April 29, 2018_The Power of Humility

Whosoever Loves God

God is One. Though there are many gods in the world, they are all created and therefore they are not to be worshiped. God is the Creator and He alone is to be worshiped forever. By the Word of God we have come to know the unseen God. The Word is God who was with God from eternity past. (John 1:1)

Do you love God? If you do, then you will love the Word. If you love the Word, you obey the Word. But there are many people who go to church and listen to the Word but they do not obey it. They attend church in order to comfort their hearts. But the purpose of a life of faith is not to be comforted in this life.

There are many different religions in the world, and their role is to bring comfort to people. Religions deal with the character, personality, and nature of men. A flawed character produces a corrupt personality, and a man with a corrupted personality exhibits undesirable traits. On the other hand, when a man’s character is shaped by religious discipline, it can produce a good personality that exhibits desirable traits. The comfort that this brings to people is one of the main purposes of religion. But the purpose of faith is different.

After Jesus ascended into heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit to the believers and established the church. The church is the body of Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 1:23) What did Jesus experience on the earth? He died, was resurrected, and He ascended into heaven. The church, which is the body of Christ, will experience the same thing. Our hope does not rest on receiving comfort in this world, but rather on the resurrection and on being taken up to heaven(1 Corinthians 15:14).

Whoever has the blessed hope of going to heaven will love the Word, and whoever loves the Word will humble himself before the Word. Whoever is humble before the Word truly loves God. So then, what does it mean to be humble before the Word? Does merely listening carefully to the Word mean you’re humble before the Word? Certainly not! A humble man will put the Word into action(Romans 2:13).

People who are of noble character

Acts 17:11 says, “Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures daily to see if these things were true.” In other words, they were more fair minded, virtuous, and honorable. In earlier generations, the Korean people honored the elderly, and teachers regardless of their age. People were more virtuous in earlier generations.

The Thessalonians were not so honorable. When they heard Paul’s words, they rejected him and even tried to kill him because they could not understand his message. On the other hand, the people of Berea humbly listened to Paul’s message and examined the Scriptures daily to see if what Paul said was true.

There are those in the church who criticize the teachings and decisions of their pastors based on their own ideas and experiences. This is not acting honorably. Pastors are shepherds of the Lord’s flock who lead and teach them to observe all things that He commanded, (Matthew 28:20) according to the Lord’s command(Acts 20:28). The pastor’s message should be honored regardless of his age: he preaches the word of God. Whoever loves God will humble himself before the Word, he will not scorn a message from a pastor.

A man who has worked as a miner for years may not have a great deal of knowledge about the world, but his knowledge and experience about working underground is vast. Not even a college professor with multiple doctoral degrees would discount the accumulated experience of this miner. Pastors are devoted to prayer, and to examining Scriptures, and to teaching and caring for the souls that God has entrusted to them. It is irresponsible and dishonorable to carelessly criticize the messages of these pastors based on your own knowledge or experience.

There is a famous tale of a conversation between Confucius and a child. The story goes that a handful of children were building a fortress when suddenly Confucius’ carriage was rolling towards the children. Most of the children got off the road, but one child in particular stayed firmly in the middle of the road. Curious, Confucius stopped the carriage and asked the child, “Aren’t you going to move, too?” The child replied, “I’ve heard of a carriage taking a detour around a fortress, but I’ve never heard of a fortress turning aside for a carriage.” Fascinated by the child’s reply, Confucius spoke with the child for a while. It was said that Confucius later commented: “The child is my teacher.” A humble man is capable of learning even from a child.

Humility

Humility is the heart and mind of Christ. Philippians 2:5-8 says, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a slave, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross.”

Jesus, the Son of God, is equal with God the Father. God the Father has appointed Jesus the heir of all things(Hebrews 1:2). All things means not just the physical universe and everything in it, it also means the spiritual world and everything in it. The Son of God did not consider equality with God something to be taken forcibly, but rather, He humbled Himself before the Father. Humility means acknowledging a superior.

Pastors may be ignorant about other things, but they are experts when it comes to God’s Word. Therefore, do not scorn their message, but honor them as better than yourself. Be a man of noble character like the Bereans. The Berea Movement is a movement to return to the Word. Only those who are humble before the Word of God can fulfill this calling. The Word of God is Spirit. (John 6:63) Those who do not have the Spirit, like animals, only hear a sound. When we listen to the Word, if all we also hear is the sound of the words, how are we different from the animals?

Man is not inherently humble. The quality of humility originated with the Son of God before man was even created. The Son of God chose to humble Himself before the Father, and during the course of fulfilling His will, He created man on the earth. Man was made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). We know that Jesus is the image of God(2 Corinthians 4:4). Therefore, we can affirm that personality is not derived from man, but that it was introduced into man from the God’s Son.

When He became a man, the Son of God surrendered His privileges before the Father. All men eventually die, “For it is appointed unto man once to die”(Hebrews 9:27). Regardless of how intelligent or powerful a man is, once he dies he’s powerless. When the Son of God became a man, He chose to become so vulnerable that He could live only when the Father raised Him to life. He intentionally made himself into the Father’s servant forever in heaven(Hebrews 5:7).

Pride

God chose one of the angels to guard the Throne of Heaven to whom He bestowed His memorial-name (Jehovah) until such time that the Son of God would come into the darkness. We can see this exemplified in the parable of the landowner who placed a steward in charge of all his possessions while he went to a far off country. This was the context in which a problem could arise, and in which it actually did. One of the angels in heaven grew proud and left his station because he wanted to be the one in the higher position, that is, the position of honor. He wanted to be the steward.

Like a paper that is consumed by a burning coal, angels cannot challenge God. But the offending angel challenged another angel: the one on whom God had bestowed His memorial name — Jehovah. Perhaps he thought that he could be a better steward than the Angel of the Lord, without realizing he was opposing God. However, resisting the Angel of the Lord to whom God had given charge of the throne, meant rebelling against the Son of God which also meant rebelling against God the Father who appointed Him heir(John 13:20).

Even the Angel of the Lord lacked the authority to judge or punish the angels who rebelled. If he had had the authority to punish them, Jesus Christ would not have had to come to the world. The Angel of the Lord confined the fallen angels in darkness until the Day of Judgment(Jude 1:6).  When the time had come, the Son of God came to the world and died, and when He was raised from the dead He judged them. He then ascended to the throne of heaven according to the will of the Father. He will return to the world and when He does, the punishment which is reserved for the devil and his cohorts will unfold.

The devil’s sin was rooted in envy. He deemed himself worthy to be the steward of heaven. 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.’” This sometimes happens in churches today as well. People sometimes criticize and sow distrust when someone assumes a high office, purely out of envy.

The power to resist the devil

The Lord is characterized by humility, whereas the Devil is characterized by pride. Feelings of inferiority when compared to others and envy are a product of pride. Both envy and inferiority come from the devil, and the devil walks about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. (1 Peter 5:8)

Let us humble ourselves before the Word of God so that we may have power. The devil cannot overcome those who are humble before the Word. Humility is central to the character of Jesus Christ while pride is in the heart of the devil. Will you choose to be Satan’s slave and be condemned along with him, or will you choose to be a servant of Jesus Christ and be glorified along with Him? Let us have the mind of Jesus Christ. That is the power which resists the devil.

When people talk about their parents who have passed away, they say that they are in heaven.With some hope in their hearts, they think to themselves that their parents are watching them from heaven. Whenever people say such things, I think about the reality that the soul will have to face after passing through death and after departing from the flesh.

The people of this world have a vague hope concerning what happens after death, because they do not know about the soul. But I know this hope very clearly. Jesus said, “I am the Way.” He came from heaven and went down to the earth. After he finished his public life, he passed through the gateof death. After his soul departed from his flesh, it went into paradise.Three days later, he rose from the dead. When the time was fulfilled, he ascended back into heaven. There were about 500 people who witnessed this ascension.

While Jesus was in this world, he was misunderstood, he suffered persecution and he was betrayed. But he had a particular mission to take up for the sake of humanity. After he had finished all his work, he proclaimed, “It is finished!” Even one of the criminals close by – though he did not know the Way of Jesus – after he discovered that his way was different from the Lord’s, he pleaded with the Lord Jesus. And having received permission, he was told, “You will be with me in paradise.” With this kind of faith, one can gain the eternal experience that the Lord Jesus promised – that he would lead us into heaven. We must learn wisdom from such a criminal as this.

Jesus is the ‘Shortcut to heaven’. Jesus laid down the very bricks of thisWay. It is on thisWay that he went from heaven, down to the earth. It is also the expressway to heaven. Those who have driven a car will have had this experience: when you come out of the main road, you go through the interchange, and then enter into the expressway. In the same way, the way to life is to hear the gospel and transfer ourselves onto the Way of Jesus. It is only through this Way that we can enter heaven.

The destination of the ordinary life of humans is what is called ‘destiny.’ Hebrews 9:27 warns us: “Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgement…”No one can escape judgement. There are three pathways that the soul of man is destined to go. The first of these paths is the Shortcut to heaven, which was prepared and made ready by Jesus Christ. After a person is united with Jesus, he will enter onto this Way, he will pass through the gate of death, and instantly go to Paradise. When the time comes, he will resurrect, andhe will reign along with the Lord.Finally,he will enter heaven. After we have all entered there, the heavenly hosts that will await us will be our attendants. This place is the very house of God the Father.

The second path belongs to those who stubbornly followed the Law and lived a religious way of life, trying in vain to keep their consciences clean. Right along with them are the ones who stubbornly followed their consciences and were hopelessly preoccupied with discerning good and evil. All of them will, for a while, remain in a separate place.But afterwards, just as they have deliberately chosen, they will receive judgement in accordance with the law of good and evil. And the rest of the people, the people of the third path, after they have passed the threshold of death, they will go around as demons. They will go down to the abyss. Because the sentencing of their judgement was passed in advance, they will have no opportunity for any reconciliation. They will be thrown into the lake of burning sulphur. As for me, I have entered,very early on, onto this Shortcut of the Lord Jesus.

Coming Soon

Outline translated by Sarah Lee
Letter translated by John Kim
Interpretations by Daniel Hong
Korean Summary by Ki-Taek Lee