KINGDOM BIBLE STUDIES 

"Teaching the things concerning the kingdom of God..."

 THE KINGDOM OF GOD

 Part 11

MY KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD 

             “Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence” (Jn. 18:36). 

            The Kingdom of God is not of this world.  The Kingdom of God is righteousness, and peace, and joy, in the Holy Ghost” (Rom. 14:17).  Jesus said that His disciples are IN the world, but not OF the world (Jn. 17:11-16).  The Kingdom, likewise, is IN the world, but not OF it, not established by the world’s methods  or operated by the world’s standards.  It does not function by the politics of the world.  The Kingdom of God does not contain a Republican or Democratic platform.  It is established and maintained on a different basis from the kingdoms of this world.  When we enter this Kingdom we are not taken out of these earthly realms, but we are rescued from the jurisdiction of darkness, the hateful spiritual world empire that energizes the governments of earth and enthralls mankind.  We have been removed into that other spirit realm whose Monarch is God’s beloved Son and our Elder Brother. 

            What does Jesus mean when He says that His Kingdom is not of this world?  One of the key words translated “world” in our English Bibles is the Greek word KOSMOS.  It is worth taking time to examine this word in a good Greek Lexicon to see how wide is the range of meanings it has in scripture.  The word originated in Classical Greek where we find it denoted principally one underlying thing: a harmonious order, system or arrangement.  Out of this meaning it may be applied to the earth, the inhabitants of the earth, society, the whole race of men alienated from God and thus hostile to the ways of God, the universe, worldly affairs such as worldly goods, endowments, riches, advantages, pleasures, customs, ways, methods, organizations, systems, institutions, governments, etc.  The idea of orderly arrangement or organization lies behind all of the aforementioned categories.  The earth, the solar system, the universe, society, government, commerce, education, social institutions, finance, entertainments — all these and many more operate by precise laws, order, arrangement, system, and method.  Behind everything that exists and all that happens in the visible, material realm we meet a planned system; and in this system there is a a harmonious functioning, an established order.  That is the world.  None of it is of the Spirit of God.  None of it is established along the lines of God’s ways, God’s righteousness, God’s nature, God’s word, or God’s will.  The Spirit has an altogether different standard and order out of the invisible realm.  That is the Kingdom of God.  Therefore every organized system of the visible realm is the “world” in contrast to, and set apart from, the Kingdom of God out of the invisible realm of God’s Spirit. 

            The Bible opens with God’s creation of the heavens and the earth.  It does not say that God created the world at that time.  God placed Adam in the garden of Eden, a place of light and beauty, and there was no world in relation to man.  In that long ago beginning God proclaimed, “Let us make man in our image, after out likeness” (Gen. 1:26).  This wonderful purpose of God to make man His very image had been settled in the divine councils of Elohim from eternity.  The carnal minds of sin-cursed men cannot even begin to imagine in their wildest dreams and hopes the ineffable glory that is determined for man in the image and likeness of God.  This glory is fully seen in our Lord Jesus Christ because Jesus Christ Himself is “the outraying of God’s glory, the express image of His Person” (Heb. 3:1). Only in Jesus Christ today can be seen exactly what God had in mind when He said, “Let us make man in our image.”   

            Adam, the man in God’s image, walked amidst the fragrant mists of Eden in the living presence of God.  He heard the voice of God in the spirit and lived by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God.  God Himself was his life and his every motivation and action sprang from the power of that life within.  In that heaven blest realm the sounds he heard were spiritual sounds, the things he saw were spiritual things, the things he touched, smelled and tasted were spiritual realities.  As yet there was no KOSMOS, no “world,” no organized system outside of himself that he related to, subscribed to, or was influenced by.  There was no outward constituted order of any kind.  There was only God and man.  It is interesting to note that the word world does not appear anywhere in the story of creation and the fall.  In fact, its first mention is not until the days of the prophet Samuel! 

            In his first epistle, the apostle John informs us that “the whole world lieth in wickedness” (I Jn. 5:19).  “This present evil world (Gal. 1:4)” is now governed by those who obey the carnal nature, the serpent within them.  The serpent mind rules through carnal individuals thus filling the world with the wickedness and corruption so evident everywhere.  The result of the serpent nature in mankind is the conglomerate world system — economic, political, and religious — prophetically called Mystery Babylon.  The most outstanding characteristic of the serpent is his ability to deceive.  From the very opening chapters of the Bible, he is depicted as a liar and a deceiver.  “The serpent beguiled me and I did eat,” was Eve’s sad lamentation, and in the closing chapters of the Bible, the fact and magnitude of his deceiving nature is further emphasized in the inspired words of the Revelator wherein he states that he is “that ancient serpent called the devil and Satan, which DECEIVETH THE WHOLE WORLD” (Rev. 12:9). 

            Although Adam became corrupted by sin and expelled from the precincts of Eden, he was still living in the presence of God.  It is not until the fourth chapter of Genesis that we read of Cain that he “went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden...and he builded a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch” (Gen. 4:16-17).  This is most significant!  “Nod” is the Hebrew word for exile or vagrancy.  Thus, Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, away from the influence of the Spirit, away from the life of the Kingdom of God, away from his inheritance in God, into exile, to walk totally independent from God and outside of God.  This “land of Nod” or condition of exile is stated to be “on the east of Eden.”  The garden of Eden, the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, was westward, but Cain traveled eastward.  Adam was banished from the tree of life, driven eastward (Gen. 3:24), and now Cain continues on yet farther in an eastward direction (as all the metaphysical religions do today!) away from the presence of God.  Ah, what powerful realities lie concealed within these simple words of Holy Writ! 

            The Word of God clearly reveals that the route of spiritual progression is from east to west.  Jesus Christ who is the wisdom of God, is pictured by the Psalmist as a bridegroom typified by the sun who comes out of his chamber to run a race through the heavens (Ps. 19:4-6).  Malachi speaks of Christ as “the sun of righteousness, arising” (Mal. 4:2).  Everyone knows, of course, that the “race” of the sun is run from east to west.  The lightning referred to in Matthew 24:27 is actually the sun, for the Greek word merely means a bright shining, and lightning, as we know, does not flash from east to west, having no specific design or direction.  With this in mind the words of Jesus are clear, “For as the bright shining (sun) cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west: so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”  Cain, had it not been for sin, would have been living in the garden of Eden, the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.  In spite of sin he was still able to know the presence of God, for it was from the presence of God that he departed when he went out.  The presence of God is the anointing.  But now Cain is rejecting even the presence or anointing of God upon his flesh, and moving in the opposite direction he goes further and further from the life of the Spirit.  His final end is that of an exile, a vagrant, living on a territory not pertaining to him, not his true inheritance or possession.  There, alienated from God, and severed from the anointing, the record states Cain dwelt.  He settled there.  He built there.   

            Happy is the man who clearly understands that the pathway of the anointing is ever from glory to glory, and as long as we are short of the image and incorruptible life of God we must never settle anywhere!  The very condition of settling precludes our re-entrance into the Paradise of God.  The man who settles is lost from the on-going purposes of God.  Those blessed ones who in this hour hear and heed the call to sonship cannot settle in any zone until they stand in holy splendor with the Lamb upon the pinnacle of mount Zion in the heavenly sphere of life and glory and dominion.  But men always settle when, following the spontaneous moving and revelation of God, they begin to organize and systematize it, building walls of formulated creeds and dogmas about it, endeavoring to preserve it, as though the almighty Spirit who gave the outpouring in the first place is somehow unable to carry it forward to its glorious consummation.  Once the move of God is creedalized and organized, those within its walls are nevermore free to follow the course of the anointing, or to walk with God in the on-going unfolding of His glory.  They have gone out from the presence of the Lord, and there they build a city (religious system, order) after the rudiments of the world,  there they settle and there they dwell, exiles from the Kingdom of God, vagrants living on a territory not pertaining to them, not their true inheritance or possession.   

            Sin began with Adam in the Garden, for Adam sinned and was corrupted by sin and overcome by death, but he did not fall into the world at that point, neither was he possessed by the world then.  The word “world,” as I have pointed out, translates the Greek word KOSMOS meaning order, arrangement, system of things.  The world is a negative thing in relation to God because it is a system organized outside of the anointing of God.  James declares, “...the friendship of the world is enmity with God, whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4).  The apostle John adds his instructive testimony, “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, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” (I Jn. 2:15-16).   

            Many Christians have the mistaken notion that the world is the movie theater, the dance hall, ball games,  stylish clothing, jewelry, and such like.  Others confuse the world with the earth.  But the world is the present system of things upon this earth conceived by the carnal mind and generated by the natural man.  The world consists of all that man has instituted that replaces God in his life.  The present political, economic, educational and religious systems are not of God, but of the world.  When people, activities or things — whether good or bad, beautiful or ugly — enslave man and usurp God, they comprise the world.  Anything that causes man to disregard the Spirit, be removed from the anointing, stop making progress onward and upward, or be independent of God is the world.  All that does not come from the Father, all that originates from any source other than the mind of Christ, all that man institutes by his own carnal wisdom and fleshly activity is of the world.  It is not according to God’s purpose for man to be subject to any system that he himself creates!  Nor is according to God’s purpose for His people to be subject to religious systems that they themselves create!  All are contrary to the life, nature, word, and ways of God. 

THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD 

            “According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love” (Eph. 1:4).  The word “foundation” translates the Greek word KATABOLE which is a compound word made up of BALLO meaning “to cast, to throw” and KATA meaning “down”.  When man fell from his high and holy relationship with God and was cast down into the darkness of this gross material realm, the “foundation” of the world was laid in his heart.  The “building” of the world was the fruit of his actions.   But — blessed be God!  The apostle Paul informs us that our heavenly Father elected some sons in Christ “before the foundation of the world.”  The word “before”  translates the Greek word PRO meaning “to go before, to precede”.  Hence, the Father’s act of choosing us in Christ preceded the fall of man and the establishment of the world system.  We are not told how many days, years, or eons this choosing preceded the world, but methinks it was away back there when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy! 

            Since the world is in such opposition to God we must consider its origin and process of development.  The world began with Cain.  Cain built the first city — organized society, civilization — which typifies the worldly system of independence from the SPIRIT.  The world did not exist when man was created (except in abstraction), but developed gradually after the fall, as man removed himself from the anointing and walked in  his own carnal way.  When man was brought forth from the formative hand of God there was already the universe, the heavens and the earth, and all created things; but the world did not exist.  Following Adam’s expulsion from the Garden, when carnal men began to multiply upon the earth the serpent in man gave direction and character to the “New World Order” of man, thus the scripture speaks of the natural man as walking “according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the sons of disobedience” (Eph. 2:2).   

            There are three primary requirements for man’s existence and well-being on the earth: provision, protection, and pleasure.  For a man to live an abundant and fulfilled life in the earth realm he needs the provision of food, clothing, shelter, etc., a means of defense to protect himself from adversaries, and a form of recreation and amusement for his happiness.  Prior to Adam’s transgression GOD WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR PROVIDING THESE THREE NEEDS OF MAN, and they were supplied abundantly in the garden of Eden experience, albeit on a much higher level.  After Cain’s departure from the leading of the Spirit, the scripture describes him as “of that Wicked One” (I Jn. 3:12).  The preposition “of” is from the Greek EK meaning “out of”.  “Cain was OUT OF that Wicked One” — the seed of the serpent!  Cain’s father was Adam and his mother was Eve — nothing can be plainer than that in Genesis 4:1.  This is the very first proof that the serpent is in man!  Cain was born of Adam and Eve, but he was the seed of the serpent.   

            Out of the descendants of Cain were produced the founders of man’s own system of supply for these three great needs of life.  These were the three sons of Lamech.  Jabal was the father of tent dwellers and cattlemen (Gen. 4:20).  Tents and cattle are for the supply of mortal man’s living and therefore belong to the category of provision.  In the beginning God revealed Himself to man as his provision, making Himself available to man in the tree of life, that in union with Him we should have all things, even the supply of God Himself.  Jabal represents man’s own efforts, apart from the life of God, to make provision for himself.  Spiritually, this symbolizes the carnal religious systems with their rituals, ceremonies, ordinances and programs designed to “feed” God into man.  All religion is the invention of man in his effort to meet man’s spiritual need — apart from the life-flow of God!  Alas! the multitudes of men within these systems understand not that the reality of God’s life is not contained in, nor ministered through, creeds, programs, rituals, ceremonies, or ordinances.  Those who live in that realm know nothing of the wonder of the Christ within.  Man’s religion is of the world, for it is outside of God, being not of the Spirit, nor by the anointing. 

            Another of Cain’s sons, Jubal, was the father of all that handle the harp and organ.  Playing harp and organ is for pleasure and inspiration and thus pertains to the category of pleasure.  This worldly aspect is fulfilled spiritually in the maze of social activity in religion, as well as in much of the music, programs, and sermonizing, all of which is designed to be pleasant, acceptable and entertaining to the people.  I do not think that any spiritually-minded person could disagree with me when I say that nearly all the concerts, programs, and pulpit showmanship that constitute most of the so-called “ministry” among God’s people today are without doubt very appealing to the carnal mind which is ever wont to feed upon soulish entertainment rather than with reverential awe and holy brokenness to drink at the eternal fountains of living water that flow from the throne of God.  I am convinced that our faithful Father has given the ministry of the blessed spirit of Truth, and that that spirit of Truth abides within all who receive of Him.  There is abundant supply!  While God has given spiritual ministry for the perfecting of the saints, the worldly church system has given us a veritable smorgasbord of religious shows for the entertaining of the saints.  Most solemnly do I declare unto you that all such ARE OF THE WORLD, and not of the Father, for their methods and means lie outside of the anointing of the Spirit and can never lead God’s people beyond the husks of man’s own vanity.  Thank God! a people is arising who are finding their way out of Cain’s pleasureland of entertainment and sentimentality, back to the Paradise of God, back to the tree of life, back to the Kingdom of Heaven where they drink deeply of this sublime truth: “...in Thy presence is fullness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore!” (Ps. 16:11). 

            The third son, Tubal-cain, was the instructor of every artificer in brass and iron instruments.  These instruments were formed for the purpose of defense, thus referring to the category of protection.  All the armaments of all the nations of the world today are the result of the spirit of Tubal-cain.  All the martial arts, hand guns, mace, and every other offensive device used for self-protection pertain to this category.  On the spiritual side, ignorant of the power and sufficiency of the indwelling Spirit, with what pompousness do the religious systems construct about them their walls and implements of defense!  Church history is replete with examples of revival after revival in which men were sovereignly caught up into heavenly places of revelation, glory, and power, only to have man put his hand of flesh on the workings of God, to control, protect, and preserve it as though the omnipotent Spirit needed man’s useless wisdom and regulations to preserve His mighty work!  Out there in Cain’s world you must have the brass and iron implements of Tubal-cain — implements of organization, denomination, fellowships, coverings, creeds, rules, regulations, boards, lawsuits, etc., to defend and preserve the work; but, praise God! as one moves westward back into the anointing of God’s life the omnipotence of the indwelling Spirit Himself becomes our fortress and exceeding strong tower.  With what deep comprehension of the ways and power of the Lord did the Psalmist  pen the words of faith in the ability of God alone when he wrote, “Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance.  For THOU art the glory of their strength: and in Thy favor shall our horn be exalted.  For THE LORD IS OUR DEFENSE; the Holy One of Israel is our King” (Ps. 89:15-18). 

            In these three important inventions of the sons of Cain man found within himself the answer to his need of supply, defense and amusement.  Man found no need of God, of His presence, life or power, for he set about to establish his own world, independent of God.  This was the civilization produced after mankind departed from the presence of God — a godless life created by men.  This present world system of things is patterned after the order of Cain.  It is all outside of God.  That does not mean that it is all evil.  It simply is not of the Spirit!  How clear that in this earth the politics, economics, education, entertainment, commerce and religion are outside of God!  When we have learned how the world was formed, it is easy to define the world.  Originally, man was in the family of God, lived by God, relied entirely upon Him, and had at his disposal ALL THE FULLNESS OF GOD.  Now the serpent, through subtility, sophistry, the carnal mind, the wisdom of this world, has systematized the world to replace God in being all to man.  Man, having forsaken his inheritance, having departed from the presence, and having lost His life relied upon the world and was overcome by the world.  Therefore, the world consists of everything that replaces God and possesses man. 

            Cain built a city — as did Nimrod after him.  “And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he (Cain) builded a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch” (Gen. 4:17).  There was no city in Eden, no fleshly system, no external order, no carnal arrangement of things.  Not system, but LIFE!  He who makes God’s house of living stones depend on mere outward forms; he who confounds Truth with the shibboleths of sects and denominations, or the usurpation of preachers, builds upon the baseless and shifting sands.  The true and eternal Church depends solely on the presence, life and power of Christ.  If you treasure the beautiful hope of sonship to God, sweep away from your spiritual walk as much as you can the infinite cobwebs which the ambition and ignorance of men have spun for centuries over the Lord’s heritage.  Fling to the four winds the voluntary submission and all the vain deceits, traditions, and ordinances, which, like those of the Pharisees, are but “weak and beggarly elements”.   

            It is not the form but the essence which constitutes true religion.  Christ knew nothing of external paraphernalia, and those who follow the Lamb know nothing of it either.  Distinguish between the flickering shadows of outward symbols and the verities of incorruptible life.  Distinguish between the valueless injunctions of touch not, taste not, handle not, and the divine nature that produces love, joy, peace, righteousness of heart, and all the fruit of the Spirit.  The Kingdom of God standeth not on food and drink, or any other outward thing, but in righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.  You will not find Christ by following the sects and self-promoting ministries who shout with anathemas, “Lo, He is here!” or, “lo, He is there!” but if you faithfully walk with the Christ you will discover that He is within you.  He is right there within you in all the power and might of His Kingdom rule and glory.   

            Seek truth and you will find it, because God is the God of truth.  Truth is not far from you, for Christ is the truth and He is within you.   If you desire heaven you must win it; for heaven is the realm of the Spirit and a state of being, not a place.  God is in heaven and God is in you, therefore heaven is within you if you can find it.  No preacher can give it to you; no ritual can give it to you; no creed or message can give it to you; no mere ordinances or ministrations of men can open its doors for you so much as a single inch.  You must find it by forsaking the world and self, and all the carnal religious exercises and activities of the world, to hear the quickening voice of the Spirit, to walk after the Spirit, to live in the Spirit.  The home and heaven of God is within you, precious friend of mine, for you are the temple of the living God, as God hath said.  Apart from this all else is but fringes and phylacteries.  If, by the aid of God’s Holy Spirit, you have discovered the King and the Kingdom which is within you, though all parties excommunicate you, and all priests and preachers anathematize you, nothing can harm you; and when you pass from the babble of the world’s malediction, and the falsehoods of erring religion, and have passed westward through the portals of Eden, and scaled the heights of mount Zion, clear and high for you shall peal the eternal verdict, “This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased!” 

            The world today has its own religious dictionary of definitions of “God” and “Spirit” and “Church” and “Heaven” and “Hell” and a hundred other things, and they speak and think within the framework of those definitions.  But GOD SPEAKS A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE and has a different dictionary of definitions by which He speaks to His people and according to which He works.  If all the multiplied practices and methods employed by the churches today were suddenly swept away, it would in all probability cease to function.  If the churches had to drop all their rituals, forms, programs and ceremonies; all their confirmations, baptisms, and communion services; all their special singing, organ music, and altar calls; all their organization, titles, and church buildings, they would feel as though they had been stripped naked and could not serve God in any way.  All this simply demonstrates the terrible fact that the faith and dependence of the churches is not in God, but is in the trappings they have accumulated to themselves through the centuries.  Lest someone accuse me of being brash, vindictive or extreme, let me remind you that when the early apostles went out and turned the world upside down for God THEY HAD ABSOLUTELY NONE OF THE THINGS MENTIONED ABOVE.  All they had was God — the power of the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven!  But today, the thought that God is perfectly able and fully willing to run His Church without the aid of anything in the way of fleshly contributions, is found to be abhorrent to the average church member, and even more shocking to the average preacher!  When the sons of God are manifested for the deliverance of all creation they will have none of the world’s instruments, and that is just the reason God is dealing with His elect so severely in this hour to come unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach. 

            God’s true Church, in contrast to the false religious systems of Babylon, has never been contaminated by the world.  You may be assured, my beloved, that the Father has faithfully answered the prayer of Jesus, “And now I come to Thee;  and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.  I have given them Thy Word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.  I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil.  They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.  Sanctify (separate) them through Thy truth: Thy Word is truth” (Jn. 17:13-17).  There is a little flock, there is a remnant, there is a body of Christ, but its members are scattered abroad and almost invisible to the great Babylon.  They are the seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal, and they are the called and chosen and faithful who follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth.  They are those who have turned to God, the eternal Spirit, and to wait for the glory that is revealed as the sons of God come into their own.   

            These are they who have not the form, but the power of god-likeness, those who keep themselves unspotted from the world, and overcome all things by the faith of the Son of God within.  Its ministers are not robed in material robes of scarlet and gold; they are robed in the righteousness of Christ.  They are not trained in the seminaries and teachings of men, but by the spirit of grace and wisdom and revelation from God on High.  They are not busy interpreting or parroting the doctrines of the church systems or employing the theological terms of religion; their very lives are the interpretation of the Christ enthroned within their hearts.  They have no interest in persuading people of what they believe; their whole ministry is to bring people into intimacy of fellowship and vital union with GOD and His CHRIST.  In other words, GOD IS SUFFICIENT for this Church He has placed in the world of men!  Because God is sufficient, because the Christ within is all-in-all, this Church is left entirely free from all carnal encumbrances to pursue the work God has given it of bringing His elect unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ so that the Church may be the revelation of God’s manifold wisdom to all the principalities and powers in the celestial realms, and the hope of all creation for deliverance and restoration to the Kingdom of God.  Let all who have received the call to sonship know once and for all that CHRIST WITHIN IS SUFFICIENT!  All else is — the world! 

DELIVERANCE FROM THIS WORLD 

            Consider with me the depth of meaning in the words of the apostle Paul wherein he says of the Lord Jesus, “Who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from THIS PRESENT EVIL WORLD” (Gal. 1:4).  The description of this present world declares it to be evil, and Paul asserts that we are being delivered or saved out of it through Jesus who gave Himself for us.  One cannot read these words without a feeling of utmost wonder at the revelation that just as it was the ark that saved Noah from the world of his day, so it is Christ who saves us from this present evil world.  Noah was saved from his world by a ship, whereas we are saved from our world by a glorious Person!  Let no one imagine that  to be delivered from this present evil world means to be “raptured” off to some “beautiful isle of somewhere” any more than Noah was removed to another planet when he was “saved” from the world that then was.  Of Noah’s blessed deliverance we read, “For Christ hath also once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the spirit: by which also He went and preached  unto the spirits in prison; which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were SAVED BY WATER” (I Pet. 3:18-20).   

            Yes, my friend, Noah was saved by water — the very same water that destroyed the world!  He was saved from a world, but the wonderful truth is that he had been “saved” from that “world” a long time before the waters of the flood arrived!  For even as the scripture declares of Jesus, that He was “harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners,” so the Word also testifies of Noah that he was “a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.”  Noah was saved.  From the world of his day.  He was no part of it, though it was all around him.  Noah was different.  He danced to a different tune.  He lived out his life by a different set of standards.  He walked with God while all the rest of mankind wallowed in the filth of the lusts of their flesh.  And now, in this our day, God has sent forth His Son Jesus to save us from THIS PRESENT EVIL WORLD! 

            Vast multitudes of men and women all about us walk through this life with their minds closed, their hearts centered in this old world.  How men’s hearts and lives are tied to this world!  The man who is living in this world is forever worrying about earthly things — how he can provide more in the bank for old age, how he can provide more to see and hear and taste and feel and smell — the pleasures  of this world, how he can be sure he will never want for food, clothing or shelter.  His concern is that the outer physical man will never be in need, never be unsatisfied or dissatisfied.  He is always mindful of the comfort, entertainment, protection and provision of the natural man.  However much we may elaborate on this point, we will not express it more aptly than did the apostle Paul when he declared, “For they that are after the flesh, do mind the things of the flesh.”  On the other hand, there is a small minority who spend their lives minding the things of the spirit.  The welfare of the inner man, the spiritual man, the new creature, the heavenly man is uppermost in their thoughts, for they seek the mind of Christ.  They, like Paul, “die daily” to this present evil world, counting it as a passing thing that is destined for destruction. 

            The child of God stands out as the revelation of the divine power of Jesus Christ to come into the spirit of man, and change it and make it lovely and pure and wise and powerful like God Himself.  To come into the mind of man, and take possession of all its faculties, infusing the mind of Christ until that man esteems the fashions and fantasies of this world as less than nothing, seeking always to be one with the Father.  To come into the nature of man and transform it by the power of God until his thoughts and desires and actions are filled with wisdom and understanding, manifesting the life and glory of the world to come, the new heavens and the new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.  These, being after the spirit, mind the things of the spirit.  These are putting on immortality and incorruption, for the Christ shall come into even our diseased and mortal bodies until the action of the Holy Spirit revolutionizes every cell and our bodies are quickened by the spirit that dwells in them (Rom. 8:11).  This, my beloved, is what it means to be SAVED FROM THIS PRESENT EVIL WORLD! 

            I know of nothing that will so thoroughly awaken the fathomless depths of wisdom and understanding than the blessed knowledge of the sacred mystery that Christ saves men right now from this present evil world.  And while you, dear reader, may be one of those waiting with rapturous expectation to be whisked away and “evacuated” off this earth to spend eternity in some far-off heaven somewhere, Peter expresses with urgent and profound aspiration the true desire of all sons of God who groan for the deliverance of creation and the triumph of the Kingdom of God, saying, “Nevertheless we, according to His promise look for NEW HEAVENS AND A NEW EARTH, wherein dwelleth righteousness.  Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found in Him in peace, without spot, and blameless” (II Pet. 3:13-14).  It is an incontrovertible fact that the average Christian today is not looking for the same thing Peter was looking for — new heavens and a new earth. 

            Did Jesus teach us to pray, “Come quickly Lord Jesus, and take us to heaven,” or did He teach us to pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven?”  To be saved from this present evil world doesn’t mean to be taken anywhere.  It means to be transformed, it means to be in a different condition, or state of being, than the world.  It means to be holy instead of vile, spiritual instead of carnal, heavenly minded instead of earthly minded, peaceful instead of agitated, full of wisdom and understanding instead of ignorant and foolish, full of faith instead of fear and frustration, living instead of dying.  With what holy understanding did our Lord beseech the Father, “I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil.  They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world” (Jn. 17:15-17).  This was Noah’s condition too, his state of being, in his corrupt world.  He was perfect with God.  And now it is our turn to be perfect with God, to walk with God, and be completely delivered out of this present evil world into the life and power and glory of the Kingdom of God — the new age, the new condition, the new state of being — the NEW WORLD ORDER, the WORLD TO COME!  People are always looking for the “end of the world,” but most sincerely do I say to you today that this is where the world ends — it ends within yourself.  The new heavens (spirit) and the new earth (soul and body) are glorious and eternal realities right now upon this earth for each and every man and woman who has been delivered from this present evil world.  The new age has dawned within our hearts, the new world has come into our reality, old things are passed away and, behold, all things are now made new.  Hallelu-yah! 

            It is very essential that those who press forward into God should always keep in mind  that “world” means an order, system, or arrangement of things.  This involves a way of life, social structure, culture, philosophies, political ideologies, religion, economics — all products of the carnal mind.  How enlightening the words of scripture, “And we know that we are of God, and the WHOLE WORLD LIETH IN WICKEDNESS.”  A number of translations render the latter part of this passage, “the whole world lieth in THE WICKED ONE.”  This whole world system has not only made its bed in wickedness, but it is under the control of a cosmic wicked mind — the satanic spirit incarnate in man’s fleshly nature.  How few truly comprehend the magnitude of this!  How many precious saints are yet deceived into believing that there is at least something of God in the politics of this world, in the educational programs of this world, in the economic system of this world, in the laws of this world, in the fashions of this world, in the philosophies of this world, and in the culture of this world.  Somehow it does not sink in that these institutions are, one and all, completely and forever, without any exceptions whatsoever, UNRIGHTEOUS PRODUCTS OF THE CARNAL MINDS OF NATURAL MEN!   

            I do not hesitate to tell you that practically all, if not indeed all, of the men and women who fill the smoke-filled rooms where the ideas are birthed and the decisions made concerning all of these affairs are indeed carnal minded men, sold under sin, dominated by the master spirit that controls this evil age.  Oh! how we have wanted to believe that our nation, with it laws and liberties and godly heritage is somehow an expression of the Kingdom of God because it was given to us by noble and religious men.  We have reasoned that “democracy” is the best and highest form of government because of the liberties it gives to the religious community and the guarantee of civil rights to its citizens.  We have even imagined that “capitalism” is somehow a God-ordained economic system because it brings material blessings to so many people.  But the word of the Almighty is against that!  The immutable testimony of the spirit of Truth is that “the WHOLE WORLD LIETH IN THE WICKED ONE.”  And while we have “Christian activists” busily trying to either preserve or christianize a passing order, the carnal institutions they are bestowing their fervent labors upon are steadily disintegrating and sinking into demonic chaos before their very eyes, as God demonstrates for all to see the incontrovertible truth that even our cherished systems and institutions are OF THIS WORLD “which passeth away.”   

            The seeds of destruction were planted in the very foundations of our nation.  When you give men “freedom of speech” and “liberty” you must give it across the board.  It is given to saints and equally given to devils!  It is given to righteousness and equally given to carnality and corruption.  When you have the “rule of the people” you can never have a government any better than the people.  If the people are good you will have good government.  If the people are bad you will have bad government.  The majority always rule. The only thing that can save America and the world is the Kingdom of God!  The Kingdom of God transforms men.  That is what the world needs — a new breed of humanity!  The Kingdom of God is not of this world system.  It doesn’t rule by legislation, committees, agencies, courts, police, or military might.  It rules only by the inward power of the Holy Spirit that regenerates and transforms men into the image of God.  And yet, some still entertain the notion that out of our present government will come the integrity and wisdom to solve the immense problems facing our increasingly weakening and depraved society and explosive world situation.  Surely one of our political parties will come up with the answer!  Perhaps God will raise up a godly President to lead our nation out of its political, economic and moral morass!  I prophesy to you today — no President either can or will lead America to righteousness unless he does so along lines and through agencies other than our constitutional system.  HE WOULD HAVE TO BE EITHER A FLAMING EVANGELIST OR A MANIFESTED SON OF GOD!  Nothing else will do.  How many Christians have swarmed to the polls like herded cattle to cast their vote for some candidate they were propagandized into believing was a Christian, or godly, or honest, or Conservative, or religious, or something else; only to awaken later to the unvarnished fact that in spite of all the shrewdly managed image-building and propaganda he was, in truth, just another politician like all politicians, a specimen of the system that spawned him, controlled by the spirit of the age of this world system, which, as truly as the word of God has taught us, “is under the power of the the wicked one.” 

            There is a simple, but sure, test by which one may discern whether anything pertains to the Kingdom of God or is of “this world”.  “For all that is in the world...IS NOT OF THE FATHER, but of the world” (I Jn. 2:16).  The truth is that all that belongs to the Kingdom of God originates in and proceeds forth from the SPIRIT OF THE FATHER.  Whatever is of the Father is not of the world.  Whatever is of the world is not of the Father.  That is the law of the Kingdom.  Every thought, word, desire, action, activity, method, system, movement, or institution that flows from the life of the Father is an expression of the Kingdom of God.  Conversely, all that is of the world originates in and springs forth from the carnal mind.  It takes no spirituality at all to walk after the order of the world, but it takes a true commitment to the Holy Spirit to walk in the order of the Kingdom of God, which is the order of the Spirit.   

            This world is not for us.  Its methods are not for us.  Its fashions are not for us.  Its institutions are not for us.  Its ways are not for us.  Its life style is not for us.  Its mentality is not for us.  Its spirit is not for us.  We are different.  We are of God.  We are called to higher things.  We are led by the Spirit, the sons of God.  God is saving us out of this world.  Those apprehended to sonship are overcoming this world even as Jesus said, “I have overcome the world” (Jn. 16:33).  John wrote, “For whosoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith” (I Jn. 5:4).  Peter admonishes, “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises that by these ye might be partakes of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (II Pet. 1:4).  And finally, the apostle James entreats us, “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God!” (James 4:4).  And thank God! the world is passing away.  Not the earth that we live on, not our solar system, but the world — this present carnal system of things.  And with it, all the chaos, sin, war, crime, poverty, pain, pride, deceit, death; yea, all that is not of the Father shall pass away.  We have God’s word for it! 

            Even now as we learn to rise up in God, to put on His mind, to walk in His ways, to know His voice, to be led by His Spirit, to be conformed to His image, the nature, glory and authority of that NEW HEAVEN AND EARTH is being formed within us.  There has been released from heaven in the last several years a great and wonderful expectancy.  It is the expectancy that all heaven is about to break loose in the midst of the Lord’s people on a world-wide basis.  Do you identify with that expectancy?  God is raising up voices throughout the length and breadth of the land to say, “The earth is about to see the glory of God in an unprecedented way.”  A host of heavenly messengers has been released to every corner of the globe bearing the message, “And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all mankind together will see it, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it” (Isa. 40:5).  I have heard that message from every quarter of the earth, and it is the word of the Lord for this day.  Those who think all things are going to continue on as they are, are deceived.  Even as I write, this planet is in the greatest spiritual, political, and economic change since World War II.  The century and the millennium will soon change.  History’s “odometer” will turn up to 7000 — the beginning of the seventh day since Adam was banished in sorrow from Eden’s fair garden.  But that means nothing to me except that I have heard the voice of the Lord announcing that He is about to do a new and wonderful thing in the earth.  The manifestation of the sons of God is at hand.  God is about to accelerate His Kingdom program in the earth.  There will be a great change.  Deliverance will come.  The Day of the Lord will shine brighter than ever before.  Whole nations will be impacted by the power of the Kingdom of God.  Immortality and incorruption will begin to spring forth in a people.  God shall roar out of Zion.  The Lord Jesus shall come in His people in all His glorious fullness.  Mercy and judgment shall kiss each other in the midst of the earth.  Great and terrible shall be the Day of the Lord!  I can assure you that a new age is on the horizon, a new dispensation of His working, and we cry out to be ready, and a partaker of that life-flow. 

            ““I have given them Thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world” (Jn. 17:14).  If Jesus was not of the world, why was He in the world?  If there was no sympathy between Him and the world, why was it that He lived  in it, and did not remain in that high and holy and blessed realm from whence He came?  The answer  is, the Father sent Him into the world to redeem the world.  In these two expressions, “in the world,” and “not of the world,” we find the whole secret   to His work as the manifested Son of God in the earth, and the King of the Kingdom.   

            He was “in the world” to face the powers that rule the world, to learn obedience, and to overcome the world.  He was “not of the world” to bring men the life from above, that which man lost from his consciousness in sin, that men might see it and long for it and have it quickened again within them.  He was “in the world” witnessing against its sin and shame, its static religion and corrupt government, its impotence to know and please God.  He was “not of the world” founding a Kingdom entirely spiritual in nature and heavenly in origin, entirely independent from all that the world cherishes, promotes, and imposes, with principles and laws and a spirit the very opposite of those that rule the world.   

            Ray Prinzing’s comments are enlightening.  “Came a day when Jesus was brought into custody before Pilate, and in submission to this man’s rule, He did not seek to defend Himself.  In fact, He stated, ‘My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not of hence.’  This world had its kingships, various authorities in varying degrees of rulership prevailed.  Jesus was not competing with them on that level of kingship.  If He was, it would be necessary for Him to rally His forces and fight to defend His kingdom.  But He did not belong to the world, He was in it, but not of it, and therefore did not try to exercise its form of kingship.  He had no contest with these men, He was not fighting flesh and blood.  HIS KINGSHIP RIGHTS DID NOT PERTAIN TO THIS NATURAL REALM.  His obedience to the will of the Father placed Him at their disposal, to do as they willed, even to the death of the cross.  Full well He knew that there would come a day when the Father would give all judgment into His hand, and all earth shall bow before Him, for the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord.  Blessed be His wonderful name!” 

            There is nothing ordinary about our Christ.  Everything about Him is superlative.  His perfection is far beyond all question.  Our Christ is the most powerful among the powerful, the mightiest among the holy and the holiest among the mighty.  With His nail-pierced hands He has lifted empires off their hinges.  With the same nail-pierced hands He has lifted prodigals out of the hog pen.  Our superlative Christ has turned the stream of time into new channels.  HE MAKETH ALL THINGS NEW!  Whatsoever He touches, whatsoever touches HIM, becomes new.  Our Christ governs the ages, and when we LOOK UNTO HIM we are changed from glory to glory into the very same image.   

            None of Adam’s race shall ever enter this new world.  “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (I Cor. 15:50).  Adam must die, as was spoken in the beginning.  Adam’s nature and life cannot inherit this Kingdom.  Not that God is vindictive or unforgiving.  It’s just that the Adamic nature cannot stand in that glorious light unto which no man can approach.  So God is creating a new man.  “This shall be written for the generation to come, and the people which SHALL BE CREATED shall praise the Lord” (Ps. 102:18).  This creation or world of which I speak was never in existence until Jesus came.  He was the beginning of this new creation Man.  He is the beginning and the end, the first and the last, the Alpha and the Omega.  So through Jesus Christ, something new came into existence.  And He is the Door, so none can enter this realm except through Him.  He is the Head, so once in this realm you cannot move or operate in His divine principles except as He directs you.  He is the first and the last, the beginning and the end, so no one ever had this without Him, and you will never get past Him or surpass Him; no matter how far you go in God, you will find that Jesus is there, too!  He is truly the GOD-MAN.  And in union with Him we become GOD-MEN.  As it is written, “Who is like unto Thee, O Lord, among the GODS!”  Oh, the wonder of it!  This is the power and the glory of the Kingdom of God! 

            This is the Kingdom about which Jesus talked to Pilate standing on the portico above the court yard in Jerusalem when Simon Peter was warming his hands around the enemies’ fire.  Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth,” and “Are you the king of the Jews?”  And it was to Pilate that Jesus replied with those significant words, “Thou sayest it; but my kingdom is not of this world else would my servants fight; but my kingdom is not from hence.”  There are not words to express all the fullness in that superb statement but it is obvious that Jesus was not talking about an earthly rulership nor a politically structured kingdom like the kingdom of Great Britain.  Jesus said that the Kingdom of which He is King is a Kingdom that is not of this world.  Jesus was saying, “The kingdoms of this world maintain their sovereignty and power by military might.  My Kingdom does not operate that way.  When my servants are under the impression that my Kingdom is of this world, then they will fight.”  And that accounts for much of the fighting in the world throughout the past seventeen centuries, as the Roman Church conquered by the sword in the name of the Lord and the Protestant Churches have done the same.  No one can dispute that most of the wars since the collapse of the pagan Roman Empire have been religious wars.  Most often the so-called Christian nations have been engaged in these wars, fighting the enemies of God with carnal warfare, and just as often fighting among themselves, as they are still doing to this day in the country of Ireland. 

            As long as we believe that the Kingdom of God is of this world our warfare will be with flesh and blood.  “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but are mighty through God,” saith the Lord.  Our warfare is not to be with flesh and blood on any level.  If you see me battling with flesh and blood you can conclude that I have a misconception of the Kingdom of God.  I demonstrate that I think it is a kingdom of the earth and not a Kingdom of Heaven, a kingdom of the natural and not a Kingdom of the Spiritual.  When I have a true revelation and a true perception of the Kingdom of God in the heavenlies, my battle has ceased with flesh and blood, with natural men and by natural means.  My warfare has begun and continues in the unseen realm of the spirit.  Jesus called it “Kingdom of Heaven”.  Had He meant “kingdom of earth” He would have stated it thus.  As long as we believe it to be kingdom of earth, we are going to contend and war with one another.  We will insist that our creed is that Kingdom, or our organization is that Kingdom, or our group is that Kingdom, or our race is that Kingdom, or our nation is that Kingdom, and other creeds, organizations, churches, races, or nationalities not in our circle of friends have no part in that Kingdom, and we will fight for it.   

To be continued...