Pastor Cho's Sermon Outline - Yoido Full
Gospel Church - Seoul, KoreaPeace I Leave with You John 14:27 2003-06-15
Since Adam's rebellion and fall, the world has been under the power of Satan who has seized the heart and mind of mankind through sin and greed. As long as Satan, sin, and greed are in this world, there can be no peace. Merciless competition to survive, wars, the law of the jungle, and the struggle to survive have marked the history of mankind, driven by Satan's blizzard of sin and greed. As such, if the current forces driving the history of mankind continue, we cannot expect peace on earth. However, even amid such anxiety, fear, and confusion, we can have peace in our hearts. This peace is not dependent on some environmental condition in this world; it is peace that Christ gives amid chaos. Even as the storm raged and the waves crashed on the Sea of Galilee, Christ slept in a boat being tossed and turned. Christ promises this very peace, which transcends the experience and perception of mankind.
1. There is no peace away from God 1) Adam experienced the first fear and anxiety of humanity * (Genesis 3:9,10) - When Adam was with God, there was fear and anxiety 2) Life, driven and chased, is full of anxiety - Mankind has been driven from the very source of peace and has been chased by sin,Satan, disease, poverty, and death * (Genesis 3:16-24) 3) Anxiety over lost self (1) Consider the anxiety of a child lost in the woods (2) When a person loses self-identity, his/her very existence is anxiety itself - M. Heidegger stated that mankind is existentially anxious 4) Without finding God, there is no peace * (Psalm 91:1) - A seagull being chased by a hawk flies into the arms of a sailor (1) Be a child of God * (John 1:12,13) (2) Be at peace with God * (2 Corinthians 5:18-20)
2. Always long for God, pray, and confess 1) Remember God who saves, as you long for, have faith, pray and confess * (Psalm 91:2,3) (1) He is my refuge (2)He is my fortress (3) He is God in whom I trust - saves me from the fowler's snare and pestilence 2) Hiding under His wings, God's promise becomes a shield for me without a speck of falsehood * (Psalm 91:4-6) (1) Terrors of the night - hardship that appears without warning (2) Arrow that flies by day - plans of the enemy to entrap (3) Pestilence that stalks in the darkness - misfortunes such as SARS (4) Plague that destroys at midday - Sampoong Dept. Store collapse, wars, natural calamities * (Psalm 91:7-12)
3. Christ solved the problem of death, the ultimate fear of humanity 1) Where even all the knowledge, logic, and science of mankind remains mute 2) The problem of death is wholly under God's jurisdiction * (Hebrews 2:14,15) 3) Christ's answer toward death (1) Brought the dead to life - the daughter of Jairus, a widow's son, Lazarus (2) Resurrected from death * (1 Corinthians 15:12-20) 4) Do not let your hearts be troubled * (John 14:1-3)
People are existentially anxious. When anxiety recedes, then people are quickly confronted by yet another kind of anxiety. Everyone faces an endless chain of anxiety. Although no one can escape from anxiety, there is a way to live in peace. It is a life in God's embrace.