(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

All right, we're here in 2 Corinthians chapter 4, and we're starting a new series on the topic of worldliness. And I'm not sure how long this series is going to be, probably five or six sermons. And I want you to understand that when it comes to the topic of worldliness, kind of what the modern definition you hear in churches is, isn't quite really what the Bible is saying. Because usually if you say somebody's worldly, you're generally saying they watch a lot of movies. They watch a lot of TV or things such as that. Basically in terms of entertainment, they're just spending a lot of time just on things that are like worldly entertainment. And I agree that's a true application, but when it comes to being worldly, what that basically means, and we're going to see this in the sermon and during the series, is basically that your mind's not on the things of God, but on the things of the world. And that could be something sinful, it could also just be spending all of your time just going hunting all the time or whatever, because those are the things of the world. We're going to see that. Jesus says here in 2 Corinthians 4, verse 3, 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 3, 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 onto them. So when it comes to the God of this world, I want you to notice that in your Bible, it probably has a lowercase G. Because the God of this world is not referring to God Almighty, it's referring to the devil. It's referring to Satan. It's referring to Lucifer. You say, how do you know that? Because the God of this world has blinded the minds of those that don't believe. Look, God is not preventing people from getting saved. God wants people to be saved. He's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. He wants everybody to believe on Him. He died for everybody, okay? But what the Bible says here is, the God of this world has blinded, hath blinded the minds of them which believe not. And the first point is this, Satan is the God of this world. Satan is the God of this world. And what you must understand is this entire world is set up in a way by the devil to prevent people from getting saved and going to heaven. The entire world, whether it's the school systems, whether or not it's the workplace or whatever, he set things up because he does not want people to get saved, okay? Turn to Ephesians 2, Ephesians 2, Ephesians chapter 2. And let me just say this, I usually don't talk too much to the internet world, but we are having some technical difficulties with the power. So if the power shuts off during the preaching, I apologize. We'll get that fixed for Wednesday. I just want to give you guys a heads up that are watching online. I apologize about that. And so what we just saw here, point number one in this sermon, is that Satan is the God of this world. Now it's pretty obvious that's what it's saying in 2 Corinthians 4. I will say this though, Calvinists don't agree with that. Calvinists, and I've heard James White say it, that the God of this world is referring to God Almighty. And the reason why is because they believe God is blinding people from getting saved. But that's not what the Bible teaches, okay? The devil is the God of this world. So when it comes to all the drunkenness and the rapes and the pedophilia and all this wickedness, that didn't come from God wanting it to happen. That came from the devil, okay? Not from God. Notice what it says in Ephesians 2, verse 1, Ephesians 2, verse 1, And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, the course of this world. See, to understand this sermon series, what I did is I looked up world every time it appears in the Bible to find out what does it mean to be worldly. The Bible speaks about the course of this world. And the Bible's referencing people before they're saved that everybody walked according to the course of this world before they're saved, okay? Now, that doesn't mean that basically before you're saved, you're sinful, and afterwards you're godly. But before you're saved, you're walking toward the course of this world, and you're walking down to hell because you must get saved, okay? And you have to understand the things of this world are lying to you most of the time. History lies to you. Science lies to you. The things you hear are all a bunch of lies. Look, half of what you learned in school is just not even true. What you probably learned in school is that this earth is 4.6 billion years old. And what I wanna ask people that believe that is, do you realize how long that is? Because I understand it's just a few more zeros on the end, okay? That's a lot of time, okay? And according to the Bible, the earth's around 6,300 years old. It's not that old, okay? But I want you to understand that since Satan is the god of this world, a lot of what you learn from the world is just lying to you. The television, the media, science, history, these things, religion, a lot of what you learn is actually not true. Why? Because Satan's the god of this world, and he's trying to deceive you and blind your mind, blind your heart, blind your eyes so you cannot see the truth. What it said in Ephesians 2 is, before you're saved, you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, which is referring to the devil. The prince of the power of the air, the god of this world, and you walked according to the course of this world. So before you're saved, you are worldly by definition, because you're walking according to the course of this world. Now, after you get saved, hopefully you decide to start living a godly life, but many saved people still choose to walk and live a worldly life instead of a godly life, okay? According to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. The children of disobedience is a phrase representing unsafe people. And the Bible says before you're saved, you did walk according to the course of this world. As I mentioned at the beginning of the sermon, when we talk about being worldly, you usually think of someone who watches TV, or watches movies, or listens to rock music. But here's what I want you to understand. Before you're saved, you did not walk and live a godly life. You walked according to the course of this world. For me personally, being a worldly person before I was saved, meant I spent all my time playing soccer. I played soccer, I watched soccer games, I played FIFA soccer on video games. That's what I spent my time doing. That is called living a worldly life. Now, I don't think it's a sin to play a soccer game. There's nothing inherently sinful about running and kicking a ball. But if that's what you spend your time doing, you are worldly. Why? Because that's not godly. So it's worldly by definition. Either you're living for God, or you're living for the world. And so I want you to understand, even if it's not spending your time listening to rock music, if you spend your time on things that have nothing to do with spirituality, nothing godly, you are worldly by definition. You're either living for God, or you're living for the world. Now, absolutely, entertainment is part of that. Absolutely. If you're spending your time watching movies and watching TV shows and listening to ungodly music, yes, that is worldly by definition. But that doesn't mean that we're not worldly because we're not doing those things. Because if you spend your time and never read the Bible, you never pray, you're not going to church, you're not going soul winning, you are worldly by definition whether or not you're watching movies or not. Because you're obviously spending your time on something, and it's not the things of God. That is worldly by definition. It's the course of this world, okay? Turn in your Bible to Romans 12. Romans 12. Romans chapter 12. Now look, obviously during this time right now, it's really hard to come to church because there's restrictions and things such as that. So I'm not saying, hey, if you're not here right now, you're not right with God. But I want you to understand something. I don't really think the devil cares what you do on Sunday morning. I don't think he cares whether you're getting drunk or watching a soccer game or playing golf or whatever, as long as you're not in church. Do you understand what I'm saying? I don't think he really cares too much what you spend your time on as long as it's not the things of God. Because there's people that live a less sinful life than other people, but they never actually do something productive with their time, okay? A lot of conservative people that, you know what, they don't get drunk, they don't do drugs, they're not out fornicating, but they're also not reading their Bible. They're also not really going solo and you're going to church. That's worldly by definition. They might not be as sinful as a person getting drunk, but they're still worldly by definition. And worldly is when you're basically not spending your time on the things of God, okay? Now in the Bible, obviously the Bible speaks about getting married, and when you get married, you're expected to spend time with your spouse and raise your kids. I'm not saying it's sinful or wrong to go out for a walk with your wife or whatever or spend time, because that's stuff that you find in the Bible as well. But here's what I'm saying. If during the last couple of weeks of lockdown, you have no work and you've read two chapters of the Bible, you're living a worldly life. Why? Because you're obviously spending your time on something other than the things of God, okay? And I get it, this is an interesting time. I've looked at all the coronavirus statistics and everything like that, but I'm telling you, if that's all you do and you don't spend any time reading the Bible, that is worldly by definition because you care about the things of the world, whether or not it's something sinful or whether or not it's a coronavirus or whether or not it's whatever, okay? Romans 12, verse one, Romans 12, verse one. So point number one is simply this, Satan is the God of this world. Satan is the God of this world, which shows you that not only the TVs and the music and all those things, not only were those things not from God but are from the devil, but you also look at all the sports and entertainment, that's from the devil as well. The basketball leagues, the soccer leagues and things like that that are playing on Sundays and basically forcing you to miss church, that's not of God either because it's coming from the world, okay? Romans 12, verse one, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, okay? Now, I do think that some people in Pampanga misunderstand what it means by being a living sacrifice during Magda Rame, which they will not get to celebrate. One of the side benefits of the coronavirus, they won't get to crucify themselves this year. But when it says being a living sacrifice, it means your entire life is spent just devoted to the things of God. That's what it's saying by being a living sacrifice. Holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. It is reasonable to spend all your time devoted to the things of God. That's what it's saying in verse one. And be not conformed to this world. See, here's the thing. If you're gonna spend your time devoted to the things of God, you must reject the things of the world. You cannot partake in both. You can't say, well, I'm spending two hours watching this movie while also listening to the audio Bible at the same time. No, you've gotta make your choice. Are you gonna devote yourself to the things of God or the things of the world, okay? And what I want you to understand is we know that Satan is the God of this world, but I want you to understand before you're saved, all of us, we walked according to the course of this world. That does not mean that you were getting drunk. That does not mean you were doing some really wicked, sinful things, but you were not spending your time on the things of God, okay? Being saved though, it will teach you what you should do, okay? The Bible says do not be conformed to this world. Turn to Colossians three. Colossians three, Colossians chapter three. See, before you were saved, you walked according to the course of this world. You were worldly, but now that you are saved, the Bible's teaching you don't be conformed to the world. Make some changes in your life. That's why when you get saved, the Bible says he puts a new song in your mouth. He expects you to go from your old music to the psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. He expects you to, instead of spending your time just watching the sporting events, to spend your time reading the Bible. You should change the way you're living your life because before you were saved, you were worldly by definition, according to the Bible. Colossians three, verse one. Colossians three, verse one. If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Basically, seek the things of God, the godly things, and the things above are above this earth. The things that are on this earth are the things of the world, the things of the earth. Seek those things above, set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. Basically, things on the earth or things on the world. So when you set your affection and your desires towards things on this earth, you're worldly. That's what the Bible's saying. You're supposed to set your affection on the things above. So in your free time, you're supposed to meditate on the word of God. The Bible says meditate day and night, all day long. That doesn't mean that you have four hours to just sit there reading the Bible, but it means that in your free time, what are you thinking about? What is your mind focused on? Are you thinking about the things of the Bible, the things above, things that are godly, or are you thinking about the things of the world? Because if in your free time, where you're not working, but you have free time, and you're just meditating on the things of the world, do you know what you are by definition? Worldly. Why? Because you're thinking on the things of the world and not the things of God. That's what the Bible's teaching you. That is the definition of worldliness, and that brings it down to a pretty tough level, because all of us, we got a lot of free time to think, and what are you thinking about in your free time? So here's the thing. I believe probably every single person in this room is less worldly than the average person. I hope you're less worldly than the, especially the average, unsafe person, because by definition, they walk according to the course of this world, so they're worldly if they're not safe. But look, I believe that everyone in this room is less worldly than the average Christian, but that does not mean that you're not worldly. And so you need to quit comparing yourself to other people and realize God expects you and wants you to meditate on things that matter and not on things of the earth that don't matter. And look, I don't know what's in your mind, and I don't know what's in your heart. Only you know, what do you think about in your free time? Do you meditate on things that matter? Do you think about things that matter, or do you think about just the things of this earth that are gonna pass away and mean nothing? Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. Turn to Titus 2. Titus 2. See, I want you to understand, the Bible speaks about in the parable of the sower, people that are basically focused on the cares of this world, and the cares and the riches and pleasures of this life, and realize that if you're someone that cares about the things of this world, according to the parable of the sower, you will not bring fruit to perfection. And you're gonna last in this Christian race about a year and a half, and it's gonna die out, and you're gonna quit being a soul winner. And you're gonna find yourself five years from now, and you don't even care about getting people saved. You don't care about the things of God. And you say, well, how did that happen? What happened because it started in your heart and in your mind, okay? Titus 2, verse 11. Titus 2, verse 11. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. So the Bible says the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. We know that Jesus died for everybody. God wants every single person to be saved, okay? He's appeared to all men. But notice what it says in verse 12. Teaching us, teaching us. Do you notice the distinction there? God's grace appears to all men, but it teaches us. Now, who is Paul writing to? Believers or unbelievers? Believers, saved people. And see, Jesus died for everybody, but before you're saved, you walk according to the course of this world. By definition, that doesn't mean that you're going out and committing all kinds of wicked sins, but your mind is not focused on winning souls to the Lord because you don't even know what that means. You don't understand that, okay? And what the Bible's saying here is this, that look, he died for everybody, but God's grace actually teaches us. It teaches us that are saved. What does it teach us? That denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. Now, the Bible says here in verse 12 that we should live soberly and righteously. So it does not say that we will live soberly and righteously. It says we should live soberly and righteously, okay? So here's the thing. When you get saved, there is no guarantee you're gonna start living more godly than before you were saved. Some people get saved and commit more wicked sins than before they were saved, okay? But this is what the Bible's saying here because it says we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, and being saved teaches you that you should live godly and not worldly. That's what that's saying because it says denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. So look, if you compare yourself to an unsafe person, that's a pretty dumb comparison because an unsafe person is going to be worldly. Even if they're not going out and fornicating or getting drunk, look, they are gonna be worldly by definition. So when you compare yourself to 99% of people out there, I hope you're living more godly than them. I hope you're watching less TV than them. I hope you're watching less movies. I hope you're focused more on the things of God. Why? Because you're saved and being saved teaches you that you should do that, okay? Verse 13, looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. Now, what does the Bible mean by peculiar people? It means you're a little bit different than other people. For example, when, let's say you've got your office job and people are going around talking about all the movies they've watched and everything like that, you know what, it's normal that you ought to feel a little bit awkward in that conversation. Why? Because you shouldn't know what the movies are. You shouldn't know who the actors and the actresses are. Did you watch that new Batman movie last week? It's like, I didn't even know Batman was still making movies. You shouldn't know all the things of the world. It's kind of like, there's this foolish argument and I've heard it a lot in the US because they'll always say this, because I was homeschooled, starting in middle school. I was homeschooled, some of you may know that, you might not. I was in public school and elementary school and I was homeschooled starting in middle school. And the big argument against homeschooling is that homeschool kids are socially awkward. That's their big argument. It's like, who cares how much they learn? Who cares how godly they are? But basically, they're socially awkward, so they need to be in public school. Well, here's why this is stupid. And I'll be honest, I didn't think about this when I was young, but I thought about it years later. Because I'll be honest, when I was in college and you talk to other students in the class, there was a lot of conversations I felt awkward about. Was it because I was socially awkward? No, it wasn't because I was socially awkward or inept. It was because of the fact they were talking about getting drunk and I was like, that's not something I do. It's like, man, it's weird. You know, they're talking about sleeping around with all these different people. It's like, yeah, you know what? I hope my son and my daughter do feel awkward talking about fornicating when they're not married. I hope they feel awkward. I hope they're just not saying, well, here's my part to add to that conversation. I hope they're like, man, I don't feel comfortable talking about fornicating. I don't feel comfortable talking about getting drunk. I don't know what that's like. So look, I hope that you would feel awkward compared to the average person when they're talking about the things of the world. Why? Because you're a little bit different than them. You're a little bit peculiar, okay? That's what the Bible's speaking about because we shouldn't know what those things are, okay? Turn in your Bible to John 3. John 3. So when they say, well, homeschool kids are socially awkward, what they're saying is, you know what? They don't fit in our agenda of what we believe is proper socialization because they believe in their agenda and that we should feel comfortable talking about the LGBT and all these alternative lifestyles. Look, that's not normal. That's weird. You know, bring one of those people in this church and have them sit in a conversation in the Bible. Watch them squirm around like, oh man, I don't feel comfortable. Man, you think sodomites should be put to death? What in the world? They're gonna be a little bit socially awkward, won't they? And look, you know, here's the thing. We ought to be socially awkward because we don't feel comfortable talking about that. I don't want my son to grow up and feel comfortable talking about getting drunk. That's not normal for a Christian. We ought to be peculiar a little bit different. So number one, Satan is the God of this world. Number two, being saved, it teaches you, okay? It teaches you that you should be peculiar. You should not be worldly. You should be godly. But point number three, when you side against the world, you're the enemy of the world. When you side against the world, you're the enemy of the world. John three, verse 19. And this is the condemnation that light has come into the world. Light has come into the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. According to verse 19, people love darkness, which means they don't wanna hear the word of God preached. Why? Because their deeds, their actions are evil. They're living a wicked life. They're living a sinful life. So they don't wanna hear what the Bible says because they're living a sinful life. And they make all the excuses about how the Bible is not, you know, it's offensive, whatever. It is all just a big cover because they wanna live a sinful life. It's all these stupid excuses. And in reality, they're mad at the Bible because it shows that they're guilty. They don't wanna hear the word of God preached. So they say, well, that's hate speech. We can't say that. Hate speech is a cover to say, I live a wicked life and I don't wanna know what the Bible says. That is the reason why they say things like hate speech. You can't say that. That's outdated. Why? Because the world is waxing worse and worse. So they're more offended by what the Bible says. It's all just a big cover because they wanna get drunk and sleep around. That's the truth. Verse 20, for everyone that doeth evil, hateth the light. Look, if you live a wicked and sinful life, you're gonna hate the word of God. That's what it's saying. Neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. Being reproved basically means being rebuked, okay? Reprove, rebuke, exhort, the Bible says. So basically, people that like to live a sinful life, they don't wanna hear the word of God preached. Why? They don't wanna be rebuked. They don't wanna be told you need to change. Didn't I say in the first sermon that basically people that just want something kind of amazing, they just want something they already agree with. They don't wanna be told they're wrong, okay? And I'll tell you what, we have visitors at this church from time to time, and when people visit this church, I'll tell you, usually they like the sermon. I can tell when somebody likes the sermon, especially a first-time visitor, because they're not expecting this. They're caught off guard. You guys know what to expect. So you can put on the fake face. You're already ready for it, okay? They're not ready for this. They're not used to someone screaming and yelling and telling them that's wicked and everything like that. So I'll be honest with you, usually when people visit, they actually like the preaching, but those same people are probably gonna go home and still like their sin. And at the end of the day, because their deeds are evil, they don't come back to this church usually. And I'll tell you, it's not just like that here in Manila. It's like that in Sacramento. It's like that in West Virginia. It's like that all around the world. Why? People don't like being told no. Take your child at a young age. My son, he does not like the word no. He doesn't like being told no. He's trying to touch the fan or do something where he's gonna do something dangerous, and you tell him no, and he pouts. That's the normal reaction. That's why at a young age, you know, you spank that out of them, okay? But let me tell you something. Unfortunately, that's not the way most people are raised. Turn to John 15. John 15. John 15. Why do they hate Jesus Christ? Because he shined the light on their sin. Now, every Christian so-called in this world today, man, they love Jesus Christ. They would hate Jesus if he was around today because they crucified him when he was here. They tried to kill him before that. I mean, people did not like the words of Jesus Christ. They would listen to him from time to time. It's interesting, but most people, by and large, they just didn't want to live a godly life, okay? John 15, verse 18. What we're talking about in this third point is this. When you side against the world, you're the enemy of the world, and you're gonna be just like Jesus Christ in John 3 where basically you preach against their sin and wickedness, and you know what? They hate the light, and they don't want to admit they hate the Bible, so basically they just say you're hateful. In reality, they hate the Bible. They hate the light, and their big cover is just that you're hateful, and Jesus was nicer than that. Well, you obviously haven't really read the Bible very much then. John 15, verse 18. If the world hates you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own. So the Bible says if you're worldly, the world's gonna love you. But because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. And see, the Bible says that if you're a peculiar person, that you're basically out of the world, you know what? The world's gonna hate you, okay? An example of this is let's say you've got somebody who drinks alcohol with their friends or their buddies, someone in college, okay? And let's say they decide I want to quit drinking. When someone decides they want to quit drinking, their friends never say, man, that's a great choice you're making. They get mad at them for quitting drinking. Why? Because of the fact when you're not acting like the world and living sinful, they feel guilty, and they'll basically make excuses for it. They want you to sin. Why? They want to justify their actions. That's the truth. They want to justify their actions, so they don't want you to quit. Turn to 1 John 4, 1 John 4, 1 John 4. And so the Bible says, you know what? Therefore the world hateth you, okay? So look, if you can find people that are loved by the world, okay, then you know that they're not the truth. Okay, now look, let me say this, that in your workplace, you should not intentionally be a jerk to people. You shouldn't go around and just be a jerk to everyone. You should try to fit in the best you can. But the truth is that if you're living a godly life, you're never gonna fully fit in. At my old job in Maryland before I moved to Sacramento, you know, I would just show up to work and I'd show up early and read my Bible and study for my actuarial exams. And then at lunchtime, I'd be reading my Bible and people would come over to talk to me and everything like that. And everyone thought I was a really nice person, but I was just kind of strange. Like, why don't you want to go to the parties? It's like, what? You know, I didn't tell them I don't want to be a worldly person, but you know, in my mind, it's like, yeah, you know, I don't think it's right. I don't want to be around people getting drunk and things like that. You're never gonna fully fit in if you're living godly with a world. And if you do try to fully fit in, you know what? You're not right with God. You're not gonna fully fit in if you're actually right with God. Why? Because you should be setting your affection on things above and no saved person is setting their affection on things above, okay? They're setting their affection on things of the world. Look, you can go throughout history and find people that are just fully loved by the world and you know that they can't be right. Look, you can look at, let me just give an example of this because, you know, there used to be this big battle between like the Catholics and Protestants, but now they're all buddy-buddy and friends and everything because it's the same religion, you know, whether you're raised Catholic or, I was raised Protestant, it's all the same. You know, we know that, right? Brother Matthias, you know, same thing. But let me say this that, you know, when you look at the Protestants, like everybody loves the Protestants, the Catholics love the Protestants, the Protestants love the Protestants, the Bapt love the Protestants and think they're Protestants. And it's like, when everybody loves them, you know what that tells me is someone who knows what the Bible says? They're wrong. They were never right. And let me tell you, and we're getting to a series here. I've kind of delayed it a little bit. It's coming here in a month and a half, two months. But let me tell you something. The Protestants were never right. They were always wrong. During that time period, you can read articles online and say like, why did everybody hate the Anabaptists? Everybody hated them. Everybody wanted to kill them. The Catholics wanted to kill the Anabaptists. The Protestants wanted to kill, and they did kill the Anabaptists. The Protestants wanted to kill the Anabaptists. Everybody hated the Anabaptists. You say, why? Because when you're living godly, the world's gonna hate you. See, that's how you can know, even though I didn't live 500 years ago, I know the Protestants weren't right because by and large, they're loved by the world. 1 John 4, verse 4. 1 John 4, verse 4. 1 John chapter 4, verse 4. And let me just go on a side point because, and I'll talk about this here in a couple months when we go into the series about the Protestant Reformation. But when it comes to our forefathers in the faith, if you've seen being Baptist, I agree with everything in that movie. It's the Anabaptists were our forefathers in the faith. Now, I want you to understand something. Not every Baptist in today's world is saved. Not every Anabaptist was saved either, okay? If you look at the modern day, the Amish and the Mennonites from the US will claim they spun off from the Anabaptists, okay? But look, there's a lot of Baptists today that is like, just quit calling yourself Baptist. And so yeah, you know, the Amish and the Mennonites, you know, just quit saying that you came from the Anabaptists because you didn't come from actually the real, saved people because here's the thing about this. Nobody dislikes the Amish and the Mennonites. The Amish and the Mennonites just keep to themselves. They don't believe in soul winning. They basically just, they separate from the world. They don't have electricity because electricity can lead you into big sins according to them and things such as that. They don't have indoor telephones. Sometimes they have like those old school telephones, you know, those telephone, telephone booth, is that what they call it? Where basically they'll have one on the property that basically everyone can use, you're not allowed a telephone in the house and things such as that. And you know, they're like the most conservative in some ways, you know, people. There's, you know, this would probably be a sin to be dressed like this. Actually, buttons are a sin according to the Amish and Mennonites, okay? So they're like an extreme weird cult, honestly, okay? And I'll talk about that more during that series and everything like that. But they claim they spun off from the Anabaptists. Well, the problem with this is the fact that nobody hates the Amish and the Mennonites because they keep to themselves and nobody gets offended. Who are hated by the world today? People like us, right? We're hated by the world because we go soul winning and shine light on sin. And you know, you look at them, they're not hated by the world, which shows they weren't the truth because if you're actually preaching the truth, you're gonna be like Jesus, where they wanna kill you. You'll be like all the prophets that were killed and persecuted because all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution, the Bible says. Why? Because of the fact when you live godly, it makes them feel guilty and they need to cover for their sin. First John four verse four, ye are of God little children and have overcome them because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Obviously, when you're saved, you're in dwell with the Holy Ghost. Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. They are of the world, therefore speak they of the world and the world heareth them, okay? So the Bible says that when the world speaks, the world hears them. Look, if you had a debate with just an unsaved person on whatever topic from the world, just some worldly topic, some whatever topic, you know what, and you had a panel of people there, just random people here in the Philippines would vote on who wins. You would lose that debate. You say why? Because they would vote for the world. Why? Because they hear what the world has to say. When we say things, people think we're crazy. You know, you give advice from the word of God and people think it's nuts. Why? Because they're of the world. So worldly advice makes sense to them, okay? Verse number six, we are of God. He that knoweth God heareth us. He that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. And see, what the Bible is saying is basically that those that speak things that are worldly things or wrong things, the world is going to hear them. They're gonna reject what the Bible says. Why? Because they want to cover up for their sin. And look, when you side against the world, you become the enemy of the world. Turn to 1 John 5, 1 John 5, 1 John 5, 1 John 5. 1 John 5, verse 19. And we know that we are of God and the whole world lieth in wickedness. Now, according to the Bible in verse 19, the Bible says the whole world lieth in wickedness, okay? Now, this was written 2000 years ago, 1950 years ago or whatever. This was written a long time ago. And 2000 years ago, the Bible says the whole world was wicked. Now, do you think the world is more godly today or less godly? It's a lot more sinful today, isn't it? 2000 years ago, the Bible accurately says the whole world is wicked. Every country, every place. Now, as believers and people that love God and go soul winning, we can agree with that, okay? Because you look at the world today and it's very wicked, but sometimes people have this, I don't know, these rose-tinted glasses on or whatever where they think like 100 years ago before rock music that the world was godly. No, the world was sinful 100 years ago. It's getting worse. But as we talked about a few weeks ago, fornication has always been common. Not always fornication, sometimes basically polygamy, but living that sinful life, it was common by the world though fornication throughout the Bible, okay? Living a sinful life, it has always been common. And so I want you to understand 2000 years ago, the whole world was wicked. Now, I don't even know what word God used to describe it if 2000 years ago was wicked because it's waxing worse and worse, the Bible says. The whole world lieth in wickedness. But you know, if I were to get up here and preach a sermon against the Philippines, just a whole sermon against the Philippines and I just said the Philippines is wicked, did you know that the average person would hate me for saying that? Like how dare you speak against our country? And it's like, well, that's what the Bible says. The whole world lieth in wickedness, but they would get mad because they are worldly. Especially people that are kind of the older generation, they say, not in my day. Man, 50 years ago, we were godly until this new generation came in. No, you weren't 50 years ago. This world has always been wicked according to the Bible. Verse 20, and we know that the Son of God has come and hath given us an understanding that we may know Him that is true and we are in Him that is true, even in His Son, Jesus Christ, this is the true God and eternal life. And the Bible says that, you know what, He's given us an understanding, us that are saved. The unsaved world, they don't understand. You say, why? Because they're walking according to the course of this world. They just don't understand these things, okay? Now, as believers, as saved people that are hearing the Word of God preached, you should understand and you should know these things. You ought to be different than the world. Turn in your Bible to James 4. James 4. James chapter 4. So point number one is simply that Satan's the god of this world. Point number two, being saved, it teaches you that you should change. Point number three, when you side against the world, you're the enemy of the world. You say, brother Stuckey, if I become the enemy of the world by siding against them, why don't I just side with the world? Well, here's the problem with that. When you side with the world, you're the enemy of God, the Bible says. And you must make your choice. Are you gonna side with God or side with the world? James 4, verse four. Ye adulterers and adultresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? What does that mean, enmity with God? It basically means you're the enemy of God. That's what it's gonna say here in a second. And if you make friends with the world, you're the enemy of God. Now let me say this, that when it comes to friendship with unsaved people or coworkers or whatever, because I don't think that's specifically what it's saying here in the word friendship. But let me say this, I don't think that you should be friends with unsaved people. You say, why? Because of the fact they're of the world and they walk according to the course of this world. I don't think you should be friends with people that are saved, that are living a worldly life. You say, why? Because when you make friends with people that are worldly, you know what you're gonna do? You're gonna be worldly. That's the way it works. I think you ought to be friends with people that love God, people that go soul winning and wanna make changes in your life. And you make friendship with the world, what you're gonna find is you become the enemy of God. You must make your choice. Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. The Bible says that if you make friends with the world, you're gonna be the enemy of God. Turn to Philippians two, Philippians two. So look, if you wanna live a worldly life and say, I'm not gonna apply anything the Bible says and just do whatever I want, go ahead. If you wanna make God your enemy, I personally don't wanna make God my enemy though. Philippians two verse 14, Philippians two verse 14. Do all things without murmurings and disputings that you may be blameless and harmless. Now blameless does not mean without sin, but it just means that if people looked in your life, you'd be like Daniel. They couldn't blame him for anything except in terms of his devotion to God is what the Bible basically says. Blameless and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation. Crooked and perverse nation, basically a wicked and sinful nation. In the midst of a crooked and perverse nation among whom ye shine as lights in the world. God expects you to side against the wicked nation, against the worldliness and basically shine as lights in the world. God did not say we just fully just avoid the world, never leave our houses, whatever. No, we're expected to go soul winning and shine as lights in the world. Turn to 2 Timothy four, 2 Timothy chapter four. 2 Timothy chapter four. So you say, brother Stuckey, so what do we mean by worldly? Well, basically you have two sides. You have godly and you have worldly. The things of God, the things of the world. Being worldly means you spend your time, you spend your mind focused on the things of the world. That could be something that's sinful or that could be something that's just vain and useless. That could be pursuing riches. That could be pursuing entertainment. It could be whatever. Look, I'm not saying, and I try to strike a balance in sermons. I think everyone knows that. I'm not saying it's a sin to go on vacation. I'm not saying it's sin to basically just spend a couple of hours or have a hobby or whatever. But I want you to realize that 99% of this world is just worldly. Now, I mean, I guess 99% of this world is unsafe. So let's just go down to save people. Okay, 99% of safe people are worldly. That's the reality, why? Because they spend almost all their time on things that are of the world. Say, how do you know that? Because the average person spends more time on Facebook than reading the Bible. That makes you worldly by definition. You're spending time on the things of the world. The average person, they don't read their Bible much. They don't go soul winning much. And I promise you, if they're not going soul winning and reading the Bible, they're not thinking about the things of God in their free time. The Bible says set your affection, basically set your heart on things above. When nobody else is looking, nobody else sees whether or not you're thinking about whatever, and you have your choice, what are you gonna think about during the day? Notice what it says in 2 Timothy 4. 2 Timothy 4. So look, I want you to realize that when it's called being worldly, that does not mean that you watch a lot of movies and watch TV shows and listen to ungodly music. Say, how do you know that? 2 Timothy 4. For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world. Demas forsook Paul. Now, did Demas watch a lot of TV 2,000 years ago? Did Demas listen to a lot of rock music? Did he just get onto YouTube and just pull up all this stuff? No, I mean, obviously they didn't have all those things, the same entertainment that they have today, but Demas forsook Paul loving the present world. Now, we don't necessarily know what that is. We don't even know what the world was necessarily like 2,000 years ago because sporting events are really just this past hundred years in terms of professional leagues and things like that. I mean, maybe they had athletic competitions. We don't really know. But what we do know is Demas basically stopped being a soul winner because he cared about the things of the world. The world hadn't appealed to it. The world hadn't appealed to it 2,000 years ago. Now, in today's world, I believe it's tougher because all this stuff is at your fingertips. But let me tell you something, the majority of people 2,000 years ago were worldly. They didn't care about the things of God. And Demas was someone who used to go soul winning, but he cared a little bit too much about the things of the world and not the things of God. Turn to 1 John 2, 1 John 2. You say, Brother Saki, I'm not a worldly person. Well, you know, I hope that's true. Let me tell you something. If you are a worldly person, you're gonna basically forsake soul winning one day because that's what we see with Demas. So look, I'd encourage you during this five-part series to not worry about, well, I'm less worldly than somebody else. Okay, well, who cares about somebody else? Just care about yourself, you know, whether or not you're worldly. You need to make changes. And look, when it comes to being worldly, I'll be honest with you, I think everybody in this room, we probably need to work on this. Because quite honestly, we all need to set our affection more on the things of God than we are right now, okay? And so when it comes to this, don't compare yourself to other people. Just ask yourself because pretty much every verse we looked at had the word world in it. So you wanna know what worldly is, look up the word world in the Bible, okay? And when you focus on the things of this world instead of the things of God, that's worldly. 1 John chapter two, 1 John two. So this sermon series is really gonna be directed around a couple verses in 1 John chapter two. This was all introductory, basically Satan's the God of this world. Point number two, being saved teaches you that you should live godly and not worldly. Point number three, when you side against the world, you're the enemy of the world. Point number four, when you side with the world, you're the enemy of God. But let's look at what it says in 1 John two verse 15, 16 and 17. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. You say, what does that mean to love not the world? Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. And if you love the world, then you're worldly by definition, okay? 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. Now I want you to understand something. It does not say that if any man loves the world, he's not saved. It does not say that. It does not say that if you love the world, you're not saved. It says the love of the Father is not in you. Basically, you don't love God if you love the world. So this is an important series, because here's the thing, if you look at this sermon series and you see the verses and you see the points, these next five, six weeks or whatever, and all of a sudden it looks like, man, I love the world, what that's telling you is you don't love the Father. How do you know that? That's what it says in 1 John 2, verse 15. And so look, if you are a worldly person, you don't really love God according to the Bible. Look, I understand to some degree you have some love for God, but what the Bible's saying is if your mind is focused on the things of this world, you might think you really love God, but you are deceiving yourself, my friend, because God expects you to basically forsake the world and be the enemy of the world. Otherwise, you're the enemy of God, okay? What does it mean to love the world? Well, notice what it says in verse 16. For all that is in the world, and remember, Satan is the God of this world, okay? So it makes sense, 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. What does it mean to be worldly? It means basically the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. You say, what is this sermon series about? Well, you know, we're gonna talk about the lust of the flesh next week, all right? That's what you're seeing here in 1 John 2, and look, if you love those things, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, look, the love of the Father is not in you, according to the Bible. This is pretty important. Now, does this apply to entertainment? Absolutely, okay? I mean, if you're watching TV, that's the lust of the eyes, absolutely, but look, it's not just entertainment. It's called where is your affection? Is it on things above or things on the earth? And look, if you're focused on things on this earth, things that do not matter, you are worldly, and that means the love of the Father is not in you. Now, let me just say quickly, just to give you a brief overview of what this series is gonna be about, next week we're gonna talk about the lust of the flesh. When it comes to the lust of the eyes, if you look up eyes every time it appears in the Bible, I believe sometimes eyes represents both eyes and ears, okay? So we're gonna have one sermon on the lust of the eyes and one sermon on the lust of the ears. Obviously, the lust of the ears is gonna focus a lot on music, okay? But there's the lust of the flesh, we're gonna have a sermon on the lust of the eyes, we're gonna have a sermon on the lust of the ears, and we're gonna have a sermon on the pride of life, and we might have another sermon. Why is it so foolish to focus on the things of the world? Verse 17, and the world passeth away, and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. Now, if you believed on Jesus Christ, you've done the will of God, that's what it's saying in 1 John 2, verse 17, but I want you to understand that the things of this world pass away. Look, we're not like the Egyptians, who they basically brought all their supplies with them to the grave, and somehow they thought in the after world, if they brought in gold, they'd have gold in the after world. It's like, it doesn't work that way, okay? The things of this world, they perish, and your affection on things of this world, you could become the greatest basketball player ever. Do you really think anybody cares in heaven if you were Michael Jordan or not? Nobody would care, okay? Nobody cares if you were the greatest athlete. Nobody cares if you were the most, I don't know, greatest video game player, the greatest player at Pac-Man or whatever the new games are or whatever. Nobody cares about those things. They don't matter. Look, they pass away. They're done. Look, I'm not saying it's a sin to have a hobby, and I believe hobbies, you should try to make them things that are actually productive hobbies, not a waste of time, but here's what I'm saying. You could become the greatest in the world. You could become the greatest engineer in the world or the greatest mathematician. You could calculate the coronavirus statistics down to the exact number or whatever. Look, it doesn't matter after you're dead. You don't get rewards in heaven for that. It means absolutely nothing, and look, if you spend all of your time focused on those things, you're worldly, okay? Now, at our church, we play board games, and I think those are good for fellowship, and there's things that are productive about that, but look, if all your time is just focused on things that are gonna perish one day, that is worldly. Even if you never watch any movie, you never watch, and I don't think you should watch any movies. I don't think you should watch any TV shows. I think that's of the world, and it's not of the Father, but look, just because you don't watch the movies, that doesn't mean that you're living a godly life. Let's close in a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and just getting to see your word about this topic of worldliness, and help us all to learn from this sermon series, God. Help us to not focus on other people. Help us to focus on ourselves, and many people, including myself, because there's changes we need to make in our lives. I believe all of us, we could make changes, God, and help us to be more and more separated each and every passing year, and do our best to live godly in this wicked world, God. We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen. Our last song is prayer that needs to be number one. Our last song is prayer that needs to be number one. Our last song is prayer that needs to be number one. Our last song is prayer that needs to be number one. Our last song is prayer that needs to be number one. Our last song is prayer that needs to be number one. Our last song is prayer that needs to be number one. Our last song is prayer that needs to be number one. Our last song is prayer that needs to be number one. Our last song is prayer that needs to be number one.