<p>What is faith?</p><p> </p><p>The dictionary meaning of faith is to believe and look, that is, to believe and hope.</p><p>Hebrews 11:1 defines it as hoping for and believing in what you do not see.</p><p>In that sense, faith can be said to be the eye that sees the invisible as reality.</p><p> </p><p>Psalm 42 provides a clear answer to what faith is.</p><p>If we do not do this, our faith will become a hobby or a habitual religious life.</p><p>Therefore, we must be aware that if our faith is wrong, we can mock and ridicule God by calling His name.</p><p>From my experience, if there is no prayer that earnestly appeals to the name of the Lord, I fall into the mannerism of faith and end up being chased by events or work.</p><p>So, in faith, the attitude and state toward God are very important.</p><p>Of course, like the psalmist, we must be able to understand the movements line of the Lord Jesus Christ and follow him.</p><p>Knowing grace and truth in the Lord and moving forward along the path is a prerequisite for faith.</p><p> </p><p>Faith is a practical situation where I feel the thirst of my soul.</p><p>“As the hart pants after the water brooks, so pants my soul after you, O God.” (Psalm 42:1)</p><p> </p><p>Other substitutes are not acceptable.</p><p>I need bottled water, but Coke won't solve the problem.</p><p>It is important to know that the problem is not the thirst of the body on earth, but the thirst for food and living water of the spiritual soul in heaven. (Matthew 5:3)</p><p>Because it is a thirst of the soul, there is absolutely no substitute for it.</p><p>God already knows the needs of our souls.</p><p>Regarding this, the Bible says that God already knows what should be.</p><p>He already knew our need for food and living water for the soul and called us into Christ.</p><p>It's just that people do not know the hunger and thirst of the soul and are seeking the wrong things.</p><p>I too have been deceived and wandered many times, but now, as one who has been found in the Trinity God in Christ, I stand on the path to the throne of God's grace, calling on the name of the Lord.</p><p>Therefore, in order to satisfy the thirst of the soul, humans must decide whether to believe in and know Jesus Christ, or to know and believe in Jesus Christ.</p><p>“Jesus answered and said unto her, ‘Whosoever drinks of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.’” (John 4:13-14)</p><p>True worship (John 4:24) cannot be accomplished without skipping Christ, the husband of living water.</p><p> </p><p>And the Lord said, "He that believes on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Spirit was not yet given;  because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)(John 7:38-39)."</p><p>When the Holy Spirit comes in us, the river that flowed in Eden, the living water that came out of Ezekiel's threshold, and the river of living water that flows in the new heaven and new earth, will flow within us in Christ.</p><p> </p><p>If our soul's thirst is real, the solution is also real.</p><p>As creatures of God's creation, we, humans, have everything we need.</p><p>Just as there is food to eat when you are hungry and water to drink when you are thirsty, there is no way that God, who gave us the thirst of our souls, would not have prepared a solution for it.</p><p> </p><p>The solution to our soul’s thirst is right here.</p><p>“My soul thirsts for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?” (Psalm 42:2)</p><p>The solution is to come to the Lord.</p><p>We often think that ministry work is a mission, pastoral work is a mission, and the work of the church is a mission, so we get sidetracked and miss the most important mission of believing in, seeking, and following the Lord.</p><p>So Hebrews 11:6 advises us to come to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.</p><p>This is the same meaning as the Lord's words to ask, seek, and knock.</p><p>However, because many people do not truly know the redemptive grace of Christ, they do not have the experience of the Spirit of truth.</p><p>Therefore, they follow Lord to the cross and confess that they believe in Jesus and that he bled and died on the cross for my sins, but I see that they do not have the knowledge of the truth.</p><p>This means that they do not know anything beyond the cross.</p><p>Of course, it is also because beyond the cross is a world of revelation, but...</p><p>Therefore, they do not know the way to gain life in Christ and approach the living God with righteousness and holiness through the life.</p><p>The weakness of the modern church is that it has not yet properly resolved this problem.</p><p> </p><p>This is exactly what happens to these clumsy believers.</p><p>“My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say to me, ‘Where is your God?’ ” (Psalm 42:3)</p><p>It means, where is your God?</p><p>People sarcastically say that if only God was shown to them, they would believe.</p><p>Following these words, many churches lean towards the visible God, that is, the appearance of signs and wonders.</p><p>In order to show that there is a God no matter what, the term ‘New Apostolicism’ was coined.</p><p>However, you must hear and believe God's words, and complete salvation will not occur if you see and believe.</p><p>So David was sometimes upset because he could not show his God, and his tears became food.</p><p>It is similar to the heart that Jesus wept upon seeing Jerusalem, whose name is Peace.</p><p> </p><p>Even during today's sermon, the psalmist was so upset.</p><p>“ When I remember these things, I  pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday." (Psalm 42:4)</p><p>As we testify the Word, I know Christ and God, but there are times when we feel frustrated and unable to properly explain them to others.</p><p>So, when we have bible study, we often feel anxious and frustrated when it's over.</p><p>The disappointment and anxiety of not being able to meet the expectations of others through our expressions.</p><p>Although I preach the gospel, it would be like stamping my feet when I see someone who is fixated on the stereotypes of faith and because I am not good enough and cannot properly explain the riches and glory of Christ within me.</p><p> </p><p>So, “Why are you cast down, O my soul? and why are you disquieted within me?  hope you in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.” (Psalm 42:5)</p><p>This is because it is true and real that if you look to God in Christ and earnestly call on his name, the Lord will appear and save you.</p><p>The reason we become discouraged is because we look at ourselves and the world.</p><p>However, the words ‘hope you in God’ also mean ‘wait.’</p><p>So, I think it was probably translated as hope.</p><p>Faith definitely requires patience.</p><p>Hope must be accompanied by patience.</p><p>After you ask God, you must wait for your prayer to come true.</p><p>The help of the face means saving face.</p><p>Your God is not a God who will remain silent while listening to those who mock him and ask, “Where is your God?”</p><p>God will definitely save his face.</p><p>When he saves face, he will save face with us.</p><p>This morning too, I follow the grace of the Lord's atonement and am saved my face by earnestly calling on the Lord's name and focusing on God the Father in the place where the Holy Spirit works within me. Hallelujah!</p><p> </p><p>Written by Ptr. Yohan Kim.</p><p>Translated by  Nancy Chung</p><p> </p><p>COME AND SEE WORLD MISSION</p>
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