Different Kingdoms

Different Kingdoms

(Capitalized words used as blanks in a Hand Out)

…"I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people. …"I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."(2 Cor. 6:16,18)

Ideas people have about what makes a person a Christian.

1- Going to CHURCH makes a person a Christian. 2. Being a GOOD person makes a person a Christian.

3. Only FAITH based on God’s Grace through Christ can make a person a Christian.

How is a believer really different from the unbeliever?

1- The First Real Difference Is In ALLEGIANCE.

2 COR 6:14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people." 17 "Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you." 18 "I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty." 2 COR 7:1 Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.

1. Allegiance means absolute LOYALTY to a person or thing.

Allegiance = Loyalty or the obligation of loyalty, as to a nation, sovereign.

Noun: Faithfulness or devotion to a person, a cause, obligations, or duties. loyalty, fidelity.

Illus. Song - “Master, Savour, Jesus” - There’s just something about that name.

2. Jesus becomes the MASTER and believers become SERVANTS.

JOHN 13:13 Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.

3. Allegiance is the HUMAN side of a relationship with God.

4. Jesus is not only Savour He is LORD.

5. In the believer’s life EVERYTHING is viewed through his relationship with Christ.

2- The Second Difference Is In a Change of HEART.

1. The Christian has a new set of ATTITUDES.

GAL 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

2. The Christian has a new set of MOTIVES. (Motis Operandi)

1 COR 10:31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

PHIL 3:13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

3. The Christian has a new interest in God’s WORD.

JOHN 8:31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

4. The Christian has love for a new FAMILY.

JOHN 13:35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

1 JOHN 3:14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.

1 JOHN 3:16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

1 PET 1:22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.

5. The Christian has a new desire to make Christ KNOWN.

ROM 1:14 I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. 15 That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome. 16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith.”