[B]ut he who is doing the truth doth come to the light, that his works may be manifested, that in God they are having been wrought.

John 3:21 YLT

The Kingdom and the earth cannot be compared.  They are so drastically different from each other, that Jesus says the only way to really live “there” is to not live “here”.  This obviously does not have to be fully understood to be lived, but for those who look to understand and see what Jesus was saying, in order to live by it, it becomes evident.

He who begins to build a tower must first calculate the cost, lest he run out half way through (Luke 14:28).  Jesus said that unless you hate your former life (Luke 14:26), every part, including family ties and who you used to be, you cannot be His disciple.  Luke 14:33 goes a long ways and says that unless you give up everything you have, you cannot be His disciple.

The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Matthew 13:44

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

Matthew 13:45-46

The Gospel is “Good News”.  What we may lose in for Jesus and His gospel will certainly be repaid (Mark 10:30).  But, the difference between living as mere humans upon the earth, and living in the Kingdom is not a matter of degrees, but realms.  It is not something approached by steps, but by life to death to life again!  Even John the Baptist, the greatest man born of a woman, that is, born naturally, only as a man, is not as great as the least in the Kingdom (Luke 7:28).

This is the power of His Light within us.

Paul picked up on this thought and described it thus.

[T]hat, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,  and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,  and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

Ephesians 4:22-23

In order to put off what you no longer want, you will have to hate it eventually.  Had Abraham been thinking about where he had come from, he would have been given an opportunity to return (Hebrews 11:15).  In the words of Jesus, “Remember Lot’s wife!” (Luke 17:32).  Whoever tries to save his life will lose it.

This place of light, which is His Kingdom, which is His anointing, which is His Spirit, only works in the place of honesty, transparency, and faithfulness.

In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood [or overcome] it.

John 1:4

Light overcomes darkness, it shines through and destroys it.  The enemies biggest tool is to cover and to hide and disguise (2 Corinthians 4:4).  For, when the Gospel light shines, and the brighter it gets, it destroys the strongholds and lies simply be exposing them.

The enemy has no foundation, whereas the Word does (Matthew 7:24).  When a believer, standing in the Holy Spirit, speaks for His light against the power of darkness, he stands, and the other does not, simply because of the power of the Spirit within them.  If a believer stands in himself, he will fall, but the Word of the Lord stands forever.

The light of the Gospel, when pure, strong, and uncompromised, outshines every witchcraft, every device, every deception, and every shade of gray.  While it might seem like at this point, everyone would simply be converted, what actually happens is a distinction as clear as light and dark itself.  Those people, with honesty in their hearts, are convicted.  They are abased in their sinfulness.  They are shown their own wickedness.  They cry out, as they did to Peter on the day of Pentecost, “What shall we do [to be saved]?” (Acts 2:37).

The others, on the other hand, hate the light (John 3:20).  When light shines, and truth is revealed, they are of their father the devil, and chose, rather than to have it exposed, to chose hatred, murder, and violence.  This was the spirit that brought Jesus to the cross.

The enemy was a murderer from the beginning.  He is the father of lies and when he lies he speaks his native language (John 8:44).  Instead of falling upon the mercy of heaven, when the light is bright and clear and strong enough, some will simply turn to hate.  They will revile you.  They will defame you.  They will villify you.  They will try to kill you.

And, in the midst, our prayer is, “God, grant them repentance”.  And, He will, for some.  For many hard cases, God will turn the hardened heart to His.

Yet, the light shines on, and must never be diminished, nor compromised.  We must never be brought back to the yoke of slavery from which we were brought, and back to the basic principles of this world (Colossians 2:20), and the thoughts and philosophies of men.

The gospel is a spiritual light, the only true light.  Not on an intellectual plane, but on God’s plane.  It is the only light that outshines the others, even as proven through history, and it is the only salvation of men.

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;  nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 5:14-16

There is no fellowship with the Spirit of Christ and the spirit of Belial.  There is no living a part human and part divine life.  That which is flesh is flesh, and that which is Spirit is Spirit.  The flesh profits nothing, it is the Spirit that gives life.

If we want life, if we want truth, if we want the Kingdom, we must do it His way.  We must throw off the entanglements of this world, we must forsake everything, we must seek it first, we must bow to Jesus.  The Kingdom, righteousness, is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.  We must come to believe the gospel, accept His sacrifice as our only righteousness, and allow him, and only Him to be formed in us.

Until the church stands up in its discerning of spirits, one of the nine gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11, calls the sweet sweet, and the bitter bitter, we will remain in darkness.  Light comes when truth comes, and it takes a heart of faith and His passion to stand up in the midst of an ungodly culture, people, and nation, even a seemingly Christian one, and, say, “Be saved from this perverse generation!”