Divine persecution

Sermon

Divine Persecution

Purpose:

The purpose of these sermon is to show us how God is always offering His Salvation to the human been.

Proposition:

No matter how far we are or we consider that we are, God always is looking for us, and if we do not resist, we will be reached by His mercy and goodness.

Introduction

Illustration

It was 1979, and we were in civil war. It isdifficult to be in a country that has a conflict like that. If you have in home some provisions, soon they are gone and you have nothing to eat.

It is very dangerous to go out, and there is no opportunity to buy anything, anyway, there is nothing to buy in the grocery store.

Suddenly the rumor arrived home: “They are giving sugar”.
My dad and I decide to go because the sugar could be veryuseful in an extreme situation like that. The place was about 4 blocks from our house. Before arriving there was a deep depression on the ground and then a fence with spike wire in their superior part.
People had made a hole in the metallic fence in order to pass to the other side.
When we pass to the other side we look at the sugar and indeed there were many young men giving sacks plenty ofsugar to everybody.
We took a first trip, but we didn't know how long the war will last, therefore we decide to return.
While we were ready to take the second sack, a scream filled the air: "The Army is coming”.
For the attitude of people when they listened the scream, we realized that the sugar was not given by the owners, but rather the " boys " that is to say the Sandinista combatants werethose that were distributing it. So in that moment there would be an armed confrontation.
We ran toward the hole in the metallic fence, it was so small and all the people were trying to pass by it. It was impossible. The bullets began to hum in my ears. I didn't know where was my father and I believed that he neither knew where i was.
The danger was real they were pursuing us to death. So withoutthinking it twice I jumped above the fence and above the spike wire, of course, at that time my body had many, many pounds less. So after that i ran and ran trying to escape from that place.
Suddenly I felt that there was blood in my arm. I thought: "They shot me."
Then I realized that they had not shot me. I still have in my right hand the scar of the spike wire. To be pursued is a situation thatproduces stress, but to be pursued to death is something else.

Key Text

Psalm 23:6

This small and delicate poem, is one of the most popular of the Psalter, is a song to the protection of God.
The section of this psalm that interests us in this occasion is in the verse 6:

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORDForever.”

The specialists have concluded that the psalm 23 was written in an extreme moment in King David's life. The second book of Samuel starting from chapter 15 shows us David escaping. David escaped from his youth, it was pursued by Saúl. But now almost at the end of their life he has to escape again. In this occasion he is pursued by his own son Absalón who had removed him temporally from thethrone.
While David is threatened of death he writes the psalm 23.
And he finishes their beautiful song with the words : “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life;..”

A. Goodness

The Hebrew root of this word refers to the kindness, the well, the material prosperity, the economic peacefulness, the blessings of God, the material goods, but also the moralkindness.

B. The Mercy

For many centuries the Hebrew word for mercy has been translated as kindness, invariable love. This word is applied to the love of God for sinners. It refers to the pardon. To the wonderful way God treats the sinner.
The sinner needs both things: The goodness and the mercy of God.
The two words: they are part of one formulate that can be found many times in the Old...