[Read] A CHURCH THAT ABIDES BY THE WORD BEARS ALL BURDENS TOGETHER (Genesis 6:9-22)

A CHURCH THAT ABIDES BY THE WORD

BEARS ALL BURDENS TOGETHER

Genesis 6:9-22

magine a home of a family with three sons. There is a lot of work to be done in the home, and if the three sons worked together then all the house work could be done within half a day. But it would take longer if only two of the sons obeyed while the other refused to cooperate. The church works this same way. What are you doing, coming to worship day and night and praying at dawn? What is the point of prostrating and confessing through your lips that you desire to live according to God’s will? Shouldn’t our hearts first and foremost go before God? The head must be centered around the command of the heart. When we truly understand the Word, every bone, muscle, and organ, and every other part of our body will move as one to carry out the Word, resulting in true obedience. Do you have feet that don’t walk, or ears that don’t hear, or lips that don’t speak? So when God’s command comes, we must obey immediately.

If someone is doing God’s work and asks for your help to work together, we must immediately go and help. If we go to those in need of help and unite our strengths to do God’s work, isn’t that fulfilling His will? A church that abides by the Word can build a house. It is the workers, not the spectators, who build the house together. Pyungkang does not need spectators. When God calls us, He calls us to support His church. He did not call us to sightsee or spectate.

God tells us that the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. This message is about the church that abides by His Word. Noah’s ark is a model of the church. Destruction that came with the judgment of the flood was outside the ark, and the resting place was inside the ark. Did you ever consider that God would have also been inside the ark? In this same manner, God first sends His Word. When we accept the Word, we naturally follow God. However, God will not go where His Word is rejected.

When God commanded Noah to build the ark, He spoke to Noah alone. Then, Noah’s wife, his three sons, and three daughters-in-law all obeyed when Noah relayed God’s message to them. They gathered their strengths and united as one to build the ark. As a result, they completed it according to the pattern directed from God. This shows that God was in their midst throughout the process. The ark was built because they shared the burden and worked together. Could Noah have finished the ark all by himself? We must also become one and build the church together.

Let us look at the time period of Moses. Moses alone bore all the burdens of redemptive history. The burden was too heavy. So, God called Moses and said, “You are bearing all the burdens of Israel, and this is not good. I will choose seventy wise, knowledgeable elders to share your load” (Numbers 11:16-17). Imagine the joy in Moses’ heart!

Numbers 11:16–17 The Lord therefore said to Moses, “Gather for Me seventy men from the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and their officers and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you. “Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of the Spirit who is upon you, and will put Him upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you will not bear it all alone.

During the covenanted meal on Mt. Sinai, Moses did not go up alone, but with the seventy elders. God allowed the seventy elders to ascend with Moses so that when Moses later delivered the message to the people, he could not be accused to making it up. When God came down in midst of fire and spoke, it was not only Moses that witnessed this; the seven elders were also exposed to the incredible scene of God’s solemness, majesty, and brilliance. Because they testified of God’s presence together, the rest of the people couldn’t find anything to say and wordlessly obeyed. Just as the seventy family members of the twelve sons of Israel entered Egypt and carried out the work redemptive history, there were seventy families around the twelve tribes, and seventy followers around the twelve disciples of Jesus. This is no coincidence. There is a saying: “Two heads are better than one.” Although the burden may feel huge and heavy for those who have received God’s calling, their hearts will always feel light because the burden is shared.

 

There are burdens to cast and burdens to bear.

Matthew 11:28 speaks of the burdens we must cast: “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 28:19-20 speaks of the burdens we must bear: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Casting our yoke is not the end; we have a duty to bear up a new yoke for God. Then we can become the instrument of righteousness and fight the good fight. This is because Jesus first bore our heavy burden, the burden of sin, and went toward the cross (Matt 16:24; John 1:29; Rom 6:13).

 

God’s will is fulfilled whenever we share our burdens.

Please read Galatians 6:2-5: “Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another. For each one will bear his own load.” The phrase in verse two, “bear one another’s burden,” speaks of the load we must bear for each other. Sharing our loads fulfills the law of Christ. Galatians 6:3-5 also says that we must bear our own load as well. This speaks of God’s burden given to each of us.

Therefore, there is no one without a burden at church. There should not be even a single bystander or spectator in our family, workplace, or church. A church were every member bears a burden is the church where every member is sharing that burden.

 

We can share our burdens only when God’s spirit is upon us. 

According to Zechariah 4:6 and Numbers 11:16-17, we can only share the burden through the Spirit of God. Those who share the burden will remain in God’s tabernacle in the days of tribulation (Ref. John 8:29; Ps 27:4-5). God’s tabernacle signifies the shadow of lovingkindness where we receive His love and protection (1 Sam 18:12, 28). How do we share our burden? We must first leave this world. When God called Abraham to entrust him with the great burden of redemptive history, God first commanded him to leave Ur of the Chaldeans (Gen 12:1-2). We cannot share the burden of redemptive history while we remain in this world (1 John 2:15-17). Only when we are united with God can we have the blessings to dwell in God’s’ tabernacle.

Abraham’s life shows us that those who share the burden will receive five blessings. First, they will become a great nation. This is a promise of a thriving church. Secondly, they will become a blessing (the source of blessing). This is fulfilled through Jesus Christ, from whom all blessing flow. Thirdly, they will receive a great name. All people will praise such a great name. Fourthly, God’s protection will be on them. God will bless those who bless them and curse those who curse them. Fifthly, all nations will be blessed through them. They will become a channel, or canal, that supplies God’s blessings to all peoples. God gives well-deserved blessings to those who share His burdens. Through such people, the blessings will also spread to those who bless them. Additionally, God’s blessings will be cut off from those who curse them. Despite receiving such amazing blessings, we still cannot believe because we do not understand it. However, sharing the burden brings about the blessings. When we share the burden in faith, God’s will is fulfilled and great blessings come upon us (Gal 3:9). Living by faith is obeying the Word (Deut 28:1-2; Rev 1:3 – 14:13; Deut 7:6 – 14:2; 26:18-19; Exod 15:26; 19:5; 23:22; Isa 55:2; Deut 30:7). I pray that you will receive and experience all these blessings by obeying the Word to share the burdens with one another.

 

A church that bears the burdens together receive the Word of Jesus Christ.

The church that reads and meditates on the Bible daily is the church that bears the burden together (Acts 17:11; John 5:39). Those who share the burden have hearts that shine. As a result, they become gentle people. Their lives are fruitful and blessed. James 1:25 states, “But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does” (Eph 4:13; Deut 30:15-20). Surely, it is not easy to abide by and do the Word of God. That is why we must study the Word continually. Please don’t take Bible studies lightly. Acts 2:37-47 tells us that we can understand the wickedness in our conscience and share God’s burden together only when we study the Bible. Hence, when we say, “Let’s go to a bible study,” it really means, “Let’s share the burden of our church together.” I pray that this will become a motto of our church. May no one reply, “What burden?” The most beautiful scene in church is Bible study. Bible study is the key to successful children, beautiful homes, and thriving churches. People often say there is no end to learning worldly knowledge, but this is especially true for the Word of God. The Word of God bears fruit while it runs endlessly and eternally. We never graduate in the Word because we keep learning (1 Tim 4:13). There will surely be a famine of the Word in this world (Amos 8:11-13). Hence, before the famine comes, we must bear the burden together and strive to learn the Bible to overcome the famine.         

In conclusion, the fiery zeal is kindled when we become satisfied in all our lives. Our life of faith will be free of anxiety when everything prospers. Only then can we gather for Bible studies and prayers, and scatter out to evangelize. As we do so, spiritual fear will come upon us (Phil 2:12). Judgement will begin from the house of God. Ezekiel 9:6 and 1 Peter 4:17 clearly explains this. God will judge the Gentiles after judging the church and believers’ homes first. No one can deceive God’s balance. God will place on His balance and judge the faith of those who only pretend to believe, or pretend to bear the burden. With this in mind, please be a church that abides by the Word, a church that bears the burden together. The coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah (Matt 24:37; Luke 17:26). Think of the eight family members, and all the animals in the ark, and even the doves and the raven that went out of the ark to search. They all shared the burden. This is the work of God’s grace, and possible only through God’s grace. In the name of the Lord, I bless Pyungkang Cheil Church to be just like Noah’s ark, to find favor in the eyes of God and bear all the burdens together in the last days.

November 26, 1993 (Friday) – Rev. Abraham Park

*This post can also be read in 'Champyungan'. (http://champyungan.com/en/)