Today we are considering an issue that is made up of three words, simple. IN CHRIST JESUS! That is our focus here and now! One thing that Jesus said is this: "In the world, you will have tribulations. But be of good cheer because I, have overcome the world." So, where should one be? Is it not in the ‘I’ or in the world? So, we are seeing two dichotomies here, or two experiences or possibilities. Now, if you are in the world, you can be sure that there will be tribulations. But Jesus said ‘I have overcome the world’. So, the opposite of the world for us, is Him! And so, for a man or woman who is wise, it is normal to side with the victory side, or the victors. So, if there are two opposing sides, you don’t side with the losers because you could simply experience loss with them. So, you side with the winners, with those who are having victories, those who are having testimonies and assured guarantee victory.
So, Jesus made the matter clear to us because when we are looking at IN CHRIST JESUS, that is actually the opposite of in the world. You are either in the world or you are in Christ Jesus. I believe Christ wants to show us this possibility. Joshua once said to the people of Israel, if it is something difficult for you to choose whom you will serve, are you going to be like your fathers who serve some gods at the other side of the river but didn’t profit them? But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. So, there is a possibility for a people to side with the Lord and there is a possibility for a people to side with the gods of the nations. So, as Jesus said, if you side with the gods of the nations, you will have tribulations. You will have evil because you are in an evil world, evil place and your experiences will be evil. You are under the governance of evil and only evil you will see.
So, it is difficult for you to build your life in the world and wish and fast and pray for your life to be different from what the world can guarantee you. Actually, in the world, there are so much you can get. In Christ Jesus as well, there are so much which we can get as well. The world as promises, Christ has promises. It is left for you and I to choose which side we must belong. But far be it from us that we could think we could stay on the fence. This planet earth has no room for undecided souls. It has no place for a man or a woman who is undecided on which part of the divide he or she will belong to. You cannot be partly of this world and be partly of Christ. The reason is because they both have two different purpose and agenda. Christ has a purpose; the world also has a purpose.
Now Jesus said to us in John 10:10 that “the thief comes but to steal, to kill and to destroy. But I have come…” So, Jesus again was making a distinction between Himself and the thief. And in the previous chapter that we quoted, Jesus said “in the world.” So, apart from Jesus who is constant, we have been having variables: We have “in the world”, we have the thief. But the point is this: the whole divide is between Jesus who is the giver and who rules in the kingdom of light and the thief that rules the world of darkness. You must choose whom you will serve and be loyal to. Your life must bring glory to one and not to the two. When you say a man is double-minded, another way you could put it is that such a person is managed by the two. A man is asked to keep quiet and a man is asked to speak. So, the man is both keeping quiet and speaking at the same time. So, we say this is an undecided, unstable, double-minded man.
You cannot afford to belong to these two at the same time. Jesus said a man cannot serve two masters: You either love one or hate the other or hate the other and love the other. No man can serve God and mammon. You have thief, you have heard mammon, and now you have heard the world. No man can serve the world and mammon at the same time. There is a place in 1 John 2:15 that talks about “do not love the world…” So, what do you do with the world if you are not to love it? You hate the world, and that is the blatant truth. You either love the world or you hate it, you cannot be indifferent to the two. There are people like that actually, but this dispensation that we are in have no room for such. Such would never amount to much because in reality, there is no middle-ground kingdom for citizens who are in the middle-ground. There is no other kingdom outside light and darkness. If you choose not to be in the darkness, you cannot choose not to be in the light. Because what happens is none of the two would be responsible for your life, your life is hanging in the air. The darkness can’t access you; the light can’t access you either. You are not useful for light; you are not useful for darkness as well. In fact, sometimes you are useful for the two.
What can you say about such a life? The same person that is preaching is the same person that is cursing. You know James said “can fresh water and salt water flow from the same source?” The same man that is saying “all is well” is the same that is saying “all is not well.” The same man that is saying “go on and prosper” is the one also saying you can never prosper. How can that happen? So, you must be able to tell yourself, whether you are in ministry or not; “my life must belong to a part. There must be a path for my life. I must not seat on the fence.” Elijah said: let there be a clear demarcation between the kingdom of light and that of darkness in this kingdom. If God is God, then we will serve Him. And if baal is the one that responds, we will serve him. But let us call on them and see the one that would respond. There was no prayer by Elijah against the gods of those people, he only said the God that answered by fire, let him be the Lord. And they called unto baal, and baal didn’t show up.
So, when it was time for Elijah and he called unto God, even though more water was added to the erected altar, fire came from heaven and consumed the water and everything and it was clear to the people that actually, the gods that the people had been serving isn’t the right one. Then the whole nation changed their minds and started serving the one and only living God. You see, until you choose God, you will not see His wonders. Because you ask yourself: Those who think bar was god, how did they come to that thought? How did they arrive at that conclusion? There was actually no evidence but there was something they saw. And when they were seeing bar at work, where was God in their hearts? As far as they were concerned, God had no place in their hearts and since God had no place in their hearts, God couldn’t see His move in their midst. Now, there is a Scripture in Romans that says “Because they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over…”
Now, if I give something over, do I still have it? So, if they don’t see God at work in their lives, it is not because God had no capacity, it is because they have refused to retain Him in their knowledge. When God is not in your knowledge, God cannot demonstrate His power in your midst. Now, if Good shows up and you lack understanding of God, who do you think has shown up? Would you know? No! So, why do you think God would show up to you when you won’t even recognize Him? Because when God shows up, He does something and you don’t know Him, another will come, one of those wandering angels would claim that glory. And God wouldn’t allow His glory be taken by another.
So, knowing Him is a prerequisite to seeing Him. You must know God for the people who know their God, they shall be strong and they will carry out great exploit. In this kingdom, you must believe before you see and you can’t believe if you don’t know. So, it is your knowledge that builds that faith in you and it is by that faith that you are able to see God at work around you. And you cannot see God at work around you when you have rejected God or rejected His knowledge. Let us quickly go to Jeremiah 2:13 and see how a people could reject God even though God is real to them. But before I read that place, let us read verse 11 first. It says:
Has a nation changed its gods,
Which are not gods?
But My people have changed their Glory
For what does not profit.
Did you see capital letter ‘G’ in glory, because their god was their glory? Verse 13 says:
“For My people have committed two evils:
They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters,
And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water.
If the cisterns can’t hold no water, then can it guarantee you water? Jesus said to that woman, if you know the one who is asking you water, you would have asked Him that He should give you the living waters. The woman said to Jesus “please give me this water so that I don’t have to come to this well again”, distinguishing between waters; there is the water of this world and there is the water only Christ can give you. In the world, the woman was tired of the process, having to trek several miles before getting to the well to fetch. So, the woman acknowledged that the water that she was promised will be far better than the other water. The Scripture above said the people have done two evils; they have forsaken me. And you see, you cannot forsake somebody you know easily, you simply forsake somebody that you don’t know. Or because you have refused to know the person more, you are now encouraged to forsake. I know why I am saying that. If you know me and my destiny, and you know who I would become, it will be difficult for you to leave me. If you think I will amount to nothing or you aren’t even aware of who I will be, you know the Bible says “it has not yet been revealed who we shall be, but when He is revealed, we shall be like Him.”
So, you don’t know my destiny, you can leave me. But if you don’t, it means you want to stay around. So, when people forsake God, it means they don’t know who God is. They don’t know who God can be to them. When David approached Goliath, he did that simply because he knew the Lord. He knew that the name of the Lord is a strong tower for him and he the righteous running into it, will find safety. Because how do approach the greatest of warrior of your generation as a young boy, yet, in confidence? If not that the name that you have brought is a name that you knew that is greater than every other name?
So, the knowledge of God brought him closer to God, the ignorance of God brings any human being away from God. So, the more you know God, the more you come closer to Him. The more you refuse to know Him, the farther you get from Him. Because they have refused to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind. You know if you are valuable to somebody, the person wants to keep you. But if you are useless or valueless, the person will let you go. There are useless vessels around the kingdom of God and yet, God does not want anyone to be useless, but they have made themselves useless. Your ignorance of God will make you useless. God cannot use a man or woman who does not know Him. The Bible even says it in Daniel 11:32 that for the people who do know their God, they shall be strong, be wise, be honored, be glorified, be strengthened, enriched and then with this abundance, they carry out great exploits. Jesus said the works that I do you will do and greater works than this, you will do. Is it because you don’t know Him? No! It us because His Spirit is in you.
So, when the Spirit of Christ is in you, you are in Christ. Jesus said “I am in the Father, and the Father is in me”, that is how it works, that is the mathematics of the kingdom. When you are in the world, the world is in you, do you understand? My people have abandoned me, and you cannot forsake anyone that you treasure. If you read the words of Jeremiah in that Scripture, you would see the emotions of God in display: It says “My people have forsaken me.” God was not happy. They forsook Him because they believe nothing good can come from God to them again. And yet, they refused to realize that the one that they have forsaken is the source of the things they are looking for.
Let us go to Acts 17:22-28. The Bible says:
Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; 23 for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription:
TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.
They were so religions that they were even willing and ready and committed to worshipping a particular god that they didn’t know. So, that is to show you that it is possible for God’s people not to know God. Jesus said to the Samarian woman: You worship what you do not know but we know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews. So, it is possible to be brought up as a young boy with your parents and you are taking through some religious activities till this moment that has nothing to do with your true knowledge.
“Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: 24 God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. 25 Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. 26 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us…”
What does that show us? Now imagine that I close my eyes. You know when I close my eyes, the first thing that happens is that I become ignorant. Now, if you close your eyes now, can you know what I do afterwards? That means you then become ignorant. In verse twenty-seven, the goal of the account of the things he previously did was that they should seek the Lord in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him even though He is not far from each one of us. The Bible says it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, however when He is revealed, when we know Him, we shall become like Him. Why? Because we have seen Him, but we with an unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, we are transformed into the same image. As we behold, we are transformed into what we see. But if we don’t see, we become nothing.
So, it is your knowledge that empowers you to become a man, a new man, a new woman in Christ Jesus. As you see Him, you become like Him. So, your knowledge is critical. Christ is not far, but the people can’t find Him. Why? Because they are in ignorance. There are people that are religious across the nations, they are looking for God and groping for Him that they might find God, but they are doing it in ignorance. Your religions or your Christianity without true knowledge is only effort in futility. You are busy, you are trying to do everything. There was a time the angle of the Lord appeared to Cornelius in the book of Acts and said to him: “All your prayers and arms have come up to the Lord as a memorial, you have been religious thus far, but you have not yet entered into Him.” You are groping for Him, but you have not found Him. But you have been seen. We’ve seen you, but we know you are not in Christ. You see, your religion does not give you eternal life.
God is not pleased by you simply because you are religious, you give your money top the poor, fine. All those things are efforts. If your efforts will be fruitful to you, you have to find God in your own time. When you read about Job even though he came at a time when Jesus had not yet been given to us, but the Bible recorded that he feared God and a servant of God. You can’t serve nor fear whom you did not know. So, Job was a man that found God in his own generation. Until you find God in your religion, you have not started. If religion is even preventing you from finding God, get out of it and look for God. And the Bible now makes everything clear; God is not far from you, just gain knowledge of Him. By knowledge you discern and you see God around you. By knowledge you see God. Apostle Paul said “that I may know Him”, he seems to have known that the more he knows, the more He sees Him. As he improves in the knowledge of God, He sees God, He knows Him better.
God said in the book of Exodus, it says: “if there be any prophet among you, I the Lord reveal myself in dreams. But not so with my servant Moses, I talk to him face to face. Just as a man talk to his friends.” If there is any prophet; a woman or a man that has some knowledge of me, I show myself to them in dreams, but not so with my servant Moses. What is the difference between Moses and the prophets? The difference between Moses and the prophet is knowledge. Moses had crossed the line. There was a time Moses said “show me your glory” and the Psalmist also recorded the same situation, He said “God revealed His act to the children of Israel, but His ways, He showed to Moses.” So, Moses knew the way of God and had higher dimension knowledge of God, but the people had the lowest level of the knowledge of God. So, by their little knowledge they had little fear for God. By the higher knowledge of Moses, it produces more fear.
That’s why the Bible says “the fear of the Lord is beginning of wisdom.” So, you will notice the relationship between fearing God and been a wise man and woman. You cannot be wise when you lack understanding and you lack knowledge. So, the more you know God, the more you fear Him. The more you know Him, the more He relates with you, God does more in you and through you. The seven sons of Sceva wanted to do the works of God, yet they did not know God. They were not in Christ but they wanted to use Christ tow work They said “we exorcise you in the name of Jesus that Paul preach” and the Demon possessed man said “Paul I know, Jesus I know, who are you?” Another form is: Where are you? Are you not in the world? Are you in Him? You know the devil that is asking them is not ignorant, he is asking them so they can be aware of their ignorance. The Devil knew they had nothing to do with Christ.
You see, been a member of a church does not confer power on you, you must be a member of Christ. You must be inside Christ for you to demonstrate the power of Christ in your generation. The best any religion/church could do to you is to tell you something they think about God, you must search for God and the power that you find in that search is what you require to function on the earth. You must seek God for yourself. See what the Bible says in that Acts that we read: "It says so that they can seek the Lord and grope for Him and find Him, even though He is not far from us." Each one of us from the highest to the lowest, has the responsibility to go in search of God. When you find God, you gain more knowledge and you are transformed into the image of God that you have found.
Let us read Colossians 1:12-13 as we conclude now. The Bible says: “giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.” I am sure we still remembered when I mentioned the inheritance of the saints, for the people who do know their God, they shall be strong, they shall be wise (the knowledge of God produces wisdom in you), they shall be rich (for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, even though He was rich, yet, He became poor that we through His poverty might be rich), that we may be honored, you can’t be in Christ and you are dishonored, that we may be powerful and glorified. So, knowing God gives you access to the inheritances of the saints.
So, if you are not in the light you lack the access to the inheritance that belongs to the saints. Forget about the nomenclature, are you in light, or are you in darkness? Are you in the knowledge of God or poor ignorance of God? Are you building your life and everything around you on what people have said about God or what you have found out yourself about Him? Bible speaking about the Berean Christian, each time they hear a message about God, they go back to confirm in the Scripture whether they were told the truths or some truths or no truth at all. Verse 13 says: “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.” So, there is the kingdom of darkness, which we refer to as the world where there are tribulations.
When we talk about the son of God’s love, we are talking about Christ Jesus. And so, He took us out of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of light, the kingdom of Christ. Until we are in that kingdom, we lack the capacity to lay claim to the inheritances of the saints in it. Because the kingdom of the son of His love is the kingdom of light. So, when you hear that He has translated us, conveyed us from the power of darkness, if you think there are powers of darkness, that means there are powers of light. If you also think there is a kingdom of darkness, then there is a kingdom of light. The question is: Have you truly been conveyed into that kingdom or are you just carrying a name of the people of that Kingdom? There is no Kingdom on this earth without a pattern of naming. You can easily relate some names to their Kingdom/region, tribes, nation etc. Kingdoms have names, it is not enough for you to have a Christian name or a Jewish name. Are you in the Jewish Kingdom currently?
You can have a name of a place and yet never have been to the place, it’s not enough. The power is not in the mere name. The power is in the authorization that you have received from that Kingdom that you are a representative of that kingdom in another place. They won’t give you the authorization when they know that you are truly not theirs. In Revelations, Jesus said there is a people that called themselves Jews, but they are actually not Jews. Jesus said “they are Synagogue of Satan.” It’s not about you having a nomenclature that you are a Jew. The question is, which Kingdom do you operate in? Which Kingdom are you of? Even though you claim you are something and you are really not, in the spiritual realm it’s not about the claims, it’s about the true identity. There is no falsehood in the spirit. There could be false spirit and they do false things on the earth but they don’t do it in the spirit. You cannot see an angel of darkness coming before an angel of light and saying “I am an angel of light” the angel of light knows who are theirs.
Ananias and Sapphira said “they sold the land at a particular amount” and Apostle Peter said “you have not lied to men, you have lied to God, and to God every lie and word is plain” you cannot deceive God and He cannot be mocked, whatever you sow, you reap. In the spirit whatever you are, is clear. In the Spirit, there is clarity. We know Jesus, He is the Messiah, the Christ. So, it’s not about the nomenclature, you must be in Christ. Don’t deceive yourself about how long you have been born again. The year you got born again is not the important thing. Since you got born again, have you left Christ or you are still in Christ? Have you jump from Christ to churches or have remained in Christ even though you are in a church? So please, don’t measure your spirituality by your church activities, is Christ aware of your presence, are you in Him is He in you?
Jesus said, “I’m in the Father and He is in me, if you are in me, you have found the Father.” When people find you, can they find Christ. Is you and Christ in the same location? When they knock the door of your life, do they find Christ? When you open the door of your life to an outsider, is it Christ that they will find sitting and ruling on your throne? Who is there? Who are you loyal to? Who would you rather never offend, is it Christ or men?
I believe you have been blessed!
