Jesus Calls You OUT of Society
Jesus said, "My Kingdom is NOT of this world" (John 18:36). He was the Messenger from God the Father of a better kingdom — the world-ruling Kingdom of God! When Christ walked this earth as a man, He spoke to His disciples of a soon-coming WORLD GOVERNMENT that would supersede and PUT DOWN all opposing, manmade governments, and RULE THIS WORLD! (Rev. 2:26-27)
He prayed that His disciples would be SEPARATE from this world. "I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine" (John 17:9).
Did you know Jesus Christ Himself said — IF YOU ARE A TRUE CHRISTIAN, YOUR FORMER FRIENDS, YOUR RELATIVES, THIS SOCIETY WILL HATE YOU?
Listen!
"If the world hates you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you" (John 15:18-19).
Jesus said your own family would begin to look down on you, if you are really willing to OBEY HIM! "Think not ,that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household" (Matt. 10:34-36).
If you are really following Christ — LIVING as He lived, DOING as He did — keeping God's LAW as He did — this society, even your closest former friends and your own relatives, will begin to RESIST and PERSECUTE you.
"Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind . . .
For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles . . . wherein they [former associates] think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you" (I Pet. 4:1-4).
Notice HOW STRONGLY God impresses on every Christian that they must discontinue their relationships with this sinning society! "Love NOT the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love 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 pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever" (I John 2:15-17).
A Choice to Make
RATHER than becoming a more respected part of this society when you "accept Christ," Jesus Himself, YOUR SAVIOR, said you would be persecuted by it, scorned and rejected by it — even HATED by it! Had you realized that?
Notice, even in His parables, He spoke of those who will covet the well-wishes of their friends more than they will desire the approval of Jesus and of God! "Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower . . . He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the CARE OF THIS WORLD, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful" (Matt. 13:18-22).
Many thousands of sincere people HEAR the amazing truth of God over The WORLD TOMORROW program, and they begin to realize how shockingly DIFFERENT the real truth is from the accepted, respected WAYS OF THIS SOCIETY. And, sadly enough, just as Jesus prophesied in His parable of the sower — MANY would rather have the well-wishes of their friends, the respect and approval of their neighbors, the clubs, parties, and social activities OF THIS WORLD, than the protection, love and ultimate eternal life God offers them!
"He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me" (Matt. 10:37-38).
Jesus plainly said ANYONE who would rather be conformed to this world than to SERVE Him and OBEY Him, is not worthy of Him — AND IS NOT A CHRISTIAN!
"If any man come to me and hate not [love less by comparison] his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple!" (Luke 14:26)
Count the Cost
In this section of Luke the 14th chapter, Jesus sternly warns every prospective Christian to COUNT THE COST of being a true follower of Him! How many people are being told to COUNT THE COST — or even told WHAT THAT COST IS?
Are they being TOLD what it really means? Are they being told HOW to GIVE themselves to God — HOW to serve Christ — WHAT to do — WHAT it means — are they being told to COME OUT of this society, and NOT be conformed to the world?
No! They most decidedly are not!
What IS The Cost?
Remember, Jesus tells you what you must do to become a Christian!
"Not everyone that saith unto me, 'Lord, Lord' shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that DOETH the WILL OF MY FATHER which is in heaven" (Matt. 7:21). "REPENT" said Christ! "Do THE WILL of God," said Jesus!
God's will is expressed in His Word. "Thy word is truth" (John 17:17). It is the truth, the word of God that will set you free.
Here, then, is what it really costs to become a true Christian, and to become a begotten son of God!
IT COSTS YOUR LIFE!
LITERALLY!
Does that shock you? Perhaps it does, unless you think I mean that statement as a kind of "spiritual phraseology."
God's Word tells you that you must literally LAY DOWN YOUR LIFE for Christ.
"Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38).
After you have been BROKEN UP, and your own human will has been totally SHATTERED, after you are DISGUSTED with yourself — FILLED with ABHORRENCE at your own actions, your own way of life — your own SELF, which is the VANITY within you — then you should be baptized!
What It Means
Immersion into a watery "grave" is a deep spiritual symbolism which signifies the actual, LITERAL BURYING of the old self — YOU — the way you HAVE BEEN, and the resurrection of a NEW YOU — now conquered by God, surrendered to God, meekly and humbly CHILDLIKE in your obedience and TRUST in Him as your Living Savior.
"Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so WE should WALK IN NEWNESS OF LIFE. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death; we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. Knowing this, that Our OLD MAN IS CRUCIFIED with him, that the body of sin [the former "you"] might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin" (Rom. 6:3-6).
Paul explained this principle further when he said, "For I was alive without the law once [without a knowledge of the law]: but when the commandment came [to his consciousness — so he became aware of what sin was] sin revived [he was able to see clearly that he was a great sinner] AND I DIED!" (Rom. 7:9) Paul said, "For sin, taking occasion by the commandment [being brought to light for what it was by the law of God] deceived me, and by it SLEW me. Wherefore [because God's law had shown him he was a sinner] the law is HOLY, and the commandment HOLY, and JUST, and good!" (Rom. 7:11-12)
A Change of Mind
The apostle Paul was a true Christian. He had the Spirit of God, which is promised to everyone who will literally lay down his life, and surrender the self-will, performing the ordinance of baptism, and coming to God's throne of grace as a meek child. Paul said, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me" (Gal. 2:20).
After REPENTING, and being baptized, which symbolizes the BURYING of the old carnal self, which was formerly HOSTILE toward God — the Holy Spirit is then implanted within your mind, and CHANGES your mind. Jesus Christ begins to motivate your thoughts, guide and direct your every action — LIVE HIS LIFE over again, WITHIN you!
And He does it through the power of God's Holy Spirit!
This is a great mystery to most human beings — and yet, the Spirit of God MUST enter our CARNAL minds to change those minds, and make them yielding, humble, and obedient to God, where they had been hostile, antagonistic, resentful, and bitter toward our Creator!
The receiving of God's Spirit to change human nature is the receiving of an outside POWER — a begettal which makes us His sons!
A Changed Attitude
If you are a true Christian, you will not be able to blindly follow the customs and practices of this society any further. Instead, you will begin asking, "What is God's will; what does God say about it?" And you will begin to SEARCH THE BIBLE TO GET TO KNOW the will of God.
Your outlook and attitude will gradually become Christ-like. You will begin saying, with Christ, "Nevertheless not my will, but THY will, be done!"
Where you formerly "went along with the crowd" in social activities, in customs of dress, in business practices, you will then begin to question the ways of the crowd. You will want to first ascertain what God's will is concerning these ways of life!
THAT IS THE DEFINITION OF A CHRISTIAN!
A Christian is a person who LIVES BY EVERY WORD OF GOD!
"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Matt. 4:4). So said your Savior! But are most professing Christians really LIVING by every WORD of God?
Not so! Most professing Christians do not even know a small portion of what the Word of God says! It is because they don't STUDY the Bible, and begin to drink in the Word of God that they gullibly swallow and accept whatever others say and believe!
What It Means To You
A Christian, then, is CONQUERED by God. His carnal will is broken! He realizes he has SINNED! Sin is any action that is contrary to the LAWS of God (I John 3:4). He then CRIES OUT to God and asks for forgiveness for those sins, and a lifting of the death penalty, which every sin brings (Rom. 6:23). He accepts God's promise of forgiveness, on faith, by accepting the sacrifice of Christ, accepting Jesus' death in place of his own. The Christian then takes the ordinance of baptism which shows God he really means it.
He expects God to stand back of His promise to give him the Holy Spirit, as a result of the REPENTANCE and the baptism which God demands.
THEN — AND NEVER UNTIL THEN — WILL YOU BECOME A TRUE CHRISTIAN.
Finally, you will begin to practice as a HABIT, the very life of Christ. "He that saith, 'I know him,' and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him" (I John 2:4). "He that saith he abideth in him [is a Christian] ought himself also so to walk [LIVE], even as HE [Christ] walked" (I John 2: 6).
The true Christian, who has REALLY repented, will LIVE as Christ lived! He will keep the LAWS of God, being obedient to God in every way, and be coming recipient of the great HAPPINESS and tremendous BLESSINGS that come with that obedience!
"For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps" (I Pet. 2:21).
CHECK UP on yourself!
Study these scriptures in your own Bible. Many of you THINK you are already "saved" and that you are already good Christians! But "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall" (I Cor. 10:12).
Remember, to "examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is IN you, except ye be reprobates?" (II Cor. 13:5)
Serve Christ — OBEY Christ — LIVE as Christ lived, FOLLOW Christ, IMITATE CHRIST!
THAT IS WHAT IT MEANS to give yourself to Him!