Heaven

 Heaven

Matthew 13: 31-33, 44-52, Holy eighth week of Advent , 2020 years 7 Mon 26 days

 

 

Matthew 13 chapter chapter parable (章) , you might call this feature . It is mainly a metaphor about the kingdom of heaven . Below 13:1 the story of the four lands where the seeds fell , and below 13:24 the story of the grains and tares . In the text of today's sermon, Matthew 13:31 shows mustard seeds , verse 33 shows leaven in three powdered horses, verse 44 shows treasures buried in a field, verse 45 shows a story of a merchant looking for a good pearl, and verse 47 shows a story of a net. Comes out . These are all parables of the kingdom of heaven . The Korean Bible translates the Greek word “ He Basileia Ton Uranon ” as Heaven, but the translation of Heaven is much more natural than that .

I would like to ask you two questions . First , that the kingdom of heaven is what I mean , are you caught in the hands of what is the substance ? The answers will be different . Some people will think of the universe , and some will think it in their hearts . Some may think of Heaven after death , others may think of a happy world while they are alive now . No matter what you think, there are not many Christians who take the subject of heaven seriously . Second , what does the kingdom of heaven mean in our life ? Even before this question, the answers will be different . Overall, I don't think the kingdom of heaven has a big impact on our lives . It sounds like a theme that is less appealing than a song by singer Cho Yong-pil or BTS BTS . Where is the problem ?Is it because Heaven is originally a frivolous subject ? Is it because our lives are somehow distorted ? If this problem is not solved, the Christian life of faith is in vain . If after listening to all the sermons today, the kingdom of heaven still feels uncomfortable, it may be better to give up church life before it is too late .

 

Five parables

There are five parables of the kingdom of heaven in today's sermon . The first analogy is the mustard seed . Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone planted in his field . Mustard seeds are toxic small . When it grows, it grows like a tree and birds can nest there . It's a bad situation . This amazing thing happens with all seeds, not just mustard seeds . The second parable is leaven . Let's read verse 33 .

 

He also said in a parable, "Heaven ( heaven ) is like leaven that a woman put in powder and put it into a horse to make it all swell .

 

Compared to the three pieces of powder , the koji is insignificant, but through fermentation, the entire powder can swell . Mustard seeds and leaven are similar to a kind of “ butterfly effect ” . At first they are not visible, but at some point they appear with abilities that no one expected . That is the nature of heaven . Thousands of people have come to life through an ordinary Jewish rabbi named Jesus of Nazareth . We are one of them . The filling of the Holy Spirit is a similar phenomenon . As the seed germination falls to the ground , if one enters the water, the yeast dough flour as a whole when our character and destiny will be filled with the Spirit of God . The lives of those who know and experience this will have no choice but to change . Do you have such experience ? Why not ?

The third parable appears in verse 44 . He said that the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field . The man who found it was delighted and sold all his possessions and bought the field . In the fourth parable in verse 45 , he said that the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for good pearls . The jeweler found the pearl of the highest price and sold all of his possessions to buy it . Both parables mean that the kingdom of heaven is absolute . So they were able to give up all their possessions . Heaven is an absolute world that allows you to give up all possessions . Have we experienced such a world ? Why couldn't it ?

The fifth parable is found in verse 47 and below . Heaven is like a net for catching fish . When I threw the net, it was full of fish . Fishermen pull up their nets to separate good and bad fish . The net parable immediately preceding paragraph, the body sermon ( Matthew 13: 24-30) appearing on " wheat and tares " similar to the parable . Someone sowed seeds in the field . Not only grains but also tares grow there . The owner leaves the tares until harvest . At harvest time, tares are thinned and burned . Organize the grains well and store them between grains . This refers to the absoluteness of judgment that will take place in heaven . No one can go beyond God's judgment . Either chosen or abandoned .I don't know if that has already happened now . all or nothing!

How have you heard the five parables about the kingdom of heaven ? Do flat , there a sound ? In summary , the first two refer to total change . From mustard seeds that are so small that they are invisible, there are trees that birds can nest in . The yeast swells the whole flour . In the two parables that follow, it is said that the man who found the kingdom gave up all his possessions . It means the absoluteness of heaven . The fifth story of the net also refers to the absoluteness of heaven . Just as no one can escape death, no one can escape the judgment of heaven . This kind of situation is so strict that people who have lived with their minds only on soft things are a far cry . Even if the world does, we Christians cannot escape the kingdom of heaven . This is because only there is the fact that you are a Christian .

 

Absolute world

First, think about what we regard as absolute objects in the world . Is it money, power, and honor ? Anyone who believes in God may not explicitly say or think so, but you can think so inside . Some people may consider their country or nation as an absolute object . Some people may be proud of the university they graduated from . It is once said that a marine is an eternal marine . Some consider the military an absolute target . On the surface, these things seem to have a huge impact on our lives, but they are not at all . Yes in two ways . First , the power of this world is impermanent . All power does not last long . The same goes for the power of the state . Just as Rome fell, so does the present superpower . Second , the power of this world is always limited .Money can destroy our bodies, but not our souls . The problem is that modern people underestimate the life of the soul .

Yes . There is no absolute object in this world . The absolute object is only God . Heaven refers to God . God is like a mustard seed , like yeast , the same as treasure or pearl buried in the field , as the net . There are people who live this feeling of God , there are people who do not feel . His reality (reality) , and the person experiences with , there are those who approach only psychological projection . The reasons for this difference between people are not so complicated . To borrow an expression of Jesus , home is the key . Or the eyes to see are important . If you don't have ears to hear , you can't hear no matter how much you tell them , and if you don't have eyes to see, you can't see what's in front of you .If you do n't know anything about the paintings and are not interested, it seems like you're in trouble with the paintings of Gogh, Rembrandt , Kim Hong-do, and Shin Yun-bok . It is frustrating .

To say that you have no ears to hear means you are not interested in salvation . The question of salvation itself does not exist for modern man . Therefore, I am deceived by false salvation . The general idea is as follows . I am too busy eating and living to find salvation . Salvation is not something that just to live separately fun life , I think it does not cause nuisance to others to buy it nine won . Grab the usual health , a little while, while happily afford to live and own hobbies , yeogipnida it and by the time the children leave well enough to raise die die . This is the best life and their salvation for ordinary modern people, including Christians . Other people live that way, so they live that way . In my view they are deluded by something , you'll self-deception to self . It's actually pretending to be happy without being happy .It's like being happy to be happy by putting your life into a TV drama . God has given the gift of life just ' mutal ' enough to go live ? Is it enough to memorize the best answers from the world ?

The smoothest and most plausible people in Jesus' day were the teachers of the law . These include scribes , Pharisees , rabbis , and priests . They are social leaders . I have a lot of world experience and good skills . You can think of today's judges , prosecutors , university professors , lawmakers , doctors, and so on . They lived up to the law . The law is the same as today's actual law or study . Law, actual law, and science are the systems that operate the world , or ideology . Corporate CEO salaries and the salary of the employee ends , the salaries of full-time and temporary salary also is determined in such a system . It is the leaders of society who are leading the ideology of the world's dominance .

To the world at that time, Jesus cried out to repent . Because the world is wrong . Being wrong means people aren't happy there . If you are not happy, you have to get out of there quickly . Could Jesus' words be heard in their ears ? It was different for each individual . The majority did not listen . It was not convincing to say to repent , or to get out of the box . They are all living well now . Priests perform elaborate ceremonies in the temple in Jerusalem . Received from these three temples entering the house , it takes the money changers jaritse to give even to those of us who manage the temple salary is also building maintenance . And the remaining money will be shared among the priests . Everything went well in the world . But what must be repented ?

I don't think the Jewish society of Jesus' day was poor . Under the rule of Rome, even though unjust things happened, it was a society that at least kept its dignity as a legal community . There were also great rabbis and respected priests . But in Jesus' eyes, something most important was missing from their lives . It is God . It is heaven . Jews formally but it seems of interest to God , but as can be seen deseo many pilgrims flocked to the Jewish religious feasts are still open it is hot , actually there was no God . So Jesus turned to them and said, “ Repent . The kingdom of God is near .” Exclaimed . The kingdom of God , namely when it comes to teaching in parables what the kingdom of heaven , he looks into action , embraced by his destiny .People at that time rejected Jesus' proclamation . It didn't end there and got rid of Jesus . Jesus' message , and because I thought that his presence itself dangerous . It is uncomfortable for people like this . On the one hand, they are already tamed in the life of the world, so it is difficult to understand what it means , and on the other hand, they worry that their fake happiness will be exposed .

 

God experience

Is there God in your life now ? Each one will have a different answer . “ Amen !” No one knows whether or not it is true just because you answer aloud . Answer today in light of five parables . If its absolute ability to call God as a whole occupy a part of your life , you've experienced the absolute capacity, so the idea is to sell a million hagetdaneun own , Explore . You probably already know that this doesn't mean you have to go to church every day, pray, read the Bible, and live religiously because what you do in the world is meaningless . Now that sits out in the church , whether walking the streets , not a problem that trip . What is the total control over your soul is key .

As I was preparing the sermon, I asked myself a question . Am I a person who seeks the kingdom of heaven with desperate heart ? ' Or ' Is the whole existence of a person called and directed the kingdom of heaven ? Are you overwhelmed by the power of the kingdom and ready to abandon your possessions and family ? Was the kingdom of heaven a source of joy in my soul ? The answer is not easy . You will be the same as me . You cannot answer the heavenly kingdom with “ yes ” and “ no ” . This is because the kingdom of heaven is not a fixed entity, but a path to walk in our lives . That is why Jesus also said in a parable . The depth of the answer depends on the depth of understanding the parable . At what depth did I understand that analogy ?

Heaven may sound abstract, but in reality it is directly related to our lives . It's not a fairy tale, a riddle, or a mathematical formula that you can stop without knowing . Now , think of you in 50 years . The average life expectancy one catch a hundred-year-old would Many of us died . If you think about 100 years later, there is no one . In this situation, it does not matter whether or not the 10- year life span has been extended . It doesn't matter how many books you have written . If you think about 200 years later, nothing is left . That lived in an apartment a few flat , even irrelevant whether to make the long jaetekeu . If you don't believe in God, you can just live a comfortable life that fits your level . We are people who believe in God . 2 100 years after God is alive . He said “Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end require a start and end "( total 22: 3) is . To believe in that very God means that we also participate in God's way of being . 500 years later, we are still alive in God . At the end of the world, you will have eternal life through God's judgment . Without this belief, you don't have to live as a Christian . Without this belief, our life of faith is like a house built on sand ( Matthew 7:26-27). Even a little hardship will jeopardize your life and your entire faith . Only then would it be better to live without thinking of God and live comfortably and die . Are you interested in your ears ? I have already said that without God , you cannot live comfortably and happily in the ultimate sense .

Dear saints , we are the people who approach the kingdom of heaven throughout our lives . Let me tell you a surprising fact . Heaven has already come here . God's eternal life has already begun . Jesus is the resurrection and the life . Those who believe in him live even when they die , and those who believe in him never die . Can't you realize what this means ? It is proof that you do not believe in Jesus . It is proof that you have never loved Jesus . Is n't there a lack of interest in Jesus itself ? Would n't it be that you only care about yourself ? For such a person, the kingdom of heaven has no choice but to look around .