What comes to your mind when
you hear the word worldliness? Well, I hope by the end of this
message, we'll understand what the Bible means by worldliness. I've entitled this message worldliness. James, chapter two. James chapter 2. Verse 23. James chapter 2. Verse 23. And the scripture was fulfilled,
which saith Abraham believed God. And it was imputed unto
him for righteousness, and he was called the friend of God. Now, did you hear what Abraham
was called? Abraham is called the friend
of God. Now, with reference to a friend,
what is a friend? Well, a friend is someone who
is a friend to somebody else. It means a mutual relationship,
a mutual relationship. Friendship is not one sided.
It's a mutual relationship. There's a mutual love between
two people when they're really friends. And what a blessed thing
friendship is. Abraham was called the friend
of God. God. The living God counted Abraham
his friend, and Abraham counted God his friend. Now, I want to
be somebody who God looks at me and says, He's my friend. And I want to truly consider
God my friend. Yes, my Lord, my Savior, my God,
my friend. Friendship. It's a mutual love. Now look in James, chapter four. Now, I want us to remember. That
James was writing to believers. And yet he says in verse four
of James, chapter four. You adulterers and adulterous
know you not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God. You cannot be a friend of the
world. And if you're a friend of the
world, that means the world loves you and you love the world. There's a mutual relationship. But he says you can't be the
friend of the world and the friend of God. If you're the friend
of the world, you are an enemy. of God. Now, remember, James
is writing to believers, and he makes this statement in verse
one of chapter four. From whence come wars and fightings
among you? Come they not, hence, even of
your lusts that war in your members? Is anybody immune from this?
When I read this verse of Scripture, do you feel Lust warring in your
members, even as I speak. Now, everybody knows exactly
what he's saying when he says this, where from which comes
these fighting and wars and turmoil among you and within you, come
they not from your lust that war against your members? Verse two, he says, you lust,
you desire, you crave and have not. You kill. and desire to
have and cannot obtain. You fight in war, but you have
not because you ask not." Now, he's talking about the experience
of a believer. He says you have this going on
inside of you, this war, this fighting. The flesh lusts against
the spirit, the spirit lusts against the flesh. These two
are contrary, one to the other, so that you cannot do the things
that you would. It's a war. And yet, he says,
the reason you don't have, you're asking for all these things,
but you have not because you ask not. Verse three, you ask
and receive not because you ask amiss, you ask wrongly that you
may consume it upon your lust. You ask to gratify your lust.
You're not asking for something to be enabled to glorify God,
but you're asking for these things simply to gratify yourself. Now,
you know, when I read things like that, I think, I don't know
if I've ever asked for anything without this. Have you? Have you ever
asked anything purely for the glory of God? I've always got
this flesh that I'm dealing with, and I understand what he's saying.
I mean, I read this passage of scripture. I just kind of cringe.
I bet you do, too. Then he says in verse four, you
adulterers and adulteresses. Now, that's not a common way
to talk to people, is it? What about you bunch of adulterers
and adulteresses? I mean, you know, that's not
the way folks usually talk. Well, what is adultery? Well,
it's unfaithfulness. It's unfaithfulness. So have
you ever been unfaithful to the Lord? Well, you know the answer to
that question. So he's not being harsh when he says, you adulterers
and adulteresses, that's what we are in unfaithfulness. But
he says, you adulterers and adulteresses, don't you know that the friendship
of the world is enmity, hatred with God? You can't be a friend
of the world and a friend of God. It is impossible. Whosoever is a friend of the
world is God's enemy. Look in James 1, verse 27. Pure religion, James 1, and there
is such a thing as pure religion. Pure religion and undefiled before
God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows
in their affliction and to keep himself unspotted from the world. Now there's pure religion. You
keep yourself unspotted from the world. Now, here's the big
question. What is meant by the world? Does it mean nice cars
and big homes and stylish clothes? Worldly people after that kind
of stuff? Not necessarily. You can have
all that without being worldly. God had given us all things richly
to enjoy, and we should enjoy the things of this world. We
really should read the book of Ecclesiastes. This is not talking
about asceticism. Turn to First John, Chapter two.
Here's what he means by the world that. We're not to be a friend
of. First, John, Chapter two. Verse 15, John says. Love not the world, neither the
things that are in the world. If any man loved the world, the
love of the Father is not in him. Now, do you hear that? If
I love the world, I know nothing of the love of God. It's not
even in me. Verse 16, for all that's in the
world, And he names this Trinity. The
lust of the flesh. And the lust of the eyes. And
the pride of life. Is not of the father. It is of
the world. And the world passeth away and
the lust thereof. But he that doeth the will of
God abideth forever. Now. The world were forbidden
to not love. And the world we're forbidden
to be friends with is made of these three things. I want you
to listen to this real carefully. I want you to think about what
I'm saying. When he's talking about the world, he's talking
about the lusts of the flesh. And what are the lusts of the
flesh? Well, the flesh he's speaking of is fallen human nature. You know, before Adam fell, he
did not have fallen desires. That's pointed out, for instance,
when they were in the Garden of Eden, both of them were naked
and it wasn't an issue. It wasn't an issue. But as soon
as they fell, all of a sudden their eyes were open. They knew
they were naked. It now becomes an issue because they have a
different nature, a fallen human nature. The lust of the flesh
is the desires, the cravings of fallen human nature. Now,
that can take so many different directions. It may be of desire
for more sexual sin or drugs or drunkenness or something like
that. It may be some kind of lust for power and prestige and
so on, but it's a desire to have your pleasure gratified. What
you find, the lust of the flesh can be represented by pleasure. The lust of the eyes is the desire
about what men see about you rather than what God sees about
you. It's being more concerned with what men think than what
God thinks. It's being controlled by the
fear of man. It's me being more concerned
about what you see in me than what God sees in me. It's being
controlled by what men think and by what men see. Another
way to put it is popularity. The lust of the flesh? Pleasure. The lust of the eyes? Popularity. And then there's the pride of
life. Vain glory. It's what fuels worldly
religion, taking credit for something, wanting to have power, wanting
to have control. That's really what it is, is
wanting to have control. I have control over this. I have something to be proud
about. I've got control. Power. So now you think about this,
and I think this is an accurate description of what everybody
wants. Pleasure, popularity, and power. Isn't that a pretty
accurate description of what every natural man wants? Pleasure,
popularity, and power. Can you see why Paul said the
love of money is the root of all evil? It's not just money
per se, it's what money can give. Money can give me pleasure. Money
can give me popularity, and it can. And money can give me power. It gives me power over other
people. That's why the love of money is the root of all evil. Now, here's what the world is
made of. It comes from a fallen nature, this desire for pleasure. This desire for popularity, this
desire for power. Somebody once said, people spend
money they don't have to buy things they don't need to impress
people they don't like. A lot of truth to that, isn't it?
Get all you can, can all you get, and sit on the can. You've
all heard that before. Now, the reason people seek the
world so earnestly is because of what the world advertises
and promises. Out of me, you can get pleasure. Out of me, you can become popular. And from me, you can get power. Now, this way of thinking and
these promises began back in the Garden of Eden. And Satan
is still using the same thing. He's not changed his method of
operation. Turn to Genesis chapter three. There's not a more important
chapter in all the word of God than this chapter, Genesis chapter
three. Verse one. Now, the serpent, and we know
that is Satan, he came in the form of a serpent. Now, the serpent
was more subtle, was more deceitful than any beast of the field which
the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, he
approaches the woman right now, he doesn't approach Adam, he
approaches Eve, and he says, yea, hath God said you shall
not eat of every tree of the garden? Did God say that? No. God said you should not eat of
the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That's
the tree he commanded concerning. He didn't say anything about
don't eat of every tree. So Satan begins by modifying
what God has said. He modified what God said. And let's go on reading, verse
2. And the woman said unto the serpent,
No, he didn't say that. We may eat of the fruit of the
trees of the garden. You've got it wrong. He didn't
say that. But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst
of the garden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God
has said you shall not eat of it. And he did say you shall
not eat of it. You shall not eat of it, lest
ye die. But notice, she added something
to what God said, and this is where sin began. But if the fruit
of the tree, which is in the midst of the garden, God has
said you should not eat of it, neither shall you touch it. This
is where touch not, taste not, handle not came from. Remember
where Paul warned the Colossians, why are you subject to manmade
rules? Touch not, taste not, handle
not, which all are to perish with the using of those. It began
right here with Eve. Now, what's wrong with that kind
of thinking? Well, it denies what sin is. If I can keep from
touching this thing, if I can keep from bringing it into my
body, I'm not sinning. Sin isn't so much what you do,
It's what you are. And what do I mean by that? I
don't become a liar when I tell a lie. I tell a lie because I'm
already a liar. I don't become a thief when I
steal something. I steal something because I'm
a thief already. Sin is a nature. It's what I
am. And this touch not, taste not,
handle not mentality Means that if I don't do this, if I don't
do that, I can keep from sinning. No, sin is what you are. All
you've got to do is breathe to sin because of your fallen nature. That's why the Bible says the
plowing of the wicked is sin. And there's no activity that
I can think of that seems much more wholesome than plowing.
Think of a guy going out and working hard plowing, maybe to
grow food to feed the poor and that's it. But if a wicked man
does it, it's sin. She opens up the door, but if
the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God
has said you should not eat it, neither shall you touch it, lest
you die. Now, that was sin. The fall didn't take place till
Adam ate. Adam was the representative.
And the Lord said to him, in the day you eat thereof, you'll
surely die. The fall didn't take place when
Eve ate of the fruit because Adam is the representative man.
We fall or stand in Adam, just like we fall or stand in Christ.
But sin had begun when she added to what the Lord said. Verse
4, And the serpent said unto the woman, You shall not surely
die. You don't have to take God exactly
as he said things. You're not going to die. For
God does know that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes
shall be opened and you shall be as God's knowing good and
evil. Now, here's what's going on.
God's trying to prevent you from being like him. Now, why are
you saying that? Well, right now, the devil tells
Eve, you're simply obeying your nature. There's no moral virtue
in what you're doing because there's no choice involved. You're just obeying your nature,
your Got an innocent nature and you're not choosing good over
evil. That's what God does. God chooses
good over evil. And right now you're just obeying
your nature. But if you eat that fruit, here's
what's going to happen. You're going to know good and
evil and you're going to choose good. And that's what's going
to make you like God. You're going to have moral virtue
to what you're doing. This is going to make you just
like God. You're going to know good and
evil and you're going to make the right choice. And that's
going to make you just like God. And that sounds good, doesn't
it? It does seem like there's more moral virtue if we choose
to be good rather than just obeying our nature. What he's tempting
her with is free will. You're going to have a will.
And you're going to have power over your circumstances, and
you're going to be able to be just like God and choose the
good over the evil. You know, the one problem with
that is if you have a free will, that means your will is independent
of God's will. That means you have power over
God's will. It means God's will is not all
powerful. It means yours is. You have control is what that
means. And that's what every man wants, power and control.
If I have a free will, I've got power over my circumstances and
I've got control. And that's what's going on. That's
what he's tempting her with. Verse 6, And when the woman saw
that the tree was good for food, the lust of the flesh, and it
was pleasant to the eyes, the lust of the eyes, and the tree
to be desired to make one wise, the pride of life." You see that? This has always been Satan's
method of operation. This was the temptation then,
the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of
life. Pleasure, popularity, and power. Now, the world makes
these promises. You'll find in me pleasure. You'll
find in me popularity. You'll find in me power. And it's really the God of this
world making these promises. Satan is called the God of this
world. And His children are called children
of this world. Now I want us to consider some
things God says about this world. The Lord said concerning His
elect in John 17, verse 16, they are not of the world. They didn't come from the world.
They were not generated from the world. They're not of the
world, even as I am not of the world. That's what the Lord said.
And he said in John chapter 17, verse 9, concerning his people,
he said, I pray for them. I pray not for the world. How many different ways are there
to take that? The Lord said, I pray not for the world, but
for them which you have given me. for they are thine." The
Lord refused to pray for this world that we're commanded not
to love. The Lord said in John chapter
18, my kingdom is not of this world. It's not some earthly
political kingdom that you try to legislate men into. It's not
of this. See, if my kingdom was of this
world, my servants would die. Then I'd not be delivered from
this. But now my kingdom is not from him. His kingdom is not
of this world. And the Lord said in John chapter
seven, verse seven, to his brothers and sisters who didn't believe
him. I mean, this was this was his flesh and blood, people who
grew up with him. He said to them, the world cannot
hate you. But me, it hated because I testify
of it, that the deeds thereof are evil. And he said in John
15 verses 18 and 19, if the world hate you, he's talking to his
disciples. If the world hate you, you know
that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world,
the world would love his own. If the world loves you, there's
a mutual love going on. There really is. If you're a
friend of the world, it's because the world loves you. You're of
the own. He said if the world If you were of the world, the
world would love its own, but because you're not of the world,
but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore, the world
hateth you. Turn with me to 1 John chapter
4, I'm going to show you a description of the world's preachers. 1 John chapter 4. Beloved, Believe not every spirit,
every Tom, Dick and Harry that claims to be a preacher, but
try the spirits, test the spirits, whether they're of God, because
many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know
ye the spirit of God, every spirit that confesseth. This is a public
proclamation, not somebody who says they believe this, but they
confess. That Jesus Christ is coming to flesh, is of God. Now
that is the true confession. Jesus Christ is coming to flesh.
You know what that means? That means He was before He came.
He's the eternal Son of God. He was before He came. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was
in the beginning. with God. He's the eternal, sovereign
Son of God. He was before He came, and He
came in the flesh. He became flesh, and He did what
He came to do. He came to save His people from
their sins, and that's precisely what He did. He saved His people
from their sins. Became his. He boards, put it
away. His righteousness becomes mine.
I'm one of his people. He came to save his people from
their sins. That's what he came to do. Now,
there's a confession of that. Now, look at verse three. And
every spirit that confesseth not. That Jesus Christ has come in
the flesh. This is the spirit of Antichrist. Where have you
heard that it should come? And even now already it's in
the world. Now, let me hold your finger
there and turn back to John, Chapter 12. John, Chapter 12. Verse 42. Nevertheless. Among the chief rulers, also
many believed on him. But because of the Pharisees,
they did not confess him. They believed, it says, but they
didn't confess. Now, let me ask you a question.
Were these folks saved? No. They didn't have saving faith. They had some kind of intellectual
ascent, but they didn't have saving faith. Look what our Lord
goes on to say. Nevertheless, among the chief
rulers, also many believed on him, but because of the Pharisees,
they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the
synagogue, for they loved the praise of men more than the praise
of God. They were more concerned about
what men think than what God thinks. They were controlled
by the lust of the eyes, and that kept them from confessing
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, back to first John, chapter
four, you see the importance of confessing. Verse four. Year of God, little
children have overcome them. Those false prophets, because
greater is he that's in you than he that's in the world, the devil. They are of the world, these
men who fail to confess the gospel. They are of the world. Therefore,
speak they of the world. They have language that the Lord,
that the world can understand and receive. And the world hears
them. We are of God. He that knoweth
God, heareth us. He that's not of God, Here's
not us. Hereby know we the spirit of
truth and the spirit of error. And John says, if you're of God,
you'll hear what I'm saying. And if you're not, you won't.
The spirit of the world and its preachers, the failure to confess
the truth concerning who God is, the truth concerning who
Christ is, what he accomplished, who man is in his utter inability
to save himself. The truth of grace, it's a failure
to confess, maybe in there. They'll discuss it among themselves
and say, well, I believe that. But I'm talking about the public
proclamation of the truth. They fail to confess. The world
has its preachers. While you're there in 1 John,
chapter five, look in verse 19. Here's John's estimate of the
world. He says in 1 John 5, 19, And
we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. That's John's estimate of the
world, the whole world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the
eyes, the pride of life, it lies in wickedness. Listen to this
scripture from 1 Corinthians 1, 21. Paul said, For after that,
in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom, by its own wisdom,
knew not God. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching, the foolishness of what's going on right now
to save them that believe. Now, what is the believer called
upon to do with the world? Remember what the world is. It's
not talking about the planet. It's talking about that spirit,
the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life.
It's talking about the love, the lust for power, popularity. Pleasure, that's what the world
is. That's the desires of this fallen world. What is the believer
called upon to do? Well, first. Love, not the world. Love, not the world. And you
know what? I don't love the world. I don't. I hate the world. In that sense, every believer
does love, not the world. Now you see in your fallen human
nature that which does love the world. Somebody says, I don't
have any problems at all with with the lust for pleasure, popularity
or power. You're a liar. That's all I can
say. You're a liar. That's in your
flesh and you know it. And you ask the Lord to deliver
you completely from that. You don't love the world. The new man doesn't, does he?
He doesn't. Paul said in Romans chapter 12,
verse 2, be not conformed to this world. Don't be like this world, but
be transformed. by the renewing of your mind
that you might prove what is that good and acceptable and
perfect will of God. Don't be conformed to this world,
the values, the philosophy, the maxims of this world. In Luke
chapter 16, verse 13, our Lord tells us this, that which is
highly esteemed, held very valuable among men, is an abomination
in the sight of God. Don't be conformed to this world. I've already read this, James
1, 27. Pure religion and undefiled before
the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and the widows
in their affliction. It's seeming what you do. And
to keep yourself unspotted from this world. this world's values,
this world's religion. I stay away from it. I don't
want to be identified in any way with this world. You see,
the believers called upon to be a stranger and a pilgrim. And we are strangers, aren't
we? We're strangers in this world. I'm looking for a better world,
a heaven, a world where in dwelleth righteousness. And I'm just passing
through here. You know, I love to think of
a hotel room. I've brought this out before.
You go to a hotel. I've stayed in some hotel rooms
with dirty sheets and dirty floors and just, you know, I'm not going
to do that anymore. I mean, we made an agreement.
I used to try to save money. Lady got so mad at me. I tried
to save money. We'd be going somewhere. I'd get in some cheap
hotel and just ruin the rest of the trip. She was so mad at
me. So clean hotel rooms. I want a nice clean hotel room.
But you know what? I'm not going to take a bunch
of money and put up new paintings and stuff in that and try to
put new... I'm just there for a little while. Now, I want to
be in a nice hotel room, but I'm not going to invest much
in that because that's just temporary. And this world is just temporary,
isn't it? And I'm not going to invest much
in it. Turn with me to Galatians chapter
six. Now, these are the words of Paul,
the apostle. And Paul is the man that God
used more than any other man to expound his gospel. The Lord
took Paul up into the third heavens and taught him the gospel directly.
He wasn't taught the way I was and the way you are from another
man. He was taught directly from the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, that's special, isn't it? He was used to write 13 books
in the Bible. I try to put myself in that place,
you know, the epistle of Todd to the Lexingtonians, you know,
in the scriptures. I feel pretty important, feel
pretty good about myself. I mean, he was used to found
so many churches. I mean, there's never been anybody
used like the Apostle Paul was and what a man he was. He loved
men so much he could say, I could wish that I myself were a curse
from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh. He was saying I'd be willing
to be damned if they'd be saved. Can you get a hold of that? What
a man this man was. Nobody liked him as far as a
man goes. Paul the Apostle, how greatly
he was used of God. But look what he says in verse
14. Galatians chapter 6. But God
forbid that I should glory, that I should have confidence in,
should I should think that God was pleased with me because I
wrote the Scriptures or because He used me in such a miraculous
way. Therefore, I must be special.
God forbid that I should glory, that I should have confidence
in, that I should have reliance on anything Save the cross of
our Lord Jesus Christ. God forbid that I should have
confidence in anything but what my Lord did for me on Calvary
Street. That's all I have. I don't have
confidence in how God used me. I don't have confidence in my
thoughts. Here's the only thing I have confidence in that when
Christ said it is finished. My salvation was accomplished
outside of anything I've ever done. He did it all. Now, God forbid that I should
glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the
world is crucified unto me. The world that men are lusting
at, I see it as a crucified thing. In light of the cross, how offensive
the world is to me. That's exactly what he means.
And I under the world, the world views me the way I view them.
They have no love for Christ and they have no love for me
because of my glory in the cross. I see the world as a crucified
thing and the world sees me the same way. Now this world makes
promises it quite simply cannot deliver. Our Lord said, what
would it profit a man if he gained the whole world? What good would it do you if
you had every pleasure this world has to offer? And if you had
the smile of this world If you had everybody loving you and
everybody in the world being for you, what good would it do
you if you had the power of this world and you had power and influence
over people? What would it profit a man if
he gave the whole world and lose his soul? What will a man give in exchange
for his soul? I think of that man in Luke chapter
12 who was quite successful and came up with an idea. He had
so many fruits and he said, here's what I'm going to do. I've got
more than I can deal with right now, so I'm going to tear down
my barns and I'm going to build bigger barns. I'm going to put
all my fruits in them and the world will congratulate him.
He did a good thing. I mean, that makes sense. And I'll say
to my soul, soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years.
Eat, drink, Take your ease. Be merry. You're in good shape.
And the Lord said, God's going to say to him, thou fool. This night, thy soul shall be
required of thee. Now, here's the thought I want
to leave you with. What the unbeliever seeks in
the world The believer seeks in Christ. I appeal to every believer. What
is more pleasurable than hearing the gospel and the power of the
Holy Spirit? What is more pleasurable than knowing your sins are forgiven
and blotted out? What is more pleasurable than
being enabled to see the excellency and the glory and the beauty
of the Lord Jesus Christ and to know that He's all you need? Is there any pleasure the world
has to offer that can compare with that? Truly. Truly. What do you want? The world or
Christ? Christ. Popularity. What's better than being popular
with God? Having God for you. Having his
approval. If God be for us. Who can be
against us? If you have God on your side.
If you have the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior and he loves you,
what could be better than that? That's a whole lot better than
being popular with the world. You know, I want you to be pleased
with me. Don't don't get me wrong. I want folks to be pleased with
me. I really do. But if Christ is pleased with me, I don't care
if nobody else is. I really don't. And Lord knows whether that's
true, but I'm saying it's true. I must have his approval and
what glory there is in having his. Talking about power, the
world's power, that person has power. No, he doesn't. He doesn't
have any power. I've got power. Power belongeth
unto the Lord. Any power any man has is a borrowed
power. But you think of the power of
this world. What about this? God said to Jacob, as a prince,
thou hast power with God and prevailed. Every believer has
the ear of God and they have omnipotence on their side. Now that is power. You're a man
of faith. Oh, what power he has. A man without faith, you know
how much power he has? None. I love it when Pilate said to
the Lord, speakest thou not to me? Don't you know that I have
power to crucify you and I have power to condemn you? The Lord
said, you could have no power at all over me. Except it be
given thee from above. That's human power. None. And however any man acts is only
what God allows him to do. But to have power with God. As a prince thou has power with
God and hath prevailed. Now. What the world's looking for.
Pleasure, popularity and power. the believer has in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, if there's somebody who
wants out of the mess of this world. You see the world for
what it is. The lust of the flesh, the lust
of the eyes and the pride of life, and you see you just see
its offensiveness and how contrary it is to God, you see that. Now
what? Well, listen to this Scripture.
Christ Jesus came into the world, this world that hates Him, this
world who has no love for Him. He came into the world, the place
where me and you are, to save sinners. Now there's good news for a sinner.
He came into this world to save sinners. Did he do it? Yes. Let's pray.