To handle the mission of preaching the Gospel, the church must have the character of Christ. The heart of this is humility. Without humility, the church cannot succeed in the work it must do. Moreover, the survival of the church will be threatened. In church, some people are not too obsessed with boasting about themselves, and some people used to be proud but received God’s grace and became humble. But if others are unable to do this and they want to fulfill the Lord’s will towards the church, they must abandon pride and fill their lives of faith with humility.
It is difficult for people who boast about themselves to remain in God’s grace. Because such people think they are intrinsically righteous, they treat the problem of their sins neglectfully. Once they slowly cultivate the pride inside them with that mindset, they eventually do things that endanger the church. The moment people ignore that they are still essentially sinners, they lose the meaning of the grace they received. In due time, this reality will be shown.
How do we begin a humble life suitable for God’s grace? The most accessible method for us is to keep the Lord’s new command ‘to love one another’. If the new command collapses in the church, it will inevitably lead to spiritual corruption. The new command is a wonderful device that protects the church. Just trying to keep the new command is confessing that you decided to follow Jesus, and it proves you are already forgiven. Ultimately, to keep the new command is to be humble. This is because you cannot love without being humble.
People brought to Jesus the man who was deaf and mute. In the view of the Jews, this man was mentally ill and paying the price for sins. The Lord took him aside and went to a secluded place. He then placed His fingers into his ears and spat and touched his tongue.
Why did the Lord use this method when it could have appeared superstitious? The Lord acted considerately so that the man could understand God’s will and respond by faith. When He put His fingers into the man’s ears and spat and touched his tongue, He was telling him (though he could not hear or speak), “I know your pain. I will heal you”, and when He looked up to heaven, He was stating, “I will cure you by God’s power”, and when He sighed, He was saying, “God pities you” and comforted his spirit.
The deaf and mute man did not have a trace of pride. The Lord wants to communicate with humble people like this, and give His grace to those who cannot live without Him. Therefore, all of us should suppress pride and at least force ourselves to obey His commands. Let’s not simply witness to the grace we received, but immerse ourselves fully in God’s grace. Let’s attain a humble church which confesses the Lord’s grace by our lives.
(Lord’s Day Service on August 8, 2021)
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