Sermon(Ps 14): The fall of the foolish vs. the hope of the poor

The original Korean text: https://blog.naver.com/stevision/50025251763

 

 

>> 1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none that does good. 2 The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any that act wisely, that seek after God. 3 They have all gone astray, they are all alike corrupt; there is none that does good, no, not one. 4 Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon the Lord? 5 There they shall be in great terror, for God is with the generation of the righteous. 6 You would confound the plans of the poor, but the Lord is his refuge. 7 O that deliverance for Israel would come out of Zion! When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, Israel shall be glad. (Ps 14) <<

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Humans think themselves to be wise but they are not. If humans are wise, why do they commit sins when they live well? If humans are wise, why do they bow to toads or turtles or snakes? If they are wise, why do they carve and chisel wood and stone into idols and bow to them? If humans are wise, why do they sin when they are criticized thereby? Don't they want to be praised by others?

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Humans are inevitably foolish. The number of human brain cells increases more and more from the fetus. They are foolish as an imperfect human being in this period of their life. After the birth, humans as a child have more and more brain cells, accumulating knowledge. The brain cells increase in number until the age of youth, and humans have more and more knowledge and wisdom until then. And they get older and have to face aging process. Part of brain cells begin to destroyed. So when you get to the age near death, your brain will have lost a lot of function. It is a naive idea to start studying again at this time. It is a childish thought indeed. Do you think you are wise because you graduated from college? Oh, what an ignorant thought! No!

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Today's verse 1 says that the fool think there is no God. Yes! Human beings are inherently not so great. Humans start from a feeble and foolish child, become a somewhat useful man, and end in a child-like old man. I think that he is foolish who uses his knowledge and wisdom to conclude that there is no God. However, to say more exactly, humans can never become wise unless they believe in the God who is the origin of the wisdom.

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Humans, of course, are wiser than animals, but those who don't want to receive God in their heart bear evil fruits. They are corrupt, do abominable deeds, and do not good (v. 1). They are all alike corrupt, and never do good (v. 3). They eat up God's people as they eat bread (v. 4). But they will be living in terror (v. 5). They are living such a wicked and dirty life because they don't have the truth about good and evil, which results from their unbelief in God. Therefore humans without God inevitably live a foolish life.

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My brethren, where there is the God, his might works there. If God comes to you and is in your heart, you won't be a foolish man like those mentioned above, but be a wise man. Your heart will be filled with the truth and wisdom of God. Your heart was corrupt and stank before, but now the corruption is gone and you have a new heart full of love, mercy, humility and joy. Your deed was abominable because it was ruled by the corrupt heart. But the dirty detestable behavior such as theft, adultery, filthy sexual perversion, jealousy, and vulgar words has disappeared, and now you begin to live a life fit for a son of God. The dirtiness within and without has disappeared, and now you has become a clean human being. Now you are doing good, and have a daunting fear no more, but have peace.

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How then can a man receive God in his heart? But in fact, just as many humans are interested in God, so God is very interested in man. "The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any that act wisely, that seek after God. They have all gone astray, they are all alike corrupt; there is none that does good, no, not one. (v. 2, 3)" In these verses, God is very interested in human beings and sees if they seek for him. But sadly, humans themselves were not wise enough to reason about the existence of God and to find God. Some humans, thinking of the existence of gods, created religions, but their stupidity was too hard to be broken by a stone; they looked for God in the wrong places. No matter how hard humans try to use wisdom, they only reveal their limitations by idolatry. Dirty life and idolatry are the most representative rotten fruits of human life. It is because they do not know God and become foolish. And this stupidity is the chronic disease that humans themselves can not cure.

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Humans are, so to speak, like prisoners (v. 7). Some are prisoners of drugs, others, of alcohol, of sexual desire, of homosexuality, of knowledge, of honor, of money, of power, of beauty, of falsehood, and of violence. Most of them can't deliver themselves from such captivity only by their own determination and will. So in the depths of their soul, their conscience moans and cries out. 'Oh, I really want to be freed from this dirty captivity and to live as a wholesome human being! Who can deliver me from this damned prison?'

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Today's biblical text says, "O that deliverance for Israel would come out of Zion! (v. 7)" Zion represents the place where God dwells. Yes, my brethren! Humans can't get out of their stupidity, dirty life and dark prisoner's life by their strength. They have no power to overcome them. But fortunately, humans have tears to shed when sorrow, can sigh when in trouble, and have a mouth to speak out the inner heart and to ask help then. These are the precious gifts of God that he has given the stupid and poor humans. God gave these gifts to humans so that they could call to him. God gave humans, his creatures, the right to cry out to him. Seeing their tears and hearing their sigh and loud cry, he comes to them with forgiving heart.

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God sent Jesus Christ his begotten Son to the world in order to remove human folly, human dirty deeds and all the prisons that confine men. "In whom (in Jesus) are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Col 2:3)" "For our sake he (God the Father) made him (Jesus) to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Cor 5:21)" "May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, that through these you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of passion, and become partakers of the divine nature. (2 Pet 1:2-4)" “He who commits sin is of the Devil; for the Devil has sinned from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the Devil. (1 Jn 3:8)” "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death. (Rom 8:2)" "The saying is sure: If we have died with him, we shall also live with him; if we endure, we shall also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us. (2 Tim 2:11-12)" "But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God. (Jn 1:12)" God has come to this world as a human being for they can't know him. To meet them and to solve their problems at once.

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My brethren, Jesus Christ, Son of God, heard your sigh and cry in heaven, and came to you with abundant gifts. He is your Savior. You don't know him well, but he has seen all your tears and heard all your groan and cry from your birth until now. He who is the Almighty God can do what you can't do. Receive now Jesus who is very concerned about you if you do not want to live in stupidity, dirty sins and prison like hell. At that moment, you are liberated from all evil things, become a son or a daughter of God, and become a king-like believer.

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A really foolish man is he who rejects the God that will save him. There's nothing left but perdition to him. If a mighty man would help him, but he refuses his assistance; isn't he a foolish man indeed? A man who accepts the assistance of others is a wise man even though he hasn't got a Ph.D. degree, or is not so good at English or math. He who refuses another's help is foolish, and the root of this foolishness is pride. My brethren, be humble, and you'll be wise all the days of your life. My brethren, be humble before others, and many wise men of the world will be your servants who will help you. My brethren, be humble before God. Jesus said he had come into the world to serve humans.

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So Jesus says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Mt 5:3)" If you are poor in spirit, you'll be humble in heart, so that you'll never reject the blessings coming upon you. In Ps 14:6, the text of today, some evil, arrogant and foolish people bully the poor out of their plans or hopes, but the God is their refuge. My brethren, be a man poor in spirit before God, and long for his grace and mercy. And he will be your refuge. This is the promise of the sincere God. My brethren, do not imitate and fear those who dislike receiving the God into their heart and live as a prisoner of foolishness, dirtiness, sin and Devil. Instead, be poor and humble in heart and receive Jesus as your Savior into your heart. He's strong. You become the sheep he loves. He will lead you to the green pasture and the clean river to give you much rest, satisfaction and joy. He will accomplish your precious hopes with you.

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I pray that Jesus Christ, the good shepherd, answer all your prayers and pleas in time.

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Chong Tack Kim

                                    - Dongtoma Sunshine Church -