Sermon(1 Tim 6:11-16): Our concerns

The original Korean text: https://blog.naver.com/stevision/50025256724

 

 

 

Scripture reading: 1 Tim 6:11-16

 

>> 11 But as for you, man of God, shun all this; aim at righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 In the presence of God who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, 14 I charge you to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ; 15 and this will be made manifest at the proper time by the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen. <<

 

The Bible says that the heart of the fool is in the house of the feast, and the heart of the wise, in the mourner's house. All the people in the world live almost the same. Of one thousand people, only one or two are living quite a wonderful life. I used 'wonderful' just because they are well-known. Even if you've joined a good big company, your future problems are like high mountains before you. More than half of the new employees of the big company have to leave the company within 10 years. How dreadful their life after 10 years! Your son has become a judge or a public prosecutor, so you may invite your neighbors and hold a banquet. But who can guarantee his job after 10 years? Once a foolish man has succeeded in something, he relaxes his tension and lives a festive life, but after losing his job, he lives in regret and sigh. But a wise man always keeps the uncertainty of the future in mind, and lives a right life to keep a good relationship with God. He can lose his means of living, which, however, will be a chance for him to step up to higher status. Because God leads him to a higher place.

 

Time passes swiftly, doesn't it? Famous politicians and businessmen who had appeared on TV not long before disappeared from our eyes forever. North Koreans are no exception. Some of them who was on South Korean TV several times have disappeared forever. My brethren, what do you think when you consider them? Do you realize how vain and futile it is to live with some interests in this world? What are your concerns? If you are wise, you will be interested in the eternal life, looking straight on your future death. If you are stupid, you will think only how to spend all your hard earned money on luxury and extravagance until death. But don't you think the time passes too fast and the human lifespan is too short?

 

Today's text is an exhortation of the apostle Paul to his disciple Timothy, a pastor. Paul starts by telling Timothy concerns to avoid. “As for you, man of God, shun all this. (v. 11)” Here, 'all this' refers to what has been said right before. It is "For the love of money is the root of all evils; it is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced their hearts with many pangs. (1 Tim 6:10)" Frankly speaking, I, too, like money! Who in the world would hate money? But we should not love money. To love something means that it has become my main concern. If a woman you love comes near to you, you'll seek to make her your woman, but if she departs, you'll be sad and cry. If you have a lovely woman, you'll not let anyone else comes in between you and her. God is very disappointed when you cry about losing some money. “You haven't shed a single drop of tear over church. But your money is so important to you!” If you love God, you'll thank God over your money. But if you love money, you really hate God to separate money from you. Do you shed lots of tears secretly when you break up with your money at the time of offering in Church? Isn't it time you abandoned the faith of kindergartners? The typical character of a kindergarten or an elementary school student is to like money more than mother. But some people really have delight in preparing the money and offering it to God. We have great joy when we offer an offering to God regardless of the amount, because we love God and because our concern is not money but God. There is a way not to love money. If a person you like stays close to you for a long time, you can not help loving the person. Likewise, if you put much money in a safe, you will love it. You don't time to love money if you use the money for God and neighbors the moment it comes to you. If you've saved enough money, then spend freely the money that you will acquire from now on on the good things. Then money will follow you with respect, and God will treasure you and love you more.

 

Paul told us to shun the greed for money and to aim at righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness (v. 11). These are what we really need to pursue in this era. But in order to pursue these things we must renounce greed, especially the love of money. The Devil is killing the souls of many, using the power and charm of money as a weapon. To love money and to love Devil often go together. You have to be careful and careful. We must be pursuers of righteousness. Those who have come to power should keep away from bribes and must not harass the weak. You who commit sexual harassment and rape to the subordinate female employees, stop it! You must not receive political sponsorship money from unjust people and work for the interests of such people. You should not receive money from such groups as homosexual psychopaths (dog-like species) or prostitutes and speak for their causes on the pretense of their human rights. Especially, journalists should not write bad articles for money of the wicked. To love injustice is to love money and evil; he who would keep his righteousness even when his neck is threatened by a sword is the one who loves God, and especially who is a disciple of Jesus.

 

We must seek godliness. We should never give in to alcohol, drugs, unreasonable sex, gambling, sexual perversion, etc. Godliness refers to a life of reverence for God. Godliness is the formation of God's character, holiness. God says, "I am holy, so be holy." We must get used to the good taste of piety. God allows the access to him to the pious men. “The Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. (Ex 33:11)” If you are a devout believer, you feel yourself that God is near you. God is so close that you feel he lives in your heart. There are many places in this world that provide dirty and vulgar pleasures. Those who live close to God feel disgusted with such worldly pleasures. In autumn (in Korea), the bright sun is in the blue sky, a cool breeze blows, grains ripen, beautiful flowers emit sweet fragrance. How joyful if I am among them! What a clean and clear beauty! I'm glad when I see it. How noble and beautiful is a high mountain on a clear day? I'm glad when I see it. A pious man rejoices at the noble and spotless God who is near. A godly man lives a life of fellowship with God, has joy in such life, and becomes an honorable man. “The people of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone; and Moses would put the veil upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him. (Ex 34:35)” Whenever Moses returned to the people of Israel after meeting and talking with God, his face was radiant. The people could not endure the splendor of his face, so he had to cover his face with a towel. A godly man is fully restored to God's image, so exposes God's glory. As the moon shines in the night by reflecting sunlight, the godly shine like the moon in the dark world. Looking at them, people can see the God in them. You become more noble and glorious when your face emits holy light than when you wear a golden mask. Get rid of greed and love for money, but seek godliness. Long for holiness! Long for the holy God!

 

Men of God, seek not only godliness but also faith, love, steadfastness and gentleness (v. 11). These days, speed counts for people since it is the age of computer. Prudence, patience, gentleness are disappearing. Because it's a world where people can hide their real names and use aliases. Because they talk to each other from afar. Do not let the internet personality of this computer age ruin our character. In these circumstances, we Christians need to practice love, patience, and gentleness the more. The Internet world can give us a chance. If we arm ourselves with the right faith and preach the gospel openly and faithfully, we can spread the pure gospel to many people indiscriminately. We can preach the true gospel to those who have been taken to prison physically and spiritually by the wicked heretic leaders so far. Armed with the true gospel, we can refute the sophism of vicious heretics in the Internet conversation. We Christians must seek piety on the Internet as well. Do not visit obscene sites and defile your souls, but seek the beautiful words of God scattered all over the Internet. Sheep look for green pastures and clear streams. Do not be a beast-like netizen wearing a non-Christian mask in Internet chatting, but be a man who preaches Jesus and the eternal life.

 

If we pursue faith, we love God more than money, and the eternal glory in heaven than the brief glory on earth. “These all died in faith, not having received what was promised, but having seen it and greeted it from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. .... But they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. (Heb 11:13-16)” He who lives according to faith lives on this earth with a 'traveler (or foreigner) consciousness'. May you be a wise stranger! A foolish traveler spends all his wealth on building a house on another's land, and has all his possession taken away. My brethren, this earth is a world that will disappear after a while. Don't be foolish enough to lose all your investment here, and keep your treasures in the safe in the heaven. A wise stranger on earth 'fights the good fight of the faith and takes hold of the eternal life (v. 12)'. A wise stranger also 'so keeps his deeds and mind today that he can be unstained and free from reproach when Jesus comes again (v. 14)'. Brethren, what is more important concern than your eternal life?

 

Verses 15 and 16 are the experience that Paul who had met God said to his disciple Timothy. "(God is) ... the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, ... who alone has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion (v. 15, 16)." Paul met the resurrected Jesus on the way to Damascus, but Jesus was in the tremendous light, so he didn't see him directly but only heard his voice. When Paul says that God dwells in unapproachable light and that no one has ever seen him, he is confessing that he also hasn't seen the substance of God itself. God sets light, darkness (Ex 20:21), cloud, fire between himself and a man lest the man who is a sinful being be arrogant after meeting God. And more fundamentally, God is not the light itself, the cloud itself, the fire itself, because he is spirit. He is not a being you can see. But he let you know his presence by light or darkness that separates you from him. The means of covering God becomes paradoxically the symbol of the presence of the invisible God. It seems to me that 'the glory of God' refers to the presence of God in the Old Testament. The people saw the bright and dignified light and called it the glory of God. The Israelites saw this 'glory of the Lord' in the cloud (Ex 16:10). What I often saw in my dreams was the bright light among (or in) the clouds. It looked like the sun but had various appearances. Sometimes it was like a round transparent crystal ball that radiates a warm, beautiful light. The appearance of the light-ball was like a spectacle of the morning sunrise or the evening sunset. It's beauty was so enchanting and beyond imagination. Sometimes it gives off a strong light one hundred times brighter than the normal noon sun. Apostle John said of Jesus in His glory, "His face was like the sun shining in full strength. (Rev. 1:16)" So we can say that the sun in the dream symbolizes the face of Jesus. Just as the dove symbolizes the Holy Spirit, so the sun symbolizes the glory of God (that is the presence of God) or the face of Jesus. Before, a bright and beautiful sun came up in the clouds and then disappeared. This happened three times. Then the three suns appeared in a straight line at the same time. Maybe it was a symbol of the triune God. If you have seen the glory of God in your dreams, please believe that God is comforting you and giving you courage now. Rejoice. You have seen and met the invisible God symbolically. When I really needed comfort and encouragement, God showed me his glory in dreams. Perhaps it means 'Am I not watching you? Cheer up!' The light was too holy for the dream to be regarded as a simple dream. Those who have seen the glory of God will understand my words. Seeing the glory of God in dream, we cannot but utter an interjection "Wow!." (I also dreamed one day that a white dove sat on my right shoulder and rubbed my face with its beak. Was it not the meaning that the Holy Spirit loved me? How much strength and comfort will the dream give me if I interpret it humbly?)

 

Paul tells pastor Timothy, his disciple exhausted with the ministry, about the glory of God and his eternal life. It means "Look to God only and be more courageous!" I pray that God comfort you and strengthen you.

 

Chong Tack Kim

 

                               - Dongtoma Sunshine Church -