Title: The Complete Reformation of Faith
Contents
complete religious reform
(2009.10.25. Week) (2 Kings 18:3~8)
If you don't fix what's wrong and live as it is, there's no progress and you're going backwards and getting more and more wrong.
That is why we need to correct what is wrong from time to time to do it right.
National policies must also be reformed frequently in order for the country to develop and become a good country for the people to live.
Unfortunately, many politicians call for reform, but they do not try to reform their own faults, and there are many people who know that reform is just finding and attacking others.
We are believers.
As believers, we must become reformers who do not try to remove specks from others' eyes, but rather remove specks from their own eyes.
When Christianity in the Middle Ages went wrong, church leaders like Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin - did not try to reform the world - but reformed the faith first.
We keep the last Sunday of October as Reformation Reformation Sunday.
We too must follow the example of our ancestors of faith who accomplished the Reformation - and practice the right reform.
*Leave political reform to politicians - Believers must first reform their faith while detaching themselves from politics.
*Social reform and world reform, of course, are important - but we must first reform our faith.
*The world will never stand upright if others cry out for it to stand upright - The world will become more beautiful by itself when there are more people who want to stand upright themselves.
*I hope that we first achieve a religious reform that straightens our own faith.
Although King Hezekiah is a king, he does not rush to reform politically in order to set up the country.
1. We must remove the obstacles to our faith (verse 4).
If we do not remove obstacles that hinder our religious life, our faith cannot stand upright.
In order for believers to stand upright with the right faith, they must first remove the obstacles that hinder their religious life.
(18:4) - "He removed the high places, broke the pillars, cut down the Asherah poles, and broke the brass serpent that Moses had made, as the children of Israel had burned incense to this day, and called it Nehushdan."
At the time, we first removed the three things that were considered to be obstacles to our faith.
1) Removed acid sugar.
The Israelites had to serve God in the temple.
However, when Hezekiah became king, Israel was serving gods other than God in the high places, not in the temple.
Hezekiah, who became king in the era when the temple and the high places coexisted and worshiped God and evil spirits, was the first to remove the high places.
For believers - if you are interested in something like a high place that serves something other than God, your faith cannot stand upright.
Temples, shrines, Seonangdang, etc. - places that worship evil spirits are never something to approach or be kind to - Please keep in mind that they are objects to be removed from your heart.
2) The idols have been removed.
We removed the high hall, a place where gods were worshiped, and then removed the idols.
“They broke the pillars and cut down the poles” - The pillar-shaped idols are the idols of Baal, and the poles are the idols of Asherah.
An act of worshiping a non-god by calling it a god is an act that corrupts faith.
In Korea, there are many idols such as Buddha, Maitreya, Dangun, and Mary - these are idols that should be avoided.
3) Removed the inner idol (brass snake).
In Israel, the brass serpent was not originally an idol. In order to save those who were being bitten by a fiery serpent sent by God for their sin of disobedience, God had Moses make a bronze serpent, and those who looked at the bronze serpent saved their lives. This bronze serpent was a symbol to teach the lesson that disobedience will kill you and obedience will live.
However, the Israelites forgot the lesson that they would live if they obeyed and began to serve, knowing that the brass serpent had the magical power to save people. So Hezekiah also removed the brass serpent.
Dear Saints - Members of the church will not worship Buddha or Maitreya.
However, the worship of Mary, which is worshiped in Catholicism, is also an idol that needs to be eliminated.
The cross is also a symbol of Christ's sacrifice, and should be a Christian symbol - not an object of worship.
2. You must grow in full faith.
After Hezekiah had removed the high places, the pillars, the poles, and the brass serpents - he now set an example of perfect faith
Once we have removed the obstacles to our faith, we must strive for the growth of our faith.
1) We must become believers who depend on God (verse 5).
(18:5) - “Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel, and there was none like him among the kings of Judah before and after him.” - What do you rely on? - Do you rely on money, fame, or power???
Who do you rely on??? - Hezekiah depended only on God.
I hope that the believers who worship today will also be believers who depend only on God.
2) We must become believers who are united to God (verse 6).
(18:6) - "He was united to the LORD, and he did not depart from him, but kept the commandments which the LORD commanded Moses" - Hezekiah united to God.
*Jonah suffered great hardship while avoiding God *Peter followed Jesus at a distance and then betrayed him *Hezekiah did not leave God, nor did he follow Him far - they were very united. it became one.
I hope you too will become believers who are united with God.
3) You must become a believer who obeys God (verse 6).
(18:6) - “He was united to the Lord and did not depart from him, but kept the commandments the Lord commanded Moses.” - He knew that the commandments were God's commands and kept them. Knowing that the Bible is the Word of God and keeping it
Faith outside the Bible is not right faith. Faith without obedience is also not right faith.
I hope that you will become believers who fully obey the word of God.
3. A person of perfect faith is blessed (verse 7).
(18:7)-“The Lord was with him, and he prospered wherever he went.”
*Enoch, who walked with God with perfect faith, went to heaven without seeing death.
*Abraham, who obeyed God with perfect faith, became the father of faith and the father of the chosen people.
* Daniel, who relied on God with complete faith, overcame the threat of death and became a respected prophet.
* God blessed Hezekiah, who reformed himself and the nation with perfect faith.
Dear believers, do you really want to become a beautiful believer, a respected believer, and a blessed believer?
Dear saints worshiping today - I pray that the obstacles to faith will be removed cleanly.
Trust God completely. May you be fully united to God. Be completely obedient to God.
Even though he became a king in the most difficult time, I pray that he will wash away all difficulties and become reformers of faith who will receive great blessings from standing up to God through the reform of faith - like Hezekiah, who became the greatest king.