TWO WORLDS
TWO WORLDS
These scriptures speak of two worlds. In the first the Lord says, “Now is the judgment of this world,” and the other passage in the Revelation speaks of the world of our Lord and of His Christ. I would like you to face before God the question as to which world you live in. The object of the gospel is that God would take us out, of this world, as the apostle says, “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love,” that is, into His world.
Whether we believe it or not, there is nothing between these two worlds; either we are in the one or we are in the other. Men would like to be neutral; they would like to take a middle course or position, but we are either in this world in our hearts, in our minds, in our objects, or we are in God’s world.
It is quite clear, as we consider man and the way God has made him, that he must have part in a world; even the most depraved races of mankind have the instincts of a world. No one is content to live as a cow or a sheep, to simply eat and drink and sleep and die. Man is so made that he must have part in a system of things, however feeble and corrupt. If you take the native races of Australia — the most depraved of mankind — they have built up a system. They do not live like animals; they have a king and some kind of rule and law; they have also a religion. So we are all in one system or the other. We are in this present evil world, taking part in it, living for it, coming under its judgment, or we are in God’s world with all its blessing.
Scripture tells us of the world that it is passing; it is a world that is disappearing. It does not say that it has passed, or that it will pass, but that it is passing; it is disappearing. We are living in the most solemn day that could possibly be; in a day when the final disappearance of the whole world system is about to take place. It is like a ship that is sinking at sea, settling down, down, down, until the moment when the final plunge is taken and it disappears for ever. But men do not know that the ship is sinking. God would open our eyes to the fact that it is sinking;
He says, “the world is passing, and its lust.” (1 John 2: 17)
On the other hand there is a world that is coming. It is not that it will come, nor that it has come, but it is coming! It is nearly here, and will soon come into display. The passage we read in Revelation celebrates its arrival; it says, “The kingdom of the world of our Lord and of his Christ is come.” Now God wants you in that world; He wants to take you out of this one before it sinks, and put you into that blessed world that will stand for ever.
Now I want to point out a few features of each world. Each has its God. This world has its god — “the god of this world.” (2 Corinthians 4: 4.) The thought of “god” is an object of worship. And whom does this world worship? The devil! Do not shut your eyes to it. The god of this world is Satan, hiding behind ten thousand things, but seeking the worship of men’s hearts. He deceives them that they should not be aware of it, but when he met the Lord Jesus on earth he knew he could not deceive Him, so that for once in his history he came out into the open. He shewed Him all the kingdoms of the world,
and the glory of them, and said, plainly, “If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.” That is his object in this world. Do you worship him? You do if you do not worship God. In God’s world there is a God, “the only true God”; “God,” it says, “judge of all.” (Hebrews 12: 23) He is the object of the worship of all in that world.
Each world has its prince. The world does not like princes today; it is a day when people think everybody should come down to one level, but there is no such thing in either world. This world has its prince, its great leader, its chief. Who is it? The devil: “the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.” (John 14: 30) The prince of this world, the one who leads the whole of this system, is Satan.
God’s world has a prince. Who is it? Jesus! He is “The Prince of Peace,” and “The Prince of life” (Isaiah 9: 6; Acts 3: 15), and “the Prince of the kings of the earth.” (Revelation 1: 5.) He is the Leader that God has appointed to lead every one in His world. Does He lead you? Every human being is led by someone, either by the prince of this world — Satan — or by the Prince of God’s world — Jesus. Which prince leads you? I would beg of every heart to face it. There are only these two princes. You must be led by one or the other.
In each world there is great glory. Satan has his exceeding high mountain to which he took the Lord. There is exaltation in this world, and great power is available in it. Nebuchadnezzar had it; how he misused it! The Roman Caesars have had it. Napoleon had it, to the sorrow of the earth. The Kaiser sought it. A man is about.to arise that will have it, who will sit on the pinnacle of this world’s glory and usurp God’s place.
But God’s world has a mountain, the most magnificent mountain in the universe. Scripture says, “Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion.” (Psalm 48: 2) What does mount Zion represent? It represents the most exalted principle in God’s world, the principle of mercy, the sovereign mercy that only exalts God. We come into that world entirely on the ground of mercy. Therefore all the glory belongs to God.
The publican was on one mountain when he smote his breast and said, “God be merciful to me the sinner.” The Lord said of him that he went down justified, he went down approved by God to enter His world. The Pharisee stood on the other mountain; he said, “God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men.” He remains on that mountain till he is judged — unless he judges himself.
Each world has a river. There is the river of Egypt; it is the very life of Egypt. What would Egypt do without its river, for it gets no rain? Egypt does not live by rain from heaven; its life is in its river. The Spirit of God tells us what kind of river it was. It says that its water was blood. All that that river brings into your heart is death. Peter speaks of it in another way; he calls it the sink of corruption. It is filled with corruption, and Peter speaks of those who run to it to drink out of its filthy waters to satisfy their hearts. That is what men are doing today. You see it everywhere; in the vile books, in the contaminating pictures, in the corrupt excitements that minister to the hearts of men, they are running to this unclean river to find satisfaction.
Are you doing that? You have to drink out of some river; you must have drink. Drink is necessary to your life, but which river are you drinking from? Is it the river of Egypt, or is it the river of water of life, clear as crystal, that flows out of the throne of God? (Revelation 22: 1) What a river that is! It is living water. It is nothing corrupt, or stagnant, or old, but a fresh, living stream of living water as clear as crystal, with not a trace of corruption in it.
Do you say, How can I get it? God grant that you may say that. A poor woman said that once.
She had drunk out of Egypt’s river; she had found that it never satisfied her heart. She longed for something to satisfy her. And Jesus drew near — the Source of the river of living water. He says to her, “Give me to drink,” and then He tells her that if she asked of Him, He would give her living water; water, He says, that shall be in her a well of water that would satisfy, so that she would never thirst again for ever.
How can we get it? Ask of Jesus; turn to Him. He invites you; He says, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.” His last message from heaven is, “Let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” (Revelation 22: 17) Have you ever drunk out of that river? Flee, dear friends, flee from Egypt’s river, flee to Jesus! Turn to God’s throne, for the river flows out of the throne. That is to say, Accept Jesus as Lord, not only as your Saviour, but as your Lord, that you might come under His rule. You will find that out of the throne there will flow this blessed river of living water into your heart.
Again I would say, Every one is drinking of one or the other of these rivers. It is an impossibility to live without drinking. Face it, dear friend, before God. Are you drinking out of Egypt’s river, that vile, corrupt stream, or are you drinking out of the river of the water of life, clear as crystal, that flows out of God’s throne?
Then each world has its city. No world would be complete without a city. There must be a seat of government, of administration; there must be a city where the king can live, where his throne is set. Every one of us lives in one city or the other. Every one of us is a citizen of this world’s city, or a citizen of the heavenly city. Where is your citizenship? I ask.
God tells us the character of this world’s city, that great city, it says, “which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.” (Revelation 11: 8) Are you willing to live in that city, which is spiritually called Sodom, where there is not only carnal corruption, as the Sodom of old, but where there is spiritual corruption, which is worse. What is Christian Science, what is Spiritism, what is Popery — what are all these dark, evil teachings that are filling the world today? It is what is spiritually called Sodom.
But then this city is spiritually called Egypt. What marked Egypt? Independence of God! Its king said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice?” And that is what this city is marked by.
Then last of all it says, “Where also our Lord was crucified.” This city is where that blessed Saviour, so rightly our Lord, so rightly Lord of all, so rightly Lord of heaven and earth, has been crucified; where He has been put to open shame, where His name has been cast out and dishonoured, for that is what crucifixion means. Are you going to live in such a city?
God’s world has a city, the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem, the beloved city, the new Jerusalem. What marks that city is perfect order, and purity; “the city,” it says, “was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.” God’s throne is in that city; the throne of God and of the Lamb. The gospel is to bring you into that city. And again I would say, You are living in one or the other; either your citizenship is in this world or it is in God’s world. There is no neutral position, much as men might like one.
This world is influenced and controlled by a vast number of servants — Satan’s servants. He could spare seven of them to keep one woman’s heart from entering into God’s world. Then a legion of them was available to hold one man, a man who was naked and living in a tomb. Think of that! It says he abode in the tombs. Many are doing that today; they do not live in homes, but in tombs. Think of what is in a tomb, and think of a man living in it! Many are today; many are finding their life in unspeakable corruption. You see them outside the theatres, lined up to go into the tomb. What has happened? The legion of demons has got hold of men’s hearts.
And so scripture speaks of principalities and powers, and of the universal lords of this darkness. These are the unseen controllers of this world. But God’s world has myriads of servants, “an innumerable company of angels,” so many that they could never be numbered, all sent forth to be the servants of those that shall be heirs of salvation. God is ordering His world behind the scenes. He is not short of servants; mighty beings every one of them waiting at His call; angels that do His commandments, hearkening to the voice of His word. (Psalm 103: 20) He is using them to preserve His people in this world.
You say, If I leave this world, I shall starve, I shall suffer, I shall never get through; I could not face the power of Satan. But God has His myriads of servants who can open doors when men shut them, who can shut doors when men open them. These are God’s servants in His world. No one sees them, but they are mighty and active on behalf of every one that is in God’s world. Why not come into that world? Those servants are mightier than Satan’s.
In Satan’s world there is an administration; what he is giving men to feed upon is hatred, lust and pride. He is ministering these things to their hearts, and they are feeding on them. In Satan’s world they ask for bread, and he gives them a stone; they ask for an egg, and he gives them a scorpion; they ask for a fish, and he gives them a serpent. That is the kind of administration in Satan’s world. He does not call it a stone, a scorpion, or a serpent; he calls it bread. But God tells us its true name; there is nothing but poison and death in it.
But in God’s world there is a most blessed administration. It says, “Ye are come to Jesus... the mediator of the new covenant.” That is the administration that goes on in God’s world. It is the making known to the hearts of men the fulness of the love of God, the thoughts of His blessed heart. The wine that makes glad the heart of God and men is ministered freely in God’s world.
In Satan’s world there is no possibility of cleansing; he himself is irrecoverable. He is the old serpent, the devil, and Satan. The leader that he will bring in, the Spirit of God says, is like a leopard (Revelation 13: 2), and the question is raised, “Can a leopard change his spots?” There is no possibility of cleansing in Satan’s world. Men try a little, they try reformation and endless things to control wickedness, but there is no means of cleansing. But in God’s world it says. We have come “to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.” (Hebrews 12: 24)
The blood of sprinkling is the precious blood of Christ, the means that God has provided for the cleansing of our hearts. “To him,” it says, “who loves us, and has washed us from our sins in his blood.” And again, “These are they... that have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” The blood of sprinkling is the provision that God has made in His world for the cleansing of the hearts and ways of men. Such a thing does not exist in Satan’s world.
One would press the thought that there are the two worlds;
one is going out for ever under the eternal judgment of God, as it says, “the world is passing, and its lusts,” but the other is coming in, soon to be displayed publicly; it is established for ever. It says, “The world also is stablished; it cannot be moved.” That is God’s world. Do not let Satan deceive your heart. His great object is to hold you in his world. But God is working mightily; He is working still to pick you up in sovereign goodness and take you out of Satan’s world, to bring you into the kingdom of the world of our Lord and of His Christ. Do not turn away.
Let the word sink into your heart. Do not rest until your feet are in God’s world, until your heart is in that world.