Growing in the Lord "Overcoming Worldliness"

The Great Commission

Part 3 – Growing in the Lord

OVERCOMING: Worldliness

Pastor Bruce A. Shields

House of Faith – http://www.ps127.org/ http://www.truthdigest.org/

ANNOUNCEMENTS

6:00PM Evening Service at the church –

“Seminary Students will be preaching”

September 28^th – Deacon Kurt Ulman

October 5^th – Grace Steadman

October 12^th – Lori Ulman

October 19^th – Lynnette Higgins

October 26^th – Walker Spriggs

WHERE WE ARE AT

† Spending Time with the Lord in Prayer

† Spending Time with the Lord Reading the Word

† Spending Time with the Lord in Fellowship

† Spending Time with the Lord, One on One

† Growing in the Lord : OVERCOMING The Carnal Mind

† Growing in the Lord : OVERCOMING Satan

† Growing in the Lord : OVERCOMING Worldliness

INTRODUCTION

Matthew 6:24

24 "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

I. EXPLAINING WORLDLINESS

a. Professing Christ while living worldly

2 Peter 2:17 – 22

17 These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. 18 For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. 20 If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. 21 It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. 22 Of them the proverbs are true: "A dog returns to its vomit," and, "A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud."

b. If you live worldly the world is your master and you have not submitted to Christ. As Scripture says, you can not serve 2 masters.

James 4:1 – 8

1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You want something but don't get it…

Pride, arrogance, self-righteousness…

You think you are better than someone else, so you fight with them.

Always having to be right, to prove your point, to “win” the argument you actually began.

This is the behavior of a worldly person.

…You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

4 You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

…Because you can not serve two masters.

5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? 6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
"God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble."

7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Submit yourselves to God, make Him your Master!

II. WARNINGS AGAINST BEING WORLDLY

1 John 2:15 – 17 Do not love the world

15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

Romans 12:1 – 2 Be living sacrifices

1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Romans 13:11 – 14 Our time to make Jesus our Master is short!

11 And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

III. INSTRUCTION FROM THE WORD OF GOD

Philippians 3:1 – 10 Paul says to have no confidence in flesh

1 Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.

2 Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh. 3 For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— 4 though I myself have reasons for such confidence.
If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.

7 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

Colossians 3:2

2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

Prosperity preachers will tell you God wants you to be rich.

No where in the Bible does it teach this.

God did bless many of the Old Testament Patriarchs with riches, but times were different then than they are today.

It was far easier to have riches 4,000 years ago than today.

There are far more opportunities for us to be slaves to our riches today, and far more opportunities to sin against God with our riches today.

If you purchased a 1 million dollar estate, there are always 10 and 15 million dollar estates to own as well.

We have become the society of “upgrades”.

We used to say, “There are 2 classes, the haves and the have nots.”

Now the saying is “The wants, and the want mores.”

Does the New Testament speak or rich followers of Christ?

Well there is the rich young man who would not give up his riches to follow Christ.

Of this situation Jesus made the statement in Matthew, Mark and Luke…

“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

Can you serve money and God?

Can a rich man serve Jesus Christ?

Ask yourself how easy it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle…

What about Zacchaeus?

He was rich!

But if you remember, when he converted, he gave ½ of ALL his possessions to the poor.

Then, from the half that was left, everyone he ever cheated got 4 times the amount that they were cheated.

As Paul says…

…whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.

God’s will has nothing to do with being rich.

At least, not in the things of this world.

His will is for you to be saved, and not turn from Him.

His will is for you to lead others to Him.

And every time you pray, “Lord, I want to be closer to you.”

He will remove the things of this world that keep you away from Him.

That is, if you mean what you pray.

Worldliness…the master which seeks after us.

This is a world of consumerism.

Do you have to be poor to serve the Lord?

No. But for everything you do not have in this world, it’s one less thing that stands between you and the Lord.

Do we live with a content heart?

Or are we always seeking the next best, biggest thing?

Do you chase the Lord with the same drive and zeal that you do the next item on your “gotta have/own/get/buy” list?

Have you crucified your flesh and its desires, or are you still a slave to this world?

Worldliness can take many forms,

Money

Greed

Lust

Fleshly Desire

Selfishness

Wantonness

Pride

Anger

Hate

But they all lead down the same wide path to destruction.

It is true there were many rich patriarchs and kings in the Old Testament, but in the New Testament we are taught that the root of all evil is the love of money.

Are you in love with the things of this world?

You shouldn’t be, because it is all going to pass away. And the only thing that is going to remain is the Word of God which judges a man’s heart.

Luke 9:23 – 26 Jesus speaks

23 Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? 26 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

Saving and losing your life here is not literal existence, but the desires of the flesh versus the desires of God for you in your life.

CLOSING

1Corinthians 10:1 – 13 Warnings From Israel's History

1 For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert.

6 Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. 7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: "The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry." 8 We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. 9 We should not test the Lord, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. 10 And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.

11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. 12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! 13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.