Saints Taking a Different Path to the World

It would be a wild expectation for a person to do something without any purpose and anticipate that to go well. Similarly if we do not have a clear sense of direction as to where we are going, all the time and energy we spend could end in vain. But strangely enough, the people in the world are heading somewhere thoughtlessly with no specific purpose to life, when life’s journey is not a very long one either.

People want to believe that they are on the right track, headed in a sensible direction. But in reality, most people are going after money. However they might be seen, at the end of the day, all of them are following this course of life so that their flesh would not be starved and face hard times. The reason parents encourage their children to study is ultimately for them to have a great career and high salary. Doctors, legal professionals, senior civil officials, and so on are some of the most sought after professions. However, only a small percentage of people can get into such professions and for the rest, they are just a dream. Because of the fierce competition, even becoming a teacher, getting into a leading corporate company, or becoming successful through fine arts, sports or in the entertainment industry is not easy.

For this reason, people believe that they have to do well at school first and foremost. At times, a person who is not very academic is treated like he has committed an offense. Is there anyone who doesn’t want to do well at school? For teenagers going through puberty with increased level of growth hormones, it certainly is not easy to set their hearts and minds to concentrate on studying. Then there are some who cannot focus on studying due to their difficult circumstances. Nevertheless, a person’s academic performance is the measure of success in the society. As a result, many people live with deep and life-long scars in their hearts.

For those who are not so academic or particularly talented but want to make enough money to live comfortably, they have the option of taking the path as a business. However, starting a business requires much funding. Yet having money does not necessarily guarantee success. One business failure even for the most successful business could leave the whole family struggling for the rest of their lives.

Most people are thus living for their flesh. Students study hard for the sake of their flesh and the same goes for people having careers or jobs that are not even in their field of interest. There are not a lot of people who would be able to say that they are genuinely happy and pleased with their lives. Even so, people cannot easily break away from this way of life because of their flesh and that of their families which they have to care for.

Young people these days tend to put off getting married. And a significant number of married couples wish not to have children. This is because they are not confident of being able to give their children the ideal support and upbringing, nor do they want to pass on the same headache they have onto the next generation. In the midst of life’s harsh realities, some individuals overstep the moral line, cheating others and doing what should not be done.

Perhaps it is only natural that everyone possesses this kind of disposition and inclination. The problem is that even Christians are being swept away by such a trend. Christians should not be disappointed by the same matters that unbelievers are disappointed by, or be in despair about the same matters as them. The affluent and the poor eventually meet at the same point, that is, before death, with the sense of loss that all their achievements in life has to be left behind as well as feeling inferior to people who are still young. People are just trying to go forward with no knowledge of what is waiting at the end of their road.

In Rome, there are underground burial chambers called the Catacombs. The early Christians of Rome even used to hide and worship inside these tunnels. Throughout these underground caves are a number of crossroads like a confusing maze that one wrong turn could leave a person trapped for the rest of his life. This is what life is like, and in that sense one cannot but seriously ponder about the meaning of life. However the truth is that people do not. Instead they waste considerable time thinking about trivial things like, “What door knob should I get for my bedroom door?” or “what should have for lunch today?” Their entire focus is purely on the duration of their life on the earth, from birth to death.

The non believers of the world have a myopic disposition. They tend to judge everything based on their fleshly senses. Of course they do give considerable time in philosophical activities which explore the invisible dimensions. Strangely enough though, activities concerned with the spiritual realities are treated as unhealthy. As saints, we should not follow such proclivity of the world. Our viewpoint needs to be different to theirs. If saints possess this proclivity of the world, it is proof that they do not trust in God’s promise. It also shows that they have doubts in their minds thinking, “But that may not be true,” when they hear God’s word. A significant number of people have the faith of salvation but not the faith of eternal life. And it is hard for such people to be healed of their sicknesses even though they receive prayer and the laying on of hands.

One of the common sentiments that people have in the world is the fear of death. Even the haughty person cannot hide his fear before death. On the contrary, Christian saints have an entirely different attitude to death. This huge contrast between the attitudes of saints and unbelievers towards death is noticeable at funerals. The saints must be different to the unbelievers, for they understand that the end of man’s life in this world means the beginning of a new life.

Jesus Christ – the Way, the Truth, and the Life

Jesus says, “You and I have one Father.” And He is calling us, “Let us go to the Father!” If God is our Creator, we are His servants. A servant does not dare lay his eyes upon what belongs to his master. And yet Jesus wants to take us to the Father saying, “God is our Father!” He is saying, “Let’s go to the Father’s house,” as if He finds it odd that we are not claiming our rightful privilege. There will be no more tears, death, sorrow or pain in the Father’s house; the old things would have passed and be seen no more. That is the Father’s house we must be yearning for.

Then how can we go to the Father’s house? Jesus Christ said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Jesus Christ is the only way by which we can go to the Father. The church is like a train travelling along that way, and we are like the passengers on board who said, “Yes, we will follow You Lord!” We do not just follow the way of Jesus thoughtlessly but are constantly learning and practicing something within the church. Through repentance, baptism, the Holy Spirit, worship, the Lord’s Supper, prayer, offering, dedication, service, fellowship, mission, evangelism, the laying on of hands, healing, and so on, the Lord nurtures His flock. If the Lord had not sacrificed His own life, this way to God would not have been opened for us. The church exists because of the Lord’s sacrifice, and hence the church needs to have the power to demonstrate such worth. We go before God by the way called Jesus Christ through the church.

Jesus Christ is the truth. Without the truth, we cannot come before God. From the beginning, man and God could not be connected due to the difference in their modes of existence. Man cannot meet God by his fleshly senses that are fundamental to his cognitive activities. He cannot grasp God with his impressive brainpower either. Man has come to know God because God’s Son came as the light and revealed the spiritual reality. That light is the truth. For man whose spirit was dead and his eyes blinded, he is able to clearly see God’s kingdom and enter it.

There is a key element of the truth that God has revealed to us through the words and life of Jesus, which is can be summed up in one phrase: I will help you! Having become accustomed to the way of this world, man is heading for destruction believing that there is nothing more beyond this world. The truth is God’s will for salvation to such mankind, His plan to give them freedom. By the laws of this world, the dead cannot rise to life. However the truth says, “I will raise you up!” According to the laws of this world, it is impossible for man to meet God. Even so, the truth says, “God will love you just as He loves His only begotten Son!” We must abide in the truth.

Jesus Christ is life. The life God gave us is in His Son. Thus whoever has the Son of God has life, and whoever does not have the Son does not have life (1 Jn 5:12). Soon our flesh will fade away and when the time comes, the earth on which our flesh now lives will disappear. In other words, the foundation of life that man so puts his trust in will forever disappear. Yet we do not need to despair. Jesus promised us of an eternal dwelling place saying, “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (Jn 14:2-3).

The Way of Righteousness of Following the Lord

There is a procedure that must be undertaken in order for us to go to the Father’s house which has Jesus promised. And that is resurrection. Although we have escaped from Hades, we are still at the border of entering eternal life. There remains a series of steps yet to be taken until we depart this distressing flesh and enter eternal life. Jesus said, “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day” (Jn 6:54). Jesus must first raise us if we are to enter eternal life. For this very reason, we are eating the flesh of Jesus in the church.

Unbelievers are afraid of death since they are unaware of the spiritual reality. Though they say that everything ends when they die, they still have this vague notion that they will be wandering somewhere after death. This kind of attitude towards death is also evident in how they grieve over the death of their family. Unlike the unbelievers, saints have the promise of resurrection. Jesus said, “Whoever believes in Me shall never die” (Jn 11:26), and also, “The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God. The dead will be raised to life. Do not marvel at this. Those who have done good will rise to the resurrection of life” (Jn 5:25-29). Whoever trusts in the Lord’s promise of resurrection will be filled with the hope of resurrection.

For those who have the hope of resurrection, there is something they need to be mindful of and be ready. Jesus said to His disciples, “Do not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the Holy Spirit which the Father promised. You shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now” (Acts 1:4-5). Which way would the disciples go once Jesus ascends? They might return to their own towns and catch fish. They may follow a way which is not the true way; wander and be trapped in a maze of tunnels, or walk down a harsh and bleak road to destruction. Jesus thwarted their ways and commanded them to be baptized by the Holy Spirit. And as commanded, the disciples received the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. On that day, 3000 people were baptized and the church of Christ was born.

Baptism means to confess that we have been redeemed through the death of Jesus, openly profess one’s determination to forsake the old self that was astray and follow the way of Jesus, and fulfill God’s righteousness. It is about determining oneself to follow the way of righteousness from that point on. It also means liberty from the power of Hades for the spirit, though the flesh is still in the world.

The church is formed by those who have hope in the Father’s house. The Holy Spirit guides them into the Truth (Jn 16:13). Without the guidance of the Holy Spirit, one cannot triumph through the world and follow the Lord because there are so many factors in this world that devastate our faith and obstruct our hope. The idea of following after the Lord’s way while doing one’s own things will never work. We must abandon our doubts about the words of the Lord and trust in Him.

In the past we used to follow empty ways. However we have become sanctified as the ones who have fulfilled God’s righteousness. Whether students, office workers, teachers, public servants or housewives, we are the holy ones that move in accordance with the Holy Spirit’s will and fulfill God’s righteousness. Before, we worked to earn money for our flesh. But now we must consider God’s kingdom and earn money with a sacred purpose. One might have studied for his own flesh before, but now it must be done to fulfill God’s righteousness.

Trust in God

Even if one has been sanctified, he will instantly be overcome with fear and anxiety when he sets his heart on the world. The Devil brings a feeling of inferiority to people to make them doubt of God’s promise. However, feeling inferior is not fitting for those who are in Jesus. Unlike the world, in Christ, those who humble themselves will be exalted. Jesus said, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (Jn 14:26-27). There must be peace in our hearts if the Holy Spirit has come in us. To have peace is the Lord’s command and the saint’s obligation.

Saints must help one another in order to overcome temptations and advance forward in the world. We need to become each other’s strength and support so that everyone may safely arrive at the Father’s house. We all need to remind each other of the hope of resurrection so that nobody is shaken by the temptations of the world but all reach the Father’s house. We ought to fulfill the words of 2 Corinthians 13:11 which says, “Finally, brethren, farewell. Become complete. Be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss.”

Fear develops when the feeling of inferiority sweeps into hearts, just like the cold wind that seeps through the window sill. That fear will grow further and further like a snowball to eventually shake the everlasting hope we have, making us neglect our preparations for the eternal life. Though he was the Lord’s disciple, Judas Iscariot perished in the end due to such thought. Ananias and Sapphira were greatly moved by the Holy Spirit and yet they lost the chance to bear everlasting fruits. We should not repeat the same mistakes but trust in God.

We must not neglect our offerings and dedication. However people consider it normal to overlook and neglect them because they do not believe in the promise of eternal life. Whoever is certain of his hope in God’s kingdom will have a different attitude to his faith life. The reason people are reluctant to serve and observe the Lord’s Day, love and care for other saints is they either do not believe in God’s promise, or they still have doubts and do not have the assurance of Heaven even though they do believe. The Lord wants us to abandon such doubts and trust in His words.

We are pilgrims on this earth. We should not burden our souls with lingering attachments to the world. Our lives should be holy like the Lord’s public life. We are the ones who fulfill God’s righteousness. Thus through our lives we must show others that Jesus is our Way, truth and life. We ought not to be attached to the nature of our old selves but be steadfast and put our trust in the Lord’s promise of the resurrection and eternal life.

Whoever does not trust in the Lord’s promise and removes His words will not be able to enter the holy city where God’s children are to enter later (Rev 22:19). The Lord said, “Surely I am coming quickly” (Rev 22:20). The Lord will not disappoint us. We need to prepare ourselves well from now for that day that is approaching. In faith and hope, we ought to lead sincere, holy and worthy faith lives so that we do not regret on that day.