Message by Rev. Dr. Shane Andersen DD (Hon) OMC Sydney
14TH January 2015
"Humility" ('Oh ye of little faith')
Search the scriptures & read from 1st Corinthians 1: 10-18 about the church in Corinth having some major problems, and Paul wrote them a stirn letter, since he was the one who set up this, the first Christian Church, and was deeply concerned about the troubles & strife going on at that church. He spoke about the divitions/factions starting up there, when its members took their eyes off Jesus, with some power plays.
A poem from my Mother's recent poem book:
"LIFE'S PATHWAY" entitled... 'Morning Thought'
What will the new day hold for me of pleasure or of pain?
Will it leave memories behind ofd sunshine or of rain?
Where does the morning signpost point, to failure or success?
To paths of trials and troubles, or peace and happiness?
Will there be friends to walk with me along the road I tread -
Or will it be a lonely track with no bright lights ahead?
Will there be something to regret when twilight fades away -
Or will my heart be grateful for a good and perfect day?
Dare I set forth upon the road unlaided and along?
I'll need a more than human will, and strength beyond my own -
If I'm to fight temptation all the while and all the way.
Without God's Grace I cannon meet the challenge of the day.
:Lilian Lorroway Tigel ( My MOTHER)
Tonight I want to speak about HUMILITY and which I sub titled...
"Oh Yea of LITTLE FAITH" which eventually corrupts, and hinders the Lords work in our churches... as we have seen in so many examples.
Have you ever wondered how much of your humility and servant attitude is truly Christ like? You can easily find out—the next time you are given the opportunity to submit yourself to someone who, in your estimation, should be serving under you...like in a job situation etc., or perhaps you do a great work in your church, but feel you don't get enough recognition? How do you react?
What are your thoughts and feelings? Is your heart at peace and your joy undisturbed, or do you struggle with resentment?
Andrew Murray includes in his small book titled Humility the essence of the following
text (paraphrased here):
Humility is far more than being broken because of our sin. It is participation in the very life of Jesus. Humility is the only root from which the genuine fruit of the Spirit can grow.
Pride degraded the highest angels into devils. Humility on the other hand, has raised fallen men and women to the throne of angels.
The great purpose of God in raising up a new creation is to demonstrate this great truth throughout eternity that all evil begins from pride and that all goodness springs from humility.
In Ezekiel 28:11–17 and Isaiah 14:12–15, the Bible gives us an account of the creation of the archangel Lucifer and what happened to him when he abandoned humility. The Word of God points out that Lucifer was perfect in two things: wisdom and beauty.
That’s about the ultimate dream someone could wish for him or her self. Not even Solomon, whom God granted to be the richest and wisest man under the sun, could claim to be perfect in wisdom and beauty.
The Apostle Paul had such incredible revelations and an understanding of the Word of God, yet he still says in Philippians 3:10 that his greatest desire is “that I may know Him.”
And when Paul lists all his accomplishments and outstanding achievements, he never mentions a word about his physical appearance. Tradition says Paul was a hopeless looking creature: short, bald, bowlegged, hunched over and partially blind.
Yet here was Lucifer, head of the archangelic order, absolutely perfect in wisdom and beauty. But the day came when this wasn’t enough for him. What happened? His heart was lifted up by pride.
No where do we read that he conducted a huge rally in heaven to voice his opinion before the rest of the angels . No, he simply said in his heart—no words spoken—“I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. . . . I will be like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:13, 14).
And God immediately cast him down. Through Lucifer’s pride, Adam and the entire human race fell. Pride is the root of all sin and evil that came into the universe.
But our salvation, redemption and recovery can only come through the humility of the second Adam, ... JESUS the Christ ('the anointed'), inGREEK: the one who is CHOSEN. The Hebrew word for this is... "The Messiah".
Philippians 2:5–8 shows us the heart of Jesus, which is diametrically opposite to Lucifer’s. Instead of looking for ways to go up, Jesus looked for ways to step down.
He laid aside all His glory and emptied Himself to become a human being. But He didn’t stop there. His humility took Him much farther:
“He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8).
The Bible says in the following verses that this was exactly the reason why God highly exalted Him. Seeing our struggle with pride, Jesus invites us in Matthew 11:29 to follow His example:
“Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart,and you will find rest for your souls” (emphasis mine).
This simply means that if we take the low road like Jesus did, all our striving will come to an end. And when we are asked to submit to someone who is younger or to serve others instead of being served, we will find that our hearts will be at peace.
Do you want to be more like Jesus? Look for opportunities to humble yourself.
I will close off this message with one more, very short poem by my Mother:
"The precious things that never change, The simple and the true,
The things that really count in life, Can they be seen in you?"
May God bless, Keep, strengthen & guide your spiritual pathway in life.
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Rev.Dr.Shane Andersen often works in voluntary Mission work/Human Rights in the Philippines, assisting other Pastors at MCC up there, and the GLBTI community at large, if you would like to help support his work there in Makarti City, Baguio City and Quezon City, you can help by sending a donation to any St.George Bank (NSW) OUTREACH MINISTRIES AUSTRALIA BSB:112-879 A/C:476145045
P.O. Box 181, Ermington Sydney, NSW Australia 1700 www.facebook.com/omcsydney
He also teaches Photographic Skills up there, helping them with job training in that area, with Photographic Workshops, and a free Photographic training web site.
Check out Shane at www.facebook.com/shane.andersen1
and feel free to chat with him on SKYPE: trekmate
