In last weekend’s sermon, Pastor Kong Hee taught the church two things to ask the Holy Spirit for in order to walk out of the darkness of sin.
The soul that God has created inside of every person is a beautiful garden. It is made in the image of God and it comes alive when the Holy Spirit breathes life into it. It is a place of divine communion and encounters with God.
“God wants you to cultivate it,” said Kong Hee, senior pastor of City Harvest Church on the weekend of 24 and 25 June. “But if you’re too busy to tend to the garden of your soul, sooner or later, weeds will begin to grow inside, and darkness will set in.”
In the New Testament, Jesus spoke about the darkness of sin. Pastor Kong preached that it comes about when people are too busy with exterior things that they fail to look after their interior life. Eventually, their life becomes a mess, and they have to turn to sinful pleasures to find relief. Yet those feelings of relief do not last and soon, the sinful pleasure leaves them feeling worse and empty on the inside.
“You know what the problem is? You are seeking relief from the exterior, you are not cultivating the interior or allowing your soul to be fulfilled and satisfied with the life, the love and the beauty of God,” the pastor preached.
Isaiah 59:2 records that sin creates a distance between man and God. “It prevents us from hearing His voice or experiencing His presence,” Pastor Kong explained. “You can’t enjoy Him—God feels so far away.” Sin also causes one to reject God’s will for his life.
Sin becomes a trespass when one does the sinful act intentionally and crosses a moral boundary. When a person continues doing that repeatedly, it becomes an iniquity and that sinful habit now has a stronghold over their lives.
“Sin, trespasses, iniquity—they make your soul darker and darker,” the pastor cautioned. It becomes so intensely dark no light can get in.
“The good news is, the Holy Spirit is your helper,” said Pastor Kong, going on to teach two things to ask for when one is struggling with sin.
1. THE GIFT OF THE FEAR OF THE LORD
The fear of the Lord is a gift from the Holy Spirit and the reason why Jesus could continue living a sinless life on earth.
Isaiah 11:2 records the seven anointings that the Messiah has, and the one that Jesus delights in is the fear of God. “All other six anointings have to do with your effectiveness in life and in ministry—the exterior things. But the fear of the Lord has to do with your love relationship with God,” Pastor Kong pointed out.
To Jesus, His relationship with God is the most essential thing in His life.
The pastor went on to define the fear of the Lord as “a healthy reverence for God that is rooted in love”. When one understands that God loves one so much that He sent His Son to take one’s place on the cross, one will not want to do anything that hurt God. That is the fear of the Lord.
“When we all go into darkness, we put ourselves under the control of another being who hates the Light,” Pastor Kong continued. Satan will remove all desire in a Christian to obey Jesus and live for Him.
Yet without the Holy Spirit, it is difficult for a person to realise that he is living in darkness. Like the Christians of Laodicea, he would take pride in his riches and success, not realising that he is living a life that is apart from God’s will.
Pastor Kong assured the church that God is not a vindictive God waiting to punish sinners. Instead, He is a loving Father who wants to help His children remove sin so that He can fill them with His light.
In a love relationship, there is always reverence and respect for the other person. “You will be careful how you conduct yourself, what you say and don’t say,” the pastor explained. The fear of God operates in the same way. Pastor Kong told the church that they do not have to feel that they are trying to appease an angry God. Instead, they should focus on dealing with the sin issue that is separating them from God.
“The greatest spiritual warfare is the fight over your soul,” Pastor Kong stated. He encouraged those struggling with sin to ask the Holy Spirit for the fear of the Lord, assuring them that God would never allow them to fall.
2. THE MIRROR OF HUMILITY
“Humility and the fear of God are two pillars, two sides of the same coin,” Pastor Kong said.
Directing the church to Prov 22:4 and Prov 15:23, Pastor Kong taught the church that they must be humble enough to realise that they cannot save themselves without God. Teresa of Ávila used the phrase “the mirror of humility” to illustrate how one should spend time reflecting on themselves in the presence of the Holy Spirit and allow Him to show them their real self.
The pastor clarified that humility is not a denial of strength. Instead, it is a deep awareness of one’s own weaknesses and a willingness to surrender to the will and grace of God.
“Without true humility, there can be no spiritual growth because there is no true surrender,” he explained. That is why Teresa of Ávila said that humility is the most important thing on this earth.
Pastor Kong then read a prayer of Saint Augustine’s, which he composed when he was touched by God: “God, I know right now, my heart is too filthy for You to come in. And it’s too small for You to dwell on it. But Lord, if You come into my heart, I know You can purify it and in purifying it, You will expand it so that it becomes a dwelling place for You and You will find Your home in me.”
As he concluded his sermon, Pastor Kong said, “God yearns for you and I to have a fear of the Lord and the mirror of humility. When these are present in our souls, they allow us to set a spiritual distance between us and our sins. You will not be attached to that sin anymore because you want something more beautiful and fulfilling than what sin is giving you—you want God Himself.”
Even if one is not living a sinful life, one’s soul can still be too distracted by worldly pursuits and ambitions to desire after God’s will. The pastor encouraged the church not to be too busy with the things of the world, and to seek after the presence of God.
Earlier in the service, CHC members dedicated their babies to God in a short ceremony where the pastors prayed for the little ones. Pastor Kong also revealed the upcoming Prayer Week in Korea next year, as well as the new courses in CHC’s School of Theology. He also shared the church’s plan to start a Mission School to reach the lost in Asia.
