Now the part of the chapter that I'd like to focus on
is beginning there in verse 11 where the Bible reads,
for the grace of God that bringeth salvation
hath appeared to all men, teaching us
that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts,
we should live soberly, righteously, and godly
in this present world.
And I want to focus in on that term there, worldly lusts.
A lot of people today don't use the word worldly.
It's not in their vocabulary.
I've even had people who heard my sermons where
I preach about being worldly or worldliness say,
what are you talking about, worldliness?
You know, what does it mean to be worldly?
And these people said, I've read the Bible,
and I don't even know what you're talking
about when you say worldly.
But worldly is a Bible word, actually.
And this concept is found throughout the Bible.
And what I want to explain this morning
is the definition of what worldliness is.
What does it mean to be worldly according to the Bible?
And I want to point out three things about worldliness.
Now, first of all, the main thing
that is associated with worldliness in the Bible
is lust.
Right here, when we actually see the word worldly,
it says that we should deny ungodliness and worldly lusts.
Go to 1 John, chapter 2, 1 John, chapter number 2.
Toward the very end of the New Testament there,
1 John, chapter number 2, we want
to understand what it means to be worldly.
Number one, it has to do with a person who is characterized
by worldly lust.
Look at verse number 15 of 1 John, chapter 2.
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.
If any man love the world, the love of the Father
is not in him.
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh,
and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life,
is not of the Father, but is of the world.
And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof.
But he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.
Here once again in this passage, loving the world
is associated with lust.
It says, all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh,
the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.
I also want to point out that in verse 15
there, it says love not the world,
neither the things that are in the world.
So what does it mean to be worldly or to love the world?
It is one who lusts after the things of this world.
And what does it mean to lust?
Well, the word lust in the Bible is used synonymously
with the words desire and covet.
Those are the two words that will help you understand
what the word lust means, desire and covet.
Of course, one of the 10 commandments
is thou shalt not covet.
And when you covet something, it means
that you wish that you had something that you do not have.
For example, the Bible lists thou shalt not
covet thy neighbor's wife.
And then it also lists all of his other possessions,
thou shalt not covet his ox or his ass, his manservant,
his maidservant.
When we wish that we had a different wife than the one
that we have, or when we wish that we had a different husband
than the one that we have, or a different car than the car
that we have, or we say, man, I wish I had a car,
and we don't have a car, and we can't afford a car,
and we're not going to get a car, but we just say, man,
I just wish I had a car.
Everybody else said, why don't I have a car?
That's covetousness.
That is lust.
When you, as a single person, look upon a woman
to lust after her, and you're single, that is covetousness.
That is wrong.
When you, as a married person, look upon another woman
to lust after her instead of your own wife,
that is covetousness.
That is the lust of the flesh.
That is what the Bible is talking about when
it says worldly lust.
You see, the world is constantly trying to offer us things
and put things in front of us that are off-limits unto us,
and trying to get us to desire those things that
are off-limits.
Now, if we desire something that is within our limit,
that's OK.
It's great to be married and to desire your wife
or to desire your husband.
That is a legitimate godly desire,
or to just be happy with the children that you have,
and the car that you have, and the house that you have,
and the life that you live.
But when we begin to become discontented with what we have
and always want something better,
and we don't like our house, we need a better house,
and we don't like our car, we need a better car,
and we wish that our spouse would be a different spouse.
Because it would be so much better
if we were with this other person.
That is lust.
That is covetousness.
And it is a major sin.
It's the 10th commandment on the 10 commandments.
But really, it is the commandment
that if you break it, it'll lead you into all sin.
Because the Bible says when lust have conceived,
it bringeth forth sin, and sin when it is finished,
bringeth forth death.
That's why the Bible says, for the love of money
is the root of all evil.
Which while some coveted after,
they have erred from the faith,
and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
The Bible says they that will be rich
fall into temptation and a snare,
and into many foolish and hurtful lusts,
which drown men in destruction and perdition.
We need to make sure that lust
is not a characteristic that we have.
And when we talk about worldliness,
one of the main things that the Bible associates this with
is worldly lust.
Isn't the world always trying to entice you
with something that you don't have?
I mean, think about it.
You turn on the TV, and they are showing you,
hey, you need this better car.
And they're showing you, hey, you need this better house.
And hey, you need to do this, and you need to fix that.
And then they're showing you all these scantily clad women
saying, look at these women, lust after these women,
instead of thinking about your own wife.
Or showing you all the men, or whatever,
that you should be looking at these debonair men
on television, tall, dark, and handsome, or whatever.
It's hard for me to understand that mentality.
But let me say this.
It's worldliness.
When you have an attitude that says,
I always need something else.
I'm not happy with the things that I have.
And you always need more money, more possessions,
a better lifestyle financially.
That's a worldly mentality.
Because the Bible says, set your affection on things above,
not on things on the earth.
The Bible says, the things which are seen are temporal.
The things that are not seen are eternal.
Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
And so when we talk about worldliness and being worldly,
it's this attitude that just wants to get more stuff.
The one who dies with the most toys wins.
You know, just this attitude that says,
I just need another boat, another RV, another vehicle,
more pleasure, more goods.
The Bible says, love not the world, neither the things
that are in the world.
If any man love the world, the love of the Father
is not in him.
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh,
the lust, what does that mean?
Wanting to just gratify the flesh with things
that are off limits to you.
The lust of the eyes, that's where you look at everything
and you wish that it belonged to you.
Whether that is another man's wife
or whether that is a car in the parking lot.
That's the lust of the eyes.
When you're looking at things and wow,
I wish I had that house.
And a lot of people today don't even
realize that that's a sin today.
A lot of people, if you said, hey,
did you know that if you look at a fancy house
and say, I wish I had that house, that that's a sin,
that that's covetousness?
Most people probably wouldn't even believe you.
Because our society has been so ingrained with covetousness.
But it's a worldly philosophy that
thinks that everything that we can acquire in this world
is going to bring us happiness in life.
Says the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes,
and the pride of life is not of the Father,
but is of the world.
Flip over to James chapter 4, just a few pages
to the left in your Bible.
And it's really amazing when you stop
to consider how consistent this is.
When we looked up worldliness in Titus chapter 2,
what did it mention?
Worldly lust.
When we looked up worldliness in 1st John 2,
the famous verse about loving the world, what was brought up?
Lust, lust, lust, and loving the things of the world,
wanting more things, wanting to acquire more possessions.
Look at James 4 and watch as the pattern continues.
Verse 4, ye adulterers and adulteresses,
know ye not that the friendship of the world
is enmity with God?
Whosoever, therefore, will be a friend of the world
is the enemy of God.
So just as we saw that if you love the world,
the love of the Father is not in you,
now he's talking about friendship with the world
being enmity with God.
OK, let's back up to verse 1, see what he's talking about.
Let's get the context.
It says, from whence come wars and fightings among you?
Come they not hence of your what?
Lusts.
Isn't it interesting how that always comes up?
Your lusts that war in your members, ye lust and have not.
Ye kill and what?
Desire to have and cannot obtain.
Three times so far.
Ye fight in war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
Ye ask and receive not, because ye
ask amiss that you may consume it upon your what?
Lusts.
For the fourth time, then he says, ye adulterers
and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship
of the world is enmity with God?
Whosoever, therefore, will be a friend of the world
is the enemy of God.
Do you think that the scripture saith in vain,
the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
What is envy?
Coveting something that belongs to someone else.
Wishing that you had something that belongs to someone else.
So, so far, the lust count is up to six times
here, just in this one passage on worldliness.
He says in verse 6, but he giveth more grace.
Wherefore, he saith, God resisteth the proud,
but giveth grace unto the humble.
Submit yourselves, therefore, to God.
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Draw an eye to God, and he will draw an eye to you.
Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts,
you double-minded.
2 Peter, chapter 1.
Just a few pages to the right, 2 Peter, chapter number 1.
And look at verse number 2.
It says, grace and peace be multiplied
unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,
according as his divine power hath given unto us
all things that pertain unto life and godliness,
through the knowledge of him that hath called us
to glory and virtue.
2 Peter 1, verse 4.
Whereby are given unto us exceeding
great and precious promises, that by these ye
might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped
the corruption that is in the world through lust.
Do you see that?
The corruption that's in the world.
What's it about?
Well, it's through lust.
The corruption that is in the world through lust.
Verse after verse.
Go to Mark, chapter 4.
Verse after verse after verse.
And people say, what do you mean by worldliness?
I don't understand what's wrong with worldliness.
What does it mean when you say that somebody is worldly?
Well, does this help you understand?
Person who lusts after all the possessions they can get,
all the money they can get.
Maybe they're lusting after another man's wife or whatever.
That's what the Bible's talking about when
it talks about worldliness.
It's this spirit that doesn't realize
what Christ has given us and the blessings
that we've been given in our life.
And that's what the Bible just focused on in 2 Peter 1 there,
verses 2 through 4.
It was talking about all the things
that God has given us and all the things
that Christ has given us.
And it says, escape the world's lust
and realize what Christ has given you.
That's why the Bible says in Hebrews 13,
let your conversation be without covetousness
and be content with such things as you have.
For he had said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.
Why should we be content?
Because we have Jesus.
Why should we be content?
Because we're going to heaven.
Why should we be content?
Because we have the word of God.
Why should we be content?
Because we have physical blessings on this earth
that God has given us, whether it's good food that you eat,
whether it's a warm bed that you sleep in,
or in Arizona, a cool bed that you sleep in.
That is what we long for.
But you've got a cool bed to sleep in.
You've got food.
You've got drink.
You've got clothing.
Maybe you have good health.
Maybe you have a spouse.
Maybe you have children.
Some of these things you might have.
Some of them you don't.
But we need to just thank God for the physical blessings
we have and to know that we always
have the spiritual blessings of the Holy Spirit, salvation,
the word of God.
And those things are more valuable than anything
that the world has to offer.
Our home in heaven is more valuable.
Look at Mark chapter 4.
And look at the same thing again in verse 19.
We already preached about this a couple weeks ago
when we were going through the book of Mark.
But it says in verse 19, and the cares of this world.
So again, we're talking about the things of the world,
being worldly.
The cares of this world, what's the next thing?
The deceitfulness of riches.
Fits right in with the pattern.
And the lusts of other things entering in choke the word
and it becomeeth unfruitful.
It's pretty hard to escape from the fact
that when the Bible says worldly and worldliness,
it's talking about lust.
It's talking about covetousness.
It's talking about desiring things
that don't belong to you.
It's talking about not being content with what you have.
That is what it means to have a worldly philosophy
and a worldly mentality.
But it means more than that.
Go to Romans 12.
Let's see the second thing about worldliness.
First of all, we see that worldliness
has to do with worldly lusts.
The lust of this world that passes away.
But look at Romans 12.
And I want to show you that the second thing
that we mean when we say worldliness is conformity
unto the world.
Now, the word conformed means patterned.
That's how we would probably say it in 2014.
Being patterned after the world, that's
what it means to be worldly, being conformed.
Look at Romans chapter 12, verse 1.
It says, I beseech you, therefore,
brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies
a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,
which is your reasonable service.
And be not conformed to this world,
but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect
will of God.
Go back just a couple pages to chapter 8.
And you'll notice another use of the word conformed.
So in Romans 12, he said, be not conformed to this world,
saying, don't be patterned after the world.
But look what it says in Romans 8 29.
For whom he did foreknow, referring to the fact
that God knows in advance who is going to get saved
and who's not, because God knows the end from the beginning.
He's all knowing.
It says, for whom he did foreknow,
he also did predestinate to be conformed,
notice the same word, to be conformed
to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn
among many brethren.
So according to this verse, we that are saved,
we whom God foreknew would receive Christ as Savior,
our destiny is to one day be conformed
to the image of his son.
The Bible says that at the second coming of Christ,
we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
The Bible says that he shall change our vile body,
that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body.
Notice that.
Like unto his glorious body, according to the working
whereby he is able even to subdue all things
unto himself.
We are going to one day be conformed
to the image of Jesus Christ.
But even at this time, we should strive
as much as possible in our sinful flesh
to strive to be conformed to Jesus,
not conform to the world.
We need to conform to the word, not to the world.
Now let me just point out a verse that I think
will help you see what I mean by this.
You don't have to turn there, but in Exodus 23 verse 2,
it says, thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil.
That's what God's warning us about when
he says for us not to be conformed unto the world.
He says, don't follow a multitude to do evil.
There are a lot of things about this world that are wrong.
And it's easy for us to fall into the trap of saying,
well, I'm just going to be like everybody else.
Like the children of Israel said,
give us a king that we may be like all the nations.
And it's easy for us to just want to go with the flow,
go to school, go to work, go wherever, and just say,
I want to just be like everybody else.
I see everybody else living a certain way.
That's how I'm going to live.
The Bible says, do not be conformed to this world.
Don't just go along to get along.
Don't just act and dress and be exactly like the world.
He's saying, be different.
Don't just conform to the world.
Be transformed.
Be changed.
And be conformed under the image of Jesus Christ.
Now let me stop and say this, though.
There are a lot of people who will take this thing of, hey,
don't be conformed to the world, and they'll
take it to an extreme that's a wrong extreme.
And they'll start telling you, well, don't do this
because the world does that.
And it's not anything that the Bible tells
us not to do in scripture.
Now look, just because the world does something,
it doesn't make it wrong.
I mean, the world gets up and puts on a pair of pants.
That doesn't mean it's wrong for me to get up and put
on a pair of pants.
The world eats eggs and sausage for breakfast.
I'm going to eat eggs and sausage for breakfast.
It's not going to be like, hey, you're like the world.
And look, it might sound crazy, but there
are people who just, they don't want
to dress like the world at all.
So they dress like a weirdo.
And you know what?
They're doing is just drawing attention to themselves.
And listen to me, it's not godly.
It's not modest.
They say, oh, yeah, we're dressed.
Look at me.
Look how modest I am, is an oxymoron.
Because what does it mean to be modest?
It means that you're not drawing attention to yourself.
It means that you're not bragging or boasting
or saying, look at me.
I mean, if I told you, I would show you
my skills on the basketball court, but I'm too modest.
What am I saying?
I'm basically saying, I don't want to brag.
Of course, I just did.
Of course, I'm terrible at basketball.
I don't want to brag.
I don't want to show off, right?
So if a person is showing off, isn't that
the opposite of being modest?
Person's bragging, that's the opposite of modest.
Look, folks, this is what the word modest means.
A lot of people don't understand the meaning of the word modest.
If I said I live in a modest home, what does it mean?
It's not a home that draws a bunch of attention to itself
and everybody says, that's the most amazing home
I've ever seen.
It's just a basic modest dwelling.
If I have a modest income, what does that mean?
It's not really impressing anyone.
It's not really standing out as being anything special.
If a woman wears modest apparel, what's
the opposite of modest apparel according to the Bible?
Broided hair, gold, pearls, and costly array.
He's talking about fancy, flashy clothing
as being the opposite of modest clothing.
Now obviously, if a woman is scantily clad
with the short skirt and the low cut top,
that's not being modest because she's trying
to draw attention to her body.
And so that definition definitely
applies to the word modest.
But let me tell you, the primary definition
of the word modest is that you are being humble and not
drawing attention to yourself.
So here's the thing, when you put on a prairie dress
from the 1800s and you purposely pick the ugliest fabric
you could possibly find in the fabric store
and go around looking like you're in public in a nightgown,
that's not being modest because everywhere you go,
people are staring at you.
And you're like, look how holy I am.
Look how godly I am.
Everybody look at me.
And it's just like these anti-Christ Jewish rabbis
go around in a weird outfit.
Look at me, everybody.
Or like the Catholic priest, right?
Weird outfit.
Everybody see me at the airport?
The nuns at the airport.
Everybody see how holy and pure I am?
Everybody see this?
Look, that's not modest apparel.
Modest apparel is when you just dress
in just normal, humble clothing.
Not fancy, super expensive, showing all the name brands
and everything, just normal, moderate, humble clothing.
That's what that's referred to.
If you're a lady, you know what modest apparel looks like?
It's not dressing in some weird, antiquated way
just to make a point about how modest you are.
You can dress normally for the culture that you live in.
If you live in America, if you're living in Africa,
if you're living in Asia, it's going
to be a little different maybe.
But you can dress normally, but you're not
going to follow the multitude to dress
in a way that's ungodly.
See, the wrong kind of conformity
to the world in the way that you dress
is when the trend becomes a short skirt
and you put on the short skirt.
Now you're worldly.
Now you're conformed to this world.
Why?
Because you're violating scripture
because the Bible teaches that a woman's thighs should
be covered.
That's what the Bible teaches in both Isaiah 47, 2, and 3.
In Exodus 28, 42, we find that the thighs are your nakedness,
and so you should be covered.
So when you follow an ungodly trend
and when you see all the girls at the beach
are all putting on a bikini and you say,
I'm not dressing any different than everybody else.
See, now you're following a multitude to do evil.
By going out scantily clad, half naked,
that is when you're being conformed to this world
and not conformed to the word.
But if you just dress normal and you can still be in style
and not look like you're dressed from 40 years ago or 400 years
ago, but as long as you are not dressed
in a sinful, provocative, sleazy, flashy way,
as long as you keep it godly and modest,
you shouldn't dress in a way that just, look at me,
everybody.
And these Amish people, the way that they dress,
that's what they're doing.
It's pride is what it is.
It's an outward show for them.
And by the way, the rules that they follow for dress
are not biblical.
They're made up by man.
When they tell you, oh, you can only have so many flowers
per square inch, that's man.
That's man's teaching.
That's not the word of God.
And we should not teach for doctrines, the commandments
of men.
So there could be people who take this to an extreme
where just anything that they don't like,
anything that they don't approve of because
of their own personal opinion, they'll just say,
oh, that's worldly.
And it just becomes a catch-all for just, I don't approve it.
I don't like it.
Therefore, it's worldly.
No, the word of God should determine what's worldly.
The lusts and covetousness that God described are worldly,
because the Bible classified them as worldly.
And when the Bible says, don't be conformed to this world,
the opposite of that is in verse 1.
Are you still there in Romans 12?
It says at the end of verse 1 there
that our bodies should be a living sacrifice,
wholly acceptable to God.
So you say, well, how do I know what's worldly?
When you're following the trends of the world
and you're going against scripture, that's worldly.
That's what I'm talking about.
So we're not talking about just, oh, anytime
you wear stylish clothes, you're worldly.
No, but when you do things that are
ungodly in the name of fitting in, that's worldliness.
That's conformity to this world.
You know, for example, today men are
effeminate in the way that they dress and look and act often.
And you know what, we shouldn't conform to that.
We need to be different.
We need to be set apart.
And when you see the queer-looking skinny jeans
and the men who are sagging their jeans,
you say, well, where does the Bible say, you know,
not to wear skinny jeans and sag them down?
And some of these skinny jeans are
impossible to pull all the way up.
They're designed in such a way where the waist can never
reach its goal.
It's true.
And let me tell you something.
You say, where does it say that in the Bible?
I'll tell you where, when it says not to be effeminate.
And you see these little queer little sissy-looking clothing
on men.
And you know, that's the style, this metro look or emo
or whatever it's called this week.
Let me tell you something.
If you're a man, you need to dress like a man
because the Bible said so.
If you're a woman, you need to dress like a woman
because the Bible said so.
And when you violate that because you say, well,
I'm just dressing like everybody else,
now you're being conformed to this world.
So we don't want to go to either false extreme.
We don't want to sit there and say, oh, anything the world does
is worldly.
I don't like it, it's worldly.
I don't approve of it, it's worldly.
No, back it up with chapter and verse.
I've got a chapter and verse on being effeminate,
and that covers skinny jeans.
Also, I can cover it from Song of Solomon,
where he talks about the legs being like pillars of marble,
not like sticks of straw.
But anyway, I digress.
So worldliness is conformity to the world.
Number one, it's worldly lust.
And by the way, there's nothing wrong with being
skinny as a man.
I grew up skinny.
Some people are skinny.
But you know what, do you just have
to go around just showing everybody
look at me how skinny I am?
Build some muscle on that frame.
And if you're not going to build some muscle on that frame,
at least dress in a way where you're not just accentuating
every bony curve of your body.
I'm serious.
I mean, what kind of a weird culture
glorifies how skinny we can be?
And there are literally people who purposely eat
as little as possible just to try
to get as skinny as they can.
And I mean, I don't know if it's some kind of an experiment
on how skinny you can be and still be alive.
But it's weird.
Eat food.
But anyway, worldly lust, number one.
Number two, conformity to the world.
And when we say conformity to the world,
we mean where you're going along with ungodly trends,
gender-bending trends, or trends
where you're exposing a lot of your nakedness,
or just other trends that are just ungodly.
But we don't want it to be a catch-all
where we don't have chapter and verse to back it up.
So number one, worldly lust.
Number two, conformity to the world.
And number three, a worldly mentality.
Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 1.
What do we mean by worldly?
Well, we mean the covetousness that characterizes
the world that we live in.
What do we mean by worldly?
We mean someone who just follows every trend of the world,
whether it lines up with the Bible or not.
They just want to go along to get along and fit in.
That's worldliness, number two.
And number three, worldliness is when
we have a worldly mentality, meaning
that instead of having our opinions based on scripture,
our opinions are based on what society thinks about things
right now.
That's worldly.
So if I were to say somebody is worldly,
it would mean one of these three things.
Maybe they're a very covetous person.
Maybe they're a very trendy person that even
follows every sinful trend.
And thirdly, it could mean a person
who has a very worldly mentality,
meaning when I get their opinion on a subject,
it's not coming from the word of God.
It's coming from the TV.
It's coming from the school system.
It's coming from whatever this world thinks is acceptable.
And what this world considers acceptable
is a shifting sand that changes all the time.
For example, 60 years ago, homosexuals
were put in straitjackets.
True or false?
I mean, even the police.
I had a police manual that I found
put out by the federal government for the National
Park Service police.
And it had a whole chapter on the filthy sodomites.
And you know what it said in it?
It said, this person is sick and perverted,
and he's after children.
Put out by the federal government.
And this was from like the 50s or 60s.
It said he's a pedophile.
He's after children.
He's dangerous.
Here's the signs that you look for to the arresting
officer on dealing with this.
But see, nowadays, of course, it's, oh, they're
so loving and wonderful.
And they're just like everybody else.
And they just love another dude or whatever.
But you know what, though?
The Bible's always said the same thing.
Filthy, vile, abomination, they shall surely be put to death.
I mean, that's what God lined out in the Old Testament.
But see, the worldly person says, oh, they're born that way.
The spiritual person says, God gave them over
to a reprobate mind to do those things which
are not convenient.
God gave them over to vile affections
because when they knew not God, they glorified him not as God.
They became vain in their imaginations.
Their foolish heart was darkened.
You know, that's what scripture, Romans 1
is the scriptural teaching.
The world says, oh, it's a choice.
It's an alternative lifestyle.
They're born that way.
But hold on a second.
You say, I don't agree with you, Pastor Anderson.
You're worldly.
Because I just quoted scripture, and you're quoting the world.
You're quoting TV.
You're quoting Hollywood.
It's meaningless to me.
But look what the Bible says here in 1 Corinthians 1, 18.
It says, for the preaching of the cross
is to them the parish foolishness.
But unto us which are saved, it is the power of God.
For it is written, I will destroy
the wisdom of the wise.
And I will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
Where is the wise?
Where is the scribe?
Where is the disputer of this world?
Had not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
For after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom
knew not God.
It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe.
Right there, God says, you know, the wisdom of this world
is foolishness with God.
So there's people that are wise according to this world.
And then there are people that are truly wise
in the word of God.
Flip over to chapter 2, if you would.
It says in verse 5 that your faith should not
stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect,
yet not the wisdom of this world,
nor of the princes of this world that come to naught.
But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even
the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world
unto our glory, which none of the princes of this world knew.
For had they known it, they would not have crucified
the Lord of glory.
Flip over to chapter 3.
Chapter 3, he says in verse 18, let no man deceive himself.
If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world,
let him become a fool that he may be wise.
The Bible says, if you're truly wise,
the world will look at you and call you a fool.
That's what the Bible says.
If the world looks at you and says,
you know, Pastor Anderson is a very wise man.
There may be some things that we disagree with Pastor Anderson
on, but let me tell you something, he's very wise.
Do you think that that's ever been said by any newspaper,
television station about yours truly?
Ever or ever will be?
Well, let's give him one thing, he's wise.
No, but has Pastor Anderson been called a fool?
Over and over and over.
Because here's the thing, if you actually believe the Bible
and take a stand on it, you're a fool to the world.
But you know what?
To those of us that are saved and we understand
the wisdom of God, we look at the world's wise men,
we look at Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle
and think that they're all fools.
You know, we look at Richard Dawkins,
and we look at Stephen Hawking, and we
look at the so-called intellectuals of this world,
and we consider them complete idiots.
And they are idiots, they're fools.
The fool has said in his heart, there is no God.
But to the world, oh, those men are very intelligent,
they're very wise.
You know, you've got to respect the wisdom.
No, God didn't respect Cain's offering.
I don't respect any false doctrine or false wisdom
of this world.
It's foolishness.
Look at 2 Corinthians chapter 4.
It says in verse 3, 2 Corinthians,
so we're jumping all the way to 2 Corinthians chapter 4.
Verse 3, it says, but if our gospel be hid,
it is hid to them that are lost in whom the God of this world
hath blinded the minds of them which believe not,
lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ,
who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
So the Bible calls the devil the god of this world,
because he's who the world actually looks to.
When they're not saved, that's who they look to.
So when we talk about being worldly,
we're talking about the wisdom of the world, man's wisdom,
man's logic.
And you know where they got it from is the devil,
because the devil has blinded their minds,
and that's why they're foolish, because they're blinded
by the devil.
That's why they don't have real wisdom,
because the god as well has blinded their minds.
And you know, if the blind lead the blind,
they both fall into the ditch.
And so we don't want to look to the world for wisdom.
Go to 1 John chapter 5, 1 John chapter 5.
And let me just give you some points on this.
You know, when it comes to marriage,
do you have a worldly mentality or a biblical mentality
on marriage?
Because if you're going to tell me,
Pastor Anderson, I have a biblical view of marriage,
then that means that you should be able to cite chapter
and verse and show me what the Bible says about marriage
and why you believe it is thus.
And say, this is where I'm getting
my opinions on marriage.
It's right here in the Bible.
But the world, they have a philosophy about marriage,
don't they?
It's very different than what the scriptures teach.
They teach a completely different teaching on marriage.
When it comes to raising your kids,
the world has a philosophy.
They have several philosophies out there.
And then there's the Bible's philosophy.
Unless you can articulate to me your child-rearing philosophy
using scripture, you probably got it from the world.
Attachment parenting, or whatever the trend
is this week in parenting.
All these strange ideas and newfangled.
And you know, there's got to be a new one every generation.
Because it fails.
And a generation tries it, it fails,
and oh, we've got to repackage this.
We've got to come up with something else.
But the Bible never changes.
The Bible always is right.
If you are one, now look, and I'll just
get specific here quickly.
You know, the Bible teaches for you to spank your kids.
That's what it teaches.
It says, he that spareth his rod, heedeth his son.
But he that loveth him, chasteneth him, betimes.
The Bible says, withhold not correction from the child.
For if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
Thou shall beat him with the rod,
and shall deliver his soul from hell.
The Bible teaches spanking your children.
And listen, if you don't spank your children, you're worldly.
Using timeouts, you're worldly.
Dr. Spock, worldly.
Attachment parenting, worldly.
Spanking your children, biblical.
That is the measure of worldliness.
You say, oh, well, you know, my wife and I,
everything's just 50-50 with us.
Worldly.
And by the way, there's no such thing as 50-50.
If a man tells you his marriage is 50-50,
it means he's got 10% of the power.
And his wife has 90.
Or I guarantee you, somebody's got 51,
and the other one's got 49.
But let me tell you this.
It's worldly.
The Bible says the husband is the head of the wife,
as Christ is the head of the church.
Wives are to be subject unto their own husbands
in all things.
That's what the Bible says.
You say, I just can't even believe that.
Well, you're worldly.
You know, this is like worldliness anonymous.
Just say, you know, I'm Steven Anderson, and I'm worldly.
If you have that view of marriage,
if you have this view, or you might have this view of,
well, I just don't want to be a jealous husband.
So I just let my wife just spend a lot of time with other men
and go to dinner with other men.
You know, you're worldly.
The Bible teaches that jealousy is a good thing.
Look up every time the word jealous appears in the Bible.
It's good.
It's right.
Now envy, envy is a bad thing.
See, a lot of people confuse envy with jealousy.
Let me explain to you the colossal difference
between envy and jealousy.
Everybody ready?
Envy is when I am basically possessive of something
that belongs to someone else.
Envy is when I look at what you have and wish I had it.
Covetousness, lust, right?
You know what jealousy is?
Jealousy is when I legitimately own something,
and I don't want to share it, because I
don't have to share it, because it's not right for me to share.
My wife belongs to me.
I'm not willing to share.
I belong to her.
She's not willing to share me.
That's jealousy.
God is a jealous God, the Bible says,
because he wants all the worship for himself.
He doesn't want it to go to other gods.
That's not envy.
Envy is when I say, I wish I had your car.
That's envy.
Jealousy is when I say, I'm not going
to loan you the keys to my car, because I'm
too protective of my car.
Now here's the thing, I've never been jealous of my car.
I've handed the keys to a lot of irresponsible people
in my time.
And that's why my car is no longer with us.
No, I just can't.
No, it's no longer with us, because it
had 355,000 miles on it.
But I've never really been jealous about my car or tools.
I'll loan out tools, and I'm not really jealous.
But I'm jealous of my wife.
I'm jealous of my authority as husband and father.
I'm jealous of being the pastor of the church.
I mean, there's certain things that
are important to safeguard that belong to you.
And you might have things that are important to you,
that belong to you, that you safeguard.
That's what it means to be jealous.
Look, what is your viewpoint?
You say, well, I don't agree with your viewpoint.
That's fine.
You don't have to agree with me.
You can disagree with half of the sermon if you want,
but just have Bible to back it up.
Disagree with anything I say, but have Bible.
Don't just have, well, I just don't think.
Well, I just feel like, well, but on Rickey Lake it said,
it should just be what's biblical.
And then I'm not perfect.
I'm not God.
I'm wrong on things from time to time.
But it better be Bible that you're using to prove me wrong.
And so when it comes to our business practices,
do we just go with what the world teaches
is ethical and right?
Or do we study the Bible to figure out
how to run a business?
Or when it comes to politics, our political views,
do we have a political viewpoint that lines up with scripture?
Not that lines up with the Christian right,
or whatever that means, or the Republican Party,
or being a conservative, or being whatever.
Is it biblical what you believe on politics?
And you say, well, what in the world?
Is Pastor Anderson a liberal Democrat?
No.
Look, you pretty much have to worship Satan
to be a Democrat anymore.
OK?
I mean, pretty much to be a Democrat anymore,
you pretty much have to worship Satan.
Because you have to believe in abortion, murdering babies,
and you have to be pro-homosexual.
And you pretty much have to be a complete Soviet style
communist.
But look, the Republican Party is not
someone I can support either, for a lot of reasons.
There are a lot of things wrong with the Republican Party,
and I will never vote Republican again.
Unless some weird thing happens where it just,
the Republican Party just suddenly becomes anti-war,
and becomes Christian, and starts actually promoting
things that I believe in, I want nothing to do with it.
So I'm not getting up.
But you know what's funny, though,
is the knee-jerk reaction.
If I say something negative about the Democrats,
oh, you're a Republican.
Say something negative about the Republicans,
oh, you're a Democrat.
Because people just have this false left-right paradigm,
like it just has to be one of those two choices,
or something like that.
You know what, I'm neither.
My viewpoints come from the Bible.
Neither political party in America right now
is following the Bible at all.
Not even close.
And you say, well, but we're just
voting for them for political things, not for religion.
Yeah, but they're both so far off the deep end
from what the Bible teaches.
I can't support either one of them.
I'm not going to support endless warfare.
I'm not going to support the military industrial complex.
I'm not going to support bombing men, women, and children.
I'm not going to support homosexuality.
Both sides hire all kinds of homosexuals.
I'm not going to support abortion.
The Republicans now, it's like, well, abortion sometimes.
Not going to support it.
I can't support that stuff.
I can't support this big government socialist state.
I can't do it.
I don't want anything to do with it.
And my views on this come from the Bible.
I can take you aside and show you from the Bible
where it's wrong to kill women, women, and children
in warfare.
I can take you from the Bible and show you
how we should, as much as possible,
live at peace with all men and not meddle with strife
not belonging to us.
I can show you from the Bible where abortion is murder.
I can show you from the Bible where
homosexuality is an abomination that God says you'll
be punished with the death penalty.
I can show you all these things that I believe from the Bible.
And I know you've got Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck
and Rush Limbaugh in your corner.
But I can show you these things from the Bible.
You know, I can pre, you know, well, pro-Israel.
Go get that CD on that back of the thing, the Jews
and their lies CD.
That's printed for you, buddy.
Let me tell you something.
We have been brainwashed today by TV, Hollywood, and talk
radio.
Our political views are way out to lunch.
Our business views are out off the deep end.
Our marital views are messed up.
Our child-rearing views are messed up.
Look, just turn off the TV.
Turn off what the world has to say.
And get in your Bible and figure out what the Bible teaches.
And then you can stop being worldly
and have a biblical viewpoint.
So when we talk about being worldly,
we're saying, number one, you're not
one of these lustful, covetous people that just always want
something that you don't have.
Number two, we mean that you're not conformed to this world,
following every worldly trend, whatever comes down the pike,
whether it's right or wrong.
And number three, when we talk about being worldly,
it's when you lean on the wisdom of this world
instead of the wisdom that comes from God.
And the wisdom of this world has the wrong marital advice,
the wrong child-rearing advice, the wrong economic and business
advice, and it has the wrong political advice.
And you know, people get all touchy and scared
when you talk about politics.
But you know what?
The Bible has everything I need to know about every subject.
So don't say, well, just keep the Bible out of politics.
No, I'm sorry, the Bible should guide
what we think about politics.
And the Bible says, have no fellowship
with the unfruitful works of darkness,
but rather reprove them.
For it is a shame even to speak of those things which
are done of them in secret.
And when you've got these politicians bowing down
to a giant owl statue in Bohemian Grove
and offering fake human sacrifices,
and when you have them just promoting every kind of filth
and iniquity and flying the rainbow flag all over the world
at these embassies and stuff, when
are you going to get to the point
where you stop supporting it and just realize,
wow, I need to just get my citizenship in heaven
and stop getting so.
And you know what, a lot of people,
it's like an article of the faith for them
to just support everything America does.
But it's getting to the point where
I'm hoping that people are going to start
to transition to the point where they see, wait a minute,
our country is doing a lot of evil things.
We need to pray for our country to turn to God.
We're not with the Lord.
The things that we do, I mean, just any warfare, any conflict,
we're always right, amen?
Yeah.
We're always right, right, we're America, yeah.
Yeah.
America, kill them all, let God sort them out.
But is that really biblical?
Oh, you know, we're one day, put under God back on the money.
Refuse to accept the coin that doesn't say under God.
You know what, I don't want to accept any coins that
say under God because it's a lie,
because our country doesn't follow God at all.
When are we going to realize that we're
living in a godless pagan nation?
When are we going to realize that we
need to stand with the light of the world
in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom
we shine as lights in the world?
Wake up, turn off the TV.
And you know what, some of you just
need to turn off your TV for one month,
and then maybe this sermon might make more sense to you.
Because a lot of people just, their mind
is controlled by the TV.
And then they go, well, I can't handle what that pastor's
saying because it just doesn't jive with what I've been
watching on TV every night.
But wait a minute, does what I'm saying jive
with the word of God?
Prove me wrong.
Prove me wrong on anything I just said.
Come up here and prove me wrong on my stance on abortion.
Come up here and prove me wrong on my stance on homosexuality.
Come prove me wrong on warfare and the military industrial
complex, because I got all kinds of scriptures for you
if you don't like what I just said.
Come on up here.
Come up here.
You shy?
Come up after the service.
And come show me all the scriptures
to back up your belief.
And we need to understand that worldliness is when we
follow the wisdom of the world.
Last thing I want to show you, 1 John, chapter 5, verse 4.
This is one of my favorite scriptures in 1 John,
chapter 5, verse 4.
It says, for whatsoever is born of God, overcomeeth the world.
And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even
our faith.
Who is he that overcometh the world,
but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
So when the Bible says that we overcome the world,
the Bible means that we have believed
that Jesus is the Son of God.
So why is believing that Jesus is the Son of God referred
to as overcoming the world?
I'll tell you exactly why.
Because the Bible is showing us here
that the world is set out to stop you from believing
that Jesus is the Son of God.
Think about that.
So the world is set up to stop you from believing
that Jesus is the Son of God.
So in order to believe that Jesus is the Son of God,
you know what that means?
You have to overcome the world.
There's an obstacle between you and believing
that Jesus is the Son of God.
And that obstacle is the world.
Now, of course, the group that I'm
speaking to here this morning, 90-some percent
have already believed on the Lord Jesus Christ.
They're already saved.
I'm preaching to the saved this morning.
But let me say this, the reason that you're saved
is because you overcame the world.
Because the world has an agenda to stop you
from believing that Jesus is the Son of God.
And let me tell you something.
The school system is geared towards stopping you
from believing that Jesus is the Son of God.
The television has an agenda to stop you
from believing that Jesus is the Son of God.
The magazine industry, Madison Avenue advertising,
has an agenda to stop you from believing
that Jesus is the Son of God.
And so all that to say this, the world
is in opposition to our Lord Jesus Christ today,
even at the most basic level of salvation,
even just the most basic level of believing
that he's the Son of God.
By the way, let me give you two religions that
don't believe Jesus is the Son of God, Judaism and Islam.
We were out soul winning this week,
talked to some Muslims out of soul winning,
two different Muslims.
They both would not believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
And they try to tell you, oh, we believe just like you.
We believe in Jesus just like you.
The Muslim said, we believe Jesus is the Messiah.
I said, you believe he's the Son of God?
We believe in Jesus.
You believe he's the Son of God?
We believe he's the Messiah.
Do you believe he's the Son of God?
Well, no.
You have to believe on the Son to have everlasting life.
And the Jews today, they don't believe
he's the Son of God either.
There are some Jews now that are starting
to say that they believe in Jesus.
And I'm not talking about messianic Judaism.
I'm talking about Judaism-Judaism,
where they're starting to say that, oh, well, Jesus
was a good prophet.
Or even that, well, we believe Jesus was the Messiah.
But they don't believe salvation's through him.
They don't believe he's the Son of God.
Then you know what?
It means nothing.
Muslims believing in Jesus isn't going
to get him to heaven because they don't
believe he's the Son of God.
The minority of Jews that say that Jesus is the Messiah,
but he's not the Son of God, he's not the Savior,
he's not God in the flesh, that's
not going to do them any good either.
Most Jews believe that he was a, what the Talmud says,
that he's a wicked person.
And they blaspheme our Lord Jesus Christ.
But let me tell you something.
You've got to believe that Jesus is the Son of God to be saved.
It's not enough just to believe that he was a good teacher,
good prophet, that he, even to just give lip service, yeah,
he's the Messiah, whatever that means to you.
Because what the Bible means by the Messiah
is that he's the anointed one, the Son of David,
but also that he's the Son of God.
So we've got to understand that God doesn't
want us to be worldly.
He doesn't want us to be lustful.
He doesn't want us to be conformed to the world.
And he doesn't want us to get our opinions and our ideas
from the world.
He wants us to get them from the word.
Not the world, the word.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for bringing us here
this morning, Lord, and that we could hear from your word.
And Father, I pray that every single person who's here today
would let these things sink in and ask themselves,
am I worldly?
Am I a person that could be described as a worldly person
because I'm so into money and things,
or because I'm just so trendy that I just
don't even stop to think whether God wants me to act
and dress the way that I do?
Or am I so worldly that I'm just repeating stuff
that from political pundits and Hollywood and TV?
Or am I so worldly in my philosophies of marriage
and child rearing?
Lord, help us to just get the worldliness out of our hearts,
Lord, and help us to get the word worldly back
into our vocabulary and know what it means
and be able to use it properly.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.