“The eye is the lamp of your body;
when your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of
light; but when it is bad, your body also is full of
darkness.” (Luke 11:34)
Do not love the world nor the
things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of
the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the
lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful
pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the
world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but
the one who does the will of God lives forever. (1 John
2:15-17)
My friends, to see clearly, with eyes wide
open in the spirit, is everything. Nothing really happens in
this living walk until you come to see things through God’s
eyes. To see the world, and all that it represents; to see
what is behind and beneath it all, where it leads, its scope
and sphere, is absolutely essential for the student and
servant of Jesus Christ. Now this may sound simplistic, but
everything must be reduced down to a crystal clear contrast
between light and darkness, between life and death. In so
many ways, this is where the process of forsaking and
overcoming the world begins and ends.
“Blessed are
the eyes which see the things you see…” (Luke 10:23)
Oh that our Lord would open and enlighten
our spiritual eyes to see clearly what the world is and what
He sees. Not only the overtly evil and unholy things, but
all things conceived by the god of this world to undermine
the work of the Holy Spirit and the purpose of the Lord our
God.
The Scriptures are
clear that all of the world wrought in Adam is under the
dominion and influence of the evil one. It is also under a
sentence of death, waiting to be carried out at our Lord’s
return. It is a settled matter and there is no future for
it. The world and all who represent it, fuel it and feed it,
have already been judged and found guilty. The judgment,
although delayed, is certain. Seeing this is key, my
brethren.
When you were saved,
what was it you were saved from? Was it not the world and
its most certain destruction? Yes, we go on living in the
world, touching the things of the world, but our life and
hope is not in them. This is no more our home than the
desert is the habitat of fish. We are sojourners and
pilgrims here, looking forward, like Abraham, to a better
country; a heavenly kingdom where the glory and will of God
will be preeminent. We are sustained in this hostile and
alien environment by His heavenly life in us, breathing in
His Spirit, assuming His character, life and light.
Oh but we know how this
world appeals to the flesh in us, don’t we? We are acutely
aware of how it teases and tempts it. This is why our Lord
minced no words, when He declared that the flesh (the life
of Adam) profits nothing. It is very much at home in this
world. It speaks its language and understands its ways
perfectly. It quite naturally pursues its wealth and
prominence. It’s life and destiny is linked to the world,
and its roots run deep into it. The way of the flesh is the
way of the world, for they are one and the same, nurturing
one another unto death and destruction.
Those born from above
in the spirit know such things. They recognize and
appreciate that every time they touch the world (and how can
we not) there is the danger that the flesh in them will rear
up and reach for a bite. They understand perfectly that only
the world can appease the lusts and appetites of the flesh,
and they are forever watching and praying that their Lord
would keep them safe from the evil one. In touching the
world, they are careful not to let it touch them or get
inside them. They have given their heart to another, and
their loyalty and allegiance to another kingdom.
All that is the world;
all that engenders and defines it – its economics, politics,
religion, culture, science and technology, etc. – is at
enmity with the Maker of the Universe. It is nothing less
than the collective expression of the pride and lust of
every individual in and of the world. Behind its very
institutions and systems, its ‘isms and ‘ologies, and wisdom
and ways are ancient and powerful spiritual forces,
principalities and powers, all doing the will of their
wicked taskmaster; the one who was a murderer and a thief
from the beginning. Although his days are numbered, and all
that remains is for judgment to fall, he still actively
rules this world with an iron fist.
Dear brethren, to
behold the world clearly with spiritual eyes, to perceive it
as our Lord did when He walked this earth, and as He does
now, is to negate its power and influence. It is by seeing
that light infuses the entire body. Yes, our Lord, in His
munificent glory and grace, has chosen to sanctify us in the
world, not to immediately remove us from it. But make no
mistake, we are not of this world, and we are not to be
associated with it. We are a heavenly people, called into
the household and kingdom of our God. Our treasure and pearl
of great price is not to be found in this world, but above.
For our treasure is the Lord Himself, and to desire Him
above all else is to shun the world and all of its empty
promises.
To truly see with
heavenly eyes is to reject all that the world offers and
represents. Satan may tempt us with gold or pleasure, but we
see only rust and death. Temporal things no longer have any
appeal for those with eternity in their hearts. They see
through the veiled promises, pain and lies of the devil and
His world. All has lost its shine. It is revealed only for
what it genuinely is – hollow, empty and short-lived.
To forsake the world
while still in it, and to effectively expose it for what it
is by manifesting the light of truth that is Jesus Christ;
this is the power and wonder of our God in this age of grace
and gathering. Wouldn’t it be so much easier to extricate us
from it all and make us holy in heaven or somewhere else
beyond Satan’s sphere of influence?
No, His light and life
would emanate through His called out children in the very
midst of the darkness, delusion and death that is the world.
The very Kingdom of God, the antithesis of all that the
world represents, would meet it head on, just as when the
man Jesus Christ was born into it, and stepped out in it,
and exposed it for what it is.
Let us ask the Lord, my
brethren, that He would grant us the heavenly vision to see
the world only as He does, and that we would forsake it and
come out of it in our hearts. Not to be physically removed
from it, for this is not His will at all, but to be released
from its grip in authentic spiritual separation. To have our
hearts purged of all desire for the world and its painted
treasure.
I really like the way
A.W. Tozer suggested this when he wrote of the Christian’s
“smiling indifference to the world’s attractions and their
steady resistance to its temptations.” He continued –
the true saint – cares little for
passing values; he looks forward eagerly to the day when
eternal things shall come into their own and godliness will
be found in all that matters.
Amen to that. Yet this
separation is of the heart and spirit, not some form of
physical asceticism. Those who seek hermetic isolation from
the world have not truly seen it for what it is. In fact,
this tendency to isolate oneself from the life of the world
is more an expression of the world’s religious spirit than
the will of God. You can’t hide or remove yourself from it,
and that is not our Lord’s intent for us here and now
anyway. We are to be like Daniel in the midst of Babylon,
who kept himself pure by unceasingly abiding in the grace of
His god. We are to expose the world by walking as heavenly
lights in the darkness. We either believe that He who is in
us is greater than he who is in the world and that we are
complete in Him or we don’t.
If you have died with Christ to
the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were
living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such
as, “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!” (which all
refer to things destined to perish with use)—in accordance
with the commandments and teachings of men? These are
matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in
self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment
of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.
(Col. 2:20-23)
See, dear brethren, how
even such religious sounding prohibitions against contact
with the world are very much part of what it represents; and
they have no place for the Christian who holds all things
loosely. Many think that they do, in fact, have value
against the indulgence of the flesh, but Paul says the
opposite here; that they are actually just as much a part of
the world and the flesh as the things we are not to touch,
taste or handle.
And neither is the
world like some modern city, with good neighborhoods and
bad, some safe and some deadly. The world is not found in
its location or activity, but in its universal and
antagonistic spirit that pervades all life under heaven. And
it is all under the dominion and influence of the devil, and
the judgment of God, enacted at the cross of Christ. We, as
children of the family of God are either crucified to it,
and it to us, or we’re not. It either still exercises power
and control over us, or it doesn’t.
We either abide in
Christ, or we abide in the world. And the measure in which
we are living in Him, is directly proportionate to the
measure in which we are living in the world. To come out of
the world, in other words, is to abide further in Christ
Jesus. Do you see this dear saints? I pray that you might.
The life that we previously had in this world, sustained by
the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, is
gradually being replaced by newness of life in Christ Jesus,
sustained by the fruit of the Tree of Life.
You are from God, little children,
and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you
than he who is in the world. They are from the world;
therefore they speak as from the world, and the world
listens to them. We are from God; he who knows God listens
to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this
we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. (1 John
4:4-6)
Again, we cannot
emphasize enough this capacity for seeing clearly, for even
the devil can make death and darkness appear as life and
light. Indeed, although many do not have the eyes to see it,
the vast majority of our churches are under his immediate
control, and much of what we consider organized Christianity
(“speckled birds” as Watchman Nee so aptly called them) has
aligned itself with the world and its ways. That the wheat
and the tares would grow up together (Matthew 13) and be
virtually indistinguishable to the natural eye indicates the
enemy’s mastery of subterfuge and deception. For those of
the world, even darkness appears as light. Yet this is not
so for the children of God, whose eyes have been enlightened
with true heavenly light. To really see, with eyes wide open
in the spirit, is a profound a heavenly gift that
accompanies our salvation and newness of life.
Yes, dear friends, we
do indeed go on living in the world, employing the things of
the world – its money, government and institutions, for
example – but they and the spirit behind them are not ours
at all, and our hope and confidence is not in them. The way
of get, greed and godlessness that characterizes life in
this world is no longer our way. All that is in the world,
and employed by the adversary to undermine the plans and
character of the Eternal God, actively working to draw souls
away from Him, down into the pit of despair, delusion and
death – this no longer has any claim on us.
We must surrender our
hearts to the Living God who will soon pour out His
righteous fury and wrath on this world and its own. No
longer should the cares of this world define and manipulate
us. No more should we befriend the world as it stands in
enmity and opposition against all that is holy and true. The
gospel of Jesus Christ, the gospel of the kingdom – was
preached as a witness against this present world, and there
is no future for it! All that chokes the life of Jesus
Christ in us; the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of
riches, and the desire for other things; all of this will
soon meet a violent end! We who are called sons of light,
who anticipate God’s mercy and deliverance, stand in stark
contrast to those who are the sons of this world, who stand
blindly in the path of eternal judgment.
Dear brethren, the time
has come to stop trying to patronize and appease this world,
as so many pretenders are doing in this hour. Our Lord never
promised us such affinity with this world, only its
rejection and scorn. Yet just as He overcame the world, we
too must overcome it in Him. Here is the glory and power and
wonder of our Heavenly Father, that He would claim us as His
own in the world and redeem us to its face, in blatant
opposition to it.
You adulteresses, do you not know
that friendship with the world is hostility toward God?
Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes
himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture
speaks to no purpose: “He jealously desires the Spirit which
He has made to dwell in us”? (James 4:4-5)
How glorious that we
can be in the world, touching it daily, and yet not be
conformed to it, or corrupted by it. No longer does its
wisdom wield any influence with us, for we see the
foolishness and death that it represents. No longer do we
desire the world’s spirit, its greedy desire for more, its
delusion and obsession with earthly things and painted
treasures. Better to be despised by the world and accepted
by God, to live by His grace and not the world’s carnal
pursuit of life apart from the Creator.
And you were dead in your
trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according
to the course of this world, according to the prince of the
power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the
sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived
in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the
flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath,
even as the rest. (Eph. 2:1-3)
Here we see that origin
is everything; and that everything runs its own course. What
matters, in this context, is not good or evil per say, but
who and where you are from. If we are of Adam, then our
future is earthly and short-lived. If we are of Christ
Jesus, then we have received the gift of eternal life; the
very life of God. Our destiny is bound up with Him. The life
of heaven has been extended to us.
It is this foundation
and beginning in Christ Jesus, and our newfound nature in
God, that determines the course of our lives now. He is our
way and path and life. A fundamental part of this is the
widening of our eyes in real heaven-sent revelation, that we
might see the world as it really is, with all its glitter
and paint stripped away. It is in truly beholding it, and
comprehending what it represents in its opposition to our
Holy Father and His Beloved Son, that we forsake and
overcome it. In the Scriptures things are less defined by
what they do but rather where they are from. And every man’s
life and existence is either rooted in God or rooted in the
adversary and the world. It is that simple. For –
-
You either have a fleshly mind or a
spiritual mind.
-
You are either inspired and led by the
spirit of the world or God’s Holy Spirit.
-
You either serve the Lord Jesus Christ
or Satan the thief and pretender.
-
You either walk according to the basic
principles of the world, leading to condemnation and
death or by the life of Jesus Christ leading to heavenly
blessing and life.
-
You are either a child in the
household of God or a son of disobedience and the world.
-
You are either a friend of the world
and at enmity with God, or you are friend of the Lord
Jesus Christ, at peace with the Father in Heaven.
-
You either love the world and the
things in the world (prominence, property, power, etc.)
or you love the Father in Heaven.
-
You are either compelled by the spirit
of the world and antichrist or you have the Holy Spirit
within you transforming your heart and mind into the
very image of God.
-
You are either led
by the human soul (intelligence, reason, emotion,
sentiment, and self-will), or the human spirit as
animated and directed by the Holy Spirit of God.
Dear friends, there is
nothing to fear or be intimated by, for He who is in us is
greater than he who is in the world. And again, the world is
everything constituted by man’s philosophies and politics
and principles, whispered into his soul over thousands of
years by the liar himself. Its reach is universal and
complete. Will you hide from it, dear ones, or shrink back
from it? Will you be intimidated by it when the Lord Himself
placed you right in the center of it for His glory alone, as
a demonstration of His ascendant power and wisdom?
Consider the following
wisdom from Watchman Nee –
Religious people –
attempt to overcome the world by getting out of it. As
Christians, this is not our attitude at all. Right here is
the place where we are called to overcome. Created distinct
from the world, we accept with joy the fact that God has
placed us in it. That distinctiveness, our gift from God in
Christ – is all the safeguard we need!
Again, we must
emphasize that the world, and all that it represents as a
spiritual order and system, is under the judgment of death,
enacted by God’s holy law. It has been condemned, and all
that remains is the penalty phase to be applied. In no place
in the Scriptures do we read anything of God reforming or
improving this present world or its principalities and
powers. Rather, He demonstrates His love for the world by
supplanting it with His order and system – the Kingdom of
God and His Christ.
Then the seventh angel sounded; and
there were loud voices in heaven, saying,
“The kingdom of the
world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ;
and He will reign forever and ever.” (Rev. 11:15)
In proclaiming and
advancing the Kingdom of God, Jesus offered a spiritual
alternative to this world’s reality lived out in the power
of the flesh, according to carnal pursuits. To enter His
kingdom is to escape the world as we know it. Herein lies
our full salvation wrought in Christ Jesus, for no longer
are we subject to the world and aligned with its impending
judgment and death.
Truly, my brethren, to
see rightly is everything. If the lamp of the body is full
of God’s heavenly light, then the world no longer holds any
power over us. Its bond of deception is broken, and we are
truly free indeed. No longer are we to worry about our
temporal condition as the world does – what we will eat and
what we will wear; what men think of us; what lies out ahead
in our earthly lives. No longer is survival and material
comfort and security all that drives us in life. Our focus
and devotion will turn to our Heavenly Father who provides
everything we need in His Only Begotten and Beloved Son
through His Holy Spirit. Here is our peace and provision in
the world, and to see this is to be truly free indeed!
Oh Most High and Holy Father – Oh Lord,
Mighty and Loving God – By Your grace we abide here in this
world, the domain of devils and every vile and abominable
thing. Grant, Oh Lord, that Your might and power and wisdom
would be revealed as You claim us and sanctify us as Your
own! Grant that we would have eyes wide open in the spirit
to see, and that the lamp of the body would shine brightly
on all darkness and delusion. Oh Father in Heaven, please
keep us unto Yourself in Your Beloved Son and Spirit. In His
Name, we pray always. Amen.
