NT Framework - Victory Won but Battles to be Fought

This is why we are admonished to put on the full armor of God, we are in a spiritual battle even though victory is assured. We are not fighting to Christianize this world, or to build the kingdom for Him, but to continue to reach people for Him.

More information about Beyond the Walls, including additional resources can be found at www.beyondthewalls-ministry.com 

This series included graphics to illustrate what is being taught, if you would like to watch the teachings you can do so on Rumble (https://rumble.com/user/SpokaneBibleChurch) or on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtV_KhFVZ_waBcnuywiRKIyEcDkiujRqP).

Jeremy Thomas is the pastor at Spokane Bible Church in Spokane, Washington and a professor at Chafer Theological Seminary. He has been teaching the Bible for over 20 years, always seeking to present its truths in a clear and understandable manner. 

Transcript

Raised With Christ

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas and our series on the New Testament framework. Today, a smaller, bite-sized piece from the larger lesson. We hope you enjoy it.

Seek The Things Above

SPEAKER_02 0:11

Therefore, if you have been raised up with Christ, and I mean you have, the moment you believe in Christ, you are crucified with Christ, buried with Christ, and raised to live a new life. It's the spiritual resurrection this is referring to. There's still a physical one to come, but this is a spiritual resurrection. And you have been raised up with Christ, and you're seated in him in the heavenlies, he says, keep seeking the things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. What's the right hand? The right hand in the Bible is depicting the privileged position, the position of privilege. Okay, and he's seated at the right hand of God the Father on the Father's throne, awaiting his future return. So it is interesting that a human being, a member of the human race, a genuine member of the human race, sits at the right hand of the Father in the most privileged position in the universe.

David’s Lord At God’s Right Hand

SPEAKER_01 1:13

Not an angel, a human. Now let's look at Acts chapter 2. One of the verses that kind of troubled me at periods of my life.

Made Lord Through Resurrection

SPEAKER_02 1:32

But it makes makes more sense in light of the ascension, which just happened in chapter 1, right? Acts chapter 2, Paul Peter's uh sermon on the day of Pentecost to the men of Israel. And as he goes through that, he talks about his death, he talks about his resurrection and so forth, and he comes to verse 34. And he says, It was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says, David said, Psalm 110:1. The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. That's where he's seated, right? Right now. And that's what Peter's saying. He's ascended and he's taking his seat there. Verse 36, therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified. You say made him Lord? I thought he already was Lord. Well, he was Lord in the sense that he was deity, but he's made him Lord in a different sense due to his resurrection and ascension. He's Lord in a different sense, and it's the sense that he is at the helm of the universe.

SPEAKER_01 2:47

He is, they used to say, master of the universe. He truly is. He's master of the universe.

Christ Or Caesar

Obeying God Over Men

Fear God, Not Rulers

SPEAKER_02 2:56

Master, Lord. So this is significant. And then the question becomes in our own personal lives, and those of the early Christians, the early Christians lived in Rome. They had Caesar, right? Who's in a position, in a higher position? Is it Caesar or is it Christ? Who sits in the higher position of authority? I mean, Caesar had power. Caesar was ultimately to be worshipped as God, right? Or a God. You could worship other gods, right? They had the gods and goddesses. As long as you worship Caesar, that's okay. The problem of the early Christians was they only worshiped one God. That's why they were ended up being persecuted. It's because they said, no, we will not bow to Caesar. We only bow to Jesus Christ. Why? Well, because he's Lord of the universe. Caesar's Lord of the earth, yeah. But Jesus is Lord of the universe. See, there's no comparison. Same thing for us. You know, who who we're we're we have a president, we have branches of government, we have those in authority over us, but there's someone who's over them. And he is the one our ultimate allegiance goes to, right? And if people down here tell us in authority that you need to do something that's contrary to what over the Bible teaches us to do, then guess what? Where are we? Where's our allegiance? We have to give allegiance to the one who's in the higher position of authority, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what they did in Acts chapter 4, right? Acts chapter 4, verse 18. Let's take a look at it. Here's Peter and John. They had been preaching in Jesus' name. They said, You can't do that. You can't do that. No, you should not preach in that name. So chapter 4, verse 18. And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, Whether it's right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge. But we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard. See, well, you can tell us all day long you can't preach Jesus, but guess what? We're going to because God is higher than you. So they they this put what I call steel in their bones, right? This is how the early Christians were able to stand up against Caesar's, you know, and so forth.

SPEAKER_01 5:21

They didn't they didn't care. I mean, what's Caesar gonna do?

SPEAKER_02 5:26

I don't care. You can kill the body, but hey, fear him who can kill both body and soul in hell, right? More. That's the real issue, right? So we have something that that really makes the whole world as well as the political powers that be fearful of Christians. I mean, we are a people to be feared, not because we're fearful, but because the one in whom we believe in who has our ultimate loyalty and allegiance commands us to do things that may be contrary to the political powers that be.

SPEAKER_01 6:04

And we really don't have anything to be afraid of, do we? I mean, we fear him. We fear him, that's why we want to obey him more than we fear them.

Why Powers Fear Christians

SPEAKER_02 6:16

So this is do you understand now why we have we as Christians can have steel in our bones, see? We don't have to bow to what we would say is itty bitty Biden. Okay, or whoever, it doesn't matter. Um the powers that be have always been afraid of Christians, okay, and this is the reason why, because the Christians' loyalty is to the ultimate person at the helm of the universe and not to them. The political powers want us to be afraid of them. They want to be able to tell us what to do, when to do, how to do it, and they want everybody to just bow and kiss their feet.

SPEAKER_01 6:49

And Christians say, no, we're not doing that. We only bow to one.

The Decisive Victory

Gettysburg And The Cross

SPEAKER_02 6:55

And he's the one that's permitted you to be in power. So you should be bowing to him too. And this is why we're not afraid of them, and this is why they are afraid of us. Okay, and they should be. And here's the reason why. The ultimate reason why is the decisive battle has already been won. It's already over for human empires and kingdoms and governments. It's over. The Lord Jesus Christ won the decisive battle on the cross. It's finished. Then he took his seat, right, at the right hand of the Father at the helm of the universe. And this is so now a little bit, let's go back up a little bit more to the Civil War just for illustration, so we can understand what we're doing then. What are we supposed to be doing? The Battle of Gettysburg and subsequent Vicksburg were the turning point of the Civil War. Generally was defeated, but there were still two more years of battles to fight till the war finally ended. This is very similar to our situation. Okay. The cross was the turning point of the war. Satan was defeated at the cross, right? But he's still prowling around like a lion seeking someone to devour. He acts fierce, right? But he's ultimately already defeated by the ascended, seated Lord Jesus Christ, who is far above.

Resources And Closing

SPEAKER_00 8:10

Thank you for joining us on Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas. If you would like to see the visuals that went along with today's sermon, you can find those on Rumble and on YouTube under Spoke and Bible Church. That is where Jeremy is the pastor and teacher. We hope you found today's lesson productive and useful in growing closer to God and walking more obediently with Him. If you found this podcast to be useful and helpful, then please consider rating us in your favorite podcast app. And until next time, we hope you have a blessed and wonderful day.