[1]Matthew 16:21-24
Set your mind on God's interests
[2]Romans 12:1-2
Sacrifice and Renewal
[3]2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Looking at the unseen
[4]Philippians 4:7-8
Things to dwell on
[5]Colossians 3:1-4
Seek those things where Christ is
[6]Acts 1:8
Expecting the Holy Spirit
[7]James 3:17-18
Wisdom from above
[8]Hebrews 12:1-5
So great a cloud of witnesses
[9]Psalm 91:11-13
not strike your foot against a stone
[10]Luke 12:35-38
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
Be watching for the return of Christ Jesus
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So far we have discussed the first three phases of
Revival, those being "Clean Up", "Pray Up", and "Gear
Up". Today we will look at the fourth step, which
is "Look Up"; if you have been following this, you will
have spent time with your head down in repentance,
prayer, and studying the Word. Now it is time to
look up. When we speak of looking up we mean both
spiritually and physically, so we will mostly discuss the
spiritual.
First, we are to look at God's plan for us, and not to
let Satan convince us that God's plan is wrong because
we do not agree with it or want it this way.[1] We must
follow God's plan. In this scripture Jesus rebukes
Satan when he causes Peter to try to stop Jesus from
going to His crucifixion. For us, in hindsight,
we know why it had to be this way, but Peter was not
seeing this as the Salvation of the world, but as the
torture and killing of his friend. From Peter's
point of view, which was looking at the earthly issues,
stopping Jesus from going through this seemed the most
reasonable thing to do for a friend. This same
thing happens to us; we start looking at the world and
we see what is going on in the world, not in Heaven.
Soon we forget that God is really in charge and we begin
to worry and plan for a future that may, or may not, be
what God intends for us! Jesus tells Peter and the
other disciples that anyone that wants to follow Him
must deny himself and pick up their cross and follow Him
(Jesus). To do this, we must take our eyes off of
the world, and Look Up to Jesus.
Next we must understand that where our mind lies, so
will we look. If we think about the things of the
world we look to the world. We are to renew our
minds; this is an ongoing process where we look to God.
We must stay focused on God and His Will if we are to
renew our minds. There is no way that the mind can
be renewed while we stare at the world and have the
world's influences being imprinted on our minds.
When Paul speaks of making ourselves a living sacrifice
to God, he speaks of an ultimate turning of yourself
over to Him.[2] You cannot do this while looking at
all the sinful things that the world has to offer.
In fact, you cannot do it with your eyes shut. You
need to have your eyes open and on the face of Jesus as
you present yourself to him, a person who has
cleaned up, prayed up, geared up, and are now looking up
at nothing but Him! Look to the eternal, not the
transient!
Paul also tells us that we are to look to that which is
unseen (spiritual) rather than what is seen (earthly).[3]He states that the things that are unseen and that we
should look towards are eternal, while those things that
we see are temporary. In fact, the outer man, the
physical man, is decaying, while our inner person is
renewed by the Spirit of God. While our bodies die
there is no reason for the Christian to be old in
spirit, as we are renewed constantly from God's Spirit,
the never-ending River of Life! Paul calls all
that had happened to him "light affliction" (NASB95)
that is producing "an eternal weight of glory far beyond
all comparison". This is what we are to look at!
Look Up! Stop looking at this day to day,
temporary affliction that is light compared to what
unbelievers will face for eternity. Look up to see
that eternal glory that is to be ours when we have
passed from this decayed creature, fit only for the
worms, and into His Presence, and keep your eyes focused
there. Ignore Satan's sleight of hand here on
earth, and stay focused on the real deal in Heaven.
Paul tells the Philippians to look at whatever is
honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, has
excellence, and is worthy of praise.[4] This
describes all of the things that we should look up from
the sins of the earth to see! These are the things
that we are to dwell on; not bills, finances, making
money, problems at work, people who treat you badly, or
anything else. Look Up! All these things on
the earth are a part of our life, and we notice the
electric bill coming in, but we don't focus on it, we
pay it and keep our eyes on Jesus. Way too many
Christians spend way too much time looking at new
vehicles, new houses, new toys, and new personal items,
instead of looking at Jesus and taking what he sends our
way. You have to get this into your very soul:
every time you start looking at worldly things, your
eyes are off of Christ! You want to know why you
are not getting blessing from God? He is sending
them! You are just so busy looking at what the
world has to offer that you don't see what God actually
sends! All those things that the world is offering
you have strings attached. Instead of giving you
joy, they will steal your joy; instead of giving you
respect they will bring envy and strife; instead of
making you seem blessed by God (a favorite excuse to
chase worldly possessions among many Christians) they
will rot your spirit! Look Up! Look up and
see the treasures of God, not the treasures of the
world! The world has no honor, no true rightness,
no purity, no loveliness or any of these things.
The world fakes it. Those without Christ see the
world as wonderful things because the things of the
world are ALL THEY HAVE. As a Christian you have
so much more that is so much better waiting for you, the
things of the world should look dull, ugly, and
lifeless. Look Up for those things that are the
best that there is!
This passage is so simple and so elegant: if YOU have
been raised up with Christ (reborn in Him) then keep
your eyes and your mind on those things that are up
there with Christ.[5] Get it? You are one with
Christ, dead to this world, reborn in Him, hidden above
in God with Christ, and when Christ, who is our life,
returns, we will return with Him! Glory of
Glories! If no other verse in the Bible makes a
Christian's heart sing with joy, it should be this one.
Raised up with Christ Jesus, dead to the world, hidden
in Almighty God just like Jesus Christ, and coming back
with Him when He returns. Hallelujah! Praise
God! We are to set our minds on, and seek those
things that are there with Him. When you look to
the world, you do not do it from the world, but from a
place hidden in God with Christ Jesus, and the only
reason you do not get kicked out is the intercession of
our Lord Savior, himself. Seek the things above;
set your mind on things above-this is what the Christian
life is!
God has sent His Holy Spirit to be our helper in
ministering for Jesus.[6] If you are expecting God to
send something down from Heaven, be it the Holy Spirit
or Mana, where do you look? Under a rock?
No! You look up where it is coming from! You
are expecting this, and you are steady watching for it.
Look Up! Watch for His Spirit to fill you and give
you the words to speak, the wisdom to understand the
scriptures, and power to overcome the world! Don't
look down and miss out; look up, keep a watch, eyes
glued to the heavens, waiting on the gifts that God
sends to you. Again, too many Christians looking
at the goods of the world and missing the gifts that God
drops down right in their path. God will never
make you take up His Gifts, but He will drop them down
for you. Look for them. "Keep an eye out"
for them; don't miss them because you were too busy
looking at the temporal things to see them.
Do you want that Wisdom from Above?[7] Again, why are
you looking under a rock or maybe under the hood of that
new car? It ain't there! It is coming down
from above. Look for it, get underneath it, let it
fall on you. Don't be over in left field somewhere
when the Wisdom drops down where you should be. If
you are out of place, clean up, pray up, and gear up,
and get over to where you should be. You are in
the Lord's Army; get in your place for battle, not over
there doing something else. Satan will tell yuo to
take a break and go smell the roses on the side of the
battlefield, but what really happens is you get set up
for an attach. You miss your helping of wisdom and
then get blindsided. You need that wisdom to help
you act as you should. Be where you should be,
eyes on Heaven, and get a full dose of Wisdom.
This wisdom is pure, peaceable, gentle, open to reason,
full of mercy and good fruits, impartial, and sincere.
Wait, just a second Preacher (they normally just call me
Preacher, no name or anything), I thought you just said
it was a battle in a war and we were in an Army...where
does this peace, gentleness, mercy, and all this come
in? It is a good question: James speaks
mostly of works being the proof of salvation in his
writings. James is telling us how to act with
others, as in love your neighbor. As we know from
last week's lesson, we fight not against flesh and
blood, but against Satan and demonic forces. There
is NOWHERE in God's Word that he tells you to treat
Satan and his fallen angels with peace, gentleness,
mercy or any of that. Satan and his ilk, unlike
human beings, are irredeemable, and are the enemy of God
and all that is good and right. In fact, these
works listed by James act as weapons against Satan.
Show these things to other people why steadily stabbing
Satan with the Word of God!
We have a great cloud of witnesses that are watching
what we do.[8] We should be looking up to God (not to
them) but remembering that we are running a race and
fighting a battle where they are cheering us on.
Many of these died for the faith as martyrs, and some in
horrible way as recorded.[a] But where are they, and
where will we be if we die before Jesus returns?
We will become part of that great "cloud of witnesses"
that will be looking down on those still fighting!
They are cheering us on; angels, forbears, grandparents,
aunts and uncles, and many others. Don't let them
see you looking at the ground, or peering into the dark
places of the world! Let them see you carrying on
for Jesus under all circumstances. Let them
witness you stiving with all your heart to win the race.
Think of yourself as in a race or as a gladiator and
they are the audience cheering you on. Work
towards that prize with your eye on it!
While this verse is not specifically telling you to keep
your eyes on God, I believe that Moses, the Psalmist,
implies that when he says that God will give his angels
charge over you so that you do strike your foot against
a stone, or have to worry about treading on lion's and
cobras.[9] I know that this is a prophecy of Jesus,
but it is also true of those who are "hidden in God with
Christ Jesus". I picture Moses staring up into
heaven as the Red Sea parts and he goes across, not
worried that he will trip over a stone. I see him
walking through the desert with his eyes on God and not
worried about snakes or other critters on the ground,
trusting that he is protected by God's very angels!
How great this is! He has given His angels charge
over you; the angels of Heaven are charged with your
safekeeping, if only you will keep your eyes on Him and
stay in the paths He has set for you. I hear
Christians constantly complain that Satan is always
putting stumbling blocks before them for to trip over.
Maybe this is because they use their imperfect sight to
look where to put their feet. They would do much
better to look to God and let His angels ensure their
steps.
The last point I want to bring out, but certainly not
the least, is that we should be looking up constantly
for our Lord's return. Like servants awaiting
their master we are to be constantly prepared to meet
Him and welcome Him. We are told that He "will
descend from the heaven". Are you keeping an eye
out for the return of the Lord? Can you say with
the Apostle John "Come, Lord Jesus" as he did at the end
of the Revelation of Jesus Christ? Are you
prepared? I believe in a pre-Tribulation Rapture[b],
but I am not one-hudred percent sure of that. I
have tried to look at the Scriptures and each way of
interpreting them. Regardless of whether the
Rapture takes place after the destruction of so much
shown in the Revelation, or maybe before, but things
have become bad for Christians, are YOU ready to keep
your eyes on Jesus while the minions of Satan convince
the rulers of this world that Christians are the issue
and that all should be exterminated. You think it
will not happen, but the Jews living in Germany thought
the same thing. Political climates change fast,
and in the matter of a few years Christianity could go
from a primary religion to one that is hated by the
world. Satan works to make this happen every day.
New article blast every small thing a Christian does
that is a failure of abiding by the Word, yet other
religions get a pass on horrendous atrocities that are
carried out. It takes very little research in the
news to see that Christianity is under attack from the
outside by atheist and all kinds of other Godless
religions, while it is being destroyed from the inside
by liberal Christians that want Christianity to be more
like the world. Are you ready to be that person
that will not bend or flex on your commitment to Christ?
Are you that person that will stand, eye on heaven,
while they execute you? Can you lay your head on
the chopping block, stand at the firing post, sit in the
electric chair because your Christianity has become
illegal? Or will you fall by the wayside, giving
in to those who work against your savior? Will you
compromise with God's enemies, or will you die in
battle?
Will you "Look Up" and keep your eyes on our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ?
Father in Heaven, all-powerful creator, you
know my needs and can fulfil them. I come before
you to ask that you forgive all my sins, those I
remember and those that I do not. Father, teach me to
pray so that I may be an effective warrior against Satan
and his demons. Father, I ask that your Holy
Spirit guide me and teach me your Word so that I may use
it effectively against your enemies and bring my
neighbors to you! Father, I
ask that you bring your Kingdom to earth soon, as we all
suffer under the curse and look forward to the coming of
Your Only Begotten Son to reign over all the earth.
Father, I ask that you Holy Spirit convict each person
that reads this message and that Your Word will touch
their hearts and bring about a true revival in them that
will spread into the world, driving out the darkness
with Your Holy Light. Holy Spirit, teach us to
keep our eyes on our Savior, Jesus Christ, King of Kings
and Lord of Lords. Let us see Him seated at the
right hand of the Father. Let us look nowhere else! Amen.
Next week we will move into the fifth
"night" of Revival with the last step in bringing His Glory to our
lives with "Step Up!".
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[a]Foxe's Book of Martyrs
[b]Rapture-Meaning: Originally, the
text read "harpazo", a Greek word that means to snatch
away, among other meanings. This was translated to
the Latin word "rapere" or "rapid" and "repiemur",
meaning "caught up" or "we shall be caught up".
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