Title The Whip for Evangelism: Use of Misfortune
4 As the scattered people went around preaching the word of the gospel, 5 Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to the people. And the unclean spirits went out with a loud cry, and many paralytics and lame people were healed, 8 and there was great joy in the city.
1. Words that begin
What you take for granted is, in fact, very frustrating when it doesn't. Because the Jerusalem church suffered great persecution from its own people, all members of the church, except the apostles, fled to all lands in Judea and Samaria. As there are many churches today, and many members, even if some of the members are persecuted or martyred, it is not a big deal if the religious world is not greatly impacted. However, at that time, while praying together in Mark's upper room, he experienced the Holy Spirit, and as a result, the New Testament church was created with only about 120 members. Even if the church had a dazzling revival because it was an event after a while, it would not have exceeded a few hundred people.
Therefore, since we have a small number of members and evangelism is urgent, God saves even the dead members of the church, strengthens the faith of those with weak faith, even forcibly, heals the sick, and makes the members prosper. You are bound to think that He will bring forth the fruit of evangelism abundantly.
2. God's Providence in Persecution
Among the church members who were subjected to unexpected and terrible persecution, they said, “Hey, does God exist or does not exist? How do you keep your faith in this desperate situation? What is the Lord doing?” There must have been some who were scattered all over the place to escape persecution. Others may have given up their faith because of persecution, unresolved painful problems, and economic hardship caused by bullying from society.
Mother Teresa, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in December 1979 for her dedication to the poor in Kolkata, India since 1948, was blessed with devout piety in 2003 by the Holy See by the Holy See. “Jesus Christ is everywhere, in our hearts, in the poor we meet, in the laughter we exchange,” Mother Teresa said during the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony.
However, Mother Teresa herself suffered a crisis of faith for 50 years from 1948 to 1997, at one time doubted the existence of God itself, felt the pain of hell, was not sure of heaven, and suffered a lot of soul. He also confessed that there was darkness and loneliness. Even three months before he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, in a letter to Father Michael van der Pete, the confessor, “Jesus loves you especially. But for me, silence and emptiness are so great that I try to see (Jesus) but I cannot see, I try to hear but I cannot hear. I try to pray, but my tongue doesn’t move, so I can’t speak.”
This is from the book “Sister Teresa: Be My Light”, published in Time magazine on September 3, 2007. The author of this book is Father Brian Kolodiejchuk, a high-ranking clergyman of the Mission of Love, founded by Mother Teresa, who is collecting data to help her rise to the ranks of saints.
In the case of Mother Teresa, she tried too hard to give relief, and it can be seen that she had a problem with her inner relationship with the Lord God, which was more important. There is only a difference in degree, and there is no believer without skepticism.
Are there times when we too are troubled with doubts about God's existence, about God's power, or about God's providence because of persecution or unexplained suffering? What we need to know then is that God cannot be ignorant of our common-sense judgment and our natural thinking. There is room here where we must reserve our thoughts and judgments. The reason for this is that God is far greater than us humans, and he loved us so much that he gave his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, as a ransom.
Then, what is the will of God for allowing the Jerusalem church to suffer persecution? The Jerusalem church members thought, 'Because Jesus is going to return soon, it is urgent and important not to evangelize, but to keep our faith and be taken to heaven at the second coming. Those members of the church had little interest in the apostles' teachings or the purpose of Jesus' coming. All their concern was to fulfill their selfish desires to be raptured by the Second Coming Lord and to go to glory and heaven. Because of that, God allowed them to suffer great persecution and left the church to become a disaster.
However, the surprising fact is that the church members who fled because of persecution did not just run away, but spread the word of the gospel everywhere. The gospel, which had stayed in one place in Jerusalem, spread throughout the Gentiles through the believers who fled because of persecution. Here is the providence of God. Through persecution and through the weak, God has made the power of the great gospel known to all sides. The apostle Paul, who is also the greatest missionary, said in Romans 8:28, “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose.”
People of our faith must be able to read God's providence in their own misery or persecution due to their faith.
After a long quarrel, my wife screamed. “I would have been better off marrying the devil than marrying you.” Then my husband said. “It doesn’t work. It’s incest.”
Although the husband is one of a kind, this unfortunate couple must also read the providence of God. If we can read God's providence, then misfortune is not misery, and persecution is not persecution. Rather, misfortune becomes blessing, and persecution turns into God's glorious work. God makes good the outcome of everything we do in the Lord Jesus. But only if you can love God unconditionally.
There is God's breath and hand in everything in this world. There can be no success or failure, victory or defeat, and rise or fall without God's will. For those who realize this fact, there can be no failure, defeat, or destruction. For him, failure is a stepping stone to success, defeat is a stepping stone to victory, and failure is just a stepping stone to prosperity.
If human beings have failures and defeats, they label themselves as failures and losers. There is no one who succeeds and does not have the experience of failure, and there is no one who does not have the experience of victory and defeat. The church members who ran away for fear of persecution were obviously cowards. However, those members have turned into evangelicals. God has transformed them into great gospel warriors. Everyone, please take advantage of your misfortunes as people who believe in the Lord God.
A good example is Philip, who fled because of persecution. God sent him to Samaria. At that time, Jews hated and hated their fellow Samaritans more than Gentiles. The reason is that when the northern kingdom of Israel fell, the Samaritans broke the law, married Gentiles, followed the customs of the Gentiles, and worshiped the idols of the Gentiles. Because of such recklessness, the Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans at all.
But God had Philip preach the gospel to the Samaritans. Philip preached the gospel, and many people heard it, believed and followed the gospel. God's power through Philip raised the lame and paralytic, and cast out demons that clinged to people and prevented them from living their normal lives. As a result, there was great joy in the land of Samaria. Those who believe in Jesus Christ are those who bring joy to others. Because of me as a member of the church, there should be joy at home and great joy at work. Because I live by the power, wisdom, and love of the Lord, the unfortunate should be able to rejoice.
A member or church that seeks only their own joy, self-pleasure, and self-interest is neither a true member nor a true church. It is just an obstacle to evangelism.
3. Conclusion
Do we have any misfortune? Does persecution follow in our religious life? We should all be able to see the breath of God's love and the hand of God's power in it. God creates good results by combining all of us who love Him consistently. Give ourselves completely to God. If we do that, God allows us to experience the transgression and also gives others the joy of salvation and eternal life through us.
(Pungseong Methodist Church. Book: Complete New Testament Commentary Series/ Interpretation of difficult scriptures/ Prosperous prayer/ Salvation Before Jesus Came/ Salvation Before Jesus Came/ Understanding Paul’s Humanity/ Sermonbook 18. 426-3051)