Give glory to God!

[Acts 12:20-25]

We are like spinning tops as Christians.  A wooden spinning top must be struck with a whip to come to life.  The more it is struck, the better it spins, and the more life and vitality it exudes.  The characteristic of a wooden spinning top is that the more it experiences pain, the better and stronger it becomes.  This is the same for the life of a Christian.  When people of faith face hardships, the more they endure, the more mature and strong they become.  Those who fall and crumble in the face of adversity, those who give up on life, cannot truly be called Christians.  The life of God's people Israel, who lived like slaves in the land of Egypt, was just like this spinning top.  They became a nation that grew stronger the more they suffered.  They became a prosperous and magnificent nation through trials and pain (Internet).  We, too, are Christians who become stronger like spinning tops the more we face hardships.  Peter and the early church saints, who experienced the saving power of God in the midst of King Herod's persecution, were also like spinning tops.  For us, spinning top-like Christians, crises are opportunities.  At the time of the Exodus, the Israelites, who were brave when Pharaoh's army approached the Red Sea (Exod. 14:8), eventually returned to their old slave mentality in fear and resentment (vv. 10-12).  However, Moses, in the midst of this crisis, challenged them to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, the God of hosts, who fights for the Israelites.  Moses saw the crisis as an opportunity.  What kind of opportunity?  An opportunity to see the glory of God.

We are God's people who live for the glory of God.  The sole purpose of our existence as Christians is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever (Westminster Shorter Catechism, Question 1).  How can we give more glory to God?  Today, we want to learn three ways centered around Acts 12:20-25.  In the midst of these, I hope and pray that you and I can give glory to God.

First, to give glory to God, we must be humble and give glory to Him.

Look at Acts 12:23 - "Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died."  After the miraculous rescue of Peter, King Herod went down to Caesarea (v. 19).  While he was ruling there, an event occurred that greatly angered him.  It was an incident involving the people of Tyre and Sidon regions who were receiving food supplies from the king.  The specific details of what caused this anger are not mentioned in the Bible.  Recognizing the urgency of the situation, the residents of Tyre and Sidon, who were in charge of the king's security, earnestly expressed their desire to reconcile with the king (v. 20).  Therefore, King Herod accepted their fervent desire for reconciliation and set a special day to meet with them (v. 21).  At that time, he wore a robe that was made entirely of silver and sat on his throne to address the people from Tyre and Sidon who had come to him (v. 21).  The people who listened to his speech were the same ones who had greatly angered King Herod, but now they shouted flattery to reconcile with him: ‘This is the voice of a god, not of a man’ (Yoo).  The robe worn by the king was made entirely of silver.  When the sun's rays shone on the robe as the king entered the theater at sunrise, the robe gleamed brilliantly and marvelously.  The flatterers sitting in various directions in the theater shouted out to the king, ‘Show us favor.  Until now, we have worshipped you as a mere mortal, but now we confess that you are beyond being anything other than a mortal destined to die.’  Having heard such praises, the king neither rebuked those who shouted nor rejected their flattery (Josephus).

For a person, praise is more dangerous than insults (Park).  The one receiving praise accepts it without any issue and enjoys it.  However, receiving excessive praise is a sin that robs God of His glory.  How dangerous is it?  That's why Proverbs 27:2 says: "Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth; an outsider, and not your own lips."  Receiving praise is not always a good thing.  We must remember that we are tried by praise.  Therefore, when receiving praise, we must be even more humble before God and people. We must lower ourselves.  In the midst of this, we must give glory to God.

Second, to give glory to God, we must make His word flourish and give glory to God.

Look at Acts 12:24 - "But the word of God continued to spread and flourish."  Here, we see the author of Acts, Luke, recording the growth of God's word after serious challenges and persecution faced by the church for the third time.  The first record was the wise resolution of the problem arising from the issue of distribution, which resulted in the word of God spreading and more converts being added to the Jerusalem church (6:7).  The second record was the transformation of the once-persecutor Saul, who met Jesus on the road to Damascus, and became a bold proclaimer of the Lord's word, leading to the church flourishing throughout Judea, Samaria, and Galilee (9:31).

Internal problems or external persecution faced by the church do not weaken it, but rather strengthen it (Yoo).  How do we become even stronger?  Through the power of God's word.  This is the ability of the word.  What kind of faith should the church have?  The church must believe in the power of God's word.  The Bible says, "For the word of God is alive and active.  Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart" (Heb. 4:12).  The foremost priority in our hearts is to believe that God's word has the power to transform a person's soul.  A person who believes in the power of the word, that is, the power to pierce the soul of sinners, to bring repentance, and to transform their souls, boldly proclaims and spreads the word (Internet).

Third and last, to give glory to God, we must fulfill our mission.

Look at Acts 12:25 - "When Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission, they returned from Jerusalem, taking with them John, also called Mark."  This passage tells us that, as we have meditated on in Acts 11:27-30, in fulfillment of the prophecy by Agabus, during the time of Governor Claudius, there was a severe famine in Judea.  In response, the Antioch church sent Barnabas and Saul (Paul) to deliver relief funds to the elders of the Jerusalem church.  After completing this mission, Barnabas and Saul returned to the Antioch church, accompanied by John, also known as Mark.

Fulfilling our mission is giving glory to God.  The end of a life lived in mission is beautiful.  There are four types of people depending on what they center their lives on.  First, there are those who live for profit.  Second, there are those who live for convenience.  Third, there are those who live for pleasure.  Fourth, there are those who live for mission.  We as believers live for mission.  And mission invokes passion (Internet).  Malcolm Muggeridge said, ‘There are many paths. But life is too short to try them all’ (Internet).  We have not been called to do everything.  We do not have the time or ability to do everything.  God does not want us to do everything.  He wants us to focus on what is important, on what He wants to do through us (Internet).

We must rightly give glory to God.  To do this, we must be humble.  A prideful person can never give glory to God because they give glory to themselves.  We give glory to God by believing that His word has the power to transform a person's soul.  And by fulfilling the mission given to us, we give glory to God. Sola de Gloria!

Praying that we humbly carry out our mission to the end,

James Kim

(Yearning for the flourishing of the Word)