2014.03.30_The Kingdom Where the Servant Becomes the Greatest

The Common Cause of Destruction is Wickedness

            God seeks the humble. He seeks them and gives His blessings so that they may fulfill God’s holy work. God created the world in order to fulfill such will of His through the world. However, God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (Gen. 6:5). God was grieved by this and thus had once wiped the world with a flood.

            Even thereafter, God’s punishment towards man continued. Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed by fire and brimstone, Egypt suffered through many plagues, and many of the Israelites who came out of Egypt were put to death for they had provoked God to anger. When the Israelites conquered the land of Canaan, the nations and peoples they met with were destroyed. Though Israel was established as a country, they were divided into two kingdoms, both of which were destroyed. Such things have been continuing even to this day. When we closely examine the reason for these destructions, we can find a commonality among them. And that is wickedness. Everything that is done in opposition to God is generally referred to as sin, but from God’s perspective they are wickedness.

Wickedness and Pride are Two Sides of One Coin

            The Bible regards wickedness and pride in the same light. They are like two sides of one coin. When it is inside man’s heart, it is pride, but when expressed, it is wickedness. Psalm 10:2-4 says, “The wicked in his pride persecutes the poor….The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts.”

            The Bible often mentions the proud and the wicked side by side. Psalm 36:11 says, “Let not the foot of pride come against me, and let not the hand of the wicked drive me away.” Psalm 94:2-4 says, “Rise up, O Judge of the earth; render punishment to the proud. Lord, how long will the wicked, how long will the wicked triumph? They utter speech, and speak insolent things; all the workers of iniquity boast in themselves.” And Psalm 140:4-5 says, “Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked… The proud have hidden a snare for me, and cords.” The wicked and the proud are like thread and needle that often appear together in the Bible.

Not Serving God is Wickedness and Pride

            Then what is the opposite of pride and wickedness? Deuteronomy 8:2-3 says, “And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.” Then verse 12-14 says, “lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.” The opposite of pride, or wickedness, is to know and remember God’s grace, to fear, love and serve God.

This is something highlighted repeatedly throughout the Bible. Psalm 31:23 says, “Oh, love the Lord, all you His saints! For the Lord preserves the faithful, and fully repays the proud person.” Psalm 86:14 says, “O God, the proud have risen against me, and have not set You before them.” In this way, pride and disobedience to God, pride and not serving God are always mentioned together.

            God chose Israel and over a long period of time, He taught them, looked after them and trained them. That training was for them to wrestle against pride. Throughout their journey from Egypt to Canaan, Israel came across many different nations. God described those nations as proud people. As Israel served God, whoever opposed Israel was opposing God, and thus they were proud. Zechariah 10:11 says, “Then the pride of Assyria shall be brought down,” and Zechariah 9:6 says, “And I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.” Ezekiel 30:6 says, “And the pride of [Egypt’s] power shall come down,” while Jeremiah 48:27-29 says, “For was not Israel a derision to you? … We have heard the pride of Moab (he is exceedingly proud), of his loftiness and arrogance and pride, and of the haughtiness of his heart.”

Pride Which Even Destroyed the People of God

            God set apart Israel that served Him from all other nations, and struck every nation that went against Israel. God trained the Israelites like so in order that they could overcome pride. But there was a problem. Pride was not only found among the surrounding nations of Israel. Israel also could not overcome the temptation of pride and had fallen in its trap. God had made great efforts in order that Israel would overcome pride, but in the end it all came to nothing. After they were divided into Israel and Judah, both kingdoms perished as a result of pride.

            The records in the Bible tell us just how terrible the attribute of pride is. Concerning King Uzziah, 2 Chronicles 26:16 says, “But when he was strong his heart was lifted up, to his destruction, for he transgressed against the Lord his God.” When he did not heed the priest’s words and sought to burn incense on the altar by himself, leprosy broke out from his forehead and consequently, he was unable to manage the country’s state of affairs up to the day he died. 2 Chronicles 32:25-26 writes about King Hezekiah, “But Hezekiah did not repay according to the favor shown him, for his heart was lifted up; therefore wrath was looming over him and over Judah and Jerusalem. Then Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah.” Even though the wrath did not come upon them during the days of Hezekiah, God’s wrath had not disappeared. That wrath was already destined to fall on the people in Jerusalem.

            Prophet Hosea clearly pointed out the reason for Israel’s destruction. Hosea 13:5-6 says, “I knew you in the wilderness, in the land of great drought. When they had pasture, they were filled; they were filled and their heart was exalted; therefore they forgot Me,” and verse 9 says, “O Israel, you are destroyed, but your help is from Me.” Again, Hosea 5:5 says, “The pride of Israel testifies to his face; therefore Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity; Judah also stumbles with them.” Likewise, the fall of the nations was all the result of pride.

The People of God Who Could Not Overcome Pride and Killed the Son of God

            God taught His people that pride is the root of sin, and strictly trained them so that they would wrestle against pride. Nevertheless, they perished in the end. Having lost their country, they were left with nothing. There were only some Jews around Jerusalem, who were barely maintaining their existence as God’s people. It was then that Christ had come to the earth. The leaders of the people at the time were the Pharisees and Sadducees. They strictly disciplined themselves as they remembered the God of their forefathers, and thus had great pride in it. They believed they were faultless. However, in their hearts was an attribute that should be avoided most of all. And that is pride.

            The Lord could not accept them who had met Him with pride in their hearts. The Lord said, “And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades” (Luke 10:15). Again He was grieved and said, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (Mark 7:6-7). What is worse, they crucified the Son of God whom they had met. This was because the Devil was behind them.

Man is Ruled By the Haughty Devil

            Through the warning concerning the king of Tyre, Prophet Ezekiel uncovered the Devil’s nature. Ezekiel 28:2-5 says, “Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Because your heart is lifted up, and you say, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of gods, in the midst of the seas,’ Yet you are a man, and not a god, though you set your heart as the heart of a god (Behold, you are wiser than Daniel! There is no secret that can be hidden from you! With your wisdom and your understanding you have gained riches for yourself, and gathered gold and silver into your treasuries; by your great wisdom in trade you have increased your riches, and your heart is lifted up because of your riches).” Then verse 13-14 says, “You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: the sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold,” and 15-17 says, “You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you. By the abundance of your trading you became filled with violence within, and you sinned… Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty.”

            Concerning the attribute of the Devil, Isaiah 14:13-14 says, “For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’” The grounds on which man sinned before God, is absolutely identical to the attribute of the Devil. Since his fall in the Garden of Eden, man has been led away by pride and experienced constant failures and falls. The Devil’s characteristic governs all men. It is lurking even inside those who believe in Jesus as the most fearful stumbling block in their service to God. Pride and faith are complete opposites in nature.

Pride Will Surely Be Judged 

            Pride will definitely result in judgment. Even if it was the past, one will not simply get away with it. Malachi 4:1 says, “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,” says the Lord of hosts, “That will leave them neither root nor branch.” Also Isaiah 2:11-12 says, “The lofty looks of man shall be humbled,

The haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the Lord of hosts shall come upon everything proud and lofty, upon everything lifted up—and it shall be brought low.” Isaiah 13:11-12 says, “I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold, a man more than the golden wedge of Ophir.”

            God does not pass over the proud. Psalm 18:27 reads, “For You will save the humble people, but will bring down haughty looks.” While feeling at ease with a proud countenance, the wicked “does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts” (Ps. 10:4). However Psalm 138:6 says, “Though the Lord is on high, yet He regards the lowly; but the proud He knows from afar,” and Proverbs 16:5 says, “Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord; though they join forces, none will go unpunished.” Even if the proud is united with God, he will still be punished. We have to detest pride that God so detests. We should not think it natural to have pride inside of us but instead guard against and detest it, find and remove it from our hearts and our lives, and thus be of one heart with God.

The Kingdom Where the Servant Becomes the Greatest

            John and James, who can be said to be the disciples closest to Jesus, came to Him with a request. When Jesus asked, ‘what do you want me to do for you?’ they answered, ‘Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory’. When the ten disciples found out about this, they were indignant. The disciples could not so easily criticize John and James because they were relatives of Jesus. However they would have been displeased and probably thought to themselves, ‘how can they do this just because they’re His relatives?’ (Mark 10:35-41).

            In regard to this Jesus said, “Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all” (Mark 10:43-44). In order to be the greatest in Heaven, one must be a servant on the earth. This was not merely the Lord’s word of instruction for His disciples to develop virtue. Becoming humble was a very serious and realistic matter to the Lord. When the people went out into the wilderness to see John the Baptist, Jesus had asked, “But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses” (Matt. 11:8). The Lord was in disapproval with the chronic attitude of the people whose eyes were fixed on high places.

The Attitude to be had by Those Who Have Been Served by the Creator

            The Lord had works to accomplish; however, the people were not prepared to receive them. Jesus did not have a fine appearance or presence, or anything about Him that people would desire. From the beginning, there was no potential for Him to be exalted on the earth. His life had begun in the humblest place – a stable in Bethlehem, which was also the smallest city in the Judean region. He was brought up in the lowliest town of which people even unconsciously remarked, ‘can anything good come from Nazareth?’ and there He also had a very humble occupation. As soon as Jesus had revealed Himself to the world, people began labeling Him as ‘the Nazarene’ or ‘the Galilean.’ He had healed many sick people and yet the people ridiculed Him saying that He had demons with Him in order to cast out demons. He had appeared amid scorn, persecution and danger and had suffered; finally, He was rejected by His own people and heavily beaten by the Roman soldiers. He was sentenced to the most cursed punishment at Golgotha, the place of the skull where He faced His final moment on the earth. Jesus had gone down to the lowest place of all.

            Jesus has taken the curse and carried upon His shoulders the eternal sin by which all men had been oppressed. How faithful a servant is He of mankind? If anyone has received such a service from another person, one should not take for granted when his current circumstances are better off than the person who had given service. Even an evil person in this world knows to feel sorry and grateful when he has been served in such a way. The hill of Gethsemane certainly remembers how its Creator had cried and shed His tears in order to become such a servant. It remembers the tears of the Creator who had knelt down and prayed, ‘let me be the humble one according to Your will. Let me be cursed, hated, persecuted, forsaken and ultimately die. Grant me the courage to do so. Let me be the humblest one in this world.’ Jesus said, “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matt 20:28), and fulfilled those words.

            The glory of Heaven awaits us. We are able to lead our spiritual lives today without being shaken even when the world calls out to us because a glorious future has been promised to us. That glorious future was conceived at the Skull Hill of Golgotha and endured the cold tomb, and was made complete when God resurrected and lifted up the One who had become our servant. When many people had gathered in Mark’s upper room, grieving over their pride in the past and repenting together in tears and sweat, God the Father poured out what is His and confirmed the eternal future by putting a seal on the saints’ heart as if with a hot iron. We have become God’s children through the service of the Lord who humbled Himself and became our servant. Therefore, our faith life ought to begin humbly from the lowest place.

The Kingdom that Has Completely Different Values Compared to the Earth

            In this world, gold is considered to be of highest value. In heaven however, the purest of gold is the most common building material, used to pave the streets (Rev. 21:21). We need to stop and carefully consider how the things of great value in this world would be treated in heaven where the standards are so different to this world. The people who had labored throughout their hard-pressed life to acquire what is regarded as of value on the earth, will be utterly shocked when they get to the kingdom where the streets are paved with pure gold. Then they will realize that the values of that kingdom are completely different to that of the earth and seriously regret wasting away the opportunities they had on the earth.

            Jesus had once spoken of a rich man and a beggar named Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). The rich man was much like the kings of the city-states in the Middle East today, who lived in great splendor. When he died, he was utterly shocked by the pitiful and wretched treatment he received. Jesus had spoken of these things to highlight the point that the kingdom, where we will live in the coming age, has completely different standards of judgment to that of this earth.

The Life of the Humble Steward

            God has sent us Jesus so that we can meet Him, and has given us faith to believe in Him. He is the standard as well as the target of our faith, a model of character that we must take after. Now we can have His character and go before the Father. Jesus Christ has called us as His church and makes us become humble stewards.

            When considering the candidate to be ordained as a pastor, newcomers in the church should be avoided. 1 Timothy 3:6 explains the reason for this, “not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil.” The Lord said, “And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me” (Matt 10:38), and also, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

            The Lord is giving us these words so that we may become the stewards who follow Him, and we ought to long for such words of the Lord more than pure gold and they must become sweeter than honey (Psa 19:10). We do have interferences coming from the desires of our flesh. We must wrestle against them. We should not just vaguely hope for God to help us but wrestle ourselves. When we act, God will work with us.

The Members of the Church Must Serve One Another

            Job 33:14-17 says, “For God may speak in one way, or in another, yet man does not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, while slumbering on their beds, then He opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction. In order to turn man from his deed, and conceal pride from man.” In a world filled with pride, everyone wants to be served by others. However, in the church we must be the servants who serve one another. Otherwise, despite having many resources, the church cannot expect any revival or growth, or even think about a bright future. Whoever steps inside the church must experience the power of the peace and love the church of Christ possesses.

            Mothers endure all kinds of hardships in order to raise their children into great individuals. Though they may not have even received primary education while their children have received higher education, mothers have great dignity to which the children submit, and the capability of bringing peace to their children. We need to serve the souls with such heart of a mother. If there are people coming to church with an interest in having a faith life, we must not lose them but promptly help them to develop the nature that seeks God and overcome the Devil.

            There are people around us whom we need to serve with special attention. We should not ignore and neglect them. They are waiting for someone who can serve them. They urgently need a helping hand. They are people on the verge of collapse, lonely and desperately waiting for help. We must look after those people within the church.

Those Who Understand God’s Heart and Prepare for His Kingdom

            The Devil and the demons love inferiority. Many sicknesses arise due to inferiority, and are not easily healed because of inferiority. We have to radically throw away the character of the Devil lurking within us and become those who serve others. Then, the Holy Spirit will operate powerfully. This is not possible with the efforts of only a few saints. All saints need to join forces together. Some people are committed in their own work but are not interested in working together with others. If they do not serve because it is not enjoyable for them, then they are only interested in the work that will exalt them. Even if they are not enjoyable, if we strive in serving others, God will look upon us from the lofty place and watch over us even from afar. If we seek the benefit of the church even through suffering, by that we would keep our faith well and prepare for the kingdom of heaven.

            Our hearts should not be drawn to the things that seem difficult and unfair.  1 Peter 5:5-9 says, “Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for ‘God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.’ Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith.” Again James 4:6-7 says, “But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you’, and verse 10 says, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”

            The power to humble oneself and serve others is given by the Holy Spirit. However, if we are sitting still without doing anything, the Lord also cannot work. Who has known the heart of the Lord that he might instruct him? Those who have received the Holy Spirit and are inspired and filled with the Holy Spirit will do so. God rests in us and reveals His heart inside our hearts, so that we may know God’s heart, His thoughts and desires, His joy and sorrow. Therefore, we must become the humble stewards whom God seeks and is pleased to use. Heaven is a kingdom where the servant becomes the greatest. We need to enter that kingdom and meet the Lord who looks upon us with joy. In glory we ought to meet the Lord who has called us to reward us.