2014.03.09_Prostrate Before the Lord

Christ Humbled Himself to Save Man Who is Heading For Hell

God seeks the humble. This does not mean that God is seeking kind persons, but the sinners. This is very important in explaining the essence of the Christian Gospel. It is difficult to thoroughly understand the Christian faith without first grasping this.

The people of the world tend to view the Christian Church from the same standpoint as they would view religions in general. They want to believe that Christians consider the earth as a middle zone between Heaven and hell. They simply think that humans are in a neutral state and belong to neither Heaven nor hell as yet. It is impossible to understand the essence of the Christian faith from such a perspective.

Man is like a passenger inside a train that is speeding down the rails headed for the lake of fire burning with sulfur. Fortunately, there are a few stations where he can alight from that train that is headed for the lake of fire. Those stations are the opportunities given to meet evangelists who preach the Gospel. However, people always let those opportunities slip by. And then someday, they will go past the final station. People must stop being stubborn and alight from the train when that day comes, but many people even let that opportunity slip away. After passing the last station they continue to speed down, oblivious of where they are going. In the end, they are faced with the fast approaching deadline for their flesh. Only then will they start to notice the odor of sulfur together with the heat from the flames that suddenly sweep over them. ‘Oh no, I missed it!’ they would say, overcome with great fear and shock unlike what they have ever experienced in the world. There is not much time left for each person until such things happen. If long, some people may have two or three decades left, while others only have a remaining few days.

Man is not in a intermediary stage, where it is neither Heaven nor hell. Man will go to hell even if he is standing still. God does not have to judge someone to send him or her to hell because every man is going to hell. God has already taken His hands off such judgment long ago.

Hell was originally prepared to destroy the Devil and the spiritual forces that accompany him. Without even knowing why, man was being dragged into that place and left in a state of destruction. As Jesus Christ had compassion on such man, He came to the earth to free him from the chains of the Devil. He called us through the church by the Holy Spirit, and is calling out to others through us. Since He knew our spirit’s desperate wish, He came to demolish the impossible wall we faced and grant us our wish. He humbled Himself to accomplish what was impossible; He is our Savior God who laid Himself down.

Man Who Needs a Complete Reversal

For that reason, every man absolutely needs to turn back and meet Him. However, because of people’s corrupted attitude of resistance, they are refusing to even listen to the preaching, “You are a sinner”, and thus making it hard for them to be saved. Even so, the people who have received the Gospel and become believers should be different. Nevertheless, the believers had also been ignorant of their spirit for a long time and are in contact with the world once they step outside of the church building. Thus, even they cannot easily let go of their habits from the past when they lived entirely for their flesh. As the Devil knows of such weaknesses in man, he tries to separates us from God by controlling the worldly environment and exerting his influence over us. On our own, it would be very difficult to respond flexibly to such opposition. We have too many flaws to be able to do that.

Observing the Lord’s Day is the very example of this. Today, many believers regard the observance of the Lord’s Day a hassle and a difficult task. The Sabbath day is a foreshadow of the Holy Day. There is a commandment in the Ten Commandments to observe the Sabbath day as holy. Originally, the Sabbath day had to be observed strictly over twenty-four hours, from the evening before until the next evening. Through His resurrection, Jesus perfected this into the Holy Day. We commemorate the Lord’s glory on this day, which is His masterpiece completed through His struggle against life and death. On this day, God takes rest within His church, which has received His grace. The

Holy Day is a drastic simplification of the Sabbath day in the Law, and completely different in nature to the Sabbath day as well. This is a day filled with freedom, victory and joy. However, the Christian church is pervaded with this attitude where people only want to give worship and consider it a loss to give the rest of their time. The observance of the Holy Day is now being regarded as burdensome, when it had been thoroughly observed ever since the early churches received the Lord’s command. This demonstrates the fact that the sinful nature is still present within the believers.

Although we have been saved, for our holy inheritance we have to maintain and use our bodies well while we are on the earth. Even if we have a Shepherd in the wilderness of this world, there still exists the threat from our predators. That is why we cannot evade the countless attacks, attrition, desolation, division, suffering, loss, failures and mistakes, as we are living on the earth. To simply judge that one could manage through these dangers is an awfully complacent attitude. The Bible says that the Devil is like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1 Pet. 5:8), and that he has gone down to attack the church of Christ, with great anger, because he knows that he has a short time (Rev. 12:12). If someone has fallen into temptation and says, “I will not believe in God any more”, that one utterance may nullify all the grace they have received. Also, if anyone says life is difficult and takes his own life, he will go to hell. Moreover, there is no forgiveness of sins if anyone intentionally interferes the work of the Holy Spirit, and we cannot possibly speak about the ramifications that will follow. Hence, the Bible tells us to put on a full armor to stand against the Devil’s schemes. Wearing only parts of a full armor will not stand a chance. Our battle is not against flesh and blood, that is visible, but against the invisible forces of darkness. Thus, we have to put on the full armor of God in order not to fall but stand after we have endured through everything we are going to face ahead (Eph. 6:11-13).

Repentance Based on Faith-Conscience

Anyone who hears the Gospel will live, anyone who rejects the Gospel will perish. However, the gods of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the Gospel (2 Cor. 4:3-4). Furthermore, as God does not forcefully move a person’s heart but is outside at the door calling and knocking, it is up to each individual to listen to His voice and open the door (Rev. 3:20). Yet, to hear the Gospel as so and finally open the door is certainly not an easy process.

God reveals the glory of God’s Only Begotten to the one who opens the door. The moment the glory of God’s Only Begotten shines, the sinfulness of man is laid bare. Likewise, conscience unveils everything before His eyes, with whom we have a relationship. Conscience interacts with faith. It is like a vessel that carries faith. Conscience can be divided into and explained as general conscience and faith conscience.

A general conscience leads to a sense of guilt in relation to moral categories. As this produces a repentance that leads to moral reform, general conscience is highly beneficial. However, its effect and impact are very limited because a repentance resulting from a general conscience does not carry over to a repentance that leads to salvation. Even the people of the world could repent according to a general conscience.

A faith conscience is distinct from moral self-reproach. A person with a faith conscience does not think that everything is done and feels content that he has been saved, but understands the heart of God who has given salvation.

The repentance produced by a faith conscience roots a person out of the world and turns him towards God. Some people say they go to church because they find relief in their hearts, their business could grow, and they could be healed from their sickness. If one’s prime reason for going to church is to receive such help, that person probably has not experienced a repentance produced by a faith conscience, and is likely to be going his own way still.

If a person’s interest is solely ‘me, myself’ even after he has come to believe in Jesus, it may be that he has not experienced a change resulting from faith conscience. A repentance produced by faith conscience means to be determined not to sin before God and turn away, regardless of whether our lives have turned for the better or worse after we have believed in Jesus. Such repentance will change a person with the ‘me, myself’ mentality into thinking about ‘You in me, I in You’ before God.

Sin can be categorized into personal sin and original sin. Personal sin refers to the actual sin that each person might commit day to day, whereas original sin is the depravity of one’s spirit before God. By receiving a punishment, one could pay the price of personal sins. A person feels relieved after serving a sentence in prison, or paying a fine, or when the probationary period is over. Even if someone did actually commit a crime, if the court rules that he is not guilty, the person can sleep well at night with a sense of relief.

The shock resulting from a repentance based on faith conscience is enormous and incomparable to that from a general conscience that it does not die down easily. The shock and pain caused by faith conscience is much like the aching pain that tears your heart whenever you see your loved one whose heart is far from you. It can be compared to a mother’s heart breaking down as she can do nothing but watch her child die ill. Through our faith conscience we must confess to Christ, “I am a sinner of sinners. But You are righteous”. The righteous God listens to us and pours into our spirits the blood flowing from His Only Begotten’s side, and removes our sins. The repentance from faith conscience therefore did not begin with the aim of justifying ‘me, myself’. It is purely about seeing God’s righteousness, exalting and praising His righteous, and consequently our spirit is delivered from the Devil and the Law, freed from the fear of hell.

The Woman Who Poured Perfume on Jesus’ Feet

A Pharisee requested Jesus to dine with him. When Jesus entered and sat inside the house of the Pharisee, a woman from that town walked in. The Pharisee thought to himself, ‘she’s a sinner who shouldn’t be here…’ The Pharisee was a perfect according to general conscience whereas the woman was a sinner well-known by everyone. The woman went behind Jesus and began to weep before His feet so that her tears wet His feet. She knelt down and washed His feet with her hair. Not only that, she kissed His feet and poured the precious perfume she had brought (Luke 7:36-38). She did not stop but continued to shed tears at His feet, wipe them with her hair, kiss them and pour perfume on them.

During those days, washing another person’s feet was not unusual. However, in that moment, which only ever came once in human history, the woman had come towards the Savior closer than anyone else. Perhaps it was spiritual sense that moved her, by coming before Jesus’ feet she had drawn very near to Christ. The Lord is sinless and pure, yet He set His feet on this unclean earth. Then, the sin of the earth bruised His heels. Nevertheless, He crushed the enemy’s head with His feet. John the Baptist said, “I am not worthy to carry His sandals” (Matt 3:11), but this woman went behind Jesus and served His feet. In that sense, the woman is greater than John the Baptist.

The woman deemed herself unworthy to even consider which of her sins she should receive forgiveness for from the Lord. She had come to the Lord because she acknowledged herself as a hopeless sinner. According to her, her moral sins were not even to be considered. She had deeply realized of her identity as a sinner before God. Trying to resolve the problems she faced in the world was not a matter of consideration to her. She simply came before the Lord and entrusted herself to Him.

The Lord wants us to have a real reversal, that is, repentance through our faith conscience. The world may regard this as strange and sneer at us. However, we need to go behind the Lord in fear, prostrate before His feet, shed our tears and wet His feet. We need to lower our hair and wipe His feet, as if we are lowering our egos, kiss His feet and pour the expensive perfume on His feet. We must continue to do this and have a real transition. If each of us does not have this, the Lord will feel distant from our hearts no matter how well we pretend to be close to the Lord.

A Faith Conscience Worthy to Be Branded As a ‘Christian’

The term ‘Christian’ was first used in the early churches, as a way of stigmatizing the people who believed in Jesus. The word ‘Christian’ meant ‘someone who is cursed with Christ’, because Jesus had been considered as the most accursed person. Paul had the chance to stand before King Agrippa before he went to stand trial in Rome. As he began talking about the Bible of the Jews and asked, ‘King Agrippa, do you believe the Prophets?’ Agrippa responded in great shock and astonishment, ‘You almost persuade me to become a Christian’. The people had thus shunned the word ‘Christian’ (Acts 26:27-28).

The Jews and the Romans had crucified Jesus and stigmatized Him publicly. In spite of this, many people who yearned for Him appeared after His crucifixion. These people seemed to follow Jesus’ words with greater fervor than when He was actually alive. And a greater number of people were defending His name than when He was alive; they were even determined to sacrifice their lives for that name. They are ‘Christians.’

A Christian is born through baptism. Baptism is an experience each person receives only once forever. So then how firm would that confession have to be? That confession is, “I will die together with Jesus, and live together with Jesus”. Christians are not people who condole with Christ who died. Baptism is to unite in Christ’s death and bury the old self, and after that unite with Him in His resurrection (Rom 6:4-5). Christians are ready to die even today for they have hope in the glory they will receive at the resurrection, just as Jesus lived again and was glorified. When we think of how we, who are full of sin and weaknesses, would later receive the glory of Heaven, it is only natural that we prostrate before Him and undergo an unprecedented repentance. And only a person as such would be worthy to receive the honor to be branded a ‘Christian.’ For this, one has to prepare a vessel of faith conscience that could guarantee the sincerity of the confession, “I have died and been buried with Him.”

I once met an eminent theologian a long time ago. This is what he said: “Since the Lord’s Day is a day we commemorate the Lord who died and resurrected, Christians should commemorate the Lord’s suffering properly. As the Lord was on the cross for six hours, we should also remember His suffering in a proper manner by giving worship for six hours.”

It had indeed taken that long for Jesus to be crucified and draw the poison of sin out of us and into Himself. For at least one day of the week, we should be determined to remember Jesus all day long not just six hours, just as He was captured and dragged around from early in the morning and suffered all day. Only such a person would be worthy of the glory to be branded a ‘Christian.’

Hebrew 12:4 says, “You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin”. This is a verse that shows how God thinks of us. A true repentance is accompanied by an agonizing pain, just as Jesus had suffered on the cross in order to turn us away from sin. If the soil of one’s heart is not made through the bitter experience of repentance, his heart cannot be regarded as really belonging to Christ, even if he claims to be a Christian in his mind.

The Duty of the People Who Have Received Grace

The Gospel of Jesus Christ has given us salvation easily. It is a huge relief that the first Adam held the key on behalf of the entire humankind. We would not have all received salvation today, had God created not one but many spirits in the beginning. Also, we were able to attain God’s righteousness so easily, which was impossible for us originally, because Jesus Christ has given us the Father’s name. The Lord has covered our many sins and weaknesses with His blood and simplified the steps to salvation. Hence, we were able to receive salvation so easily. For this, the Lord had maximized his role and filled it with afflictions; He broke Himself to pieces in order to overcome every impossibility and paid the enormous price. The sin of man, who had left God, is a deadly poison that cannot ever be washed away through the repentance of a general conscience. Thus, Jesus has shed His blood on the cross and destroyed our sin.

Likewise, the Lord has made every effort to save us who have not done anything, and now He is giving us a promise. “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:2-3). This Lord has planted this promise within the souls, who have humbly prostrated before Him; this is the hope of Heaven that is settled inside us today. We need to have a heart of concern for this, in case we become lazy in our faith life and possibly lose the promise of the Lord.

We must throw away the arrogance of taking grace for granted. Of course, the Lord would not fail to keep His promise. However, we need to wait on the Lord with a simple, innocent and humble manner and implore Him, “Lord, do not forget about me!” We do not stray, nor become dissipated and idle, we try to overcome temptations and fight against the world because we are waiting on the Lord. A person with a true faith conscience thus serves the church and waits on the Lord.

Faith Conscience and Service that has Prostrated Before the Lord

A member of the church once requested a prayer. He was not only serving in the church on the Lord’s Day from dawn till late evening, but had always been serving the church eagerly. The prayer he had requested was that he would be transferred to a different department at work so that he would not have to work overtime at night. He had been coming to church straight after working overtime on Lord’s Days and was serving in the church all day. His prayer request was not for a promotion at work or to have a higher pay by working overtime more frequently, but that his circumstances would change for him to serve the church well. The heart he had in requesting such a prayer was truly like breaking the alabaster jar.

We have to humbly prostrate before the Lord and repent, ‘I will not be a sinner before God ever again’. After that, we need to break the alabaster jar and continue to build our spirit through faith while we are on the earth. If we have prostrated before the Lord and made the unprecedented confession, we must now stand on the foundation of Jesus Christ and serve the church through the Holy Spirit for His name’s sake. We ought not to build with wood, hay or straw, but with gold, silver and precious stones so that our work will not be burned in the fire.

While we are living our spirit life on the earth, the Lord is hiding here and there. In times when we are not expecting Him, in times that we might easily ignore and neglect, He is waiting for us, thirsty, hungry, cold and in pain (Matt. 25:40-46).
The Lord will be coming in His glory with all of His angels at the end of the world (Matt. 25:31). Although we have been saved, we need to have a fearful heart of the fact that the Lord will be returning in power and glory. Apostle Paul appealed to the church in Philippi, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Do all things without complaining and disputing” (Phil. 2:12-14).

The faith conscience, which has prostrated before the Lord in repentance, fears God and serves the church zealously until that day comes. When the Lord desires to use us to seek the sinners, we should humbly obey and evangelize, nurture and care for the souls. We ought to teach the souls just as the Lord has saved us from hell and taught us. We must let the Holy Spirit work in our spirits, which have prostrated before the Lord’s feet through our faith conscience.