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Divine Viewpoint vs. Human Viewpoint
RV180-02© Berean Memorial Church of Irving, Texas, Inc. (1993)
If you have come here without a Bible, you are at a distinct disadvantage. We do want to remind you that in this congregation, we gather
for the purpose of listening to what God has said. We're not interested in my opinions; what I have to say by entertaining stories; or, my
scintillating personality. We are interested in what the living God has recorded for us in Scripture. The Word of God is not something that we put
in the periphery of our lives. It is at the center. It is not something that we show respect to, and then ignore it.
Double-Speak
George Orwell, in his novel 1984 very astutely understood the principle of what he called double-speak. This means speaking one way in one
setting, and then acting in a different way from what you said. It is speaking one way, and meaning something else. This is what Christians do.
They live double-speak. They come into church; they listen to the Word of God; and, they act with interest. Then they go out into the world and
act as if the Word of God did not say anything. They double-speak; they double act; and, they double think. That's exactly what the book of
Ephesians says not to do: "You're not to be double-minded. Do not be blown around by every wind of the opinions of men. But know your ground, as
to what is true, and what is right, as God views these things.
So, those of you who have brought your Bibles, please turn to Revelation 14:1-5. Our subject is "The Victorious Lamb." This is segment number 5.
Ungodliness and Unrighteousness
However, before you turn to Revelation, I want you to move over to Romans 1 for a moment. I do want to remind you that the Bible makes it clear
that God, the Creator and the law-giver, hates sin, and He punishes evil conduct. The book of the Revelation, in describing the noble 144,000
Jewish evangelists who are associated with Jesus Christ in the seven-year tribulation era, which is yet in the future, are respected for the fact
that they understand that God hates sin, and they understand the fact that He punishes evil. Romans 1 makes it explicitly clear when Paul begin
this magnificent dissertation on how to get to heaven, and the principle of justification by faith. In Romans 1:18 Paul says, "For the wrath of
God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness."
The exercise of God's wrath against evil is an expression of His absolute righteousness. God is the standard for what is right, and for what is
wrong in our personal conduct. The moral laws of God are imposed on mankind as an expression of his personal character. Paul says here that God's
wrath is directed against all ungodliness, which means lack of respect and reverence for God; and, against unrighteousness, which means violations
of God's moral laws. So, there are two things that God does not look upon lightly. One is lack of respect and reverence for Him; for who He is; for
the authority that He is; and, for the fact that He has spoken and He is not silent. The other is violation of the code of honor, the moral Law, that
He has established for human conduct. Failure to respect God for who and what He is also results, obviously, in lack of respect for people who have
been made in the image of God.
Sexual Sins
This is the basis of all sexual sins – lack of respect for the personhood of another individual, because you have a lack of respect, in the
first place, for God – who and what He is, and reverence for Him. Though conscience and Scripture both condemn the breaking of God's moral
Law, the wicked suppress the truth that they receive, and they do evil. Because people do not respect God, they have no hesitancy to violate His
moral laws, and therefore, they deal with other people in lust, and not in love. They do not deal with other people in honor. They do not deal
with others in respect. The knowledge of God's code of moral is suppressed, actually, by the practice of unrighteousness. They treat God's moral
Laws as irrelevant or false inhibitions. They treat the moral code of God as something that the writers invented, but that God did not teach them.
This is a very serious mistake, because those who refuse to obey God's laws of moral conduct must understand that they are thumbing their nose at
God. They cannot claim ignorance of His code, but they can choose to thumb their nose at Him. They know the moral rules, but they stomp on them
by disobeying them.
In John 3:19, Jesus says, "And this is the judgment that light has come into the world." Christ and the Word of God have come into the world.
They are the spiritual light. Men love the darkness of Satan rather than the light, for their deeds were evil. So, what Paul is saying here
is that you should understand that the God of love is the God of wrath, which He exercises from heaven against all ungodliness upon those who do
not reverence Him, and against unrighteousness – those who break His laws for human conduct, and who in fact suppress the truth by simply
breaking the laws of God.
Everyone Knows that God Exists
Verse 19 says, "Because that which is known about God is evident within them, for God made it evident to them." God really does exist. The Bible
says, "Only a fool says that He doesn't." And because God really does exist, he also has spoken to mankind. One way that He has spoken to the
human race is through the work of creation. Certain facts are clear to all rational beings from the way creation operates. God has made some
qualities of His nature clear to mankind through nature. People may ignore what nature teaches us about God, but they cannot escape the fact that
nature does teach us some things about God.
Nature
Verse 20 tells us what nature teaches us about God: "For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes (His eternal power and divine
nature – His deity) have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made so that they are without excuse." Creation has
always testified to certain invisible qualities of God (certain attributes of God). On the one hand, Paul says that it testifies to His eternal
power (to His omnipotence) in producing the universe and its life forms. One has only to look upon creation to be awed by the wisdom of God in
what He put together, and the inevitable consequences of following His laws for good or for loss – for blessing or for destruction. It is
awesome to think of the power that it took to be able to put together this universe and its life forms.
Furthermore, Paul says that creation testifies to God's divine nature as a personal living God. He is not the impersonal force of Hinduism. He is
a personal living God separate from His creation. Since God is a spirit being, we cannot know Him through our senses. He must be known through His
works or through His personal revelation to us. So, the omnipotence and the deity of the Creator is clearly seen through His work in nature.
Consequently, this is why the Bible says that no one who has ever lived in the history of mankind will ever be able to stand before God when he is
condemned to the lake of fire and say, "But you didn't give me a chance. You did give me information. You didn't tell me. I didn't know. That's not
true. The Bible makes it clear that every rational human being knows that somebody is out there. And somebody made me, and I have qualities that are
infinitely superior to animals. And whoever made me must have my kinds of qualities infinitely superior. I must have been made in His image and
likeness; I must have an obligation to know Him; and, I must have an obligation to respond appropriately to Him since he made me. That's just
rational thinking.
Those who are the elect of God have the information of salvation brought to them. Those who do not, go off and make their own gods and their own
religion, and they go with the human race lock-step into the lake of fire, which is the just desert of all of us. We have no claims upon God. We
have no claims upon heaven. We have no claims upon His mercy. We have no claims upon His grace provision. He alone chooses to bring this in.
People know from nature that they should seek God; that they should learn His laws; and, that they should obey them. All who end up in the lake
of fire are without excuse, because they sinned against the light of nature.
However, God has not stopped there. His fullest revelation about Himself, and His fullest direction for human conduct has been made through Jesus
Christ, and through the inerrant Bible. God hates sin, and he judges the wicked. On the other hand, He loves the sinner, and desires His salvation.
God loves His regenerated children, but He will discipline their violations of His moral Laws. God loves His children, and they can never stop
being His children, but He will discipline violations of His moral Laws.
In 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, relative to the use of your own personal human body within the moral conduct of God, the apostle Paul says, "Do you not
know that you (you Christians) are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will
destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are." Did you get that? The temple of God is holy, and that is what you are in
your physical body. Under the Old Testament system, that building in Jerusalem, the temple building, was the holy place where God dwelt. There is,
of course, no cathedral or no church which is God's dwelling place in this age. None of those buildings are any holier than some honky-tonk dive.
They have no holiness inherent to them. The only thing that is holy is God's temple. God's temple is no longer a building, but it is your body.
So, this is why it is such a gross, horrifying thing to do – that with God the Holy Spirit present and indwelling you; and, with Christ
indwelling you, that we should take the members of our bodies and use them for immoral purposes.
Those who choose to harden their wills against God's authority over them, and suppress His revelation of moral Laws will destroy themselves. That's
what Paul is saying. You don't fool around with God's body. Do you want to cut yourself down? So you want to shorten your life? Then play the fool
as a Christian, and abuse the temple of God.
The rest of Romans 1, you may remember, describes the evolution of mankind from the light of natural revelation and a biblical revelation about
the Creator God, to their descent in worshiping animals; to sexual perversion; and, to total enslavement to the sin nature. The rest of Romans 1
is horrible reading, but it describes the evolution of mankind from the knowledge of God that it once had, to where it became animal worshipers.
Mankind's arrogance in rebellion against God is so great that they are not dissuaded from their evil conduct, even by the penalty of death.
Furthermore, they delight in encouraging others to join them in their evil.
AIDS
No greater demonstration of that truth is to be seen today than the AIDS epidemic. How often the people who are trying to do something about this
helplessly say, "But the people who infect themselves desire to do the evil more than they want to preserve their lives." Of course, they don't
call it the evils of homosexuality, and the evil of sexual perversions. They give it a euphemistic term, but they do recognize that people choose
to delight in doing what is evil rather than to save their lives from death.
What a contrast to Moses, who grew up in a vile, filthy culture. The Egyptians were educated, sophisticated, knowledgeable, and gifted. Those
Hamites were among the leaders of technology; of invention; and, of capabilities. We have plenty of records of that, but they were animal
worshipers. They were at the lowest level that human beings could sink. Therefore, when they were animal worshipers, they had no code of honor
of God to follow.
It is so splendid to read in Scripture that Moses, rather than enjoy (the book of Hebrews tells us) the pleasures of sin for a season, chose to
go with the people of God, and with the God of that people, and with the laws of that God.
In Revelation 14, we have seen Jesus Christ standing victoriously on Mount Zion at the end of the tribulation, surrounded by 144,000 Jewish
witnesses. These men all know the principles that we just reviewed for you from the writings of Paul in Romans. They understand that God is a God
of love who wants people in heaven, but He is a God who will exercise wrath against those who violate His moral code. So, we have particularly
pointed out these men, who survived the terrors of the seven-year tribulation and the persecutions of the antichrist, will have faithfully
carried out their mission of evangelism in the antichrist's world – that these men, in the midst of all, that have honored God, and have
ennobled themselves by avoiding sexual immorality in a society that, at the time, will approve, and justify, and encourage sexual immorality of
all kinds, and every kind of perversion.
As we have shown you, the Bible makes it clear that sexual relations between a man and a woman outside of marriage is forbidden by God. It is out
of bounds. It is off limits. Every time you do it (every time you choose to break that rule), you can do it, because you have volition. But remember,
that you're spitting in the face of God; you're thumbing your nose at Him; you're pretending that He hasn't spoken; you're pretending that He didn't
know what He was doing; and, you're pretending that He cannot get things straight. And if you want to take that position, you should also remember
that one of the things about spiritual matters that is true is that the time comes when we find out who's right and who's wrong. And when you find
out how wrong you've been, there'll be no changing, and there'll be no reversing. Now, decide who your authority is. Is it all those good old
buddies of yours; all those people that surround you in your circle of life; and, all those people who operate on human viewpoint, and who have
their eyes on themselves? Are they your pattern? Are they your role model? Or is it what God has revealed to us in Scripture? Make your choice.
The results will be dramatic for you.
Sexual since our sin against one's own body. It defiles your personhood, and it psychologically demoralizes the soul within. Since these are a sins
under the maximum wrath of God, they should not be taken lightly. Make no mistake, this is a sin that is under the maximum wrath of God. When Israel
came into their Promised Land, it was a land filled Hamitic descendants – Canaanites who were the gross, immoral, phallic cult worshipers.
And this is why God said, "You must kill every one of them. They are a cancer upon humanity, and if you do not remove them entirely from the land,
they will come back with their evil to haunt you." And that's exactly what happened, because the Jews were not smart enough to obey God, and to
completely destroy the evil people that God had judged. Sexual sin tears up the fabric of society because it simply destroys the family unit.
Our government does everything it possibly can to destroy the family unit. Our government does that by tolerating, and sympathizing, and making a
place for the evil of sexual perversions that are now so prominent. Violations of God's sexual laws should be repented of; discontinued; confessed
to God the Father; forgotten; and, a new walk with God begun. Don't miss any one of those steps. Whatever your practice has been in the past, you
must remember that all that is needed for you as a Christian is to stop it. Cease and desist. Confess to God the Father – not to people, but
to God the Father. And then do what God does – He's forgotten sin, and you should forget it. And you start a new walk with God, and
everything comes up again. I guarantee you that that's how it will be. You will find human relationships healed. You will find associations
restored that should be there. You will find doors open to the fullest impact of the flow of appreciation; of respect; and, of love that are closed
by this kind of immorality.
In Revelation 14:4, we have seen that these men have kept themselves chaste. They stayed within their marriages with their sexual relations.
Furthermore, we're told that these are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These 144,000 do something else. They follow the Lamb.
The Greek word is "akoloutheo." "Akoloutheo" is a word that connotes being a companion of someone else. It is a very explicit word. It tells
us exactly what this word means. They follow Christ by being His buddy. They follow Christ by being His companion on a constant basis. The idea
is going along with someone – accompanying this person. They do this constantly. They actively choose to do this. This is their lifestyle.
What they do is follow the Lamb, which is Jesus Christ, and they follow Him wherever He goes, which indicates that Christ is their unquestioned
leader whom they serve.
At the start of that seven-year tribulation period, which is yet in the future, these men were all unbelievers. That's why they were left behind
after the church was taken out in the rapture. Immediately, at the start of that period of the tribulation, God impacted them with the gospel.
The Spirit of God opened their eyes, and they believed it. They realized that the Christians who were now gone were right, and they could never
be part of that aristocratic royal body of Christ, but yet they could be saved as Old Testament saints were, and that they would go to heaven,
and that there was now a divine call for them. So, they understood who the Lamb of God was; they understood who their leader was; and, they
proceeded to follow Jesus Christ wherever He chose to go. The 144,000 have been led by Christ from the very beginning of their salvation. And
Christ set up a plan of action which they were to follow in reaching the loss for the next seven years. These witnesses responded with positive
addition to Christ plan for them. They followed Him wherever he led them.
These 144,000 people were occupied with Christ. That's the point. They were occupied with Christ. They keep their eyes on the Lord. Their theme
song is "Where He Leads Me, I will Follow." Since these men are occupied with Christ, they imitate him in thought and in deed.
What Would Jesus Do?
When you talk about sexual immorality, as with every other form of human conduct, you have to legitimately say, unless you're totally insane,
"Would Jesus Christ do this? Then you have a great deal of guidance. You cannot play the fool, and say, "It doesn't matter whether He would do
it, because he was different – He was God." No, He was a man. He was a God-man. And on this earth, He did not use His deity. He used only
his humanity. He lived in Satan's world under the same pressures and temptations that we do. He did not have a sin nature to tempt Him as we do,
but He had all the other appeals of the world system. And as a human being, He learned the doctrines of Scripture, and He permitted the indwelling
Holy Spirit to guide Him, and He was a winner. It's a system that worked for Him, and it was designed to work for us.
These men imitate Christ because they know doctrine, and they work by the power of the Spirit of God.
Occupation with Christ
What do we mean by occupation with Christ? It is a sad thing that most Christians have never even heard the term, let alone to understand what
we're talking about, and why it's so important. A Christians mind will function on two frames of reference. One is what we call divine viewpoint,
which comes from the Bible. The other is to function on a human viewpoint. Every person in the world operates on divine viewpoint (biblical
principles), or on human viewpoint (Satan's principles). There is no other alternative. Each person is mostly in one direction or the other. We
are never solid in divine viewpoint as Christians. And even the world is never solid in human viewpoint. They bring over a lot of divine viewpoint
principles, because they know they work – and they're smart, so they incorporate them.
We are Dead to Sin
What we're talking about is with Paul said in Colossians 3:1-4. Paul, in speaking to Christians (to you people) said, "If then you have been
raised up with Christ." And you have. You already have positional resurrection. You will have actual resurrection someday: "Keep seeking to
things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on this earth. For
you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." You were on the cross, and you died with Him. Now you are dead to the sin nature
within you. It is no longer your master: "When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory." And
when Jesus Christ returns, and we meet Him either through resurrection from the dead, or through catching up to meet Him alive in the air, we'll
be transformed into His image, and we will be glorified human beings. We will be sinless and incapable of sinning.
Now, what he is talking about here is that Christians ought to shift from your natural human viewpoint to divine viewpoint as your frame of
reference in your thinking. Each viewpoint has realistic and practical consequences in your decisions; your ambitions; and, your goals. Each
viewpoint determines what your priorities are in life. Each viewpoint will affect your habits that are indulged. We know that certain habits
that we do have the kiss of death and are potential hazards, but we do them anyhow because we have no concern. That's the view of a human
viewpoint person. A divine viewpoint person does not go around doing things that are self-destructive.
Demanding your Rights
This comes into play with your responses to your rights. When your eyes on yourself, boy, you demand your rights. But when you operate on divine
viewpoint, and people take advantage of you, and they step on your rights, you let it go, and you put it up for the Lord's sake. You do it as
unto the Lord.
Government leaders are shot-through with sincere human viewpoint concepts to solve admitted human problems and social problems. What do they do?
They apply these human viewpoint principles, and they make things worse. Everything gets worse, and they wonder what the problem is. The problem
is that you're not operating on divine viewpoint. There isn't a single issue in this present presidential debate that you could touch on that you
cannot see that, because of human viewpoint, the problem is there, and the solutions that they come up with are more human viewpoints. Had the
operated on God's principles, they wouldn't have those problems to begin with.
Your attitude toward material things will be determined by your viewpoint. If you're operating a human viewpoint, things are very important to you.
That's your blanket. That's your security. But if you're operating on divine viewpoint, you don't hold on to your money very tightly when it comes
to investing it in the things of God for eternity. You understand that principle of taking it with you.
Your attitude toward the mistakes of others will be affected by your human viewpoint or your divine viewpoint. How many people are intimidated?
I had a parent in the academy come to me recently talking about a little girl, and the first wrong thing they did was to get her off to some kind
of mental therapy to solve the problem. This child is just so upset about everything that anybody says. She's the kind of a kid that she sits up in
the stands at a baseball game, and she sees the catcher go out to talk to the pitcher, she knows that they're talking about her. I mean, this is the
kind of kid that she is. So, I said to the parents, "Well, I'll talk to her. What I'm going to try to do is to help her to understand that she has
her eyes on herself, and she's not that important. And if she would put her eyes on the Lord, she'd find that she'd be a lot more stable, and a lot
happier. ...
It is very hard for us as Christians when we see these stupid things that human viewpoint people do. But then we are capable of doing it. But when
you operate on divine viewpoint, you have a tolerance; you have a graciousness; and, you say to yourself, "But for the grace of God, there go I."
Many people rise up in Christian circles, and they are very proud of the fact that they don't do certain sins: "I don't smoke, and don't chew, and
I don't go with girls that do. But the only reason you don't is because you didn't have a good opportunity to do it. A lot of the sins that you
don't do is because you just never had the occasion. So, don't put yourself up too high.
All Actions Begin in the Mind
The virus of the sin nature lies deep within us, waiting to take hold. The serpent is there. The Bible makes it clear to us that all actions begin
in the mind. A Christian' mental viewpoint, therefore, is the key to his living. That's an important principle to understand. All your external
actions begin as a result of a pattern of thinking in the mind. It is mental to begin with. Unless you have a chemical imbalance in the body that
triggers erratic responses and conduct, that's something else – unless you have a physical defect. But everything else being normal, all
actions begin in the mind.
In 2 Corinthians 4:17-18, Paul says, "For momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparisons,
while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things
which are not seen are eternal. So, if we are going to be happy, we have to get our minds, first of all, oriented to divine viewpoint in the things
above us – to the things of our eternity. And the apostle Paul says that when your mind is focused on divine viewpoint, then everything else
flows in order to a stable, emotionally happy relationship in your life.
Proverbs 23:7 tells us that a person is what he thinks. That's the principle. It's very clear. The wisdom of Proverbs states it exactly. You do
what you think. What we think is determined, of course, by our frame of reference, which we develop in our mind as the result of what we take into
it – the principles that we respect: the principles of the world; or, the principles of Scripture. Whichever are in your mind, that's what
governs your conduct. When you stop inhaling doctrine, I can guarantee you're going to stop thinking, and you're going to switch over to the
stupidity of human viewpoint. Thus, every thought is either human or divine viewpoint. Isaiah 55:8-9 tell us that. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 make that
clear. Every thought has its origin in a mental frame of reference of human viewpoint or divine viewpoint.
Divine Viewpoint
Divine viewpoint is what we maintain, of course, through our study of the Word of God; through the application of doctrine; and, not the least,
through the confession of known sins. 1 John 1:9 is the key to functioning in a psychologically stable context. Without it, you're eaten away with
guilt complexes and internal traumas of one kind and another.
What we mean by divine viewpoint is what these 144,000 witnesses had – minds which are occupied with Christ, so that His thinking becomes our
thinking. 1 Corinthians 2:16: "For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ." Can you believe
that? We Christians have the mind of Jesus Christ? We Christians have the divine viewpoint mentality of Christ. We think His thoughts after Him. How
can that be? Only to the extent that you know doctrine. That's why, when somebody comes charging in, or when I get these frantic phone calls from
people who are now in some desperate situation, for some help, it's very hard to give them any help, because they have no frame of reference of
doctrine upon which to understand their problem. They come to you because they think that you can give them a little Scripture verse that's going to
be a potion to solve the problem. If you let yourself get drained off from doctrine by going to the rinky-tink churches, then you will pay a price
when it comes time to meet the crises in your life, and you're going to pay a greater price on the other side when you see how much you have wasted
of the life that could have been invested in eternal rewards.
Philippians 2:5 contributes to this, too, when the apostle Paul says, "Have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus." What
was the attitude? The attitude in Christ Jesus was an attitude of personal humiliation with His eyes on the Father, and subjection to what God
the Father had placed upon Him as His mission. It is God's plan for us that our natural human viewpoint be gradually replaced with God's divine
viewpoint. We are not born-again with divine viewpoint. When you come into the Christian life, your mind is saturated with human viewpoint
misconceptions. It gradually has to be replaced. Human viewpoint never pleases God, even when it's cultured, intelligent, and sincere. In the
long run, it always makes people ugly. The only source of divine viewpoint is the Word of God, so that means Bible study.
Romans 12:3 says, "To transform your mind." How do you do that? With the Word of God. That is the only way. Romans 12:2 is a tremendous verse.
We can't get into it, but the very language makes it clear that it has to be an internal change within the mentality of the soul for there to be
external changes in the person's lifestyle and conduct.
Hebrews 4:12 tells us that the Word of God is alive and powerful, and can discern and separate the good from the evil within us.
One of the things you must understand is that human viewpoint thinks that it is right in its views. That is one of the grossest characteristics
of human viewpoint. This is especially if you have a high IQ, and if you got a little education, such that you're pretty sure that you know your
way around. Matthew 7:3 says, "Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but you do not notice the log that is in your own eye?"
That's a human viewpoint that believes it is so right.
Notice Proverbs 14:12. This is a very important principle. There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." Human
viewpoint is so sure it's right, and the end is the way of death. This is the verse which we've printed on the back of our evangelism brochure,
hoping that people will think to themselves, "Why do I believe the things about God that I believe? Because my parents told me? Because this is
what we have always thought? This is what my church tells me?" It is amazing how people never go back and say, "Wait a minute. Where is the
authority? Is it in some preacher; some priest; or, some ecclesiastical organization? Or is it the Bible.
God says, "I've given you the Holy
Spirit to understand the Bible, as long as you're in a church context with a pastor-teacher gift, and you're sitting there in the privacy of your
own mind to hear the Word of God, and to be taught doctrine, so that you may receive it or reject it, and then God will act accordingly in your
life. That's an unbeatable system, but it's all based upon the Word of God – not the preacher's cute stories; not his sincerity; not his
emoting; and, not his anything else. He cons you if he does not teach you the Word of God. You will think that you're on the right track when
it's the track of death, unless you have the frame of reference of divine viewpoint from the Word of God.
It is God who sees into our minds so our conduct cannot deceive Him (Hebrews 4:13, Proverbs 21:2). So many people put on such a sweetness-and-light
external attitude about them. They claim to be the beautiful people. But God looks on the inside, and He see that human viewpoint, and He knows
that they're ugly. Out world society operates on Satan's human viewpoint. That is no pattern for us Christians to imitate. If that's all you know,
however (the patterns of this world), then that's the way you're going to act. Unless someone has taught you divine viewpoint, human viewpoint is
all you have. The unsaved world and the carnal Christians, therefore, are occupied with Satan, and they live by his human viewpoint to their sorrow.
These 144,000 men have had their minds saturated with the Word of God. They probably were Jews who knew the Scriptures before the tribulation, but
they had rejected Jesus Christ because that's what their religion taught them; that's what their synagogue had told them; and, that's how their
family had reared them. Now they suddenly come to the light, and they have a backlog of doctrine. They focus on Jesus Christ, so they do not
become distracted from their mission in the tribulation. With good soldiers of Jesus Christ, the mission comes first with them. Human viewpoint has
to be recognized as your own thinking, and you have to confess it to God and abandon it. Human viewpoint cannot deal with the forces of evil in a
society, nor enable you to survive in the angelic conflict.
Who is a tough person? A tough person is the one that has a divine viewpoint mentality, who therefore does not misuse or pervert the good things
which God has created, including sex, because He made that, and it's good. The tough person is the person who operates on God's frame of reference,
who has a gentle hand, but who knows how to make grease spots when it's appropriate. That is the tough person. It is not some ignoramus that is
operating on the principles of the world's system.
However, let's make it clear: In divine viewpoint living, we say, "Get your eyes up there on your future in eternity. Get your eyes on the Lord.
Be preoccupied with Christ." But we do not mean an other-world asceticism. We don't mean to withdraw from this world. We do not mean to go into
some gross thing like a nunnery; a monastery; or, a convent that dehumanizes people. We are talking about using the things of God rather than
abusing them. What we are saying is that life on earth is better when it is lived by the laws of the glorify Christ in heaven. That's what we're
saying. The water skiing is better; the snow skiing is better; the summer camp is better; the Southern Kitchen is better; and, even the Olive Garden
is better. Whatever it is, when it's operated on in principles of the Word of God, it is better, because now it is functioning in compatibility
with the way God made you as a human being.
When we say that we are to avoid things of this earth, come back to Colossians 3, where Paul makes it clear to the Colossians what he is talking
about when he says, "Remember who you are; remember where you're going; and, remember that you're in Christ." Then notice, in verse 5-9, that what
he says are the things that he wants them to set aside in this life. It is not the good times; not what their money can buy for them; and, not the
things that they can enjoy is the fruits of their labors. Colossians 3:5: "Therefore, consider the members of your earthly body as dead to
immorality, sexual sins, impurity, gross things, passion, evil desires (a variety of sensual desires that are destructive, and that are evil by
God's standard), and greed (which amounts to idolatry). For it is on account of these things that the wrath of God will come. And in them you also
once walked when you were living in them." Remember your unsaved days? This is the kind of life you lived: Immorality; impurity; passion; evil
desires; and, greed. But now you also put them all aside. This is what he wants us to give up in this world: anger; wrath; malice; slander; and,
abusive speech from your mouth. And now do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices."
I want you to notice that particular verse, because in the next session, as we look once more at the 144,000, and their character, and the quality
of these men, of all things, what does God do? On the one side, He says that these are men of sexual integrity. And along with it, He says that
they don't lie. Now, of all the sins you could mention, why on earth does He bring that in to tell us that about these men: that they're not
deceivers; that they're not con men; and, that they're not maneuvering to gain something by cheating and lying? Well, the two go together, don't
they? Sexual sins are a lying and a deceit. Therefore, it is easy to lie, and to con, and to connive, and to cheat, and to steal, and to be a
sneak in gaining your ends. It is not ennobling. It is a degrading thing.
So, when the Word of God says, "Get your eyes up there on the things above, and not on the things down here, it's not talking about having an
aesthetic life where it's no fun. The only people who really do have fun in this world are Christians, because they never get jaded. Their fun is
always within the integrity of the laws of God, so that it's fun next time, and it continues being fun. And they can be open, and honest, and
maintain their integrity. Only the Christian is the one who really has fun on this earth.
The Christian's destiny is such that it is appropriate that he should act in terms of that destiny. This is what John told his people in
1 John 3:2, where he said, "Beloved, at this point in time, we are the children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be."
You can understand that, can't you? Just take a look at the person next to you. Don't look at him – just out of the corner of your eye.
You know all the things that this person needs to get straightened out. Just take a look at that clod next to you. And John says, "That's the
way it this, folks." But he says, "You're the children of God. And at this point in time, we do not yet see each other as we are going to be when
God finishes reworking us." What a sigh of relief that is. The guy next to you may still have some hope for him. God is not through with him.
We know that when he appears at the rapture of the church (Jesus coming), we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as he is. So, what?
Verse 3: "Everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself just as He is pure. Your eyes are on the Lord. When He comes, you're going to
be just as perfect as He is. You're going to be transformed into the image of Christ. John says that he knows that a Christian who's walking with
his eyes on the Lord, and is preoccupied with Christ and the things of eternity, is a Christian who is not a dirty character down here; who is not
a vile rule breaker here; and, who is a man or woman of integrity by the moral code of God. They live up to their calling as Christians. Why?
Because there's some purity in themselves? There's some positive thinking? This is not a psychological trick of some Christianized positive
thinking technique. That's a bunch of baloney to begin with. It is, as Mr. Rouch pronounces, "It's positively stinking."
Well, that is quite true, but the point he's talking about here is a real change within. It is a fact that our eyes are on the One that we are
going to be like. Therefore, He gives us the capacity to rise to His level. This is what churches deny people. I think churches has always lower
the level, and always preach down so that people can get down there and reach.
One of my outstanding professors in the Greek Department at Dallas Seminary, Dr. Lewis Johnson, told us in class one day, "When you preach, always
put the cookies on the high shelf of the Word of God so that people have to stand up and reach. Don't put them on the low shelf where they can
grovel where they already are. That is right. It is the Word of God that are nobles and exalts us.
The difference is your frame of mental reference: human viewpoint; or, divine viewpoint. How do you how do you view human beings? How do you view
their operating mechanisms? Human viewpoint will take you one direction. Divine viewpoint will take you another. Human viewpoint will take you down
to degradation, sorrow, and incapacity to solve problems. Divine viewpoint will take you up for joy; to nobility; and, to capacity to work out your
problems. You must choose.
Dr. John E. Danish, 1993
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