1 Kings 1:1-10
Sunday Sermon – 5 Aug 2018 11:12:15 am – Pastor James Yang
Good morning everyone. I have returned from the world camp in Korea where some 3,000 students, plus chancellors, ministers of youth and education, correctional services leaders all gathered. There was also about 800 pastors from all around the world. There would have been about 4,000 in total.
I was team leader for some pastors from Africa and from India. In the team meeting, I preached the Word. There was also a king of a small tribe in Uganda. He was also like the secular leader of the country. Thankfully, they all accepted the gospel quite well.
Few of them raised their hands in the middle of the services and disagreed with what we preached. They claimed that in the bible it says that we have to ask for forgiveness of sins and that the washing away of our sins is not eternally finished.
I referred to 1 John 1 and I explained how once we confess, God cleanses us from all righteousness. So as they listened, I showed them how their confession was not the true confession. For if the confession was right, then once they confess, they would have true salvation.
We had 18 teams in total in the CLF. I felt sorry for some pastors who could not receive the gospe entirely.
As I read the bible, I can see myself. Let me tell me the kind of life I used to live before salvation and after.
I used to think that after salvation, I would become a good person. Biblically speaking though, this idea was completely wrong.
In a far away village, cnce a chief was patrolling in the village and he saw a group of children looking after a small leopard. The chief then pulled out his sword and wanted to kill it. But the children did not want to have it killed as they considered it so cute. The chief however said that one day when it grows, it would kill everyone. But the children resisted and claimed that their fathers said that they could keep it and feed it. The chief then put back his sword and said that meat was never to be fed to it.
The leopard grew and it seemed to be living well with the other animals. The children loved the leopard and they would take it with them as they explored the jungle. However, an incident occurred where one of the child slipped and hurt his knee. The leopard started licking the blood that flowed out from the knee and its eyes changed. It licked more profusely and eventually tore open the chest of the child and killed him. Then, it killed the other children as well. Their flesh was all torn apart. The villagers then found their children ripped apart in the jungle.
Folks, this is the story of our heart.
We all think that we will do well and what not. But when a certain circumstance is given to us, then we can see that we actually cannot do well.
Have you ever sworn and your husband, children or people around you and found yourself to be shocked at yourself?
There is a brother I know and I met him in Korea this time.
One day, this brother was looking for his wife after he came home from work. But she was missing. Then, he discovered that she went out clubbing and dancing in the night with her sister. After a few times this happened, he asked his wife not to do so. But this did not stop. He asked his sister-in-law not to take his wife out. But this did not stop.
One day, the brother spoke about how when he got back to his senses, he saw a knife in his hand, and his wife and her sister dead on the floor. The police came and jailed him for 17 years. Now his heart has changed a lot. He has remarried and lives happily in the church.
He explained to me that he still did not understand what possessed him them.
Most people in the world do not know exactly who they are. They think they know.
If you see your heart in comparison to the bible, you will know.
Likewise, the little leopard cub did not show any sign that it was dangerous. It looked all so cute. But once it grew and tasted the flavour of blood, the wild instinctive nature of the leopard came out.
Likewise, in the church, we may appear to be kind and gentle. But deep inside the heart, our heart is filled with deceit and evil things.
The inmates who come out from prison after 20-30 years think that after all this time, they have changed. They think that they have not done drugs, nor fight, not drink and so on since their time in the jail. They all believe that they have changed. But the problem is that after they are released, they all get back into the prison.
When people say that they have changed, I don’t believe it because the bible says how evil we are. Some short-term missionaries who go through our short-term volunteer program, think that they are so good and have changed because they preach the gospel, don’t drink etc. They really think that they have changed but the fact is that they had no choice but preach the gospel, witness, etc.
After you receive salvation, it does not mean that you have turned into a whole new and clean person. Rather, you should realise that you are a person who is only evil continually. Then you will not trust yourself.
Problems in life come from trusting one self. Some succeed in their businesses, etc. and so they think that they are capable. This is all from the flesh though. It is all about discovering how evil we are. This is the base and fundamental of spiritual life. Once you realise that you are an evil person, then you will abandon your choices, etc.
For Adonijah, his father was dying and he has this thought that he would be king. The thought just entered his heart. It was deeply rooted in his heart. And because of this thought, Adonijah perished.
If you go to Lidcombe station, there are lots of people going in an out. No one lives there permanently. In the same way, your thoughts may come in and go. But if an evil thought comes and stay in your permanently, then this is what will cause trouble for you.
God had already promised David that Solomon would be king. Adonijah was a very good looking person. He must have been complimented too.
I don’t remember people complimenting me much. Except my mum, no one else did. My mother in law calls me a cow-thief. The security guards in the checkpoints always inspect me.
Adonijah grew up thinking that his thoughts were always right.
As I speak with people, I can see how people are dragged by their own thoughts.
Adonijah should have shared with thoughts with others. But he did not do so and so in the end, he got 50 men to run for him to be made king.
People with arrogant hearts only speak with people they like. This is how factions are created.
If you can see how your are like Adonijah, then you will be able to establish God in your heart.
This time in the CLF, I received a call from the pastor in charge who asked me to be team leader. The problem is that if I become a team leader, it would be hard for me to have fellowship with people from Oceania. I was not sure if I could be team leader but the pastor told me to just do it. Of course, they thought a lot before they do anything. So I accepted.
People in the world have this notion that if they have to be good, then they can be good. However, like the leopard, the true evil nature is exposed.
When I was in middle high school, I was very good in swearing. So I told myself that I ought to reduce the amount I swear. My teacher in church taught me how not to swear. She asked me to cut the colourful paper in small pieces and put it in my pocket. So whenever I swore, I was to throw away one piece of paper. So I packed a lot in the morning and by noon, all were gone. On the following day, I did better and had some remainder left in my pocket. I practised like this and eventually I stopped swearing. My friends then gave me a nick name and called me ‘pastor’. Perhaps they knew my future [joke].
But one day a horrible thing happened. At that time I was standing in front of the class. One of my classmates played a prank and took the chair and threw it at me. The chair hit my shoulder and I fell. As I stood up, I swore at the person and swore with all the swear words I knew. I was shocked and my classmates were wondering what happened to the ‘pastor’. So I swore all I knew. I realised back then that even if I tried not to swear at somebody, I could not do it. I realised that time that I was not good. I pretended I was good but I was not good. That was the heart I had. Since then, I never tried not to swear. Because even if I do not want to, eventually I would.
“Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”
Romans 3:20 NKJV
This means that we cannot keep the law to become a good person.
As soon as the leopard licks the blood, then the ferocious nature of the leopard is awakened.
We may think we are a good person, we may think that we are a good person but we have not see ourselves through the law. It is only because the bad conditions have not been given to us. But once given, then we cannot do anything.
If we do not gamble, does it mean that we are a good person? No!
“Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.”
Exodus 12:13 NKJV
Right before the Israelites escaped the land of Egypt, God gave the last plague which is the passover. This is a plague for the Egyptians. But for the Israelites, the lamb was sacrificed so that while the meat was eaten, the blood was painted over the lintels f the door post. Whether the people in the house were good or bad was not important, but the angels saw whether the blood was there or not on the lintels of the door post.
We are truly nothing.
Once I went to the bank to ask for a loan to support a church in its construction work. However, the bank did not even give me 10 cents. I realised that I was so worthless. I had no deposit either.
From God’s point of view, we are so evil and so worthless. But since God gave Jesus to us, we are able to receive His grace.
We are just like the leopard in the eyes of God. With our own effort, there is no way we can attain the kingdom of heaven. But Jesus Christ is our deposit and our guarantor.
Adonijah could never see the end of his thoughts.
Our thoughts always lead us away from God. The more we live spiritual life, the more we realise that we are evil. It’s not that we become good people all of a sudden or progressively.
In the eyes of God, from our birth to death we are only evil. Thus, we only need Jesus.