My Two Realities

Illustration: Time in 6000 m

How old is the World?

We as Christians believe that it is about 6000 years old.

Now let’s assume that a year equals 1 metre

Then Earth’s history timeline would be about 6000 m or 6 km long

A month = 83 m

a week = 19 m

a day = 2.75 m

There are many places in Alberta where you can easily look down a straight road for 6 km, for example just outside of High Level starting at the Bushie Store. So if I gave Matthew and Zack both very bright flashlights. Next we dropped Zack off at the Bushie Store with his flashlight on pointing it down the road towards Fort Vermilion. Then Matthew’s dad would drive him 6 km down the road where Matthew would get out and shine his very bright flashlight back at Zack.

Now I am confident that both boys would see each others flashlight.

Now Methuselah lived 965 years and we about 85 years so

Methuselah = 965 m

Modern Man = 85 m

So if Zack moved forward 85 m do you Matthew could tell the difference from 6 km away?

What’s if Zack moved forward 965 m, that’s almost a km could Matthew tell the difference?

Just think it would only take about 6 Methuselah lifetimes to get from the beginning of the world to our day and about 70 of our lifetimes.

My point is this the world isn’t that old.

Let Him See What I See

2 Kings 6:8–17 ESV

Once when the king of Syria was warring against Israel, he took counsel with his servants, saying, “At such and such a place shall be my camp.” But the man of God sent word to the king of Israel, “Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are going down there.” And the king of Israel sent to the place about which the man of God told him. Thus he used to warn him, so that he saved himself there more than once or twice. And the mind of the king of Syria was greatly troubled because of this thing, and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not show me who of us is for the king of Israel?” And one of his servants said, “None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.” And he said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and seize him.” It was told him, “Behold, he is in Dothan.” So he sent there horses and chariots and a great army, and they came by night and surrounded the city. When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

2 Kings6:8-17

2 Kings 6:6 ESV

Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, he cut off a stick and threw it in there and made the iron float.

Retell the story paragraph by paragraph

2 Kings 6:6-

The seen and the unseen

throughout the Bible the “unseen” is just that “unseen” interactive at times but still not seen yet in your minds eye can you scroll through the Bible story, starting at the Fall, and see how many times the “unseen” becomes seen.

The Angel that guarded the gate to Eden

Abraham entertains 3 guests

Lot is rescued by 2 angels

Jacob wrestles with “an Angel”

Moses and his wife, Ziporah, meet a threatening angel

Moses meets God on the mountain

Balaam

Joshua meets the Commander of the Lord’s army

Samson’s parents are instructed by an angel

an angel appears to Gideon

Mary

Elizabeth

Peter

Two Realities

Consider the following verse

2 Corinthians 4:17–18 ESV

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Which reality is more real? The “seen” or the “unseen”? How do I know when something is real?

The “seen”?

I think we would agree that we have to experience it with our senses: see, hear, touch, smell, taste but I can’t do any of that with the “unseen” does that mean it’s not real?

or the “unseen”?

What about an easier question? Which is more lasting? The “seen” or the “unseen”? or to

Christ will never abandon the soul for whom He has died. The soul may leave Him and be overwhelmed with temptation, but Christ can never turn from one for whom He has paid the ransom of His own life. Could our spiritual vision be quickened, we should see souls bowed under oppression and burdened with grief, pressed as a cart beneath sheaves and ready to die in discouragement. We should see angels flying swiftly to aid these tempted ones, who are standing as on the brink of a precipice. The angels from heaven force back the hosts of evil that encompass these souls, and guide them to plant their feet on the sure foundation. The battles waging between the two armies are as real as those fought by the armies of this world, and on the issue of the spiritual conflict eternal destinies depend.

White, E. G. (1896). Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing (pp. 118–119). Pacific Press Publishing Association.

The Adventist pastor, Dan Appel, in his book, “The Choice”, (but a picture of the cover on the slide) writes a fictional story based on his research and the specific accounts of three women who had dealings with the dead. In the story one of the characters in her dealings with the Devil had been given the ability to always see both the physical and the spiritual reality. She could always see this battle that Mrs. White mentioned above

My Will vs Thy Will

Lawlessness vs Lawfulness

Or Unholiness vs holiness