WHICH DOG ARE YOU FEEDING?

WHICH DOG ARE YOU FEEDING?

                “And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all nations, and then the end shall come.” Jesus (Mt. 24:14)

                “But may it never be that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. Gal. 6:14

                “For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him Crucified.” 1 Cor. 2:2

                The cross stands at the center of time. The entire Old Testament points forward to it and the New Testament points back to it as a historical fact as well as being a living reality in our lives right now.

                The cross stands on a fulcrum point between the fallen kingdom of this world which fallen Adam handed to Satan and the Kingdom which Jesus came preaching. He introduced to us a kingdom that is not of this world. It can only be entered by death and rebirth. It is a kingdom that can’t be joined             . You can’t become a member of the Kingdom of God by subscribing to its bylaws and receiving a certificate membership.

                The only way into Christ’s kingdom is through death and that death must be the death of the cross. By faith in Christ we must die to the world and die to the Law, for indeed it is the Law that brought us to the foot of the cross and gave us a choice. Either we die for our own sins, or we accept Christ’s death in our place. Either way we truly die, so that neither the Law nor the kingdom of Satan can have any further jurisdiction over us. Through the Law we die to the Law in order that we may live unto Christ.

                Which holds the greatest motivation? Is it by adhering to rules on stone, or is it in serving the One who has rescued us and placed us in His Kingdom? If we ain at keeping the Law, we wil fail, but if by His resurrection power we serve Christ, then the Law will be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Romans 8:1-4

                Death in the cross is not the end of the story however. The Gospel of the Kingdom does not leave us dead in our sins. The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave, also brings to us new birth into a New Kingdom, the Kingdom of God, and it in this new Kingdom that the Holy Spirit creates a new spirit within us and then He teaches us how to live by thatnew spirit rather than by the old flesh.

                Do you have continuous struggles? Do you feel like you win some and lose some battles?

                Picture two dogs fighting perpetually: You come to the owner and you ask, “Are they going to fight forever? Which dog is going to win? And the owner says, “The one that I feed.”

                The same is true of us. We seem to be in a perpetual fight between the old man of sin and the new man in Christ. We don’t know why the old man seems to win so often unless we take stock of which man we are feeding. If we spend 23 ¾ hours a day feeding the old man and 15 minutes feeding the New Man in Christ guess who is going to win.

                Coming to the cross is not a onetime event to which we can give a date. It is good that you came to the altar on that occasion years ago, but we must truly come to the foot of the cross every day. Paul said, “I die daily.” He asks the question in 1 Cor. 15:30, 31: Why are we also in danger every hour? I protest, brethren by the boasting in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.”

                And of course in Galatians 2:20, 21 He gives his seminal message saying, “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ lives in me.”

                To die daily is to stop feeding the old man… to cut him off so to speak and then to live by the Spirit and not by the flesh. Until Christ returns and we receive our immortal bodies, the Old Man will remain alive in us. But this old man will not inherit the kingdom. As the Word says, “Flesh and blood cannot enter the kingdom.” Romans chapter 8 deals with this extensively.

                Gal. 3:3 is hard for some to understand because they don’t understand the issue completely. He asks:  “Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?   In this question Paul is shocked and astonished at the thought that once having been born again and living by the Spirit, they are now resorting to the old man to keep the letter of the Law, rather than living in the glorious victory of the cross and resurrection. The Holy Spirit has given us a new spirit. It is infinitely more powerful than the old man. So why would we ever resort to trying to please God being empowered by the old man rather than by the New Man in Christ?

                Many Christians live defeated lives today because they are feeding the wrong dog. In fact, now some are preaching that you can feed both dogs and live in the best of both worlds. But Jesus said that we cannot serve two masters.

                `”No one can serve two masters; for he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other, or you will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” Mt. 6:24.

                In other words, you can’t feed both dogs. If you do then you will remain in a perpetual fight between two forces… and the one you feed the most is going to win.

                What Jesus is calling for is a clear departure from the kingdom of this world. Through His cross He offers us death to Satan’s kingdom and through His resurrection He offers us birth into His new kingdom. In His kingdom we live by the Spirit and we bear the fruit of the Spirit. In His kingdom He is the Vine and we are the branches. No amount of reshaping of the old man will ever make him eligible to inherit the kingdom. The old man must die so that the new man in Christ can be transformed into His image. Ephesians 4:13

                This is not nearly so much about belonging to the right church as it is about being connected to the right Vine and living by the right Spirit. God’s true Remnant people are scattered throughout a host of different persuasions; but Jesus knows His sheep and His sheep hear His voice. In due time, He will most likely call us out of all manmade religion to serve the living Christ. When worldwide persecution comes and we find ourselves in jail, or in the arena with lions, we will not be arguing doctrine with our fellow Christians.

                There is only one thing worth living or dying for and that is Jesus Christ, our coming King of kings and Lord of lords. So that clarifies a few issues. In this life we are either feeding one dog or the other. We are either feeding the spirit or we are feeding the flesh… and which one will win then may be determined by which one we are feeding now.

                Our entire training as Christians is involved in this issue:

                “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do and those who are in the flesh cannot please God; however you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you,. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ he does not belong to Him. And if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you.” Romans 8:6-11

                Just think about it: Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. This very Spirit that dwells in you right now is the same Spirit that will raise you from the dead when Jesus returns… and if you are still alive when He comes, this very Spirit will instantly transform us into a glorious immortal being. Is it not then well-worth our attention now to feed the right dog? Should we not feed the spirit and starve the flesh? Should we not build upon that which is eternal?

                Is this not a good tool for us? Is it not a good thing to ask ourselves which dog we are feeding? The one we are feeding now will be the one that wins in the end.