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 Sermon > Sunday Evening Service |
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Title |
Love |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
2 Ti 4:7-8, Jn 20:16-18 |
Date |
2004-05-23 |
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2 Timothy 4:7-8
밒 have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day ?and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.?
In the Bible are many people who gained new life through meeting the Lord and they gave everything to the Lord because His love for them was invaluable to them. Among them Mary Magdalene and the apostle Paul were outstanding. They had dedicated their whole lives to the Lord because they loved Him so very much. What was their love for Him like?
First, they loved the Lord more than their own lives.
The fact that Paul was martyred and Mary was taken up into heaven proves the fact they loved the Lord. They kept their faith and love for the Lord until the last moment they stayed on the earth. We can infer that they had spiritual love because they loved the Lord more than their own lives. Spiritual love is not self-seeking but enjoys giving everything for others?benefits.
It says in Luke 8:2-3 that Mary Magdalene served the Lord along with many other women and they provided for Him from their own means (Luke 8:2-3). Mary followed and served Jesus though she was very poor.
The apostle Paul had not been with Jesus during His public ministry like the other apostles. But, he loved the Lord more fervently than he loved himself. In any hardship or persecution, he loved the Lord to the point of giving up his own life in joy and thanksgiving.
The reason that the apostle Paul and Mary Magdalene loved the Lord more than their own lives was because their hearts changed into spiritual hearts. The more spiritual heart you have the deeper spiritual love you have. Spiritual heart is accomplished when we have fully abandoned our selves, namely when we have removed every kind of fleshly thought and self-righteousness and avoided every form of evil. Spiritual love comes from the spiritual heart so that it does not bring others suffering or pain.
Mary Magdalene never served the Lord for her own benefit or by her fleshly thought or way of thinking. She tried to understand the heart of the Lord with her spiritual heart and followed what the Lord desired in His heart. As a result, the Lord felt peaceful in her service and received her service toward Him without any burdensome feelings.
It was for the same reason that the Lord selected Paul as an apostle and appointed him as the apostle for the Gentiles. Paul loved the Lord with a spiritual heart and Paul understood the desires of the Lord뭩 heart.
Secondly, the two persons loved the Lord more fervently than anyone else did.
There is a saying that goes, 밒f you love someone, the pockmarks on her face look like dimples?In the same way, if you love someone fervently, his or her defects are regarded as advantage to you. Or when your loved one chides or points out faults to you, those chiding and corrective words even sound lovely and you do not feel discomforted by them at all.
If you love someone spiritually, even though he or she is not considerate towards you or causes you some harm or loss, you will not be teased but overcome all difficulties easily.
Mary Magdalene loved the Lord to the point of feeling she could not live a day without Him. While she was serving the Lord that way, sometimes the Lord seemed to treat her coldly and did not even turn His eye on her. But she never felt sorry or disheartened. She understood why the Lord treated her that way and considered it as His true love for her.
The apostle Paul loved the Lord so much that he gave everything he had to the Lord. He met the Lord under the conditions where he lacked nothing of this world (Philippians 3:4-6). He was a Roman citizen and possibly could have gotten anything desired in the world. But he confessed in Philippians 3:7-9, 밒 also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him.?
From the first time he met the Lord he loved the Lord fervently and devoted himself to the Lord. He abandoned everything that was in the past. His passion for the Lord had not cooled down at all even as he became a martyr. He did not turn his way or think his way was hard in spite of unbearable trials and hardships.
Rather, he thought over subjects to give thanks and kept the attitude of thanks and joy. It did not matter to him whether wicked people tried to kill him or put him in deep prison cells. He had no fear or confusion when he was adrift on the sea for a day and a night three different times because of shipwreck (2 Corinthians 11:23-30).
He gave deep thanks to the Lord for forgiving all his sins of having persecuted the Lord, for leading him to pile up heavenly rewards, and reaching the more glorious position in heaven. Since he had been given many chances to repay the grace of the Lord, he had no choice but to sing praises to the Lord from his heart. And he was thankful to God for humbling his heart through the persecutions and hardships.
Thirdly, they had never changed their hearts in any circumstances.
Mary Magdalene followed Jesus onto the hill of Golgotha where He would be crucified. In that situation, she could have suffered harm for having been with Jesus. Other disciples fled and hid themselves in fear. But she did not leave Jesus up to the last moment. Her love did not change even after Jesus breathed His last. On the next day of the Sabbath she came to His tomb at dawn to put balm on the cooled body of Jesus.
When she came to the tomb, the risen Lord told her to preach His resurrection to His disciples and promised to let her see him soon. After she received the promise of the Lord, she preached His resurrection to the people and His disciples until He called her into heaven. The reason that she first met the risen Lord was because she loved Him passionately more than her own life, and served Him unchangingly until the last moment. The Lord repaid her for her unchanging love and service.
This amazing love of Mary Magdalene was the same as the apostle Paul. His love for the Lord had never cooled down under any circumstances until he was martyred (2 Timothy 4:7-8). He met many severe hardships and trials, but he felt no physical pain because his love for the Lord was very deep.
What do you think he thought as he was martyred? Was he remorseful or felt abandoned thinking that his death had no meaning? Or was he fearful of death or scared stiff? In reality, his heart was overflowing with joy and expectation that he would see the Lord soon. Generally men are scared before death, but Paul was filled with joy and thanks hoping to see the Lord soon.
Dear brothers and sisters,
Therefore, just as it says in Proverbs 8:17, 밫hose who love me will be loved by me,?I pray in the name of the Lord that all of you will love the Lord as fervently as the apostle Paul and Mary Magdalene did so that you can be loved by the Lord in the everlasting kingdom of heaven as well as so loved in everything on earth. |
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