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Amen. Okay, Romans chapter 12, and there's a lot of great stuff in Romans chapter 12, a lot of individual verses there with loads of instruction, but we're just going to look at the first two verses for this sermon today, among other places in the Word of God. Romans chapter 12, and from verse 1 we see this, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you 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. And the title of my sermon this morning, it's a bit of a longer title than it is, Be Not Conformed to this World's Political Ideologies. Be Not Conformed to this World's Political Ideologies, I'd like to pray and then get going with the message. Father, thank you for your Word, thank you for the, just to teach you, give us in your Word, Lord, and in this teaching specifically I'm going to look at today about not conforming to, you know, the politics of the world, the ideologies of the world, Lord, and ultimately to be conformed to your Word instead. Help me to preach this message that I've been thinking about this week now, and probably a bit longer than that, just in a clear and an accurate way, Lord, and help me to preach in a way that people will want to respond to it, Lord, and will want to get right in this area, Lord, help us all to get right in this area, help us not to be distracted by all these things going on around us, Lord, and just focus on you, help me to preach this full of your Spirit, Lord, in Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Okay, so, Be Not Conformed to this World's Political Ideologies. What is a political ideology, in case you're wondering? It's a set of ideas or beliefs, principles that explain how society should work. So there are the obvious common examples, and some of them are sort of umbrella terms or umbrella ideologies which include other kind of subsets underneath them, but the most common would be, in no particular order, anarchism, fascism, nationalism, communism, socialism, Marxism, environmentalism, feminism, liberalism, and conservatism. And for a Bible-believing Christian, if you read through your Bible, okay, if you're reading through it, you should start to feel opposed to most things on that list, okay, as you read it. If you understand some of those terms and what that entails, what these ideologies involve, you'll start to feel opposed to them if, as you're getting right with God and understanding the Word of God and God's ways and God's will for things. Now, you could do a whole sermon, okay, in fact you could probably do a sermon series on these ideologies versus the Bible, you could, some of them you could split into a series on their own as well, but I'm going to give you the abbreviated version today. Now, with an abbreviated version, I'm not going to cover every which way, I'm just going to do some summaries of them. And for any political ideologists here, I don't know if we've got anyone here that's into some of these things, don't get upset if I don't represent your version, okay, your version of it today, because by the end of the sermon you're going to see it doesn't really matter. Okay, so if you're, well, this isn't exactly what my version of whatever-ism it is, it doesn't really matter, really, okay. And I'm also just going to give some just really loose, general sort of explanations of some of these ideologies according to Encyclopedia Britannica, just because it's a fairly good look, there's going to be some slant with things and stuff, but again, it's not really going to matter at the end of the sermon. So anarchism, let's look at first, okay, so for those, you know, some of these terms maybe some of you don't understand, some of you do, anarchism as a general summary is a cluster of doctrines and attitudes centered on the belief that government is both harmful and unnecessary. Okay, so this is kind of, you know, as a general rule what anarchists believe. Now, is anarchism compatible with the Word of God, though? So if you're in Romans 12, if you just go straight over to Romans 13 and verse 1, Romans 13, 1 says this, let every soul be subject unto the higher powers, for there is no power but of God, the powers that be are ordained of God. So authority is ordained of God, is what the Word of God is saying here, not necessarily the individual, so it's not that every individual in authority has been put there by God specifically, but the authority, the position, is ordained of God. The office is ordained by God, okay. Verse 2 says, whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God, and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. Now damnation isn't always about hell, by the way, okay, it can also just be general condemnation and resisting authority in life results in you being condemned or punished, doesn't it? You resist the authority in the land, especially as a part of believing in Christ where God is ordained authority, you're going to end up being punished in one way or another. So just because you're saved, you don't have a free pass to do what you want, okay, we don't have just a free pass, you just do what we want because we're saved. No, God wants us to submit to the authority of the land. He said in verse 3, for rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same. For he is a minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid, for he beareth not the sword in vain. For he is a minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. And of course there have been and continue to be some bad rulers in the world, but where possible, where possible we should obey authority. Now just a side note out there as well with anarchism, I came across some of these when I was younger, you see these people that claim to be anarchists and stuff, and they often dressed in a similar way. A lot of these anarchist types out there, let's be honest, wouldn't last five minutes with no law and order, they're not usually the types that you can really see, I don't think they usually have much ability to survive in a place where there's no law and order, but a lot of them seem to still think it's going to be better for them. But just on a side note, keep a finger here though and turn to Acts 5, for me this is just very clear, very obvious, God says to submit to the authorities in our life, the authorities ordained of God, you know, you can't read the Bible and come away thinking yeah God wants an anarchist society, okay, that's ridiculous. But turn to Acts chapter 5, Acts 5, and again, and different versions of anarchism as well. Keep a finger here, Acts 5, so you're turning to fascism we're looking at now. Now fascism is a bit harder to define, there are many variants obviously, okay, common characteristics, again according to Britannica, and you can take it for what you want, is a philosophy of government that stresses the primacy and glory of the state on questioning obedience to its leader, subordination of the individual will to the state's authority and harsh suppression of dissent. Martial virtues are celebrated while liberal and democratic values are disparaged, and again, how much of that you think is entirely accurate depending on the version. There are fascists that would probably argue some of that, but the primacy and glory of the state and even the nation does seem to be consistent, doesn't it, okay, that that kind of is what's important if you talk to fascists a lot of the time, they're very proud of their state, their nation, their group, whatever it is, that seems to be of most importance to them. Romans 13 though, Romans 13, you have turned to Acts 5, keep something in Acts 5, but we're just going to look at Romans 13 again, said in verse 1, let every soul be subject unto the higher powers, for there is no power but of God. The powers that be are ordained of God. So yes, we should submit to authority, but the final authority is God. He is the final authority, not the state. The glory goes to God, not the state. God is who we give glory to, and in Acts 5 the apostles are arrested by their national government, and in verse 5, and that's ultimately what they were, yeah it was a theocratic type government still under the Roman Empire, but ultimately these were the leaders, these were still the rulers until they had to defer with certain things to Pilate. But in Acts 5 they're arrested, and in verse 27 it says, and when they're brought them, they set them before the council, and the high priest asks them, saying, did not we straightly command you that you should not teach in this name, and behold you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us, then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, we ought to obey God rather than men. We ought to obey God rather than men. So yes, we should be good citizens, but Bible-believing Christians believe in the primacy, the preeminence, the importance, we might say, of God, okay? God is the one up here, that's who ultimately we obey, not some nation or group that you happen to have been born into, okay? Which then leads on to the next one, turn to Galatians chapter 3, Galatians chapter 3, again these are just summaries, and as you're going to see, it won't really matter even at the end of it, but Galatians chapter 3. We're going to look at nationalism. Nationalism is an ideology, sorry, based on the premise that the individual's loyalty and devotion to the nation-state surpass other individual or group interests, so with nationalism ultimately it seems that the nation-state is of most importance, and it's really usually the nation, hence the name nationalism, that surpasses anything else. And obviously, like I said, there are variants, okay, there are those that would call themselves Christian nationalists, you might have heard about there, but however you cut it, it just isn't biblical. It's just not biblical. Galatians 3 says this in verse 26, Galatians 3, 26, For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. So when you got saved, okay, your nation, along with your national loyalty, changed in an instant, ultimately, okay, it changed in an instant. You became an Israelite. And I'm not talking about those dodgy European converts, okay, who have converted to Judaism and then they're making some ethnic claim, some claim based on their so-called ethnicity to a land that they have nothing to do with at all, okay? I'm not talking about that, okay? That's not who you became a part of. By the way, I was thinking about this when I wrote these notes. Do you think maybe that's a big part of what all those silly hats and sideburns are about? They just can't take the sun out there. Get a big old top hat with a big wide brim and then you can pretend, oh yeah, yeah, we're fired out here, but really that, you know, that heat is burning them up, isn't it? Some of them guys are ginger. Seriously, they are. There is no way they're from that land. The ethnic stuff is so stupid, okay? But I'm not talking about endless genealogies, I'm talking about biblical truth, okay? And ye are Abraham's spiritual seed, okay? If you're saved, you're Abraham's spiritual seed. And that's something to glory in, isn't it? Glory being part of being one of God's children, okay? Being a child of God as opposed to glorying in the skin colour you inherited. I mean, that's just bizarre, isn't it? Oh, I'm so great because I inherited a skin colour. I mean, that is super carnal and it's super weird. But the thing is, it's not, you know, because obviously naturally over the last however many decades, a lot of this has been targeted at whites, you know, who had some certain supremacy in certain places and, you know, how wicked they are. But you know what? I see this, I've seen this in all sorts of nations. I remember I used to go and train a lot in Thailand and out there, I mean, it's a funny old place. You would go to watch a Thai boxing show in a national stadium and then have a sign just going Phalang, which is foreigner. You got to go around there. You sit separately. I mean, it was like, it was basically like an apartheid there with certain places. And it was like, and I was like, oh, well, that's fine. That's okay. I mean, I mean, all them white guys, you know, and I usually hear the names I had for like, you know, when you start to understand the language a little bit, you can just hear them just talking about you as you walk in a shop and it was just so good and talking about different colored people and stuff. And again, I'm not saying all those people are bad. I'm just saying this is just a carnal thing you see all over the world. It's not just limited to white people. It's not just limited to, you know, Asians in Thailand. It's not just limited to whatever. This is just carnal people. It's a fleshly thing to have some glory and pride in the color of your skin. Okay. Or the nation you happen to be born in, which is ultimately, by the way, quite a modern construct as well, with it being much more, really, before that, it was regionalism. I mean, do you think people here, when all the different clans were fighting over many years, do you think they all go, oh, we're just all proudly English or British? No, they were talking about their areas, weren't they? That was what it came down to, and now it's kind of widened to this pride of nationalism. I mean, some people are like, they're proud to be British. It's like, yeah, it's a funny old thing, that, because a lot of the time, a lot of Scottish people hate English people, and vice versa, Welsh people like, like, what part of it are you proud of? It's just bizarre. Okay. And it doesn't, a lot of the time, it just doesn't make sense. Now, is it bad to maybe like where you were born? No. Where you live? No. The people of your area? No. Your nation. Want the best for it? Is that a bad thing? Of course not. We're raising children here. Don't we want the best for this nation? I want to be able to raise my children in godliness and honesty. I don't want to be having to hide around and try and live for god and sneak around. I want to be able to homeschool them and do good. Look, I want the best for this nation. Of course, right? I mean, if you didn't, that would be a bit strange. I just want this place to go to hell while I raise my family and, you know, I've got loved ones here and stuff. That is weird, okay? But it is, okay, it is, it is all right when it comes to it being above fellow believers. So if you're lifting the people of where you grew up, where you were raised, where your skin colour, whatever that is, and I don't know, does it have to be shades of that? I mean, I don't know how that works, right? If you're lifting that up above people that are fellow believers, you've got issues. Because we're all meant to be one nation together, aren't we? I've got more allegiance and more in common with another child of god than some god-rejecting Brit. Okay, let's be honest, okay? I've got a lot more in common with another child of god than some god-rejecting Brit. Even some god-rejecting Brit that grew up like me in the London suburbs. Even some god-rejecting Brit that grew up in the town I grew up. I've got more in common with a child of god, haven't I? I should do. At least a child of god that's trying to live by God's things, but ultimately we're all one nation if you're saved, right? Let alone just some random person that has a similar shade colour of skin as mine. I mean, that's just bizarre, isn't it? Oh yeah, they're my people. Yeah. Yeah, because he's got like a similar shade, I mean, he kind of burns maybe a bit more than me. Well, I won't go with that one. I'll go with that one. He's a little bit olivey, a tiny bit, but you know, not quite. I mean, what on earth, right? It is, it's so carnal. And again, this is across the board, though. People are into this stuff and all different backgrounds and everything else. Whatever skin colour and similar genetics ultimately are socially acceptable to be proud of right now. It doesn't matter. Whatever that is, it's not cool, it's not okay, it's just carnal. Clinging to that stuff, that genetic pride. Colossians 3.11, you don't have to turn to it says, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free, but Christ is all and in all. It comes back to Christ. Christ is all. Not your skin colour, not your nation, not your state, not your area of a nation, none of that, okay? Turn to 2 Thessalonians chapter 3. So however you want to cut that, okay, ultimately it just doesn't, it doesn't match up with the Bible, okay? He, you know, he's made us all of one nation, isn't he? Of one people. 2 Thessalonians chapter 3. How about communism, socialism and Marxism? Now I'm going to group them together under the socialism umbrella as they do overlap a lot and it's just a bit pointless to go into each and every one, okay? This is a good description of socialism. Socialism is a social and economic doctrine that calls for public rather than private ownership or control of property and natural resources. According to the socialist view, individuals do not live or work in isolation but live in cooperation with one another. Furthermore, everything that people produce is in some sense a social product and everyone who contributes to the production of a good is entitled to a share in it. Property as a whole, therefore, should owner at least control property for the benefit of all its members. So aside from the finer points of the individual systems, okay, the common themes include no private ownership and everyone is entitled to the product of others. Well, in 2 Thessalonians 3, okay, God through Paul makes it clear that you're not entitled to the product of others, you're not entitled, okay? Verse 6 of 2 Thessalonians 3 says, now we command you brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly and not of the tradition which he received of us. For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us, for we behave not ourselves disorderly among you. Neither did we eat any man's bread for naught, but wrought with labour and travail night and day that we might not be chargeable to any of you. So he said we didn't eat anything of anyone else's for nothing. He said not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an ensemble unto you, to follow us. So he's saying that whilst they were doing spiritual work among the Thessalonians, they continued to do secular work to pay for themselves. Now not because they didn't have the authority to be provided for, but because they wanted to be an example, especially it seems to some freeloaders that were there as he goes on to say in the verse he's following, because he says in verse 10, for even when we were with you this we commanded you, so this is a command, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. So he's saying if any could not work, no, but any would not work. You choose not to work, you shouldn't eat, basically. That's what he's saying, right? He said that this we command you that if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all but of busybodies. Now them that are such we command, again he's commanding, and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ that with quietness they work and eat their own bread, yeah? Now some who like the idea of socialism, I don't know if you ever heard them try and point out the early church of Acts 4 having all things in common, okay? We're not going to go there, however this was the first church under heavy persecution, people being cut off in their communities, et cetera, you know, bear in mind that this was right at the beginning, there was a lot going on there, it wasn't a blueprint for all churches, as evidenced here in 2 Thessalonians 3, okay, it wasn't a blueprint, was it, otherwise wise Paul was saying to them, no, you shouldn't be eating other people's stuff. He's not going, oh yeah, well as long as you've bought what you've sold and everything now you can just sit and relax and have, you know, whatever other people are making, he's saying, no, you're not working, you shouldn't even eat. Where he could have said, and by the way, he made something clear as well, I'll show you in a second, but he could have said, couldn't he, it's social commune time, couldn't he? But no, he said, for even when we're with you, this we command you that if any would not work, now this you should eat, look at verse 12, now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ that with quietness they work and eat their own bread. Not our work, so that then the communal bread is then given to you, no, eat their own bread. Because what's he talking about here? Private property rights. How does that work without private property rights? How would the eighth commandment in Exodus chapter 20 apply, thou shalt not steal without private property rights? How would it apply? Chapter 10, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's. How would that work without private property rights? It wouldn't work. And if you think about it, I mean, let's be honest, if you've read through and you've read through the Old Testament, many of his Old Testament, you know, that theocratic nation's laws were about private property rights, fair trading, thieving, punishment for thieving, etc. God certainly is not a socialist. Clear as day if you just read through the Bible, there's too many examples, okay? Which is why most socialists are very open about their rejection of God. So if you ever notice, communism especially, it's usually just God rejecting, God haters who are ultimately trying to get rid of even other religions as well. Okay, so turn to Genesis 8, Genesis chapter 8, with that in mind. So for me, they just do not jive, okay, with the Bible. Genesis chapter 8. How about environmentalism? Environmentalism. Now this is a political movement that seeks to improve and protect the quality of the natural environment through changes to environmentally harmful human activities. Now just to make it clear, okay, with a lot of these things, there are good parts to certain things, you know, I'd find that hard with a lot of socialists, okay, but there are to certain things, you know, you know, there are certain things, for example, you might have someone that's going, yeah, I'm a nationalist, I'm not happy about a load of basically paedophile worshipping Muslims coming into my nation, and you'd be like, yeah, fair enough, man, yeah, you got a point there, yeah, fair enough. But just because something might have some goodness to it doesn't mean that the whole ideology is, yeah? For example, environmentalism here, like I said, yeah, there's some good stuff there, they want to improve and protect the quality of the natural environment. And obviously, look, there are some things that, you know, yeah, they need improving, there are some liberties that go on, right? There's like raw sewage pumped into, you know, rivers, water source and all sorts of things like that that needs dealing with, right, where wealth can corrupt and people do some crazy stuff based on just basically saving money for money for making money. But the problem is, it's when the protection seems to revolve around high taxes based on debatable science, that's when it starts to get out of hand, combined then with fear mongering that what does the fear mongering usually do? Remove God from the equation. So that's what you see in the environmentalism being pushed. And Genesis 8 here is after the worldwide flood. They've come off the ark and verse 20 says, And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord, and took of every clean beast and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. That's verse 20, sorry, of Genesis 8. So did God say to Noah here, what are you doing killing and cooking all those different animals? Noah! Stop! You know, the poor animals. You know, you know that you're just exactly equal with that. In fact, you know that animals are more important than you guys. What are you doing, Noah? No, verse 21, the Lord smelled a sweet savour. He was like, man, that cooked meat smells good. That's what he said. He says that the Lord smelled a sweet savour and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground anymore for man's sake. You kind of feel like that burning of those animals actually is what convinced him, yeah, I'm not going to do this again. He said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground anymore for man's sake, for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth, neither will I again smite anymore every living thing as I have done. He liked the smell of cooking meat, didn't he? He liked that Noah offered all of his substance to him. And he then said this, because ultimately that's what it's really about, Noah got off the ark, he's got all these animals at his disposal, he's like, I'm giving the first of all those clean animals to the Lord. He's giving all of his substance to God, right? Which is ultimately, he liked that smell, he liked the fact that he was giving. And what was ultimately that being given to? Just to be burnt. I don't think God came down and ate it, he just burnt it to go, look, I'm giving of my substance to you, God. Verse 22, while the earth remaineth, he said, see time and harvest, and cold and heat and summer and winter and day and night shall not cease. So will the weather, the seasons, the days stop if we don't charge more taxes? Is it all going to just suddenly stop? We don't just tax it, because we've just got to tax those people more, that will solve it, right? I mean, this is ultimately what it comes down to. Will it all change? Will it all stop? No. He said, well, the earth remaineth, see time and harvest, okay? The cold and heat, the summer and winter, the day and night shall not cease. He's basically saying at the beginning of that verse that things will continue to grow, because you're constantly being told, it's all just going to come to an end, it's all just, ah, the weather, the climate change, you know. Well, he said, see time and harvest will even continue, until God decides it's time for a new heaven and new earth. Turn to 1 Peter 3. Look, for me, again, it just, the way it's pushed, no. Yeah, sure, yeah, we should, you know, it's nice to have some clean places, it's nice to look after certain things, but a big part of that push is to take God out of the equation. Turn to 1 Peter 3. How about feminism? Feminism. Feminism is the belief, you turn to 1 Peter 3, the belief in social, economic, and political equality of the sexes. Sounds nice and fair, doesn't it? Well, that's the problem, okay, it's not fair because the two genders aren't equal, okay, we all have different roles, okay, it doesn't work, different strengths and weaknesses. For example, I was thinking about this analogy, yeah, it's not fair to expect your pet cat to be a guard dog, is it? That's not fair. And at the same time, then your German shepherd to hunt mice. That's not fair, is it, because they're not suited to those roles. It's not that you just love that German shepherd more because you won't let that cat be your guard dog. No? He's like, oh, you just love that cat more because you won't get the German shepherd out there trying to find the tiny little mice in nooks and crannies you can't even get into. He's just barking and tearing down the house. No. They're not equal. Poor cat, you're prejudiced. I mean, this is the sort of nonsense, basically this is what it comes down to, right? That poor dog, you're limiting his opportunities in life. Just not letting him be a mouse hunter. And I'm not talking about those little ratting dogs, yeah, that's why I chose a bigger dog here, right? They're different. And if you swap them over, if you swap them over, you'd better hope that those burglars are afraid of mice. Because they're going to do a bad job, aren't they? The cat's not going to scare off the burglars, OK? And I'm just thinking about a place where you've got a lot of burglars. You might be sitting there going, well, I don't really need a guard dog past that. Some people do, all right? Some places you do, especially remote places, things like that. OK, it's the same with men and women, though. We're different, aren't we? We're just different. We have different strengths, different weaknesses, different abilities, different roles. 1 Peter 3 says in verse 1, 1 Peter 3.1, let's see what the word of God says. Not what sounds nice, sounds just all fairness and equality and all those nice words that sound like they're right. They sound almost like they must come from God, right? Well, what does 1 Peter 3.1 says? Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands, that if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives, while they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. He said, wives, be in subjection. Did he not? He said, be in subjection. He said, forget all your feminist brainwash, your seven stone action, heroin, sweet little fairy tales, you know, that's all over it seems to be modern movies now of like little seven stone women, like helicopter kicking 20 stone guys in the face with, I mean, it wouldn't even tickle most of these guys in real life. It's ridiculous. But do you wonder, does anyone, do people not just wake up and wonder why is this just constantly being pushed on us? These are meant to be semi-realistic movies to a degree. I mean, at least in the old days, they try and got like the biggest stat guy they could to look like he was invincible. So you know, they try to get something, at least it was a bit silly. It was like a guy who made a career of standing in Y-fronts or something, Arnold Schwarzenegger or something similar. But at least it kind of was meant to con you to think, well, yeah, maybe he could be a 10 man job because he's quite big. Now it's like a seven stone female who's apparently a 10 man job. It's ridiculous. And it's like, yeah, it's a really cool action movie. It's preposterous, the stuff they try and encourage. And the thing is, is that kids growing up and girls growing up are looking at this stuff. And you go and talk to a fight sport trainer or something else and they'll tell you, yeah, my gym's getting flooded with that. Before I stopped coaching, that was what I was getting, more and more requests and more and more interest. And I was like, I got to a point where I was like, look, it's a men only class and, you know, sorry ladies out there, I just thought, look, let ladies teach that if they really want to do that. I didn't really want to coach that and have it all mixed classes. But there was more and more. And you know what? A lot of them were a lot more dedicated in it than the men because they'd just been watching their whole lives, women beating up men. They're like, this is me. Finally, I'm going to be kung fu kicking them around the place, you know, and it's just ridiculous. And then what would happen? And I'll just tell you this, just sort of side note as well, because for a while, yeah, they were coming in my class. I had this girl. She was really talented. She was a good fighter. She was tough. You know, she had good technique. And she used to want to come and spar with the guys and, you know, I used to say to the guys, just take it easy, take it easy. And she was quite a small girl. So everyone else is kind of, an entire lot of the time, you kind of play spar. So it's not like, if you're thinking about boxing where they're trying to knock each other's heads off on just a random night in a week, touch gloves go, you know, what should we try? We try not to do that so much. You end up like, crashing knees, shins, people get, you know, just, you get a lot of injuries like that, because you haven't just got, like, pillows on your hands to deal with this, everything else, right? So, so anyway, so we would be like, okay, you know, like, they play spying and then this girl would get in and she'd just be steaming into people, throwing big haymakers, like, lunging for it. You know, I used to join in with the spying and she'd just be, like, just trying to take your head off. What are you doing? You know, and you're constantly trying to tell her she just didn't get it until eventually someone who had no technique just whacked around her face and suddenly she, she was concussed for, like, two weeks and it wasn't any good. The guy was a light as well, but he was just a guy, you know, and it just, and then she kind of came back and then the same again, you know, she's tearing into everyone again and then something else happened, and then, you know, what was terrible as well was then she then suddenly tells me after having a long haul, by the way, I'm pregnant. She was a married lady, but she'd never discussed it, so suddenly she's been spying with people who, by the way, including, like, getting kicked and stuff like that, and she's, I mean, just, just wasn't for her, but she really thought, I'm going to be a fighter, I'm going to be the best, I'm going to, and it just wasn't for her, right? And again, I'm not saying it's for it, like, somebody might look at her and go, why is anyone doing that sort of stuff? But I was explaining this to my daughter the other day, I was just saying, because she's going to boys, they're, like, fighting all, you know, they're doing this, I'm like, they're boys, okay, that's what young boys usually do. They want to beat each other up, they want to kung fu kick each other, they want to do, like, flying moves on each other, that's just what boys do, okay, we're different, right? But aside from the fighting stuff, your dreams, okay, for many, any, maybe, you know, sort of, you know, at least hidden feminists out there, your dreams of being some chief executive career woman in a trouser suit, you've been watching that stuff, you've been watching the moves, you're like, that's me, I'm going to be the chief exec in a trouser suit telling men what to do for the rest of my life, yeah? God's just saying, get rid of that, yeah, get out of your life, load of rubbish, yeah? He's saying, submit to your own husband, submit to your own, not someone else's husband, don't submit to someone else's, submit to your own husband, just a quick point, just a little side note on that, yeah? Women in this church, especially, or any women in this church, okay, like, you don't need to submit to any other man in this church, and men don't think that my wife or anyone else's wife is to submit to you in here, okay? That's not how it works, right, like, no, my wife is to submit to me, not to someone else, okay, he said wives, he said submit to your own husbands, being subjection to your own husbands, yeah, okay, but especially if she goes into the workplace and now she's got a male boss, now she's submitting them to someone else's husband, possibly, right? That ain't a good thing, there's a lot of problems that come from that, aren't there, okay? But he said, who's adorning? Let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair and wearing of gold or of putting on a vappel. He didn't say, don't do this stuff, just to make it clear, he said, let it not be what adorns you, because people like, people go, I've preached this a few times, you just have to mention this, because some people, they just don't get these sort of things, they look at this verse and they're like, okay, right, I'm going to be extra holy if I don't put a plait in my hair, extra holy if I never wear any gold, I'll be extra holy if I don't put on any, oh, okay, I'll just do the first two, I mean, you know what I mean, right? But people do, right? So no, that's not what it says, but he's saying that that shouldn't be what beautifies you to others, that shouldn't be what adorns you, it's all those things which women do, shouldn't be ultimately what beautifies you, but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit which is in the sight of God of great price. So a meek and quiet spirit is in the sight of God of great price. Isn't that important? Isn't that surely what we should be looking for? Isn't that ladies out there, and you know what, you know what, you'd like men to have a meek spirit as well, and depending on the situation, quiet sometimes, but here he's specifically focusing on the women, okay, that's of great price, for after this manner in the old time, the holy women also who trusted in God adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands, even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement. So he's saying, look, those women of old, and Sarah there, by the way, that was in her heart, at least the example we see in the Word of God is in her heart, she's calling her husband Lord, she's giving him respect, she's revering her husband, and he wants women today to be doing the same thing, and you might look at that and go, well that all sounds a bit sexist, it's a bit misogynistic, isn't it? I don't see any hate there. Did anyone see any hate, any contempt? Just a differing of roles. Just a differing of roles. That's why he then said, likewise ye wives, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, don't forget that bit, as unto the week of Essel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers be not hindered. He said husbands honour your wives. What does that mean here? Respect, esteem. This doesn't work if you treat your wife like a child, that's not what he's telling men to do, is it? It doesn't work if you're treating your wife like someone beneath you, like something you trod in, because she's a weaker vessel. No, you're meant to honour her, let's love her, respect her, show her respect, but as a weaker vessel, why? Because you're one flesh, you just have different roles. You have different roles. So that leaves, with that in mind, and I think feminism again, you could go through the Bible and completely debunk a lot of that feminist stuff, however nice it might sound with words like equality and fairness and things like that, but it leaves liberalism and conservatism. So let's just look at those quickly. So liberalism originally is a political doctrine that takes protecting and enhancing the freedom of the individual to be the central problem of politics. So most Western politics is highly influenced, I believe it is, by liberalism, and not entirely in a bad way. So many freedoms and liberties are a result of it, because we think of the word liberalism and we just say, oh, them crazy Nazi liberal types out there, but that's not ultimately what it is. Liberalism argues for the natural rights of life, liberty and property, and places the legitimacy of political authority on the consent of the citizenry. Now again, some of the rights we have in life come from that, come from the fact that there has been a lot of liberalism, if you like, amongst governments over our nation and others in the West, but modern liberalism includes a modernising and anti-traditionalist approach to government. And then you've got conservatism, which is kind of meant to be, in a way, the opposite to at least now to modern liberalism, which is a political doctrine that emphasises the value of traditional institutions and practices. So government's responsibility is to be the servant, not the master of existing ways of life, and politicians must therefore resist the temptation to transform society and politics. So you could look at those two, okay, and you could go, okay, a lot of that doesn't sound that bad. But let's get behind a sort of combination of these, which is kind of what we see out there pretty much today, is a combination of liberalism and conservatism, with some being called the Right supposedly being more on the conservatism side, and some being called the Left being more on the liberalism side. And maybe, of course, there's a smattering of other ideologies thrown in for good measure, okay, and I don't think anyone would argue that there isn't. But here's the problem, okay, does anyone think that the Liberals' belief in the rights of life and liberty should allow people to do what they want? Anyone think now? So the Liberals are saying, well, you know, people's rights and liberties, that's the most important thing, but should they then do what they want? In 1 Peter 2 we're told, submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether it be to the king as supreme, so whatever the government, we're to submit as long as we're not displaying God, or unto governors as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of them that do well. So these ordinances are supposed to be punishing evildoers and praising the good, right? But are the Liberal governments out there punishing evildoers, as God would call them, and as God wants them to? No. It's a bit hard to conform to an ideology which has progressed, is what they claim, in its rights of liberty to include those guilty of what should by God's standards be capital crimes. So how can you agree with our, well, the rights and liberties to do what you want, and then you're not even punished? They don't even punish it. They don't even punish it. And of course there's the obvious thing, it's just an obvious example, it's sodomy. It's ridiculous. These governments are now punishing people that dare to call it a sin, even. It's hate speech. I mean, how do you get behind that? You can't get behind that, right? So you say, well, what about, and of course there's other examples, what about conservatism? Traditional institutions and practices are good, aren't they? Aren't they good things? Well, turn to Psalm 119, Psalm 119. It depends where those traditions and practices came from, though, doesn't it? So not all traditions and practices are okay. Where did they come from? If they came from the commandments of God, great. Okay, Psalm 119, 119 and verse 127. So Psalm 119 and verse 127 says, in verse 127 there, Psalm 119, it says, Therefore I love thy commandments above gold, yea, above fine gold. Okay, so commandments of God, great. The Psalm is here under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, says he loves it above the finest gold, okay, loves God's commandments. But do you know where the last political ideology was that was in line with God's commandments, where that was? It was found amongst children of Israel a few thousand years ago, okay, and they got it wrong a lot as well, okay, and depending on the period of time, depending on how close they were to it, okay. What we have had in so-called conservatism now is a sort of mishmash of biblical tradition, yeah, there's some there, like kind of mixed up with false religious tradition and, you know, world's ideas of government and everything, it's just all kind of merged into one. And verse 128 there in Psalm 119 says, Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right, and I hate every false way. So the Psalm is there again, he's under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, it's ultimately God writing to us saying this, that he hates every false way and that's how we should, the example of the Psalm says we should be hating every false way. And the reality of it is, okay, whatever system, whatever political party, whatever political leader, so-called variation of an ideology will always be contrary in some and usually many ways to God's way, won't it, always. You show me an ideology which is completely lined up with the Word of God and again you're going back a few thousand years to Old Testament Israel and maybe the Kingdom of Judah at times after that to some degree, yeah. Which is why, finally back in Romans 12, Romans chapter 12, all that to say this, Paul said this in Romans 12, let's look from verse 1 again, Romans 12 one 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. He said be not conformed to this world. Now conformed is made to resemble, it's reduced to a likeness of, it's made agreeable to, it's suited. And I'll tell you one way that you can end up being conformed to this world is by allowing yourself to be pigeonholed into some political ideology. And believe me, there are attempts all over the place to try and pigeonhole you into a political ideology, conforming to the belief system of some worldly politicians. Is that really who God wants you to be conforming to? Does God want you to be conforming to the worldly politician, whoever it is? He said 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. So does that mean that you have to equate all political parties, all politicians, all social movements as the same? Of course not. Of course they're not the same. Of course there's levels. Of course, look, there are differences amongst them. Does the Bible believe in Christianity and want to live under Starmer's Labour government? I mean what on earth over the last few months already, I mean it's horrendous. And it's only getting worse. Does someone who reads their Bible, believes in the Bible, believes in how we should live, the freedoms that we should live under, and also the restrictions that we should live under, do they really think that we should be living under, do they really want to be living under that? Of course not. How long are you going to have preferences? Is it refreshing to hear Trump talking of two genders? Of course. After all that Phil, before of course that's going to be at least a little bit refreshing. But how far, how far has the bar lowered for that even to be a thing? I mean how far has the bar been put down where people are going, wow the President of the United States said there's only two genders. And I know like, and again it's not exactly that and people use the term, you might have heard of the term, the Hegelian dialectic, okay, and it's kind of basically found that middle point. And the point being that the more that you just lower the bar, lower the bar, lower the bar, the more you seem to be, again if you're into that, if you're paying attention, if you're into all the politics, again another thing with paying attention, when you really get vested in that, the more you start to then somehow be pleased with that middle ground which is suddenly all the way down here. I mean what on earth? I mean you think about how far Starmer's Labour is going to lower the bar. Maybe where we'll be cheering and supporting the next, you know, the next guy that comes in because he's reduced the punishment for like thought crime. Oh yeah, we've got this great guy come in, he only gives you two years in prison now for saying something offensive, oh praise God, you know, you must be a man of God. I mean that's kind of where you're at really because you've got, honestly, because you've got people in this nation thinking that it's somehow like the big thing to be pushing for a public inquiry, just think about what that word really entails, a public inquiry into hordes of Muslim rape gangs. We really need a public inquiry. What? No. They need to be strung up, they need to be strung up, they need to be, and anyone involved with that, the whole, that religion needs to be deported out of these lands. Oh no, no, no, we need a public inquiry. What? Who decides who does the public inquiry? The government. Honestly, you can't make this stuff up, but people think that this is like really out there, yeah, public inquiry, public inquiry, public inquiry, how about we call for people to be put to death? How about we call for rapists to be put to death, how about that? Isn't that where the bar should be? But instead, we've lowered it to where people are like, oh, well, you know, I don't understand it, I mean, maybe they should have a public inquiry, oh, he's a bit right-wing. Honestly, it's so bizarre, it's so bizarre. You've got Bible-believing Christians getting behind a president, and when I say Bible-believing Christians, don't get me wrong, there's a lot of Bible-believing Christians that are way off on this, right? But you've got out there Bible-believing Christians who know the truth about this, getting behind a president pledging, basically, just loyal, unflinching support for those Zionists out there murdering people. I mean, you can't make that up. How do you support a guy that is just openly out there, yeah, I'm up for what? Let's be honest, let's be honest, really. Why is Trump in power now? Because what's next on the agenda? War. Because the Democrats ain't too fond of war, and Republicans love a bit of war. That's really what it comes down to. Let's get some war going. We need a guy to come in before anyone's going, he's the same, he said there's only two genders. How stupid you have to be, this guy is the most pride-filled guy I think I've ever seen. How do normal Bible-believing Christians that read through the Bible about pride, pride, pride, pride, pride, pride, the children are wicked, full of pride, full of pride, full of pride, full of pride, and then they get a guy who's going, nobody knows more about this than I do. Nobody knows more about Israel, nobody knows more about the Bible than I do. What? Like, oh yeah, he's a man! What's your favourite Bible? I love them all, I love every verse of the Bible. Yeah, he's a Christian hero, isn't he? But this is where we've got to, right? And do you know why? It's because these people have conformed to this world. Because if they're in their Bible, they'll be looking at this guy going, this guy's a And don't get me wrong, should you therefore go, oh no, we should get, like, Kamala the witch in? It's like, no, of course not, OK, of course, yeah, you're going to probably go, it's better that than the alternative. But to get behind him, to be cheering him on, that's just, that's out there, it's out there. A hundred years ago, Trump and his followers would have been considered left-wing. Seriously, a hundred years ago they were left-wing. They were lefties. The guy, like, supports abortion and stuff. Oh, he comes out with a bit of, like, the propaganda before, but they don't end any of this stuff. He's a leftie. He's a leftie that now they go, oh yeah, right-wing, yeah, yeah, oh, you must be a racist if you like Trump. It's like, what? A hundred years ago, Starmer would have been nicked for being a pervert, really. Surely they would have had him for something. I mean, if he's not batting for the other side, I don't know who is. I mean, it's ridiculous. And it's one thing for the lost, okay, but, because 2 Corinthians 4 says this, In whom the god of this world has 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 they're blinded in various ways by the god of this world. Now that's with a small g, and again, without going into it in depth, it's clearly talking about Satan. Okay, they're blinded by Satan, the god of this world. But just to make it clear, that hasn't changed, okay, that hasn't changed. Trump hasn't suddenly destroyed the works of darkness. It's like, oh, thank God that Trump's come in, the most prideful guy ever. It's like a caricature, it's like a clown, really. I mean, I've just played a couple of those little I-know-everything things, just for the pure comedy value. I mean, it's ridiculous, yeah. He hasn't suddenly come in and it's, Trump's destroyed the devil. Who believes that? The devil's the god of this world. It's just a different flavour for a time. And considering that Satan is the god of this world, isn't it all the more important that we don't conform to it, then? And back in Romans 12, verse 2, it said, And be ye 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. So God's good and acceptable and perfect will isn't conforming to one of the most pride-filled people around in his so-called right-wing policies, or whatever you want to call them. God's good and acceptable and perfect will isn't conforming to one of the world's political parties' ideals, is it? That's not God's good and acceptable and perfect will. Can we prefer one above another? Of course, sure, right? But don't then conform to it, yeah? Conform to God. And something God reminds us of a few places in scripture is that we're not of this world, okay? The politics, etc., they're just not our job here. They're not for us. Now again, does it mean you can't be aware of what's going on? No, of course, you know, be aware. It's sometimes useful to know what's going on, so I don't have to remind myself that. It's easy to just kind of not be aware of what's going on. But is that something you should really be focusing on? Especially not then conforming, going, I'm behind, I'm this political party, I'm this political ideology, I'm behind this guy. That's not for us. 1 Peter 2.11 says, Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims. You're saved, you're a stranger and pilgrim here. Stained from fleshly lust, which war against the soul. Now perhaps you find that hard, okay? Maybe you just watch politics all day. Maybe, I don't know. There might be some people here. No, no, look, that stuff can get interesting sometimes. Sometimes you get a bit sucked into that. The problem is, you look at a couple of videos like that if you're on YouTube or something like that, that's suddenly all you'll ever be showed. You know? I looked at something on Starmer once, and ever since I'm just getting all these videos about, he's coming down, he's getting taken out tomorrow. He's like, oh, he's going to have to quit now. And it's like, really? I've been seeing these for a while now, yeah? Starmer did this, Starmer did that. So again, if you start watching that stuff, you're going to see a lot of that stuff. Maybe you find it hard to not stress over the evils of opposing ideologies to whatever you believe in, okay? Or you hate watching the nation you grew up in being destroyed, and that's understandable, right? What do you do? How do you pull away? How do you not let the media suck you into what the world is doing? How do you abstain from those fleshly lusts I just quoted in 1 Peter 2.11, which war against the soul? Will you behave like a stranger and a pilgrim, and not like a dyed-in-the-wall political activist? Behave like a stranger and pilgrim in this land. He said in verse 2, 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. So to do God's good and acceptable and perfect will, you need to be transformed, it seems here, by the renewing of your mind. And I want to point out that this is a continuous process, it's not automatic, is it? He's telling them to do that. He said, be transformed by the renewing of your mind. So it's not that it's something that you do once, and then put your feet up and just enjoy that renewal. Oh yeah, I got renewed, I got saved, I'm renewed, that's it. Now let's just see what happens, okay? It's an ongoing process, it needs encouragement to be doing it, okay? Turn to Ephesians chapter 4, Ephesians 4, where Paul also talks about our minds and the renewing of them, okay? So Ephesians 4, we're going to look at from verse 17. Ephesians 4, 17 says this, This I say therefore and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their hearts. So this is the unsaved, in the vanity or the emptiness or pointlessness of their thoughts and motives and all that stuff. The waste of time, for example, obsessing over politics, when God has much more important things for us to do. And again, this stuff can be like rabbit trails for people, where suddenly they're just in this stuff, looking at this stuff all the time, and you can apply this to many other things, okay? Verse 19, who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. Now, lasciviousness is lustful indulgence, in case you're wondering. He said in verse 20, But ye have not so learned Christ, if so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus, that ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust. And you can include most of the nationalism, feminism, etc. with that, can't you? In the use of that, it's the old man, it's the flesh, it's a deceitful lust, it's deceitful stuff to get pulled into all of that. And be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. So he said to put off the old man, that's the flesh that we looked at last week, okay, the old you, be renewed in the spirit of your mind, verse 23, and then verse 24, and then put on the new man, which is walking in the spirit, not fulfilling the lust of the flesh. So there's something, it seems, about being renewed in the spirit of your mind, okay, don't leave me now, just this last bit, yeah, something about that which then contributes to you then walking in the spirit, yeah? Because he said that you put off concern, in verse 22, that you put off concern in the form of conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man. So there's something about this renewing, okay, that contributes to that. And it is something that we choose to do, he said to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, again it was a command to do that, telling us to do that. Because there is a renewing with salvation that comes from the Holy Ghost according to Titus, you don't have to turn them in Titus 3, but here it's choosing to be renewed in the spirit, and you don't have to turn them in, John 14 26, Jesus said, but the Comforter, which is another name for the Holy Spirit, who is a Holy Ghost, he says, whom the Father will send in my name. He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, okay, remember we're talking about being renewed in the spirit of the mind, renewed in the mind, okay, that will bring to your remembrance, so what you remember, whatsoever I have said unto you. So the Holy Ghost, or we could say the Holy Spirit, teaches us all things, and brings to our remembrance, to our minds, God's words, God's words. So back in Romans 12 2, where it said this, 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, an acceptable and perfect will of God. The renewing of our minds comes from the Holy Spirit and the word of God. It's a word of God that gets the vanity out of our minds, okay, it's a word of God that helps us to deny the flesh, and it's a word of God that transforms us that we may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. And when we're really renewing our mind with it, we won't then conform to all of this worldly political nonsense, will we, it all goes back to the word of God. And like I was saying, just away from, you know, and some people again, you know, and again there is there is a spiritual element to it, of being in the word of God and being, you know, and the Holy Spirit bringing to your remembrance, but just on a very just basic way of it, that the more you're reading the word of God, the more you're listening to the word of God preached, the more you're memorizing the word of God, the more you're studying the word of God, the more you're doing the things of God, the more surely you're just going to see through most of this political nonsense for what it is, the less you're going to be conformed to whatever ideology the world's trying to push on you. And even that is, some people will have it push and go, well I'm going to take this so-called middle ground, but is that really God's good and acceptable and perfect will? How can you know God's good and acceptable and perfect will? It's all in the word of God, it all comes back to the word of God. He said, 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. The title was Be Not Conformed to This World's Political Ideologies, how? Understand God's ways through his word. I don't know, maybe there's some people here that maybe need to hear that. Again, if you don't apply it to political stuff, you can apply it to so many other things, it all just comes back to being in the word of God. On that, we're going to finish the word of prayer. Father, I thank you for your word, Lord, thank you that your word just makes it so clear, makes our thoughts should be clear, Lord, the things we should focus on, the standards we should have, the standards of morality we should have, that it all should be according to your good and acceptable and perfect will, Lord, and not the world's, Lord. Help us to not be conformed to this world, especially in this area of politics, of political ideologies, and those that seem to be leading the latest versions of them, Lord, and help us to be conformed to you, and ultimately how we know that to be conformed to you through the way you've revealed yourself, which is through the word of God, Lord. Help us to read our Bibles, Lord. Help us to want to hear more biblical preaching, to want to memorise the word more, to just be studying more, Lord, to just keep going back to the word, to have our lives focused on the word of God and not on the world, Lord. Help us to have a great soul-winning time now this afternoon, Lord, a good time of fellowship after the service as well, help us to get many salvations and return for the men's preaching night this evening. In Jesus' name I pray all this. Amen.