. If the Macedonians come with me and see that you are not prepared, I fear that we will be put to shame for our faith, let alone you. If you are not prepared, you will be ashamed.
It is said that there is a slogan that is shouted when modern people who are a little older these days gather to raise the atmosphere. The slogan is "99" "88" "1234". It means- Let's live happily until the age of ninety-nine. And after a day or two of being sick, the third day he died. That means. Everyone, you should remember that even if you live well until you are 99 years old, you can be ashamed rather than proud of yourself if you are not prepared.
There is a time to live. Whenever we meet that time, only those who prepare, the society that prepares, and the church that prepares can be used by God. We ask that you prepare thoroughly for winter before winter deepens.