GTM – Being Transferred into The Kingdom – By Lyall Johnston – 09/27/2024 - In The Colossians, Paul discusses the concept of being transferred into the kingdom of God. He questions whether we are already in the kingdom or not; he emphasizes the importance of constantly reminding ourselves of where we are headed and where we are going. He writes to the Colossians, a church that had experienced a destructive earthquake, and outlines his goals for them. Mr. Johnston highlights the power and work of God in our lives and the significance of the church in God's plan. He encourages us to focus on the future and the hope of Christ's return. He emphasizes the importance of prayer and love for one another. Overall, Lyall emphasizes the grace and peace that come from God and the importance of faith and love in our Christian journey.
Okay, well, today, the title being, as you would have read, on being transferred into the kingdom, and of course that is the kingdom of God. What was Paul really referring to when it says that we have already been transferred into the kingdom? Are we in the kingdom right here and now, or not? I find if I pinch myself, I realize I'm still in the flesh. So, what was Paul really referring to? Now, I know for most of us, we could say, well, look, we already know all about this, but the apostles, particularly Peter and Paul, says that they repeated these things because it was good for us.
It was good always to be remembered of where we're headed and where we're going. Now, this quote, of course, comes from the book of Colossians, and Paul wrote the book to the church of Colossae, and he was in Rome at the time. We also know that there was a very powerful earthquake that basically destroyed three cities in the area, three cities close together where at least two of them had churches. We don't know about Heriopolis, but in Laodicea, Heriopolis, and Colossae, in the early 60s A.D., the three cities were destroyed.
Now, Laodicea, which was a very wealthy and rich city, which we know about from Revelation chapter 3, they had the finance to rebuild the city. They did not need any assistance from Rome. Colossae eventually rebuilt their city, but today the ruins of the old city are still there, and most of the people moved westward, and I believe it was westward, to live in another place. Now, in writing to the Colossians, Paul had a couple of goals in mind, and just to briefly outline that, one, of course, he begins with an introduction.
Then he goes into a warning of false teachers and false doctrines that were permeating and percolating in that area, and primarily they were people, false teachers, who were denying the deity of Christ, very much the beginning stages of the whole Gnostic movement and that situation. Then he goes on to specific things that you and I can do, all of God's people, before he comes to his conclusion. What I'd like to do, as we lead up to verses 12 and 13, where that quotation that is mentioned, as I mentioned, or as the title of today, I'm being transferred into the kingdom.
This is such a powerful statement. This is such an encouraging statement of what God is doing with you and me and the rest of God's people, and has been doing since Abel. Then we have Abraham and the other fathers, we have the prophets and those kings that were righteous, which helped to build and set up the foundation of the church, the church of the living God, through which God is working with great power, and he's working in your life and my life with great power.
We don't see that power, but we know it is there. Why? Because we believe the word of God. We believe what God is telling us. When we come down to understanding the message of why, rather, what God is doing in the creation of our first parents, Adam and Eve, we find a very real connection that the whole plan was heading towards the coming of the Messiah and his crucifixion, which we're told about in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15.
Now, why was the Messiah coming? Yes, God so loved the world that he gave us his only begotten Son, that none should perish, that we should all have everlasting life. However, a factor that we cannot overlook is that in Christ's coming, what did he say he was going to do? He says, I will build my church. That was no idle statement, because the church is a key factor in the plan that God is doing. And we, of all people, have been called into that plan by God, by the power of his Spirit.
And we need to continue thanking God for that knowledge and that understanding. Not because of anything we are, but because that is what God has decided to do. We're here because he decided to call us. We're here because he decided to place us in his body, to be a part of his living organism, the body of Christ, which is the church, the church of God. And we can often think and meditate on these factors, because that's where we're heading.
And everything we experience today, everything we go through, everything that we're suffering is not worthy, as Paul said to the church in Rome, it's not worthy to be considered or counted worthy for what lies ahead of us. Now, present troubles, they are really just for a short period of time. We might think, well, you know, I've been suffering for years. But when we compare that to eternity, it really is like a puff of wind. It's getting us gone, and all our sufferings, they're going to be in the past.
In fact, as much as we are able, day by day, we're to forget the day that's passed, and we're to work on the day we're living for, and again, with that hope of the future, of tomorrow, and, of course, of Christ's return and the remainder. So let's begin in the very first verse in chapter 1. Let's just read together these words, because the words, as Jesus said, the words that are written here by Paul, they're Spirit.
Why? Because they came from the very mind of Jesus Christ, as he inspired the Apostle Paul, and their life. So even as we're reading them here, God's Spirit and God's life is actually entering into us, making the manipulations that are necessary, all the calculations, whatever is necessary, to bring us to that fullness and the maturity of Jesus Christ. Paul, verse 1, an Apostle by the will of God, and Timothy, our brother. And we know well that it was by God's will, because Jesus Christ had to intervene in the life of Paul and strike him down, as he struck each one of us down, as we're pursuing a path, living according to the spirit of this world.
And Timothy, our brother, to the saint. This is to you. This is to me, to each one of us. To the saints and faithful brethren. Yes, that's how God sees us when we follow his word. We're willing to obey him. We're willing to make that daily sacrifice of our lives to him, giving up the life that we once lead, overcoming those things that we've always struggled with in the past, and overcoming day by day by the power of God's Spirit that is working within each one of us.
To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colossae, or wherever you are, the same is that for you and for me. Grace and peace. No idle words again. Grace and peace be to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. In all the turmoil that we see, that we're a part of, that we're experiencing in this world. Yes, it's this. We give thanks to God the Father. Our Lord Jesus Christ praying for you continues.
So in this time of strife and turmoil, we are to be praying for one another. And by doing so, God knows that showing our love for one another, we're also showing our love toward him because his Spirit and the Spirit of Jesus Christ is dwelling within us, and that's what we're loving. Overlooking the weaknesses that we all have. Overlooking the little difficulties and problems we have, and truly having that impulses, bowels of mercy toward one another.
Such a privilege, such a special gift that God has given to us, that his love in us is able to show those bowels of mercy to each other. So, we give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ praying for you continually. Meaning, you know, daily, day by day. Since hearing of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have toward all the saints, because of the hope that is laid up for you in heaven.
And there's a prime reason for that. Which you heard before the word of the truth of the gospel. Which you heard before, I must doubt the word, in the word of the truth of the gospel. Which has come to you even as it also has in all the world. And yes, we pray in our day. You know, as the world is facing these situations, these terrible conditions that we mentioned briefly just in the beginning, before we started this meeting itself.
Which has come to you even as also in all the world. And is bringing forth fruit, just as it is among you, from the day that you heard and knew the grace of God in truth. Yes, and God is continually adding. We don't perhaps see it where we are if we're isolated. Sometimes even if we're in a small church group. We don't see the growth of God's spirit. But the word of God is going out from his mouth through his servants.
And through the work that we continually do in preaching and publishing the gospel. And people are taking notice. For some people it takes some time. Some people can take years before the seed finally drops. Something happens in their life. Something occurs. And God calls them and they're set on fire. But they're set alight. And I'm sure most ministers or elders have had people coming up to them in conditions like that, feelings and saying, I've got to talk to you.
I've got to talk to you. I remember one man in particular was driving along Main Street in the Auckland area. He pulled up alongside him and said, Wow, wow, we need to talk. I've got to talk to you. Very interesting. Well, he ended up baptized and part of God's church. All right, let's continue. Verse 11. Even as you also learn from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ for years. So that's telling us what? The minister of the church at Colossae, whether he ministered of the church, we're not told.
But he did minister. And he was their pastor. He was their elder. And he was a very faithful man. And he worked for the brethren even to the point of dying. He was so sick at one stage. Who has also informed us of your love in the spirit. Love in the spirit. That's where it comes from. The love of God within us. God places that within us. And we want to pray that God will increase it within ourselves and with all the brethren.
So that it will knit the church together. As David said, he was knit together in his mother's womb. Yesterday I was visiting one of their elderly brethren. She passed her 100th year earlier this year. And family came to visit with her and celebrate her 100th year. But she had some pictures there on her iPad which were absolutely amazing. One of her, I guess it will be great-grandchildren, his wife is pregnant with twins. And I don't know.
This is the first time I've seen it. I've seen some of the images of infants in the womb. I remember reading or possessing a book called The Everyday Miracle. And it traced the time of birth from the time that seed was sown right through to the time of birth. And it had incredible photographs of the gestation of the growth and the development of the children. But here now the technology that we have, it's like a photograph.
Absolutely amazing. What amazed me was here were these twin boys with a series of photographs as they're following the pregnancy through. I think just to ensure that everything is continuing well. When you look at the top of the head, it was open. The face was perfectly formed. But in the top of the head, there was just an opening. The brain had not formed yet. And I had to think of those words of David. How that you knit me together in my mother's womb.
He was a perfect example. And that also, brothers and sisters in Christ, is what God is doing. And he wants our cooperation within the body of Christ to be knit together. Just like that baby is knit together in the womb. And isn't that what Christ is doing? Are we complete in Christ yet? Are we fully formed in Christ yet? No. It's such a beautiful example that God has given us. And now we can actually see this happen in real life.
What David said 3,000 years ago. Again, it reminds us of the book. From a speck of dust. And we're going back to that speck of dust. But then, of course, is the resurrection. The dust is changed into an eternal, spiritual, immortal body. How does God do that? Well, if we wait, we'll find out. But we don't really need to know that now. But the story is absolutely amazing. All right. Okay, for this cause, notice he's talking about praying for the brethren again.
And what he's praying for. For this cause, we also, from the day that we heard of it, do not cease to pray for you. And to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will. And we do that by our regular, daily, diligent study of God's Word. Looking here and there. Maybe coming across a passage and wondering, well, what does that mean? And then we go on a research. We go on a search to find out and bring all the scriptures together so we can understand the knowledge of his will.
And notice what he continues to say here. In all wisdom. So, as we're reading the Word, as we're studying the Words, God is not only giving us the knowledge, but he's giving us the wisdom and spiritual understanding. Something that this world does not understand. But you know, and I know, that that wisdom is spiritual and is coming from the only source that spiritual knowledge comes from, and that's from the Word of God, who is Jesus Christ himself.
Right now. Sitting at the right hand of God the Father, with all power and all authority, as Paul mentions a little later in this chapter. Let's read that again. We do not cease to pray for you, to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will. What could be more important? In all wisdom and spiritual understanding. That understanding that God is putting into our minds by the presence of his Spirit through the work of Jesus Christ, giving us that wisdom and that knowledge.
And for those who have been with Christ and with the Father for some time, you can actually look back and you can see that happening. It's not something to be proud about. It's something to be joyful about. It's something to be thankful about. The knowledge of his will in all wisdom, not just wisdom, but all wisdom and spiritual understanding. What glorious things lie ahead of us. The things that God is yet to teach. Things he can't teach us right now.
But he's taking us along like little children, helping us to grow and to develop. And we become more joyful. We become more excited with those things that God is unfolding before us. That you may walk wearily. And we ought to be judging ourselves in that sense. We ought to be examining ourselves to see that every day we're walking in the word, the wisdom, the understanding, the knowledge of God. There's nothing more important in this life. The word has nothing to offer us like the word of God.
Like the indwelling of God's mind, the indwelling of God's spirit. Absolutely nothing. That you may walk wearily of the Lord. And we've got his example. He took on flesh to show us how we can walk in the word of God. And Christ came and he magnified the law and gave us greater understanding than most of those in the Old Testament never had access to because they didn't have God's spirit. Only the fathers, the prophets, and men like King David and so forth understood.
But even they didn't have the prophets, the writings of the prophets. And even the prophets didn't have the experience or the understanding or the ability to see ahead about the prophecies of the coming Christ. And they desired to look into it. But they could only see, like today, through a glass doctrine, they knew the prophecies that God had given to them. They didn't have the full understanding. And yet there's still divinity in the kingdom. That tells us something, doesn't it? That we may walk wearily of the Lord unto all pleasing, as pleasing God, not ourselves, being fruitful in every good work, and growing in the knowledge of God.
That's our challenge. That's our joy. That's what we want. That's what God has called us to because of the hope that he's given to us in his word. Now we come to verse 12. Giving thanks to the Father who made us qualified. Now the Greek term there, makes us qualified, that means to equip us with all the power that we need to accomplish the will of God. Giving thanks to the Father who has made us qualified.
For what? For the share of the inheritance. You already have that share of the inheritance. So long as we continue to walk in the faith, to walk in the love, and to walk in the hope that even God gives to us. It all comes from God. All we provide is the obedience to his word. He provides everything else. And we are to thank him for that, and I'm sure that you do. And the more we understand, the greater that praise that we have, the greater the thanks we have toward him.
So he's made us qualified for the share of the inheritance, that's immortality, rulership over all nations, bringing them also into the captivity of the mind and thinking of Christ, putting down all rebellion, and on and beyond that. We help. The church is the means by which God the Father, through Christ, is going to bring the rest of the world into his family. The church is one of the major subjects of the scriptures. Genesis 3.15, Christ being crucified, was the very real reason that Jesus Christ was going to build his church and through that bring the salvation to humanity.
But also, it's going to solve the problem for the creation. Because as Paul said to the Romans chapter 8, that the whole creation is in bondage at this time. Along with you and me, along with the rest of humanity. The bondage of Satan the devil. And Christ through the church and with the church, he's going to break that bondage. And as we come up to the Feast of Tabernacles, well as we come up to trumpets, just in two or three days, and then atonement, which then puts that whole picture together with Satan being bound and chained and put into a place of restraint for a thousand years, leaves it for the church and through Christ, Christ and his church, to bring salvation to all nations.
Then of course, there comes that glorious time of the last great day, when the rest of humanity, think of all your relatives, think of all the people you've known back to your earliest memories, whom God has not called. What joy is that going to bring to us? To be able to work with those people, maybe even those people who thought you were a little strange. Maybe they liked you, but the things you believed, oh no, you've got a problem.
To sit down with those people and explain to them the way into God's kingdom. Isn't it going to be a time of great happiness, a time of joy, and a time of praising God our Father and Jesus Christ, just like Jesus said? He said, I'm going to sing your praise, Father. I'm putting this in my own words, but this is what I'm expressing. Jesus said, I'm going to sing your praise in the church, which you and I are a part of, with all the faithful saints in the churches of God, scattered around the world.
Let's come down now to the next verse. Who has personally rescued us. Yes, God has personally rescued you. Personally rescued you. And I believe you know that. But we need to have these things reminded to us, as Paul and Peter both say. Personally rescued us from the power of darkness. Which is interesting. The word there, the Greek word, means force, or great strength of power. A work of great power that God has directed to you personally, to me personally.
God is very interested in each one of us, because he loves us. He can see beyond the pimples and warts, let's say. He can see what he can make of us. All he needs is our cooperation. Who has personally rescued us from the power of darkness and has, already done this, transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. That's past tense. It's already happened. You and I have stolen the flesh, haven't we? Why? Because this is just phase one.
Like the conception of that child. God is knitting us together by his word and by his spirit, by our love for him, our love for Christ, our love for each other. He's knitting us together in the womb of the church. Little by little, day by day, every day, we read God's word. We talk to God the Father. And God's putting things together. I noticed also on the photograph of one of the feet of the baby, the foot was pretty formal.
Let me correct that. The foot was formed, but underneath, you can see it wasn't completed yet. Just truth is amazing. You know, the whole gestation period. And it's a picture of what God is doing to each one of us in the body of the church, knitting us together in love. And one of the biggest problems we have in the church is when we entertain the mind of Satan, which is vanity. His mind is just made up of total vanity.
And that produces pride. And pride produces arrogance. Pride produces hotness. We begin to turn away. We just will not listen to God because the lust of the flesh are pulling us away. All right. Let's read that verse again. Again, for he has personally rescued you, me, us. What a privilege. What an incredible piece of knowledge. Sometimes even our families, our friends, our neighbors, the people we come into contact with, they have no knowledge of. But here we are.
He's developing us and growing us in the world. But we are not of the world. We're of what it says here. God has transferred us into the kingdom of the son of his love. We're only in his kingdom. And if we continue, God is going to complete that with our birth, our spiritual birth in the resurrection. And that's phase two as we are looking at it today. So, we're in phase one right now. And we are to be diligently working towards that goal, putting all the cares of this world behind us, all our worries, all our troubles, as well as scripture, which we'll come to in a moment, in regard to that.
So, again, we've already been transferred. We can confidently, before God's throne, talk to him knowing that he considers us as his sons and daughters already in the kingdom because he's absolutely confident that he's able to bring each one of us to the end of our journey, whether that be at the resurrection when Christ returns. But for most of us, we know it's going to be through death because of age or death through martyrdom. But we're sealed.
Yeah, Jesus said, don't be afraid of those that can kill the flesh. And we're facing times like that. But we need to fear him, have awesome respect for God the Father and Jesus Christ who can kill not only the body but also the spirit, which leads, of course, to the second death. But God is the one who is rescuing us. Verse 14. Let's read 14 through 23. In whom we have redemption through his own blood, which was promised right back at the very beginning when Adam and Eve first sent, even the remission of sins.
So we have both the remission and the redemption. One, our debts have been paid for, but when we come down here to the other term, redemption and remission of sins, the other one is that we've been delivered from bondage. Yes, you and I have been delivered from bondage that the rest of the world has not yet been delivered from. You and I and the rest of God's people under the leadership of Jesus Christ or through the Father through Jesus Christ are going to break that bondage of the rest of humanity.
Now what kind of a goal is that for us? What kind of a goal is that for you and me? Isn't that precious like the blood of Christ? Isn't that precious like the word of God? Isn't that knowledge and wisdom from God of the inheritance he has for us to inherit all things? And that term all things means the universe, the entirety of the creation, because we're his sons and daughters. And because of that, you know, God's not going to die so that we're left to maintain it ourselves.
No, we're going to inherit with him and with Christ and with each other. Is that worth fighting for? Is that worth, as it says, Ephesians 6 chapter, putting on the full armor of God and fighting against the wicked spirits in high places? Absolutely so. Talking again about the remission of sins, who, Jesus, is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. You and I and the rest of God's people are next. He's the firstborn.
We saw that back in Pentecost. We're the next to be born into the family of God, just as Christ was. Because by him were all things. He was the firstborn of all creation, verse 16. Because by him were all things created, and the things in heaven and the things on earth. The invisible and the invisible, and we need to note this, whether they be thrones or lordships, and is that referring to thrones and lordships in heaven? Yes, it is.
Or principalities or powers, and those principalities and powers that Paul is referring to here, are the principalities and powers in the heavenly places right now, not the principalities and powers of evil in this world. For all, as it says, he created all of these, visible and invisible, whether it be thrones, lordships, or principalities or powers, all things were created by him, and notice this next phrase particularly, and for him. Christ inheriting all things, which he created, yet God the Father is giving him the inheritance, and along with that, you and me.
Over the page in the International Faithful, I'm using that more, I'm taking Fred's advice, and not depending so much on my technology, which is failing on me anyway, a warning for the future, verse 7 then, and he is before all things, and by him all things subsist. He's upholding everything, the whole creation. Does Jesus Christ have any power? How much does he have? All things, unlimited. He proved himself in the flesh, as the Son of God, to inherit all things.
So God has given him a name above every other name in heaven and on earth, above all those powerful angelic beings. Only seconds to God the Father himself. But Jesus Christ is a Son in whom God is well-pleased. And God says the same thing to each one of us, as we become well-pleasing to him, as we do those things that are pleasing in his sight. Every day, all day thinking, what I'm doing, is this pleasing in God's eyes? Now, hopefully that becomes automatic to us, becomes a way of life, becomes our walk, our daily walk.
And when we go to the loss, the narrow, straight and narrow, we understand it. We go before God the Father, we repent. He'll pull us back on track so we can continue on that journey towards perfection, which is the goal. Perfection, as it is seen in Jesus Christ. And that's the way we are to walk, even down to the suffering. And here's the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning of the firstborn. Did we just pass over that? Or did we see what Paul's saying? Jesus Christ and all his glory and all his power He is the head of the body, the church.
How important does that make the church to God the Father? Think about that. As a part of God's plan over all things, which he has placed Jesus Christ the head of, the body, the church, who is the beginning of the firstborn among the dead. And we are the next following on from Christ. We're the first fruits. He's the first of the first fruits. We know that. And God wants us to understand that right down to the very center of our being, the very center of our thinking, the very center of our hearts, to the marrow of the bone even.
We can't go any deeper than that, because that's where life is produced, by the blood that the marrow produces passing through our veins. And the breath of life gives us the ability to live. But it's the Spirit of God that opens our minds to the wisdom, the understanding, and the knowledge of God the Father. And if Jesus prayed to his Father, you can see this in John 17.3. This is eternal life, to know the Father and to know the Son.
Okay, verse 18 again. And he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning of the firstborn among the dead. We're next. So that in all things he himself might hold the preeminence. That is what God has done in the life of Jesus Christ. He's given him preeminence over all things because of his qualification in the flesh. And we are following in that path. And the glory that God has got ahead for us is just too grand for us.
We really can't fully understand it. For it pleased the Father that in him all the fullness should dwell. Absolute trust. We don't need the teachings of any other religious group. We don't need any other philosophy. We don't need any other theology apart from the plain word of God as it's written in the Bible. As God gives us the wisdom and knowledge to understand it through the power of his Spirit as we read it, as we study it, as we drink it in.
And as we eat the body of Christ, as we study the word of God, as we drink his blood, as we confess our sins, we're growing in the grace and the knowledge of Jesus Christ day by day. And we don't see the growth. God does. And he blesses us. So that means we shouldn't have any trials, right? We know differently from that. Trials, sufferings, a cloud of the qualifications for the kingdom of God. And if we can't see that, we're missing the point.
All our sicknesses, all our troubles, all our worries. Verse 19, for it pleased the Father that in him, in Christ, all the fullness should dwell. Again, I make the statement that we don't need anything else. You know, all these pop religious books about pulling yourself up with your own bootstraps that have got very little to do with the word of God. Oh, they may quote some scriptures, but when you read it, you try and apply all those things, it doesn't work.
It doesn't work. It's all the philosophies and the thinking of men adding a few scriptures in to make it look like it's from God. It's not. I know, I've read those books. I've also gotten rid of them all. But you know, they're all the work of one mind, and that's the mind of Satan, to deceive this world. And having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things to himself. That includes not just today, the church.
It includes the rest of humanity through the period we know as the Feast of Tabernacles and the last great day. But it says all things. And again, if you are not familiar with it, do read Romans 8 from verse 18 on, where it shows the whole creation is groaning at this point in time, because it's in bondage, the bondage that Satan brought when he rebelled against God the Father. And we also moan and groan because we are also still under bondage, not spiritually, but we're under the bondage placed upon us by this world.
Because the world, motivated by Satan, is against the church of the living God. It's against you, it's against me, and it's coming for us. But the end result is what we're looking for. We can look beyond that, even after and even during suffering. Having made peace through his blood, by him to reconcile all things to himself, verse 20, by him whether the things on earth or the things in heaven. Nothing restrained from the dominion and the sovereignty that the Father has given to Christ.
For you were once alienated. We all know that. If we've repented, and if we've been baptized, or if we're working towards that, and received the Spirit of God, and enemies in your minds by wicked works, but now he has reconciled you through the blood of Christ, in your body, or in the body of his flesh, through death. And this is what Jesus is doing daily, to present you holy, unblameable, and unimpeachable before him. And we've seen a lot in recent years, haven't we, about impeachments, particularly in the annals, annals, or rather the bodies of the U.S.
government, impeachment, impeachment. And of course, most of those cases have fallen by the wayside, just as they will against us, because Satan is the accuser of the brazen, but in God's eyes, we are unimpeachable. All the accusations that Satan brings against us, as it says in Revelation, the 12th chapter, we overcome all those by the blood of Christ, and even in the giving of our lives, if or when that time comes for each one of us.
Verse 23. If, this is that word again, if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded, continuously studying God's word, continuously being before the Son of God day by day, talking to him, gaining his strength, gaining his power, praying for one another, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel. I was just looking for one text there, I just can't put it, but it talks about, you know, in all our sufferings, it talks about the joy, that in suffering, there's still joy.
So for all those who are suffering, we can pray for them, if they can't see that joy yet, it's the joy of our calling, it's the joy of the hope that is before us. And we can encourage others by the word of God, uplifting them with the word of God, letting them know we're praying for them. All right. In closing, I'd just like to mention a few things that God has transferred us from, through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, through his sheer blood, through his example.
And here they are. And the first one is what we mentioned, we're transferred. Now the meaning of that, what God has done, but also what he is doing in the transference, to transfer means several words, and it can be used in different places, in different ways, depending on the context. It means, and I just took this from the lexical mentions on the digital process, but also you could do a research, you know, from the interlinear. It means to transfer, to remove from one place to another.
So God has removed us from following the ways of this world, and placed us in the way of his kingdom. He hasn't removed us from the world, he's removed us from the teachings, the actions, the works of this world, which are all from Satan the devil, because they're all based in vanity. And all these people, these men and women in high places with great power and great authority, they think are nothing compared to the saints, who are of a humble and contrite spirit, and tremble at God's word.
You know, this is in the Proverbs, doesn't it? He that controls his own spirit is greater than he like a great general who overtakes a city, or overtakes a nation, or whatever. Isn't that so true? In God's eyes. Because God's eyes are set on those of a humble and contrite spirit, tremble at his word, fear him, which means to hate evil, and to love everything that is holy and righteous and perfect and true that comes from the word of God, and is put into our minds by all power of his spirit that he's given to us to understand, to have the wisdom, and to do.
God doesn't only just show us, he gives us the power to do it. All we have to do is pray out for it. Now I know I'm speaking to those who understand it, but it's so uplifting just to have these things to remind ourselves of all these things. Okay, what else? He's transferred us from a state of spiritual blindness to spiritual enlightenment. Not the enlightenment of this world, which is according to the thinking and the reasoning of man, which leads to death and destruction.
Well, destruction, then death. So from blindness to opening our eyes to the word. When you read the word, you can understand what God is telling us. The rest of the world cannot. Not only that, they don't want to. It's going to be up to you and me in future to help them open their minds, because God will give us the power to open their minds. It will all be the work of God, even though we are his servants.
He's going to give us that great responsibility, that dominion, that authority to accomplish his will to the rest of the world for all nations. Okay? He transferred us from darkness, you know, a similar statement, into the light. From era of this world, of all the religions of this world, he's pulled us out of all the different religions the manifestation from ancient Babylon, back in the days of Nimrod, and his pagan wife Semiramis, who built up that whole religious system.
Yeah, God has done that for us. And some of these, I know, they're similar, but it's also he delivered us from the kingdom of Satan into the kingdom of Christ, and that's what that verse back there, verse 12 and 13, is talking about. He delivered us from walking after the flesh to walking in the Spirit. He's transferred us out of that. Yes, we still have lapses. We still need to repent. But he set us on the path that he's going to continue to give us the power to throw off all that rotten, evil garbage that was once a part of us.
And he's helped us to see that, yes, it was a part of us. You know, it is sad sometimes when people cannot see that. Like it says in Psalm 39, man in his very best state is altogether vanity. David understood that, and hopefully we all do too. He delivered us from the carnal nature to God's nature, his own very nature, and his leading soul in that path. He has delivered us and transferred us from our independent, free, moral agency to the will of our Father, and that is to love God's law, to love his commandments, and to love him, and to show him that we love him by loving one another.
That's a theme that keeps coming up throughout the New Testament in particular time and time again. I wonder why. Because it's a lesson that we need to learn, because it's telling God if we love our brothers and sisters, we love him. Even those who treat us as enemies, even those who spread lies and discord in the body and against us, even when that happens, we love them. We want to see them return. We want to see them drawn back from the fire, because that's where they're heading unless they repent.
So we pray that God will open their eyes to see that. There's two key passages. I'm not going to have time to go into them, but to see the difference from what God has delivered us from and what he's delivering us to, or he's transferring us to, read Galatians 5, fruits of the flesh, sorry, correction, works of the flesh, contra or versus the fruits of the Spirit. That's what this transference is all about. Transferring us from the works of the flesh to the fruits of the Spirit.
And also in 2 Peter chapter 1, it's in verses 5 through 11, where Peter says, you know, add to these things, add to your faith, you know, this character of God, add to that character of God, and then add to, of course, the love of God. Again, that's what God has transferred us from. And Peter says, you know, if you're doing these things, well, let's just look at that quickly. 1 Peter chapter 1, and is it 2 Peter chapter 1, correction? Yeah, back it says, verse 5 it says, for this reason also having applied all diligence besides, add to your faith virtue, and he goes right on down through these various Godly characteristics.
And when he comes to verse 8, notice this, for if these things exist and abound in you, the things that God is transferring into our lives, God is planting into our lives by the Word and by His Spirit. But the one in whom these things are not present, oh, correction, I jumped the verse there, for if these things exist and abound in you, they will cause you to be neither lacking effort nor lacking fruit in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
But the one in whom these things are not present is spiritually blind. And that's what God has delivered us from and continuing to deliver us from, so short-sighted that he has forgotten that he was purified from his old sins. Let's turn then to Galatians and at least have a look at one verse in Galatians, the fifth chapter. I believe it's verse 17 we want. You see, because we have been delivered, but we still have this battle.
Galatians 5 and verse 17, because God has not removed carnal human nature, or rather, should I say, as it says in Romans 7, God has not removed from us the sin that dwells within. That's our key. That's our focus, to overcome the sin that dwells within, to beat it down, and to do what Cain refused to do. The Lord God of the Old Testament told Cain, Cain, you're angry and you must rule over it. What happened when he didn't rule over it? He slew his beloved brother Abel.
And Abel's going to be in the kingdom. We don't know about Cain. Would he have a second chance? Did he have a first chance? That's where the answer lies to that question. Let's see where we're at. So the flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. Do you understand that? Do you experience that? Well, we all do, because that's our daily battle. And our battle in this life, it is far greater, and it's going to be for all those, not only in the 1,000-year reign of Christ, but also in the last great day, because Satan will not be there.
So our battle is against wicked spirits in high places. The top of that heap is Satan the devil. And so that's why we're battling day by day against the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the spirit, and we experience that constantly. And what do we do? Well, we just listen to what the Lord God said to Cain. Resist. Resist. Resist Satan, and he'll depart from you. He'll leave you alone for a period of time, but he's going to come back.
So we keep resisting him. We keep resisting him to the very end, even unto death. Unto my them. And these things are opposed to each other, and so you cannot do those things which you wish. But, verse 18, if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. No, we're living by faith. We're living by the Word of God. We're living by the Spirit of God. Okay. Well, we'll bring it to an end here, and I hope there has been some information there that will help you to stand so that you'll be able to stand right to the very end and not even in suffering.
I didn't find that one scripture that it talks about, you know, under great stress and troubles and trials. If we're looking to God the Father, we're looking to Jesus Christ, we're trusting in Him, we can do it with joy. Not because we're suffering, but because the joy of the hope that lies within us, that all that suffering, if we are doing it for righteousness' sake, is going to manifest itself at Christ's return in immortality, eternal life.
So may God be with each one of us as we, for those coming into the Sabbath, and for those who are now in the Sabbath, may the grace and peace of God be with us all.
