Title: Serve God Only / Matthew 4:8-11
Contents The 2nd Father's Class has been held since yesterday afternoon. I was asked to give the first lecture in my father's classroom, so I gave a lecture yesterday evening. I also gave my first lecture in my father's first class. Both the first lecture and yesterday's lecture talked about my father. I always think that blessed are those who have something to say about their father.
There are several things that come to mind when I think of my father and I am proud to talk about them. One of the first things I want to talk about is my father's dignity. My father, as you know, was a janitor at school. From a worldly point of view, my father was always poor and had the lowest job in school, but what makes me feel the best when I think of him is that he led a very proud life in his own way.
There is a story that members of our church know a lot because I have already boasted this many times. It is a 'briquette stove lid incident'.
The briquette stove in the principal's office was the same as the briquette stove in the janitor's room where my father was. One day, the lid of the briquette stove in the principal's office broke and briquette gas leaked out. When his father was off duty, the chief secretary, knowing that there was the same stove in the guard room, came to the guard room and changed the lid.
My father, who later found out about it, has a broken lid and is like the principal's office. And the cover has been changed. They didn't just secretly change it, but dragged the general manager into the principal's office and asked, 'Doesn't the principal die when he breathes gas, and doesn't the janitor die when he breathes gas? 'If the cover of the principal's office is broken, you have to buy a new one. Why did you exchange the cover for the janitor's room?' I've been yelling and changing. To be more honest, I slapped the general secretary in front of the principal and brought it to the cheek.
I know my father was a little over the top. However, the incident that makes me feel the most is that 'the principal's briquette stove lid incident'. I am always proud that my father, even though he was a poor janitor who was looked down on by others, was able to stand up without humiliation. So I could not be ashamed of my father.
Today's verse is a verse we know all too well. I really like Jesus, who does not open his eyes at the glory of all the kingdoms under the heavens and shouts loudly. I feel such a wonderful 'dignity' in that Jesus.
I hope that I will become a person who can live proudly by shouting loudly that I do not close my eyes to the glory of all the nations under the world, do not kneel down to Satan, and say, “I kneel only to God.”
You don't know how many times Satan still has to contend with his greed for trivial things like small envelopes of money, cars and bigger, more comfortable apartments, and sometimes he gets on his knees and is put to shame. For this reason, I want to become more and more of a wonderful and dignified person who can stand before Satan without even opening an eye in the glory of all nations.
Jesus is telling us the secret to living such a dignified life through His Word. It is to serve God. It is to bow down to God. Yes. That's the trick. We can achieve such dignity when we serve God with all our hearts and all our hearts, and live with a heart that only bows down to Him.
If you bow down to Satan, you become subservient. It gets cold. Satan deceives that if he bows down to him, he will give him the glory of all the kingdoms of the world, but it is not true. If you bow down to Satan, you will not receive the glory of all the kingdoms under the heavens, but the shame of all the kingdoms under the heavens.
But if you bow down to God, you become proud. becomes close. You will be truly honored. Not only the glory of all the kingdoms under the heavens, but all the glory in heaven and on earth. You will receive a crown of glory.
The more you bow to God, the more you bow down and the more you serve God, the less you will bow to and kneel to Satan. However, the further we become stiff and distant from God, the weaker and closer we become to Satan, the more we will end up bowing to and kneeling down to Satan.
What is your relationship with Jesus right now? There are people who believe in Jesus as a good teacher. There are people who take the meaning of their life of faith by hearing good words from God. Some people believe in Jesus and think of God as a magic lamp that grants their wishes. They pray and pay tribute to God, and they serve the church diligently, but they do not serve God. It is to hope that God will serve his wishes by moving the heart of God through such actions. After all, it is not that you are serving God, but God is serving you. There are people who regard God as King and serve Him. There are two kinds of people who serve God as King. There are people who serve like a king because they are afraid of God, and there are people who serve with all their heart and heart because they love God so much and because God is really their King.
True faith is, of course, only the last case. In the old days, there were servants who were loyal to the king. It is truly beautiful to see the loyal servants serving their kings. The faithful must believe and serve God with the heart of serving their king.
Because we live in a democratic era, it is very difficult to have that mindset and attitude. We are trying to have democracy with God without us even knowing it. I don't know how many people recognize God as a president rather than a king. Because of this, it is difficult to serve God and bow down to God.
We need a heart that bows to God. It is important to have a heart to serve God with all your heart. Above all, we need the spirit and attitude to serve God with all our heart, all our mind, and all our sincerity. Only with such faith and faith can we overcome the world. You can defeat Satan. You can beat yourself.
Only with such faith can we become beautiful. It can be daunting. You can win. If we lose that belief, or if that belief grows colder, we will unknowingly become ugly. It will weaken. It will be stupid. You will be blinded by the glory of all nations and live a humble life where you kneel down to Satan.
Among the gospel hymns that young people like and sing well, there is a hymn called 'My God the King'. Because the lyrics and melody are simple, it is a hymn that can be easily memorized and sung. I want to sing that hymn with you all.
I will exalt you, my God, the king, and I will praise your name forever.
If this hymn can be truly my hymn, if it can be a confession, if it can be a life, then we can become people who live a really wonderful life. You will be able to become a person who does not close one eye to the glory of all nations, does not bow down to Satan, and lives a proudly proud life.
I believe that I will live a life full of the glory of God on this earth, not just the glory of all the nations under the heavens. I hope that all of you and I who are living the same life can become. Amen.