Pastor Cho's Sermon Outline - Yoido Full
Gospel Church - Seoul, KoreaTo Humble and Ultimately to Bless You Deuteronomy 8:14 ~ 8:17 2003-02-23
When a Christian who generally has devout faith faces hardship, he or she says to me, "Pastor, I always keep the Lord's Day and faithfully give my tithes. I make every effort to live faithfully. Why do I face this hardship? What did I do wrong?" It is difficult to give a simple answer to such questions. However, in general, the answer lies in today's scripture verses. God humbles us through hardship so that He can ultimately bless us.
What Moses and the Israelites experienced. Pharaoh's daughter adopted Moses. During his first 40 years, Moses was "educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action"(Acts 7:21-23). When he saw the sufferings of the Israelites-his people, he decided to go help them. When he killed an Egyptian and was exiled to Midian (Exodus 2:14,15), he spent his next 40 years as a humble shepherd for Jethro his father-in-law. Moses lived a life of hardship and brokenness in Midian. At age 80, he met God through the burning bush experience. God raised him up to lead the Israelites out of Egypt into the promised land of milk and honey (Exodus 3:9,10; 3:8). However, before they reached Canaan, they wandered for 40 years in the miserable, sun-scorched desert and narrowly escaped from death by the Red Sea. Why? God was preparing to take them into the land of blessing (Deuteronomy 8:15,16).
Christ's humility and exaltation. He grew up as the son of a carpenter and worked with His father. He slept in the fields during His ministry. He became "obedient to death-even death on a cross!" (Philippians 2:5-8). Then "God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name"(Philippians 2:9-11; Ephesians 1:20-22). The apostle Paul was highly educated and admired by many. However, when he became a servant of Christ, he endured great hardship. He was put in prison, beaten and stoned many times, and shipwrecked (2 Corinthians 11:23-30). The more he was humbled, the more God lifted him up (1 Corinthians 15:10; 2 Timothy 4:7,8; 2 Corinthians 12:10). God gave great revelations through him in the New Testament. For example, the book of Romans gives us the core of the theology of Jesus Christ.
Why does God humble us before He exalts us? He wants to break our ego so we will learn to live Christ-centered lives, not self-centered lives (Deuteronomy 8:17; James 1:3,4). God wants to shatter our pride and arrogance (Deuteronomy 8:18). He does not want us to backslide after being blessed (Deuteronomy 8:11-14). He wants to teach us obedience (Hebrews 5:8,9). Consider Abraham's obedience and the faith and character God developed in him through hardship (Hebrews 10:38; 11:6; 1 Peter 1:7). After humbling us, God will exalt us and bless us.
Heavenly Father, help us not to despair during the humbling process but to repent and receive your blessings.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.