Sermon(Is 54:4-8): God who comforts you

The original Korean text: https://blog.naver.com/stevision/50025252055

 

 

 

Scripture reading: Is 54:4-8

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>>4 Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be put to shame; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. 5 For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and the Holy one of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called. 6 For the Lord has called you like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, like a wife of youth when she is cast off, says your God. 7 For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion I will gather you. 8 In overflowing wrath for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you, says the Lord, your Redeemer.<<

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A man can never break up with his child forever. There is no such system. Even if a son is so bad to his parents, the relationship of child and parents can't legally be canceled. However, husband and wife, when divorced, become strangers to each other. That's amazing. one who was closer to the other than the children now becomes one who has nothing to do with the other. Divorce is increasing in number and has become a social problem these days. The number of remarriages has also increased, and as a result, the youth are suffering greatly. The damage caused by the stepmother is not so severe, but sexual violence by the stepfather is often reported by the media. Even if you have to divorce, you must let your (ex-)husband raise your and his daughter. If you continue to raise your pretty daughter after divorce, your daughter may experience an obscene glance of your new husband and even get raped by him. (Of course, most stepfathers are ethical and good people to their stepdaughters.) Whether or not you have children, you'd better not divorce; if you have to divorce, you'd better not remarry until your children get married. Above all, TV dramas or movies of indiscreet, indecent affairs are the harmful elements of the society. It is also a big problem for middle and high school students not to be taught chastity education. I suspect that teachers themselves are reluctant to teach such sex ethics because they haven't led a correct sex life. Divorce rate is soaring because of the frivolous and dirty sex ethics these days. Christian women should thoroughly be obedient to their husbands in order not to be divorced. Foolish women get angry frequently when their pride is hurt, and get divorced and regret their attitude later. Of course, sometimes, because of her husband 's extramarital intercourse or his eccentric temperament, or by her husband' s unilateral deserting her, even though she is not in fault, a woman get divorced. We must comfort such a woman sincerely. The apostle Paul is not a man who has received the special gift (charisma) of celibacy and preached the gospel without marrying lifetime. Paul said, "Do we not have the right to be accompanied by a wife, as the other apostles? (1 Cor 9:5)" He also wanted to marry a woman, but lived single to spread the gospel more easily. This man Paul saw that some couples in church did not love each other and lived in discord, so, feeling pity for them, he advised them, "Wives should be subject to husbands as to Christ, and husbands should love wives as Christ loved the church. (Eph 5:22-25)" Husbands and wives, please love each other deeply the rest of your life and enjoy the blessings of marriage.

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If you are divorced by your own fault, it is a tremendous disgrace. How can you see those who came to your wedding hall to bless you? How can you go around your village in such a disgrace? When you see other married friends living happily, you'll think, 'Oh, if I had tolerated a little more then, I would live more happily now than they.' And on the other hand, you might think, 'I hope that my ex-husband will not remarry another woman. Would that he called me again and remarried me now!' ‘Oh, it's really hard to live alone! If I had known this before, I would have respected my ex-husband unconditionally, disregarding all my pride! If I reunited with my ex-husband as before, I would really be a good wife! Oh, that he remained single and called me again!' May there be a happy reunion with ex-husband to those divorced women who, repenting their own past faults like that, pledge themselves to live a new good life. Amen!

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Israel had the same experience as the divorced women. Today's text expresses God as a husband and Israel as a divorced woman. Israel was divorced, and something must have happened before. God married a woman Israel at Mt. Sinai long ago. The bridegroom was the Lord God, the bride was Israel, then who was the officiant of the wedding (the officiating pastor)? It was the prophet Moses. Then, what was the officiant's (prophet Moses') wonderful message of the wedding? It was Deuteronomy 28. Summing up Moses' speech of marriage, the message was: "God does not change eternally, is always sincere and loving. You (Israel) must not doubt or worry, thinking God will change his mind and forsake you. Instead, you should keep yourself from sins and adultery." Here 'adultery' means 'casting an amorous glance at the heathen gods'. Moses warns that God will be angry and forsake them and scatter them in distant countries if the people of Israel betray him. “The Lord will bring you, and your king whom you set over you, to a nation that neither you nor your fathers have known; and there you shall serve other gods, of wood and stone. And you shall become a horror, a proverb, and a byword, among all the peoples where the Lord will lead you away. (Deut 28:36-37)” The bridal minister Moses says that if Israel does not betray God, she will never need to worry about food and house, diseases and accidents, all her lifetime. But when the woman Israel was in trouble, she served God, but when she ate and lived well, and her heart was filled with fat, she fell into adultery with men next door. Israel committed a terrible idolatry. God sent his servants many times to warn Israel, but when Israel did not abandon its bad behavior, he decided to forsake Israel, to destroy Israel, and to bring them into captivity in other lands, according to the contract between him and Israel.

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Psalm 137 shows plainly how much suffering and humiliation Israel suffered while they, the people of a destroyed kingdom, lived as servants in another country. But today's text promises that God will cleanse Israel from all her shame and ignominy of the divorce in the future. “Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be put to shame; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and the Holy one of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called. (v. 4, 5)” Yes, my brethren! Israel was in a position like a young, divorced woman, or a young widow. But God says that he will let Israel forget all her shame and humiliation. He says he is going to restore the beautiful relationship of the past. In fact, Israel was a blessed kingdom. Other countries were serving vain idols as their husbands (gods). They served idols they had made as their husbands. So how funny it is! It can be likened to a woman who makes a man-scarecrow and serves it as her husband! But Israel was not so. Israel was the bride that God himself had chosen. The God of Israel is the one who made the heaven and the earth, whose love and mercy is infinite, and who will never first betray. Where can you find such a fantastic bridegroom? The problem was that Israel tended to play double. It was a great honor for them to live with such a wonderful bridegroom (the God), so Israel did not completely betray God at all, but it was a bit boring for them to serve only the strict mighty God, so they often committed adultery with neighbor gods. It is like a heart of a wife of a large company president. She will never give up on living with him, a capable rich man. But for her to live face to face with him alone is a bit dull, so she seeks a romance with other men briefly and secretly. In the end, God punished Israel and had her repent of past sins in tears. And then God says that they will again enjoy the past glory of the Israelites, which means that he is going to accept the divorced Israel again. So he says he will restore her to the most blessed kingdom in the world. This blessing of God is of such absolute value that the past incident (that Israel got a divorce which gave shame and embarrassment to her for a while) will become so trivial a pain. And the new glory of Israel would be the glory of a more mature person. In the past, when they were wrong, they quarreled with God. And when the past glory had been restored again, they looked back on the past and realized that God had still been loving them at the very moment God had punished them. Because they realized this, they enjoyed the deeper joy. Israel got such delight as an unmature wife will get when she becomes mature and realizes her husband's unchanging true love. Discipline without love hurts the heart of the disciplined, but the discipline done out of love makes him mature. It strengthens double the love of the disciplined person.

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God calls himself Israel's husband. This means that God loves Israel. This means that God is a jealous God. This means that God is the one who provides Israel with the food and clothes and shelter. This means that God will protect Israel like the apple of the eye. This means that God will take the responsibility for all the sins, faults and errors of Israel. It is natural that a husband should take the responsibility for all his wife's mistakes upon himself. In fact, God came in humanity to this world, and he took over all the sins of the believers. That God is Jesus, and the New Testament says that Jesus is the head and bridegroom of the Church. Brethren, there is an omnipotent God who is quite willing to take responsibility for all your vexing problems upon himself! Be glad and leap for joy!

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According to the law of Moses, when a wife committed adultery, her husband could divorce her and gave her a written confirmation of divorce(, so that she could remarry). By the way, Isaiah 50: 1-2 says that God did not write Israel a certificate of divorce when he took Israel into captivity to Babylon. This means that God did not drive them out with the will to forsake Israel forever. God also said that he had never sold Israel to Babylon for money. The purpose of God's punishment on Israel was purely to make them new, changed people who abandoned old filthy habits. “For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In overflowing wrath for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you, says the Lord, your Redeemer. (Is 54: 7-8)” Everything God does to believers is based on his steadfast love.

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It was because God was the God of hosts and the God of the whole world that he could recover Israel to the past glorious Israel. Babylon was the nation that had swallowed Israel at that time, and God delivered Israel who was suffering under the nation that was like the teeth of a strong lion. Long before then, God had delivered Israel from the Pharaoh of Egypt, a strong lion. However strong empires, emperors, kingdoms, kings may be; when God asks, they must surrender his people to him, the people Israel whom they have grabbed until now. God says that, even if Israel has been taken to the ends of the earth, he will gather his people from there again. Are you perhaps in a state of uttermost suffering and adversity that has come from God as punishment? The merciful and mighty God will break all the chains that have bound you tight so far.

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At home, husbands must follow the God of Israel. Have pity on your wife! If you love your wife patiently for a long time, she'll at last realize your true love and respect you earnestly. The newly reborn wife will love only her husband. In fact, when Israel was liberated from Babylon and returned home, they repented their past sins completely and never worshiped idols again after that. Husbands, do not desert your pitiful wife! If you have divorced her, accept her again with open arms and warm heart. (Be like the merciful God!) From now on, mature true love begins. Wives, honor your husband deeply always for he is responsible for your life even though you are not a perfect woman. Do not mistake 'his loving you' for 'his fair reward of your beauty', but show him true thanks! Such a woman is really beautiful in God's sight(, and in husband's sight).

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Are you living far away from God? God's true heart has never forsaken you. God says that he now stops his wrath and is going to accept you again because the time of your suffering is over. Please be restored to your past glory. Come back to God. Your shame and embarrassment for a while will disappear from your memory because of your new blessings.

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May God turn his merciful face to you, comfort you, and restore your fortunes. May you experience God's deep love every day, and live a holy, honorable and rich life. Amen!

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Chong Tack Kim

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                               - Dongtoma Sunshine Church -