It is difficult to come into a walk with God, because it embraces that which does not appear to be true. When you look at the trends in the world, it seems as though Christianity is on its way out. Even the old traditional churches are cracking. Large segments of the Roman Catholic population are calling into question basic tenets of their church, resulting in one of the great religious contests of all time.
What is true? Is there a new move of God in the earth? Is there really a walk with God? Where is reality to be found?
Jesus said to the two sisters at their brother’s grave, “Did I not say to you, if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” John 11:40. In time, you will actually view that which is already real in the realm of the spirit, but it will not come about because the present appearance of things has shown you the truth. Faith does not come by the senses or by the reasoning of your mind. Faith comes by hearing a Word from God and believing it (Romans 10:17). The things that are seen are not made of things that do appear (Hebrews 11:3). God speaks and it comes into being. Blessed is the man who can take the Word of the Lord into his heart. Blessed are the people who can approach the altar of the Lord and partake of His body and blood in faith, knowing that therein lies reality.
The world has pursued knowledge and wisdom. Daniel prophesied that in the last day knowledge would be increased (Daniel 12:4), but even Daniel probably did not see the extent of the increase—how much the world’s body of scientific knowledge would multiply in a very few decades. We are living in a fantastic age of production and knowledge. It is difficult to realize that minds can devise information which, when properly fed into computers, will put out the answers for a feat requiring the accuracy of a moon shot—an accuracy probably comparable to aiming a rifle and hitting a target thousands of miles away. Yet the moon shots were planned, for the most part, by very young men.
What does God say about the wisdom of man? Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. I Corinthians 2:6–8. There are two wisdoms: the wisdom of the world, so foolish that it led men to crucify Christ, and the wisdom of God, which is hidden.
What do the Scriptures say about God’s wisdom? “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.” I Corinthians 2:9. Can I show you what God has for you? No, for eye has not seen it. Can I tell you what God has for you? No, for ear has not heard it in such a way that we can point to the facts.
For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. Verses 10–13. The Lord is trying to tell us that this which seems like an illusion is the reality; and the scientific world, with its so-called hard facts, is the illusion.
The world developed the fantastic pseudoscience of psychology to study the soul and mind of man, but it began with the premise that there is no human soul. Is that scientific? Today the natural sciences are being disturbed by what science itself is coming up with concerning extrasensory perception and evidences of the spirit world which they have (until recently) denied existed, claiming that this was a superstition of the Dark Ages. There are some brilliant men who are beginning to prove (even by photographic evidence) that the human spirit exists. And foremost among them are the leading atheists in the world—the Communists of Russia. Who understands it?
Where is reality found? At the universities where many things can be studied, people are only discovering the vast areas of their ignorance, because the world by its wisdom does not know God. It can follow all the evidence of the senses to produce wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, and it can comprehend something of the mechanics and the laws that govern things; but it has not yet discovered the hand of the Creator. So the eye has not seen, the ear has not heard, the heart has not imagined all that God has prepared for them that love Him. That is the hidden wisdom which Paul speaks of.
Where is the reality? The reality is that which the world calls illusion: Christ’s presence in the Communion, His body and His blood, which we participate in and partake of together. The reality is in the blessing of the Lord as hands are laid upon us in what seems to be a meaningless ritual. There is reality in the strange things that happen which we cannot understand. Unseen, round about us, is a spirit world—a world more real than that which we are seeing.
More real than anything else is the Lord assembling with His saints, the cloud of witnesses that have fought the good fight of faith, the innumerable company of angels, the spirits of just men made perfect. There is reality in the apprehension in a spirit world that knows its time has come and that the judgments of God are loosed in the earth. There is reality in the Word that comes through congregations who gather to prophesy a Word from God that will change the course of the world.
Think about this globe spinning around in space. It seems so vast, but standing on it are minute little specks, anointed by the Spirit of God, proclaiming words that will change the destiny and the course of this age and open up a new one. It was the mind of God that it should come through channels like that. There is reality, but it seems like illusion. Look round about you. See the world in which you live—the world that seems to be made of hard facts. That is not the world of reality; that is the world of illusion. And the world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God abides forever. I John 2:17.
Where is permanence found? Heaven and earth will pass away—the grandeur of the mountains, the world that seems to be so settled. Will nothing endure? Yes! The words God breathes will outlive heaven and earth (Matthew 24:35). The prophecies and the Word of the Lord in the mouths of His saints are more eternal and more lasting than your physical body or anything else about you. “I have written unto you, young men, because the Word of God abideth in you and ye have overcome the wicked one” (I John 2:14). Problems there are, but it is because of weaknesses within your own nature and your own being that you have accepted defeat and discouragement as valid. The devil produces that lie of weakness, but the Lord says that you are more than a conqueror through Him who loves you (Romans 8:37).
There is the reality! You are being conned into something else when you believe that you are basically weak and defeated and that things will not change. Everything will change! The Lord says it is all passing away, and only the one who does the will of God abides forever. Even if God never moves one finger to bring judgments in the earth, the world will still perish, except for those who are believing the Word of God. His Word is the only thing that will stand, the only thing that is eternal.
Throw off that feeling of discouragement and defeat; it is not valid. If you believe on Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then that is all that counts. In Him you are free. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). God says that; is your heart open to believe it? Are you open to accept this truth whenever you participate in the reality of the Communion? Will you eat of His flesh, drink of His blood, and have His life coursing through you?
The world passes away. The flesh is crucified by God’s provision, and by your intent and purpose faith appropriates, in the name of the Lord. You are not defeated. Get up off the ground; climb out of the dust; stop groveling as though you were defeated. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses you from all unrighteousness. Confess your sin and failure, not as one who is defeated, but as one who comes, finding grace to help in the time of need. Open your heart to God! There is something better. Rise to it! Come on up into the place where you will think God’s thoughts and believe in His provision. It is all yours. Believe that it is all yours.
Do not believe in those convulsive jerks and shrieks of the flesh. It goes out with a roar. It dies hard, but dying it is. In God’s provision, it is crucified. Arise into new life. There is hope, there is faith, there is victory in the Lord Jesus Christ. There is new life for you. Believe in life, not death; in victory, not defeat. Believe in God, not in Satan. People can believe in Satan so much that they are continually aware of him and making his work valid. Accept that he is a lie and the father of it, and if you discern anything about the devil, be careful to pigeonhole it as not being valid. Believe in what the Lord is showing you—in the hidden wisdom that comes from God. You have received the Spirit of God which shows you the things that are freely given to you by God. That is reality!