Seven ways believers are to relate to the world. We must understand
is that the relationship you have with the world is an
indicator of a relationship you have to God. The scripture says in John 15:19.
We must understand is as a Christian, Jesus Christ our Savior, He has overcome the world.
This does not mean that He got rid of the world, okay. This does not mean that He got rid of all
the demons and all the devils and all the evil. It just means that He overcame the anxiety,
He overcame the hatred, He overcame all the temptation, He overcame demonic forces,
He overcame the sorrow, the betrayal. All of that stuff. The things that are in this world,
He overcame and then He's giving us right now this example to say, "You can do exactly the same
and you are called to overcome the world." So here are seven ways that believers are to relate
to this world. Number one is we're actually dead to this world. Galatians 6:14. It says:
So because of Jesus I am already dead to the world. The world is already dead to me.
It's not something I have to do, it's something I embrace
and believe as the truth. Number two. We are not of this world. In John 17:11 Jesus says:
We must understand is that though we are in this world, we are not off this world. So let me give
you an example. When a scuba diver dives in the water, he breathes the air. He takes his air in
his air tank. He brings his environment with him into the water. That's how Christian is. We are
going into the world but we are carrying our own environment, our own mindset from the Lord. We're
carrying the truth from Jesus, we're carrying the wisdom that is not in line with the wisdom of this
world. We are carrying the influence that is the influence of the Holy Spirit. We are having the
Holy Spirit who lives inside of us, not the spirit of this world and we're under the covering and the
leadership of the Holy Spirit. It's kind of like a boat that goes onto the sea. You know boats belong
on the water but the moment the water gets inside of the boat, the boats sink. They no longer can
reach its destination. They reach the bottom of the sea they're supposed to float on the top off.
That's what happens with Christians. When we are in the world and the world is in us, okay. Then
what begins to happen, we're no longer effective in reaching the world because the world has now
compromised us. The third way that Christians are to relate to the world is we are to be
separated from this world. This does not mean that we're separated from people, from the
earth, from the rivers, from the sunsets and the mountains. It's talking about the system that is
in rebellion against God. "Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this:
to visit orphans and widows in their trouble and to keep oneself unspotted from the world."
James 1:27. You know the definition of word holiness is to be separate, is to be
separated. When a Christian believes in Jesus and is not separated and a Christian is not distinct,
is not cutting himself away from the mindsets, the philosophies and the ways of this world
and is not giving himself over to the Lord. Then this Christian is not walking in holiness.
This Christian is allowing the water that he's supposed to be on, get inside of him.
That's how titanic sunk. It hit this iceberg, the water got inside and then titanic went
down. And that's how many Christians live today. They're defeated. There's no difference between
them and those who are not Christians. Partially is because they have allowed
the world to get inside and they have not separated, they have not walked in holiness
by giving themselves over to the things of God and turning from the things of this world. Number
four. The Bible says not to love the world. This is a heavy one because in 1 John 2:15 it says:
You know it's easy, easier to separate yourself from the world.
It's harder to not want that world. Sometimes as Christians we can walk away from certain things
but we will have these longings and desires for those things. Fascination. I wish we could do that
but God doesn't let me. The Bible says Solomon loved many women that actually lured him away
from God. The Bible says that Samson fell in love with Delilah and she pulled him away from God.
And you know I'm reminded of the story of Balaam, who when people came to him with the
bribe to curse the nation of Israel. And you know he claimed to know God, which he should have known
that he shouldn't be cursing God's kids. And yet he still actually went and said, "I'm gonna go ask
God if it's His will." It's like, "Duh bro. Like this is not God's will." And so that tells me that
he knew already what God would have him do but he didn't want to do it. He wanted that bride.
He wanted that wealth, that riches. It's almost like Balaam live with this thing:
I will not do it but I want to do it. God doesn't let me but I can be persuaded. You know.
God just won't let me do it but I want to kind of do it, you know. And that's how some Christians
live. Like, "Yeah, God doesn't let us do that but we really want to. Yeah, God prohibits that but
we really want to." See the Bible doesn't just say separate yourself from the world. The Bible says
don't even want it. And you're like, "Man how do I do that?" The Holy Spirit. "How do we do that?"
The love of the Father. Get filled with love because everything the world is,
is lust. It's empty. It's not satisfying. When you're filled with love, it's kind of like when
you have eaten a good meal. You don't want junk food after that. So the Lord is telling us,
"I don't want you to love the world. I don't want you to just walk away from the world,
separate yourself from the bad things. I actually don't want you to want it.
I want you to want Me." The first commandment is thou shalt love or you shall love the Lord your
God. Meaning, I want your love to be set on Me. And my friend, that is only possible through the
help of the Holy Spirit. Number five. We are not to be friends with this world. James 4:4 it says:
So when you actually become a friend with the world, that means you're trying to fit
in. You're trying to be like everybody else, you're trying to just go with the flow. You're
actually conforming to this world. And so when you're a friend with this world,
that means that you... This is not the same as having friends that are not Christians,
okay. Please hear me out. This simply means that you are embracing the mindsets, you are embracing
the philosophies and the ideas and the wisdom of this world and you are allowing it to be
your friend. Number six. The Bible says not to conform to this world. In Romans 12:2 it says:
If you remember when David was bringing an ark into Jerusalem, the first time when Uzzah died.
And it says in 1 Chronicles 13:7 that they put the ark on the new cart. Now for those of you
who remember, the ark of God was in the Philistine territory and the Philistines returning the ark
back, put it on the cart and had cows carry, like drive that cart to Israel. And Israel pretty much
adopted and took on the ways of the Philistines by having the ark of the Lord on the cart. Now in
the Bible we see that God was very clear that the ark of God was supposed to be carried on
the shoulders of the priest. So king Saul does that, David does that. Until it backfires and
Uzzah touches the ark and Uzzah dies. David gets angry. He doesn't let the ark come into his house
and then a few months later David sees the blessing on Obed's house where the ark stayed.
He decides to bring the ark now into his own place, but he does it differently. He throws away
the way of the world. He stops conforming to the Philistines by letting the ark be carried by the
priests. I wonder how many things in our life we have borrowed from the Philistines. I wonder
how many new carts we have christianized and we have brought into the church. How many new age
practices we have brought into the church and just put little scriptures on it and found the
scripture out of context to justify that behavior. And the Bible says, "Do not conform to the ways
of the world." There will be consequences and these consequences will be deadly. Number seven
is we are called to be the light and the salt of this world. And that is in Matthew 5:13-14.
My friend, salt is a preservative that works only when it penetrates into food
and becomes useless when it's contaminated by other chemical substances. If we want to
remain pure, if we remain pure we will be able to do our job. And Jesus says that Christians,
we must penetrate our society while keeping ourselves not being influenced by the world.
As light though we penetrate the darkness. You know, to know the truth and to fail to stand for
the truth, Jesus says it's honestly as useless and having a light and putting some kind of a basket
over it. In other words, if we don't live out our faith outside of the church walls, we're honestly
a useless light. So as Christians, not only we're separating, not only we're not conforming, not
only we're not trying to be friends with the world but we actually have to influence this world with
the truth of Jesus Christ by shining bright. We need to speak our faith and we need to not allow
as a salt to be contaminated with other chemicals, with other substances, with other compromises.
Otherwise we'll be useless. We'll no longer will be able to bring preservation and we'll
no longer be able to influence the world if we are influenced by the world. Few practical tips. Avoid
functioning in the gray area of your life. The scripture says 1 Thessalonians 5:22, "Stay away
from every kind of evil." Don't just look for things that are "not wrong" but is it even wise in
the eyes of God. Avoid functioning in a gray area. Number two. Don't maintain close relationships
with those who encourage you towards sinful behavior. The scripture says 1 Corinthians 15:33,
"Don't be fooled by those who say such things, for bad company corrupts good character." Number
three is structure your life in such a way, where there is a community and accountability. Go to a
local church, go to a small group. For the Bible says in Ecclesiastes the two are better than one.
Number four is that run from sin. Don't just walk into potentially sinful situations. You know we
know that Joseph, he fled from Pontiphar's wife. We know that in 1 Corinthians 6:18 it says that,
"Run from sexual sin." Sometimes there's like you know, if you're going to go into that situation
there's going to be trouble. And the Scripture tells us not only to just kind of avoid it. The
Scripture says to run from that. "Flee things that stimulate youthful lust." 2 Timothy 2:22.
So don't just walk. Run from things that will stimulate sin. Number five. Don't harbor sin
in your thoughts. Sometimes it's easy to fight sin in your actions and actually harbor it in your
thoughts. The Scripture says that our heart should be guarded above all things for out of its springs
of life flow. Proverbs 4:23. And David's in Psalm 19:14, he says the following, "May the words of my
mouth and the meditation all my heart be pleasing to You." So that means that I have to also monitor
what's happening with my thoughts. I cannot allow harbor feelings of hate, feelings of bitterness,
feelings of ego, feelings of materialism. All of these dominant thoughts to dominate my heart
because my heart needs to be pleasing to the Lord as well. And number six is maintain a disciplined
life of devotion. Jesus says, "Pray that you will not enter into temptation." Luke 22:40.
My friend Jesus has overcome the world and He says, "Be of good cheer because you can
overcome the world as well." He who is born of God overcomes the world. You and I are born of God,
we are destined to stand out, we are destined not to fit in. We're not going to go with the flow.
We are going to go after the Lord and we will seek His kingdom. We will live as citizens of
another kingdom. And one day His kingdom will come on this earth and it will change this world
but until that time we will be like a boat in the middle of the sea. We will get to our destination,
our heavenly paradise and we will not be contaminated by what is around us. And
if some kind of a contamination gets in, we will confess our sins quickly,
so that we can stay dry on the inside while the world is wet on the outside. Thank you
for watching this video. I hope that you were encouraged, convicted and also strengthened in
your resolution to follow after righteousness and holiness. If you enjoyed content as such,
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