Sermon(2 Kings 4:1-7): A grain of wheat

The original Korean text: https://blog.naver.com/stevision/50025251477

 

 

>> 1 Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead; and you know that your servant feared the Lord. but the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.” 2 And Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me; what have you in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house, except a jar of oil.” 3 Then he said, “Go outside, borrow vessels of all your neighbors, empty vessels and not too few. 4 Then go in, and shut the door upon yourself and your sons, and pour into all these vessels; and when one is full, set it aside.” .... She came and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on the rest. (2 Kings 4:1-7) <<

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It is said that after death tiger leaves its skin behind while man, his name. Abraham and Job left their honorable names behind while Hitler and Stalin, their disgraceful names. This is the difference between humans and beasts. Man can enjoy great respect from others even after his death. Some people are more respected after they died than when they were alive. We, born noble, should live as a good man with sound character and mind, and should be respected by our posterity and other people after death. This is how you repay the grace of God who created you. You, a creature, must glorify God who has sent you into the world, by leaving your beautiful name in the world.

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Jesus, our Savior, left a good word in relation to the death of man, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. (Jn 12:24)" He said this word figuratively to make it known that he would die to give all mankind eternal life. It is Jesus' lesson that we can not get good results without sacrifice. God sometimes takes the life of saints to save many. Innumerable lives are growing now in the world thanks to the blood of the martyrdom of numerous evangelists. The lives are the posterity of the martyrs. The lives are the glorious crowns of the martyrs that luster forever.

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In the text above, a man, who is, as it were, a seminary student today, died. He was married and had two children. He was called by God and entered a prophet school to be a servant of God. Elisha was the dean of the school of the prophets at that time. This man was poor and left debt behind to his family when died. The creditors threatened to make her two children their slaves, so the woman went to Elisha to get help from him, and Elisha solved her problems by a miracle. It must be a tragedy that her husband died young. Her husband's debt must be great sorrow and pain to her. But, my brethren, was the debt all that the poor servant of God left behind? Did he perhaps not leave something good behind while none could notice it? I searched out some very good things. (Maybe they are worth a lot of money!)

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Of course, this prophet student hadn't left a great name behind. To make a great name, he ought to live a little long, but he had no chance for it because he died young. The precious thing the man left behind was a faithful life as the head of the family. My brethren, look at this man's wife. She became a widow at a young age, and shouldered her husband's debt. She could have given up her two child and gotten remarried, liquidating all her miserable past. But she didn't do so. What a good woman! (Of course, I'm not saying at all that an ordinary remarriage is bad.) The prophet student loved his wife with all his heart though they were poor. This wife knew his love very well, so she didn't destroy his house but kept his honor, and caused his name to go down to future generations, although her life after his death would be surely very hard. The husband had sown a seed of sacrifice by loving his wife and children dearly in poverty, and his life bore beautiful fruits even after death through his wife's good deeds. Ladies and gentlemen, love your wife sincerely. Love and respect your husband faithfully. Love your children dearly. Love your students devotedly. Love your staff and subordinates devotedly. And your life will be enriched through them and your honor will be kept by them. In fact, leaving a good name is not possible without through others' mouth and praise. Can you have a good name, or do others recognize you when you praise yourself? No! My brethren, do your best to sacrifice yourself in a given circumstances, and you'll bear fruits that will be of great benefit to you and to others. Some old women file for divorce as soon as their husbands get their retirement grants. They (the old women) are rotten or bad fruits. Look at the deeds of the wife of the prophet student. What a beautiful fruit she is! Who has lived a worthier life, an old man who lived long but was divorced at his old age or the prophet student who died young? If you have lived loving devotedly your family and neighbors, your life is a wonderful inheritance to your sons and daughters. on the contrary, if you have lived as a criminal or a treasonous man and left a disgraceful name to your descendants, you've left the heaviest debt to them. My brethren, leave your honorable and sincere life as an inheritance for your posterity, even if you are poor or die young.

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The precious things the prophet student had left was God-fearing life. My brethren, how has it been proved that Jesus was indeed a righteous man, a good shepherd, and the Son of God? The evidence for that was that he died and was resurrected in three days. In other words, God the Father himself intervened in Jesus' cause and worked the miracle of resurrection to cause all the people to know that Jesus was the Messiah God had sent. A lot of insane men asserting they were Jesus died and grew rotten without being resurrected, proving that all the words before their death are lies. Brethren, the prophet student of the text has left God-fearing life as an inheritance to his posterity. How was it proved that he was a God-fearing man? It was proved by the miracle Elisha worked for his wife and children. Elisha told her to borrow a lot of empty vessels from her neighbors. And he told her to pour the oil she had into the vessels. The woman obeyed him and her jar didn't run out of oil until it filled all the vessels. The woman sold the oil, repaid the debt, and used the rest for living expenses. My brethren, what does this mean? It means that God recognized the life of the prophet student as a righteous life. It means that God acknowledged that the prophet student had feared God indeed. God did such a great miracle to keep the honor of the prophet student. God made it known to everyone that the reason why he died young was not secret sins of himself or someone else. In fact people can raise a question if a man who is to be a servant of God dies so unexpectedly. 'Why should a servant of God die so young and suddenly? Did he commit sins? Or because of his wife or his children?' Actually, how ashamed and upset was the wife of the prophet student, though she could not reveal such feelings? Who knew her heart and comforted her? God is faithful, so he worked a miracle and kept the honor of the prophet student and his family. And she could cast aside what little suspicion on him she had had. She was not a perfect person so she could think that he had died young because he had sinned. Now those childish doubts were gone. Elisha who worked the miracle might have declared to other prophet students that the man who died young had lived a God-fearing life. Now the woman was freed from all suspicious eyes of people. God justifies her family. Who can challenge it? No one can!

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Brethren, the God-fearing life brings God's blessing and miracle not only to you but also to all your descendants after you. It is a greater and more valuable legacy for future generations for you to live an honest life before God and to live in awe of him than to leave some money, one or two hundred million won, to your sons or daughters. God works special miracles for the sons and daughters of those who have lived a God-fearing life all their life. Look at Abraham, the father of faith. His descendants were blessed so much by God because he, being called by God at the age of 75, feared God until death although he went through many hardships as a stranger for a long time. The prophet student of the text had lived for a short time, but he had feared God very much, so God provided his descendants with everything they need. My brethren, do not try to make a lot of dishonest money to pass it to your descendants as a legacy, but instead live a honest and faithful life before God and people. Your beautiful life will be engraved on the memory of God, and he will bless your house to thousands of generations. Your God-fearing life will cause the heavenly spiritual blessings and the worldly profuse blessings to come upon you and your descendants. My brethren, be wise! Fearing God is a true wisdom. I think that this prophet student has left a great legacy, considering the spiritual blessings he left behind; although he left some debt also. In fact. however, wasn't his debt cleared at once? The spiritual blessing transcends the material blessing infinitely, and the former is infinitely larger than the latter. It is the power of the spiritual blessing to create something from nothing.

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The prophet student of the text was like a grain of wheat. What did he do for the kingdom of God by dying young? He says through his death to people that the death of Christians is not God's punishment. We can know from the words of the Bible that it is not according to the sins or the innocence of the Christians but according to the free will of God that God calls Christians to heaven. We know that God sometimes calls to heaven so early him who loves God and is faithful to him. God tells us not to express haughtily our dissatisfaction with human life span. God's teaching and command is this: Do not complain to God when the wicked live long or when the righteous die young or suffer unfortunate accidents. If you know from the text that God even calls the saints he loves so much to heaven so early, you must admit this also: God can allow sinners and wicked men to live beyond the average human lifespan. I think that this prophet student is greater as a prophet than Elisha who worked a great miracle. Elisha did a miracle with his mouth by the power of God while the prophet student left a precious spiritual lesson to us by dying at the best age of his life. My beloved brethren, which is worthier, one hundred ton of oil or a human life? You can agree to my judgment that the prophet student is the greater prophet. Likewise, the true reason why our Savior Jesus Christ is so great and precious is that he suffered righteous death for the kingdom of God rather than that he worked many miracles. My beloved brethren, the same is true in the church. He who sacrifices himself for the kingdom of God is more valuable than he who does miracles. Even Devil can work miracles, but the devotion and sacrifice for the kingdom of God is impossible without pure heart, and true faith and love.

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May all of you love your neighbors, fear God so that the precious blessing of God may come upon you and your descendants. Amen!

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Chong Tack Kim

                                      - Dongtoma Sunshine Church -

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