A Humble People and a Holy God

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#003399" TEXT="#080000" background="040c8c00erkjxk.jpg"> <div> <B><U>Timothy King</U></B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#CC0033" FACE="Arial" ><B> </B></FONT></div> <div> <B>is an elder and teacher for Restoration Ministries.  He lives in Grand Junction with his wife, Debbie, and their three daughters, Hannah, Sarah and Bekah.</B></div> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="7" COLOR="#000099" FACE="Brush Script MT" ><B>Restoration Ministries</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FFFF99" FACE="Arial" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#CC0000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#00FFFF" FACE="Arial" >  </FONT><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Restoration Ministries"><U> H</U></A><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Restoration Ministries"><U>ome</U></A></div> <div>                                                   </div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="07ff8480.jpg" border=0 width="504" height="72" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> by Timothy King</div> <div> ________________________________________________________________________________</div> <bR> <div> <I>“If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or ill send pestilence among My people, and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” </I>(2 Chronicles 7:13, 14)</div> <bR> <div> Those with any interest in revival have no doubt heard, read, prayed, quoted, and even perhaps preached upon the above text of Scripture calling upon God’s people to return to Him. In my own experiences, I have heard this text frequently cited as a call to mighty efforts of prayer for revival. This is all very well since no revival has taken place without a preceding season of tearful prayers on the part of God's people. I am afraid, however that we often overlook the fact that prayer is actually the <I>second </I>step toward gaining the ear of God; the first, of course, is that God's people <I>humble themselves.</I></div> <bR> <div> We do a great disservice to the cause of Christ if we call God's people to prayer without first calling them to lay down their pride. The closest that prayer and pride will ever come together is in the dictionary! “Haughty eyes” is the first in the list of seven things which are an abomination to the Lord (Proverbs 6:16 if). The day of the Lord's exaltation is described as a day when “the proud look of man will be abased, and the loftiness of man will be humbled” (Isaiah 2:11, 17). The Lord's Day of Reckoning will be, <I>“against everyone who is proud and lofty, and against everyone who is lifted up, that he may be abased”</I> (Isaiah 2:12). </div> <bR> <div> In James 4:6 and 1 Peter 5:5, we see that God is actually opposed to the proud. It is common for many Christians to speak of how Satan is fighting against the church today, but many would be shocked to ponder the thought that God Himself would actually oppose their efforts if they harbor pride in their heart. Indeed, the multiplied sins of God's people caused Him to shut His ears to their multiplied prayers (Isaiah <I>1:15). </I>I fear that even our most fervent prayers for revival will be unheard upon high until we are willing to humble ourselves and deal with our manifold sins.</div> <bR> <div> <B>“Humbling Ourselves” –  What Does That Mean?</B></div> <bR> <div> What does it actually mean for someone to humble themselves before God? First, to be humbled before God involves acknowledging God's holy ways in contrast to our sinful ways. Our pride tends to see our own righteousness, our own good deeds, our own plans and schemes as things worthy of god-likeness. Humility is when we see these things as God Himself sees them, as they truly are — infinitely ugly and stained with sin. Jonathan Edwards has said, “It is by (pride) that the mind defends itself in other errors, and guards itself against light, by which it might be corrected and reclaimed.” </div> <bR> <div> To humble ourselves is to be awakened from the deception that our arrogance has created. A good example of this is the church of Sardis described in Revelation 3:1-6. Christ says of them, “I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.” This church had been convinced of its greatness by what others had said about them; they had developed a reputation for being a church that was really “alive”. The Lord of that church, though, was not swayed by public opinion nor impressed by this church's flashy programs. Had they truly sought what Christ thought of them, they would have been humbled to find that they were really dead.</div> <bR> <div> We should not rely on public opinion to persuade us of how great we are. The church of Laodicea described in Revelation 3:14-22 had themselves concluded that they were self-sufficient without the help of outside opinion. Their arrogant deceit is revealed by Christ in verse 17: <I>“Because you say, ‘I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,</I><I>'</I><I> and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.”</I> The great tragedy is found in the contrasting phrases “you say” and “you do not know”. As with the Laodicean church then, multitudes of professed Christians today are going to great lengths in boasting about their achievements, their wealth, their abilities, their talents and their prestige. </div> <bR> <div> Modern churches compete to be the biggest, the fastest-growing, the most successful or the greatest in notoriety. They spare no expense in gathering statistics, printing literature, making broadcasts and proclaiming how rich, wealthy and in need of nothing they are. Is this the report that Christ would give if we sought Him for His perspective? Would He extol our virtues and applaud our efforts as loudly as we do ourselves? Or might He be more likely to uncover the fact that we are really “wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked”? As we begin to ignore public opinion and turn on the light of God's word, as we cease to believe our own self-praises and see what God thinks of us, we begin to see what it means to be humbled.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Do We Really Agree with God?</B></div> <bR> <div> Not only must we come to the place where we recognize that our ways are wicked in contrast to God's ways, but, second, to be humbled means to come to a place where we stand with God in condemning our wicked ways. When the Bible speaks of confessing our sins in 1 John 1:9, the Greek word means “to speak the same thing as” or “to agree”. So, when we confess our sins to God, it does not mean that we are informing Him of something of which He was not aware. It means that we are agreeing with Him on something that He sees quite clearly. He is fully cognizant that our sin is indeed sin. </div> <bR> <div> He sees the sins that are in darkness to us — our pride, our lust, our rebellion, our unbelief, our disobedience — as if they were in the noonday sun.  Confession means that we say with God, “These are grievous sins that offend Your holiness and caused the suffering and death of Your precious, innocent Son.” Unconfessed sin, therefore, can be characterized as a continuous dispute with the all-wise God. It says that we know better than the Holy One as to what constitutes true holiness.</div> <bR> <div> There is a spirit of smugness among professing Christians today that must be cast out. We have no difficulty in condemning the sins of others, but our self-righteousness has made us calloused when it comes to heartily condemning our own sins. No better illustration could be given than that of King David in 2 Samuel, chapters 11 & 12. David had wallowed in his adultery, murder and spite of God's word for almost a year before God sent Nathan the prophet to deal with him. </div> <bR> <div> God showed David his sin in a parabolic report of a rich man with great flocks who stole one, beloved, ewe lamb from a poor man (see 2 Sam. 12:1-4). David, being a former shepherd, knew what it was to witness predators trying to take lambs from his own flock and he had on several occasions rose up and dealt death to the lion or the bear attempting to ravage his lambs. His anger was aroused and he bitterly denounced the man and passed a harsh judgment upon him (v. <I>5). </I></div> <bR> <div> It was here that the prophet thundered, “You are the man!” David had unwittingly condemned his own transgressions. We, like David, have come to pick and choose for God what sins He really does hate. The modern Christian cries, “God really hates liberal government, abortion, homosexuality, militant feminism, etc.” Indeed, these are abominations to Him; but what would happen if we turned the flood-light of God's word upon the modern Christian church?</div> <bR> <div> <B>Political Action or Gospel Proclamation?</B></div> <bR> <div> Do you get incensed because the liberal government has legislated God out of its institutions?<B> You are the man!</B> In the first century, the government would allow no god to be worshiped before Caesar. Our Christian brethren were thrown to the lions because they refused to renounce their Lord. The strategy of the modern, American disciple is to jump into the arena and try to eat the lions in the name of Christ. </div> <bR> <div> Few would argue that our nation's government has become purely pagan. Its hostility toward God, its tolerance toward perversion of His holy law and its legalization of the grossest of abominations are evidence of this. In the church, though, the Great Commission has become, “Go therefore and petition the government to return to its Christian roots”. As noble and patriotic as this sentiment sounds, it is an affront to our calling in Christ. First, our outrage at the wickedness of this nation is a testimony to our ignorance. A simple understanding of the biblical doctrine of man's total depravity explains this condition. Why should we be so shocked and surprised to find godless pagans acting like godless pagans? Why should we who have the light of God's word be so amazed at the sons of darkness going deeper into darkness?</div> <bR> <div> Second, the more sensible questions should be, “What has happened to the light? Has the salt of the earth lost its savor? Why has the church lost its ability to turn the world upside down?” It is interesting to note that when God's people were in rebellion against Him, there was one question that no one seemed to be asking: “Where is the Lord?” See Jeremiah 2:6-8; even those who knew the law did not ask the question, “Where is the Lord?” In our efforts to reestablish morality in our government (an effort which has been miserable failure over the past three decades), we, too, have missed upon a very important factor: <I>We should not be so concerned as to whether God is present in the White House, the Congress or the Supreme Court, but whether or not He is present in our churches</I>. From a divine perspective, it is reprehensible for professing Christians to cry out against God's absence in the institutions of government, while His holy presence is not even missed in the church.</div> <bR> <div> Do you condemn the great holocaust of abortion that pollutes our nation? The killing of children is not a new thing; the prophets of the Old Testament often thundered against the practice of the Israelites in sacrificing their children to the idol Molech (see Leviticus 20:2-5; Jeremiah 32:35; also Ezekiel 16:21; 20:26,31; 23:37). <B>But you are the man!</B> The church today has ignored the fact that there are other ways to destroy children. The homes of professing Christians in this evil day have become silent in teaching their children about the life-giving truths of the gospel. Fathers have relinquished the stewardship of teaching their sons and daughters to love the Lord their God with all their heart, with all their soul, with all their mind and with all their strength. But, in that Day when God calls for an accounting of the wayward children and rebellious youth of this generation, He shall not call the biased media, nor depraved Hollywood, nor the godless government schools, nor the debauched rock and rap musicians, nor the fools that these children and youth have made their companions. It shall be the parents — the fathers and the mothers — who shall answer to the Holy Judge.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Murder of the Unborn or the Born-again?</B></div> <bR> <div> Do you truly loath the murder of the unborn and are you repulsed by the flagrant disregard for human life at abortion clinics? <B>You are the man!</B> If God were to carry a placard and protest an “institution of murder”, where would He be holding His “sit-in”? Let His word speak for itself: <I>“Everyone who hates his brother is a </I><B>murderer</B><I>, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.”</I> (1 John 3:15, emphasis mine). We seem to think that God is more grieved over the slaughter of millions of fetuses than He is over the bitterness, the divisions, the unforgiveness, the factions and the fighting that goes on in many American churches in this day. </div> <bR> <div> The unborn are easy to love. They do not openly disagree with you, they do not say things to hurt you, they do not exhibit behavior calculated to offend you, nor do they display in the church any of the works of the flesh. Let's face it, they are totally unlike those irritating people you must face day after day, week after week, whom you are forced, by virtue of the fact that Christ died for them also, to call “brothers”. Yet, these are the very people that you are commanded — <I>commanded, </I>you understand — to love as Christ loved you.<I> “If someone says, ‘I love God,</I><I>'</I><I> and hat s his brother, he is a liar, for the one who does not love his brother whom he has </I><I>seen, </I><I>cannot love God whom he has not seen”</I> (1 John 4:20).</div> <bR> <div> Crusading for a Holy God is one thing; but it is a completely different thing to be humbled in the presence of that Holy God. The crusader becomes crushed and broken in the sight of His pure holiness. This is best illustrated in that classic passage of Isaiah 6. Chapter 5 shows this faithful servant of the Lord pronouncing woes upon the rebellious children of Judah (see verses 8, 11, 18, 20, 21, 22); but when he comes into the presence of Him who is “holy, holy, holy”, it is not just the rebellious nation of Judah that is perceived as unclean. Isaiah responds,<I> “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of </I><I>unclean </I><I>lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”</I> </div> <bR> <div> In the presence of the Holy King, Isaiah saw that it was not just the people around him that were unclean; he, too, was in ruin over the pollution of his own soul. The missionary fires were revived in him only after a cleansing coal from the freshly used altar had touched his lips. May the day be near when God's servants see that their own sin is as offensive to God as that of the world's, and that God's church ministers once again with a passion born of holiness, rather than of self-righteousness.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Our Humility and God’s Mercy</B></div> <bR> <div> The final principle concerning humility is this: to be humbled means to present ourselves to a God who is abundant in grace and mercy. Facing the ugliness of our pride, rebellion and unbelief is frowned upon in this culture that has made a positive “self-image” an indispensable mark of Christianity. Brokenness and humility are seen as setbacks to true spiritual growth rather than requirements for it.</div> <bR> <div> But it is only with the broken and contrite of heart that God has agreed to dwell (see Isaiah 57:15 & 66:2), and those He will gladly welcome. We must repent of the falsehood that has convinced us that the church only has a few mistakes and some lack of commitment to overcome, rather than a multitude of sins and trespasses to repent of. Roy Hession gives great encouragement to us in this matter:</div> <bR> <div> Some may be inclined to question whether it is right to call such things as self-consciousness, reserve, and fear, sins. ‘Call them infirmities, disabilities, temperamental weaknesses, if you will' some have said,'but not sins. To do so would be to get us into bondage. The reverse, however, is true. If these things are not sins, then we must put up with them for the rest of our lives; there is no deliverance. But if these and other things like them are indeed sins, then there is a Fountain for them, and we may experience cleansing from them, if we put them immediately under His precious Blood, the moment we are conscious of them. And they are sins. Their source is unbelief and an inverted form of pride, and they have hindered and hidden Him times without number. <I>(The Calvary Road</I>, Christian Literature Crusade, 1988, p. 29)</div> <bR> <div> Never is a call to God's people for repentance meant to be an opportunity to come before Him for condemnation; it is always a call to receive cleansing and restoration. The call to humble ourselves before God is never a call to crush the church into impotence, but to resurrect it in power. May this truth give us encouragement to seek our Lord with greater fervency for restoration and revival.</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>