Question 160. What is required of those who hear the sermon?

 

Question 160. What is required of those who hear the sermon?

Answer. What is required of those who hear the sermon is that they should be diligent, prayerful, and prepared, follow the sermon, examine what they have heard with the Bible, and if it is true, receive it in their hearts as the word of God with faith, love, meekness, and a prepared heart, meditate on it, refer to it, hide it in their hearts, and bear fruit of the word in their lives.

There are two types of people in the church community: those who have been chosen and reborn, and those who have been called and come to the church.

Saints are people who are well-versed in the Word of God, know the will of God, always meditate on the Word, pray, and devote all their energy to spreading the gospel. Saints have the ability to discern when listening to the pastor’s sermon. They firmly reject untrue legalism, superstition, and gnostic sermons, but sympathize with sermons that pursue the kingdom of God and righteousness, and, reflecting on themselves, devote themselves to spreading the gospel.

However, new believers who have been called and entered the church community may not know much about the Word of God and may be influenced by the pastor's sermon. Therefore, believers need the ability to judge whether the pastor's sermon is legalistic, superstitious, or gnostic.

Legalism tends to be obsessed with the written word of the Bible. Therefore, we must be wary of the sermons of pastors who say that because the Bible says so, believers must act according to the Bible. Legalism likes rules and traditions. Not only in the Old Testament era, but also in the New Testament era, it likes to judge based on doctrine. And it wants to tie believers together by emphasizing the traditions of the church community. It presents new holidays, Sunday observance, tithing, and the church building as a holy temple. We must be wary of pastors who preach like this.

Believers should be wary of pastors who preach that "the kingdom of God is good, and that one can receive material blessings from God while living in the world." Believers should also be wary of those who preach that if one gives a lot of material to God, they will receive even greater material blessings.

Gnosticism (mysticism) leads to self-centered faith. Believers should be wary of pastors who preach, saying, “Let’s live a life like Jesus,” or “Let’s strive to be holy,” or “Let’s strive to be made in the image of God.” Believers should also be wary of pastors who show believers that they have spiritual powers through mystical spiritual experiences. Believers should also be wary of pastors who explain speaking in tongues and prophecy in a way that does not fit the Bible.

New believers who have just entered the church community may lack the ability to discern whether the content of the pastor's sermon is true or not. However, the center of the sermon should always be the gospel that unites with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and if we judge it based on that, we can understand the meaning of the sermon to some extent.

The reason why believers or church members participate in the church community is not to listen to the pastor's sermon, but to gather together to worship God, praise Him, and to work hard to spread the gospel through fellowship among believers. Of course, there is a sermon that proclaims the word in the service. However, if you go to church to hear the sermon, it would be better to listen to the Internet sermon. The true meaning of the church community lies in the proclamation of the gospel. If repentance and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ on the cross are missing, then it is not the word of God.

If the word of God’s truth, which is Ho Logos in the Bible, is preserved in the hearts of believers through the pastor’s sermon, touches their hearts, and changes their lives through it, then the sermon is delivered to believers through the pastor’s mouth, but ultimately it becomes the word of God to believers. Therefore, believers should not be obsessed with the words of God, but keep them in their hearts while thinking about the will that God gives them, and then their lives will change accordingly through the power of the Holy Spirit.

2 Peter 1:4-7 『By these he has granted to us his precious and very great promises(ἐπαγγέλματα), so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature(Deias Koinonoi Physeoos), having escaped the corruption that is in the world because of evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith virtue; to virtue, knowledge; to knowledge, self-control; to self-control, perseverance; to perseverance, godliness; to godliness, brotherly kindness; to brotherly kindness, love』 (Deias Koinonoi Physeoos).

Epankelmita (ἐπαγγέλματα) is a promise, a promise to give the kingdom of God as an inheritance. 『Deias (god) koinonoi (participate) phystheos (nature) θείας κοινωνοὶ φύσεως』 does not mean participating in the character of God, but participating in the nature (divinity) of God.

The character of God seems to express a personal meaning, but divinity is the power of God itself. When a believer becomes one with God in Christ, he becomes a participant in the divinity of God. Character is a changeable form, but divinity is an absolutely unchanging form. That is why some church pastors talk about the character of God as the image of God. They say that divinity is given from God in Christ, and that they must strive to restore the character of God (the image of God).

Here, eight virtues appear, and they are presented as if they must be accomplished in stages: in faith there is virtue, in virtue there is knowledge, in knowledge there is temperance, in temperance there is patience, in patience there is godliness, in godliness there is brotherly kindness, and in brotherly kindness there is love.

In translation, the English Bible (NIV) translates it as "make every effort to add." Of course, the King James Version translates it as "given," and the Greek Bible says "παρεισενέγκαντες (pareisenenkantes: apply) ἐπιχορηγήσατε (epicoregesate: give)" (the eight virtues) are given and applied.

This is not accomplished by human effort, but the Bible says that when we become one with God, the divinity is revealed in this way by the power of the Holy Spirit. Through faith, virtue (excellence) is created, and through knowledge (a relationship of oneness with God), we receive gifts, and so a person can become arrogant. Those who realize this become self-restrained. So it leads to patience (hypomone). Hypomone is staying on the Lord's throne. So it becomes godliness (Eusebeian: loving God). So brotherly love and agape love are realized.

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