Transcript: Living for Jesus in Two Worlds: A Christian's Journey

Music Music As believers in Jesus Christ, we live in a world that is very material, and as we grow in understanding in this precious truth of life, we learn that this world is not our final resting place. As genuine believers, born again and blood-bought by the precious lifeblood of Jesus Christ, we are gradually advancing in comprehension and growing into something much greater than understanding the laws that govern this physical earth. There is certainly something much greater in store for those who are living within the bounds of another world that lies beyond. 1 Corinthians 2, verses 8-10 tells us, None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written, No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God had in store for those who love him, but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Bible tells us what will eventually become of this earth in 2 Peter 3.10. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Both the earth and the works that are in it shall be burned up. Yes, the very one who spoke the whole world into existence will be the very one who will give the call for the sinful, evil, and wicked world to melt and be burned up altogether. Proverbs 8.27-36 describes the one who called the world into existence for the habitation of mankind to be graciously redeemed back to his creator. Verse 27. And I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, rejoicing in his inhabited earth, and in delighting in the sons of men. Verse 32. And now therefore listen to me, O you sons, for blessed and happy to be are those who keep my ways. Hear instruction and be wise, and do not refuse or neglect it. Blessed and fortunate is the man who listens to me, watching daily by my gates and waiting at the post of my doors. Verse 35. For whoever finds me wisdom finds life and draws forth and obtains favor from the Lord. But he who misses me or sins against me wrongs and injures himself. All who hate me love and court death. Verse 27 says, When he prepared the earth, I was there, when he drew a circle on the face of the deep. Wisdom speaking here is no mystery for the one who knows his God and Savior. John 1.1-3 defines and identifies the one who was by his father's side as the spokesman or the word which brought the unseen into a visible realm, which is now the world in which we presently live today. Verse 1. In the beginning before all time was the word, Christ, and the word was with God, and the word was God himself. He was presently originally with God, and all things that were made and came into existence through him and without him was not even one thing made that has come into being. Jesus Christ is clearly wisdom at his father's side. Many growing Christians wrestle with the understanding of belonging to a spiritual world. You see modern science with all of its capabilities of peering into outer space with super telescopes and the seismographic equipment to see below into the earth's crust, these man-made methods cannot bring one into understanding because they are of the physical realm and not of the spiritual realm. As a Christian, we are a citizen of two worlds, the earthly and the heavenly realm. Because we are citizens of two worlds, we must learn how to walk by faith in a world that requires we walk by sight. When God told Abraham to go to another country, he knew not where he was going, but he went on to walk by faith knowing that God was leading him. Paul, in Hebrews 11.24, tells us that Moses was aroused by faith. When he had grown into maturity and became great, he refused to be called. the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Verse 25. Because he preferred to share the oppression, suffer hardships, and bear the shame of the people of God, rather than to have a fleeting enjoyment of a sinful life, he considered the contempt and abuse and shame born for the Christ, the Messiah who was to come, to be greater wealth than all the treasures of Egypt, for he looked forward and away to the reward, the recompense. We too, like Moses, must see the invisible if we are to overcome the pull of the world. For the world, seeing is believing. This was the sin and the fault of Thomas. He had to see the wounds of Jesus to believe. Thomas was not present when Jesus first appeared to his disciples after his resurrection. But upon hearing of Christ's appearance to his disciples after the resurrection, Thomas said, And this is why he was called Doubting Thomas. Thomas had walked as the other apostles did walking with Jesus for three years who was the master and creator of the world For a genuine Christian believing is seen This principle of faith must be applied to our relationship to the heavenly throne of God. Though we have not seen the sanctuary, yet we believe what the word of God tells us about it. We realize and understand that God is not worshiping temples made with hands. Acts 7 verse 48 declares, However, the Most High does not dwell in houses and temples made with hands, as the prophet says. Verse 49, Heaven is my throne, and earth is the footstool for my feet. What kind of house can you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place in which I can rest? Was it not my hand that made all these things? Even though we call the church building a place where we meet the house of God, we know that God does not live in that building or that place, but rather he lives in the people who truly love God with all of their hearts, who come to worship the Lord within those walls. 1 Corinthians 3.16 declares, Do you not discern and understand that you, the whole church at Corinth, are God's temple, his sanctuary, and that God's Spirit has his permanent dwelling in you to be at home in you, collectively as a church and also individually? The beauty of this whole spiritual picture is seen and heard in song and also in the word of God. A lyric and wonderful old church hymn sung in all denominations says, On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. We have to remember that Jesus is that rock, and he is the solid foundation on whom we base our faith and trust in the promise of eternal life. 2 Samuel 22, verse 3 declares, My God, my rock, in him I will take refuge, my shield and horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my Savior. You saved me from violence. I call on the Lord who is worthy to be praised and I am saved from my enemies. We see in that the rock or stone that came down and crushed the proud image of a man in Nebuchadnezzar's dream in the book of Daniel, chapter 2, 34, declares, You, O king, saw, and behold, there was a great image. This image, which was mighty and exceedingly great brightness stood before you, and the appearance of it was frightening and terrible. Verse 32, as for this image, its head was of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly iron and partly of clay, baked clay of the potter. Verse 34, as you looked, a stone was cut out without human hands, which smote the image on the feet of iron and the baked clay of the potter and broke them to pieces. You see, the statue was not permanent. It was struck on the feet by a rock, not cut out by human hands. Daniel interpreted the king's dream by telling him that this statue was dazzling because of the medals of which it was made. It made the king appear insignificant when he stood next to it. The dream showed that Nebuchadnezzar's empire would be ruled over by the Gentile kingdoms, which would rule over the land of the Philistines and the people of Israel. Nebuchadnezzar had made arrogant boasts about all that he had achieved by his own power. He was stricken at the height of his power by God's judgment and was driven out of office and found himself living with the beasts of the field and eating grass like the oxen. The stone that was cut out, without human hands, represents the one who is not of human origin but is of a supernatural realm. God had a plan at the beginning of time, that his only begotten Son, born of a virgin, would enter into the world and willingly sacrifice himself upon the cross for the salvation of all those who would accept him as Savior and live within the mandates required for attaining the goal of eternal life. Jesus is the one who is that rock and the foundation of the goal of our salvation. In Luke chapter 6, 46 through 49, listen to what Jesus says regarding being the rock himself. Why do you call me Lord? And do not practice what I tell you. For everyone who comes to me and listens to my words in order to heed their teachings and does them, I will show you what he is like. Verse 48. He is like a man building a house who dug and went down deep and laid a foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the torrent broke against that house and could not shake it or move it because it had been securely built and founded on a rock. Verse 49. But he who merely hears and does not practice doing my word is like a man who built his house on a ground without foundation against the torrent burst and immediately a collapsed and fell and the breaking and ruin of that house was great. Jesus gives us insight in a figurative analogy as to what is meant by hearing and doing and heeding his words. To hear Jesus's words and saying means that we are going to pay attention, great attention, in hearing the word, because his teachings are not teachings of men, but they are teachings of God himself. They are holy doctrines. And when we hear Christ's holy teachings, we want to hear with understanding, like the wise man who built his house on the rock. Many hear, but they still remain ignorant of understanding, because they do not keep the precious truths and doctrines tucked away in their hearts like King David, who loved God's word above anything the world could offer. David in Psalms 119 verse 127 declares, Therefore I esteem all your precepts concerning all things to be right, and I hate every false way. Apostle Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 3.5 that people who build on sand have a form of godliness but have no power of God working in their hearts that bring the need of change for inheriting eternal life. 2 Timothy 3.3 They will be unloving and unforgiving They will slander others and have no self They will be cruel and hate what is good They will betray their friends and be reckless be puffed up with pride and love pleasure rather than God. They will act as religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that. All that we have seen in the Old Testament accounts We're depicted in the natural or the material world, but we're pointing to the day and the time when the mighty Savior of mankind came, and that spiritual world will open up in the hearts and lives of the redeemed, the precious masterpiece who loved him with all of their hearts, minds, and souls. Jesus, our rock, would set up his temple within the inmost secret part of those who truly love him. Now, Jesus comes into our hearts. It is not outside or of the material body where this change takes place, but it is inside the heart and soul and begins to shine the light of truth by the power of the Holy Spirit. In the material world, there are many difficulties to deal with. Psalms 34.19 declares, Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of all of them. Psalms 34.17 comforts us with this promise. The righteous cry, and the Lord hears them and delivers them from all of their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and will save those whose spirits are crushed. Many are the troubles of the righteous, but the Lord will deliver him out of all of them. So, although we live in the natural world, we are not a part of it, Scripture tells us. This is saying that we are not a part of the devil's evil distractions, his deeds, and sinful pleasures that make up the natural man and his way of life. Yes, we may have difficulties and troubles in our walks, but the promise is God will deliver us out of all of them. At the time an individual was truly saved, the Holy Spirit of God entered into their lives to be their teacher, their guide, and their comforter. And this in essence tells us that the Holy Spirit is the source and standard of all spiritual things that form and shape us into the pattern of Jesus Christ. This is the beginning of development of the spiritual man or woman. The Holy Spirit begins to witness the truth of God's word within their inmost being to say, This is the truth, and this is the way. Walk you in it now. In contrast, in 1 Corinthians 2, beginning in verse 13, We see in Paul's epistle that the natural man cannot perceive or understand the spiritual things and matters of God Almighty. Beginning in verse 13. These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, nor can he understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. Verse 14 again says, The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit, for they are foolishness to him, nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. What we have been talking about, and what the scripture tells us, is that there is a contrast of those who live in two worlds. One is in the natural realm without the Holy Spirit, and the other is living in the spiritual realm guided by the Holy Spirit. As the disciples who followed Jesus for three years later became apostles, we see their struggle as they grew in understanding and wisdom of the Lord. Peter was impetuous in the scenario where he grabbed a hold of Jesus and rebuked him when the Lord told him that he would suffer at the hands of the elders. Matthew 16, verse 23. Jesus turned on Peter and said, Get away from me, you Satan. You are a dangerous trap to me. You are thinking merely from a human point of view and not from God's view. Peter was a distraction, an interference in the Lord's work and labor for the good of mankind. You know, sometimes we think that we are doing good, but the natural man interferes with what God Almighty deems to do for the good of all mankind who have ears to hear. You see, living in the realm of the Spirit takes faith, and it's all about following the lead of the most important one called precious Holy Spirit, who is given to all genuine believers in Jesus Christ. Jesus makes himself real to those who earnestly seek him with all of their hearts. He does this through the indwelling of his Holy Spirit. If we live in the realm of the Holy Spirit, we belong to Christ. And if the Holy Spirit truly lives in you, he directs and guides you in every aspect of your life. You just want to please him in all and everything that you do and say. Apostle Paul tells us in Romans chapter 8 verse 9, But you are not living in the life of flesh. You are living the life of the Spirit. If the Holy Spirit of God really dwells in you and directs and controls you. But if anyone does not possess the Holy Spirit of Christ, he is none of his, does not belong to Christ, is not truly a child of God. Verse 10 But if Christ lives in you, then although your natural body is dead by reason of sin and the guilt, the Spirit is alive because of the righteousness that he imputes to you. God the Holy Spirit directs us to do good. He is building righteousness in us, not unrighteousness. And this says that we will not sympathize with sin or evil in any way. You see, when we do sympathize with sin, we become a part of it, and we actually agree with it, and moreover, we interfere with what God intends to do in somebody's life that we've interfered with because we may have felt sorry for them. In following Jesus Christ we are not practicing a fruitless set of principles but we are following the King of Kings and Ruler of the Eternal Realm who makes us truly alive and fit to live in his kingdom because we have preferred to live by his righteous principles and standards now God's great kingdom, his eternal kingdom, is not some man-made ideal or some ethereal fog-like realm far away in the upper atmosphere of the clouds. You see, eternity is for real, and having experiences in things of God is a spiritual gift from God. Understand His Word, His ways, and personal experiences are ways that the Holy Spirit encourages us to keep digging deeper in the Word until we hunger for more and truly taste and see that the Lord is good. And this becomes our preference for our daily spiritual manna or food. And this is the place that God wants us to live. This is the spiritual realm or world that the Holy Spirit little by little leads us into. It is a wonderful place called living in Christ or walking in the Spirit. We grow into spiritual maturity on this path. This place of living won't be found in the natural world. Though the kingdom of God is unseen by our natural or physical eyes, we can know it as a spiritual reality through personal experiences that we gain through growing in understanding the word of God, and at times that the precious Lord witnesses something profound to our spirit. Jesus said that being alive in the Holy Spirit is like responding to the wind. We can't see the Spirit who is like the wind. We can hear the wind and feel it and see its effects all around us. To the extent that we grow and mature in godliness, the greater the spiritual reality becomes to us that the unseen world that awaits us is far greater than what this place called earth offers us. 1 Corinthians 2.5 declares, What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceive, what God has prepared for those who love him, God has revealed it to us through the Spirit. Let us learn while we dwell on this planet earth that what is unseen in the spiritual realm will one day be worth reaching for. We'll rejoice on the day that we leave this world and enter into the heavenly realm where our dear Savior will receive us for being faithful servants as we had dwelt on this earth. No one or nothing can save you or me. Only Jesus saves. I provoke you with the question, do you live in the realm of the Spirit or not? Romans 8.9 says, You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh, but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you, and if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. The emphasis of Jesus' promise to us are spiritual and do not belong to the material world. In John chapter 15 verse 19, Jesus tells us that we do not belong to this world. He says in verse 19, If you belong to the world, the world would treat you with affection and would love you as its own. But because you are not of this world, no longer one with it, But I have chosen, selected you out of this world, and the world hates, detests you. Jesus has chosen us out of the world and chosen us to be his followers. He has separated his chosen ones out of this world society and placed them under the government of his holy commands and laws. The one who now lives in Jesus Christ is not influenced by the principles from men of the world. They are now empowered by the world of the eternal realm and carry the flame of love from God Almighty and live by his commands to live righteously in his holiness. The genuine believer in Jesus Christ receives blessings directly from the throne room of God. Ephesians chapter 1 verse 3 declares, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. This tells us that every spiritual blessing is showered upon the genuine believer for spiritual enrichment needed for the attainment of eternal life. These spiritual blessings are appropriated by faith. Since they are a promise, they've already been bestowed upon believers. An example is just like Joshua was leading the Israelites into the promised land. He was not to ask for the promised land since God had already promised it to him, but rather he was to go and enter into the enjoyment of that promised provision and take it by faith in what God had promised. in Matthew chapter 11 verse 12 Jesus tells us as believers that our promised land is the eternal kingdom of God and is to be taken by force in verse 12 and from the days of John the Baptist until the present time the kingdom of heaven has endured violent assault and violent men seize it by force as a precious prize to share in the heavenly kingdom is sought with the most ardent zeal and intense exertion. This means all those who are in earnest and serious in their zeal, in single-minded commitment with the help of precious Holy Spirit to enter into the gates of eternity will do it with a fervent love for their Savior. Yes, these blessings and promises are found in the spiritual realm and not in the material world. One world is seen and the other is unseen. These blessings and promises are spiritual and are not material. They are eternal and not temporal. They are all attained by burning ardent love and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and by living in the commands of the word found in the Holy Scripture called the Bible. Thank you.