Seven facts about the world. First and foremost we have to understand the devil has three main
enemies by which he attacks the Christians. The first one is, he is the enemy. The second one
is the flesh and the third one is the world. So the fact number one is the temptation is really
like a blind date, where the flesh and the world come together arranged by the devil. See the devil
really takes advantage to propagate, to expand his kingdom by both, what is happening in the world
and by leveraging our flesh. So a lot of times when we fall into sin it's really a combination of
all three. The devil pulling the strings, and then the flesh plays its role and then us also being
enticed and lured by the world. The fact number two is what we call the culture today is actually
what the Bible calls the world. You know the word "world" in the Greek is cosmos which means
that which is ordered or arranged. So in other words cosmos spoke of an arrangement of some kind
that organized things in a certain way. So in a biblical sense the word "world" speaks of world
system that represents the people whose values, beliefs and morals are in rebellion toward God.
Now the Bible also says that God loves the world in John 3:16. And that Jesus came into this world
1 John 4:9. So that speaks of the humans who are living in this world that God loves. But when the
scripture tells us not to love the world, it's speaking of the human system that is at odds
with God. So the world that the scripture tells us to run from, not love, is really a system
that is annihilated from God and in rebellion against Him. And is condemned for its godlessness.
Fact number three about the world. Is the world started in the garden of Eden. And in the garden
of Eden, if you remember there were two major things took place. One is rebellion against God,
and the second one is a redefining of what is good and what is evil. Because before
man took of the fruit of the tree, God defined what was good and what was evil.
God said, "Do not eat of this tree." God said that this tree is forbidden because it's bad. But the
devil came and he pretty much said, "Hey you can redefine your own version whats good and evil.
if God says this is wrong, well what if it's not wrong for you? what if God lied?" But to do that
he first had to cause us to rebel against God. And that's really what the world is.
It's rebelling against God and then redefining good and evil. "Woe to those who call good evil,
and evil good." The world we live in today; the world that is in conflict and the world that wars
against our soul is the world in rebellion against God. I want you to notice that in the garden of
Eden, satan didn't really come to Eve and Adam to solicit their worship. He was just trying to lure
them into rebellion against God. Honestly satan doesn't care if you worship him or not. His goal
is to cause you to rebel against God. Because once you rebel against God, you will no longer
subscribe to His truth. You're going to make up your own because you're going to be your own god,
you're going to make things as you go. The fact number four about the world, is the world
is under control of the devil. So we're kind of seeing that, you know he's using this world to
bring us into temptation. The world is, you know what we call culture. The world is really begun in
the garden of Eden and the devil was waiting for this to happen. Why? So he can get control of it
in. 1 John 5:19 it says, "We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of
the wicked one." 2 Corinthians 4:4 it says, "In this case the god of this world has blinded the
minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ,
who is the image of God." Revelation 12:9 it says, "So the great dragon was cast out,
that serpent of old, called the devil and satan, who deceives the whole world; and he was cast to
the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." I want you to notice that the devil has gotten the
world under his control. In 1 Corinthians 2:12 it says, "Now we have received, not the spirit of the
world, but the spirit of who is from God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us
by God." So not only the devil keeps the world under his control. He actually is the spirit
that is funneling, that is sustaining, pushing the agenda that is being propagated today in the
world. When Jesus was on this earth in John 12:31 He made it very clear. "Now is the judgment of
this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out." He was referring to the devil.
In John 14:30 he said the following, "I will no longer talk with you, for the ruler of this
world," speaking of the devil, "is coming, and he has nothing in Me." John 16:11, "of judgment
because the ruler of this world is judged." So the devil is the ruler of this world. This world
is not just on its own without a ruler. People who walk around and say, "Oh this is just signs. This
is, we're just into, you know reason. We just follow our feelings." No, no my friend. There's
somebody pulling the strings. There is somebody behind the scenes moving all of these pieces.
There is somebody using the government, using education, using entertainment to push his garbage
and that someone is the ruler of this world. This world is not. It looks like a mess but somebody is
creating this chaos, whose goal is to bring as many people as possible in rebellion against God,
because then he can let them redefine God's standards as he wishes. Number five. The world
has its own wisdom. The Bible says, "For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God."
1 Corinthians 3:19. So the world has its own wisdom. See, this is what happens. When we
rebel against God we develop our own morals, we develop our own standards. That are honestly,
sometimes pretty dumb. Like what's happening in our world today is ridiculous. Like people
have defined what is right by what brings them pleasure, and as long as it doesn't hurt anybody.
That is really the morality of today's culture; what the Bible calls world. It's right for me as
long as it doesn't hurt anybody, and as long as it gives me pleasure. What God thinks about it, I
don't care. So that means I can shoot up drugs as long as I use a clean needle. I can have sex with
whoever I want as long as I use a condom. There are no absolutes. Everything is relative. It's all
about my experience. Gender is not something you discover by the virtue of your biology.
It's something that you decide by the virtue of identification. You can identify as a female
being a male. You can identify being black when you are white. I saw a person actually going to
court and saying he's identifying as a 45 year old, when he was 60. Saying that I feel younger.
So that the court will switch his birthday and the year of his birth because that's how he identifies
with. So we're trying to change the facts. We're trying to change the reality by the virtue of
identifying. We actually call God bad and ourselves good. Because the Bible says we're bad
and God is good. So that's what happens when the wisdom of this world
is preached. And it will be preached. Why? Because when you rebel against God
you have to redefine what is right and what is wrong. You will call abortion a
choice. In Christianity god is love. In the culture love is God. Meaning if I love it,
that's what is right for me. As long as it doesn't hurt anybody. And at first, for some of you maybe
who are not born again and you're not following Jesus. You're like, "What is wrong with that?"
Well everything is wrong with it. Because that means that our standards and these principles are
fluid. And as Christians we know that God created this earth, we know that He created us. We know
that He's an intelligent being who knows how this world is to be ran and He calls himself the truth.
He calls Himself the way. He calls himself the word. That tells us that He knows the best,
and part of our rebellion is that we think we know the best. And so we have to reject the world,
along with its wisdom. So number five. The world has its own wisdom. Number six. The
world is wicked. So not only the world has a weird wisdom that is not in line with Gods,
but the world is actually pretty messed up. 2 Timothy 3:1-9 has this long list. It's almost like
somebody just went and diagnosed our generation. It says: "But know this, in the last days perilous
times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud,
blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanders without
self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, head strong, haughty, lovers of pleasure
rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power.
And from such people turn away!" And if you read further it goes even deeper into description
of how wicked, how spiritually dead and how corrupt, how hating, how without mercy
the people in this world are. If you think that we make good gods, I want to tell you something. We
make terrible gods. What we make out of ourselves in spite of God is nothing but wickedness and
spiritual death. In Ephesians 2:1-3 it says the following, "But as for you, you were dead in your
transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world
and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, and the spirit who is now at work in those who are
disobedient. All of us who lived among them at one time gratifying the cravings of our flesh
and following its desires and thoughts, like the rest. We were by nature deserving of wrath."
So I want you to notice we were not happy, fulfilled. People in this world are dead.
They're dead in their sins. They're following the ways of this rebellious, redefined
culture that is pulling. That is being pulled and controlled by the spiritual being called the ruler
of the kingdom of the air. And they have a spirit living in them that pushes them to ungodliness.
This spirit, the demons. It actually lives to gratify the fleshly desires and cravings of our
lower nature. So my friend if you think that you can do whatever you want, and that will
give you fulfillment. I'm going to tell you one thing. You're not fulfilling your design and
what happens is that you're actually yielding to the terrible nature, whose ultimate goal
is to ruin and destroy you. 1 John 2:15-17 it says, "Do not love the world or the things in this
world. But if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the
world." Pretty much you can summarize the world in these three things. "The lust of the flesh,
the lust of the eyes and the pride of life and it's not of the Father but is of the world.
The world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever." In
other words the world is not about love. The world is not about joy. The world is not about peace.
The world is not about contentment. The world is not about purpose. The world is about lust. The
world is about this being, pursuing sensuality, pursuing materialism, pursuing building your own
ego. It's all about fortunes. It's all about fame. It's all about power, and honestly it's all about
pleasure. It's these things in themselves are not wrong. There's nothing wrong with having things.
There's nothing wrong with having a position. there's nothing wrong with having influence.
There's nothing wrong with pleasure, in God's presence there's pleasure. But for a Christian
God is the object, God is who we worship and we submit to. Not pleasures, fame and fortune.
Our pursuit is seek first the kingdom of God. Our pursuit is not all these extra things.
The world seeks to have the kingdom without the king. The world seeks to have the benefits
of what God promises without God himself. And the world once in a while will use God
as a means to reach its goal and the goal is self-gratification, self-fulfillment.
It's easy for us as Christians to look at the bad people in the world
and say look they're so evil. They're so deceived. They're so corrupt. But honestly
how many of us live the same way. How many of us, we dress up differently than the world
but we don't think differently than the world. We don't live differently than the world.
Our life, what we watch, what we listen, what we value, what we spend our time on
is no different. The only difference is on Sunday we go to the church and the world
just sits at home and rests. Number seven. The world is at war with genuine Christians.
John 15:18 it says if the world hates you, you know that you are a bigot, you are homophobic,
you are racist. Nooo. That's not what it says. It says, "If the world hates you, you know it
hated me before it hated you." The world will hate you. Jesus stood in front of Pilate and He said,
"My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight
and I wouldn't be delivered to the Jews." He says my kingdom is not from here. My
friend when you genuinely pursue the Word, the Lord. You make Him your priority, the world
will hate you. Why? Because they hate everything that's not like the world.
The world loves its own, it hates the opposite. As long as you are part of the world and you
act like the world, the world will love you. The moment you begin to stand out.
Not a holier than thou, better than other people. But simply as a person who is loyal to Jesus.
You will be called with names that will be so hurtful. You're narrow-minded, you're just
trying to be better than other people, you're self-righteous, you are a hypocrite, you are a
hater, you are intolerant. All of these names will be thrown at you but Jesus says remember
they did this to Me and they'll do it for you. Expecting the world to treat you fairly because
you are Christian, is like expecting a bull not to charge you because you are a vegetarian.
Dennis Wooley said that. So I want to encourage you dear believers.
It's time to separate yourself from the world. It's time to be in the world but not off the
world. It's time to be like a ship on the sea. The water is around you but it's not inside of you.
It's time to go into this world and be the light and the soul that we are called to be.
It's time not to be friends with this world. It's time to create a contrast by following the Lamb,
following Jesus all the way. And it's time to embrace suffering, persecution,
accusation, that comes with us following Jesus Christ. Are you conformed to the world,
or are you being transformed by the renewing of your mind? I hope you enjoyed this video. Hey
drop that in the comments of what you learned and how you are separating yourself from the world.
Don't forget to subscribe and click on the bell so you can be reminded each time we go live.