Transcript: How to Overcome the World's Influence as a Christian (Bible Study)

Music Music Jesus made a profound statement in John chapter 15 verse 19 when he said, If you belong to the world, it would love you as its own. And as it is, you do not belong to the world. But listen to this, please. I have chosen you out of the world. Now, we're going to get right into this word today and go right to the core and the root of the matter of what is on the Lord's heart and what concerns Him dearly and greatly these days. dearly because many, many of his children are at risk in perishing and greatly because the enemy is on the prowl and God's people overall are oblivious as to what is happening in the world today as prophesied in Matthew 24 when Jesus says, watch out that no one deceives you. Now many Christians, as I said, are oblivious as to what is happening on the world scene overall and moreover and most importantly, spiritually, they are neglectful in watching over the state and the condition of their own souls. Jesus said also in Matthew 24, warning about the end times, that people will be preoccupied with the world and life in general, as they were in the days of Noah. The message I wish to impart in this word today is found in 2 Corinthians 6.16. And the word declares, For we are the temple of the living God, even as God said, I will dwell in and with and among them, and I will walk in and with and among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people. Verse 17. So come out from among unbelievers, and separate and sever yourselves from them, says the Lord, and touch not any unclean thing, then I will receive you kindly and will treat you with favor. And I will be a father to you and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. You see, verse 17 is a command that says, Come out from among them and separate yourselves from them. Come out from among them is a statement that says, come out from among the idolaters and the unbelievers and from every superficial, sinful, and perverse thing in this empty world that belongs to Satan, the devil. You must come to see that the world is vicious because it is influenced by Satan and his hordes of hell. And there are people who purport to be a Christian who mock and ridicule and contemptuously put down and badger those who do attempt to live in compliance to God's holy word and command in 2 Corinthians 6.17 again which declares so come out from among unbelievers and separate sever yourselves from them says the Lord and touch not any unclean thing and I will receive you and treat you kindly with my favor and I will be a father to you and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. Well, God is saying, Come out of Babylon and do not touch the unclean and the vile things which belong to Satan. These people who mock and ridicule say, we can't come out of the world how could we come out of the world when we're a part of it and they also are ones who mock and say ah we can't be perfect they say this because they really like the world and what it has to offer they love looking like the world acting like the world and behaving like the world Jesus commanded also that we be perfect like his Father in heaven is perfect, but unregenerate purporting Christians who are ignorant of what God says do not know that to be perfect means that we are to grow in maturity in this Christian way of life. And this was a command from Christ himself. So how dare we, who claim to wear the title of Christian, which means a follower of Christ, if you claim to be a believer in Jesus Christ, how dare we then say that we can't be perfect or to come out of the world is not right? How dare we contradict the word of God? Who are we but mere creatures of clay? so if we claim to be a believer in Christ then we will be imitating and reflecting his likeness his character his purity his modesty his honesty and sincerity and you'll be united with him in oneness Jesus also said in John 10 27 the sheep that are my own are listening to my voice and I know them and they follow me. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. They follow me. Now listen. To follow Christ and listen to him means that you will hear and you will obey his commandments. And Jesus knows those who are his because they go where his spirit and his providence leads them, and they will yield themselves to his guidance and seek desperately to be led by him. Therefore, the name and title of Christian means to be a follower of Christ. True Christians are ones who truly follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They are not Christians in name only. To be a follower of Christ means that you will obey his word and submit entirely to him. Revelation 14.4 declares, These are those who have not defiled themselves by relations with women, for they are pure as virgins. These are those who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These are they who have been ransomed, they've been purchased and redeemed from among men as first fruits for God and the Lamb. No lie was found upon their lips, for they are blameless, they're spotless, untainted, without blemish before the throne of God. These verses get right to the heart of the matter in describing what a Christian looks and acts like. Here in these beautiful verses, we have one of the most awesome, most descriptive sights that can be seen and visualized with Jesus Christ as head of his church and his faithful followers who represent his true church. that is, individual members of his body, who took him at his word on the earth by holding it dear to their hearts and denied themselves of worldly vices and every abomination, that is, every shameful, vile, or detestable thing that Satan presented to them. They hated anything that was impure and perverse. they had not defiled themselves with women means that they remained pure and had not tainted or trained themselves to let their minds and their hearts wander when looking upon another to where impure or sexual thoughts or desires rose up which leads to the physical act of adultery or fornication. spiritual adultery is symbolic of one who professes to be a follower of Christ but yet are ones who remain faithless and unholy because they profane Christ's name by way of their attachment to worldly entertainments such as movies and videos and games and TV and technology and sports parties and travel and the busyness of life with people, places and things and all of these are put first in people's lives to where they neglect the number one responsibility in their lives and that is to love the Lord their God with all of their hearts all of their souls all of their minds their entire being spiritual adultery is worshipping or putting first all of the above mentioned before putting Christ first and honoring he and his father in daily and continual worship and heartfelt devotion. And if the latter does not happen in a professing Christian's life, then they will only be living a lie and will be known in heaven as pretenders of the faith. Pretenders of the faith are called an adulterous generation, which means they were unholy and faithless in an apostate church who deceived themselves right into hell. They compromised God's truth to fit their carnal passions and desires. They toyed with God's grace once it came into their hearing. And these are those in every generation who stand before the great and the mighty judge Jesus Christ and hear, get away from me, I never knew you. Because they did not take the time while they had breath on the earth to come to him, to know him. But those who truly follow him are purifying their hearts by obeying his every command and living a life that is truly honorable and pleasing to him without compromise, without mental assent, without presumption without sympathizing with evil without adapting to this world vile system or ways And this is why they are considered pure and chaste They have the name written on their foreheads Listen to what Revelation 14.1. In Revelation 14.1, what it has to say about the true followers who honorably follow the Lamb. Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb stood on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 men who had his name and his father's name inscribed on their foreheads. These are sealed in Christ. They cannot be touched or harassed by the evil one. They endured through every trial and remained faithful. They became one with Christ. They're married to him. And this seal is their distinguishing badge. His name was written on their foreheads. They made a bold and an open confession and profession of their love and faith in God and his son Jesus Christ. their words were pure and sincere without deceit and fraudulence in their confession and they're known and approved by heaven and their love and their attention was followed by a song in their heart which was unknown and yet secret to others and others might endeavor to repeat or copy this divine or supernatural song but they remain strangers on the outside looking in, in God's eyes and his sight. And these had the character, the faith, the purity in spirit that delighted the very heart of God. And they are described as those who kept themselves undefiled by the world. They were not spiritual adulterers. They are virgins who in spirit were pure and chaste like the dove with their eyes only fixed and their love, their eyes and their love fixed on the object of their faith who was none else but Jesus Christ, the author and the finisher of their faith. As we grow and we pure into God's word and we study this wonderful and enlightening truth, it is supernatural dear ones it's divine and it begins to bring about a wonderful change in your heart and as you learn this beautiful truth and understand it personally that God is speaking to me through his word you come to love the truth that God speaks to your heart and before long you find yourself being enveloped in his love and his presence and you find yourself wanting to please him and you find your joy and peace comes only from him because because because of your submission and obedience in obeying what he tells you to do in his word this command in 2 Corinthians 6.17 which declares come out from among unbelievers and separate yourselves or sever yourselves from them says the Lord touch no unclean thing then I will receive you kindly and treat you with favor. Now this command to come out of Babylon and not touch any unclean and vile thing which belongs to Satan, if heeded, will invoke the kindness and the favor of God in your life. Verse 17 in our scripture in the latter part says, I will receive you kindly and treat you with favor, says the Lord. I'll be a father to you and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. You see, Babylon represents the world. And even though we live in the world, we're not to be a part of the world. And the command to not touch any unclean or vile thing means that you will separate yourself from vain, from idolatrous, from filthy, perverse attachments. And you will be watchful and careful in your thoughts, your thought life, in your words, in what you say, and your deeds and also what you lay your eyes on and what you incline your ears to hear. You and I, if we call ourselves Christian, are to be separated from the world and all of its corrupting influences and we are actually called to loathe all of Satan's evil temptations. Touching no unclean thing tells us that we are to be pure and have absolutely no connection to anything vile, vain, and polluted, such as sexy, indecent, and lewd fashions which excite and incite sexual, sensual, obscene passions in others. and I'm afraid there are many professing Christians in name only who sit in pews every Sunday who will stand before their judge one day and will be sentenced to hell because of their indecent and sensual dress not only dragging it into the church week after week but wearing it in the workplace and at home because it is fashionable in today's time. God commands that women, men too, dress decently and modestly. Being pure also means that we will not desire to see movies, videos, or partake of games that have pornography, that are violent, full of sex and foul language. being pure means that we will not commit adultery or fornicate well the word says to look upon another with a lustful passion or fantasies is being guilty of the act of adultery or fornication already and being pure means that you will not covet or desire those things that demand your time or attention Covetousness is defined by the Bible dictionary as being a very grave or serious sin. And this means that Satan puts on people's heart desire to have things, which include the materialistic things or material things, which include larger cars, houses, bigger bank accounts, entertainment, riches, which include wealth and status, titles, and today the unsationable desire to have all the technology, the new devices and gadgets that are constantly being updated and invented and advertised as a must-have, gotta have it. And young people are victims of this technology. and Christian parents are guilty of allowing this sinful practice of keeping up with the Joneses, so to speak, so that their child will not be left out of the race to show them just as affluent as the boy or the girl next door. Young children or young Christian adults soon become responsible for the salvation of their own souls when it comes to putting the brakes on and saying, these are not eternal things, and I will take nothing with me out of this world when I depart it. Covetousness is inordinate or extreme love of money and also the desire to have more than one possesses. In many cases, this unsationable appetite seeks and finds ways to have what they want. And many feel their desire to have more by dishonest gain, which leads to people stealing and lying and manipulating people to have what they want to have. Covetousness is such a grave and serious sin that scriptures class it among the most serious of sins. Ephesians 5, verse 3, please. Ephesians 5, verse 3. But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as it is fitting and proper among saints, God's consecrated people. Now another word for covetousness is called greed or greediness. In Colossians 3.5, it is called idolatry. Colossians 3.5, so kill, deaden, deprive of power. The evil desire lurking in your members, those animal impulses and all that is earthy in you, that is employed in sin, in sexual vice, impurity, sensual appetites, unholy desires, and listen to this, all greed and covetousness. for that is an idolatry the deifying of self and other created things instead of God ranked among everything that is impure in the eyes of God covetousness and greed listed among those things employed in our bodily members that have these insatiable appetites to have more, want more. And it's fit in right with fornication, adultery, impurity, sensual desires, appetites, unholy desires. Covetousness leads to departure of the faith. Did you hear that? Covetousness leads to departure of the faith. It is the root of many other sins. It leads as I said to lying to disagreement to lust to argument and eventually to murder Look with me please opening your Bibles to Proverbs 15 verse 27 Proverbs 15, verse 27. The Word declares, He who is greedy or covetous for unjust gain, that means that which he or she does not have, troubles his own household. So this is saying that this monstrous, greedy appetite that wants more and more will cause trouble in their own household and these kinds of people are a torment to themselves and their own families by having such greediness and ravenous fascination with more and more stuff That bottom line, it is a curse from Satan and fueled by his demons until that individual puts his foot down on the neck of the devil and says, No more, Satan! I will not be controlled by you any longer. I am a follower of Jesus Christ in him whom my soul craves. I crave his truths and long after his righteousness and purity. Dear church, covetousness does not fit anywhere into God's holy ways of being pure. Not one place does it fit in. Being pure means also that we will not engage in conversation that is filthy or foul or vile or sinful or sleazy of any kind. And being pure means that we will tell the truth at all times. It means we will not tell a half-truth in order to pull the wool over someone's eyes, in order to keep our image, or to save face, or get by with something. Now let me say, a half-truth is the most dangerous because it is the most seductive form of delusion. And for homework, those of you who do not know what delusion is, I suggest that you learn and you study that word. The half-truth which is presented usually excludes the suspicion of deception. A lie is a lie. A half-truth is deceptive and God's word says all liars deserve eternal death. Being a true Christian means then that we are to avoid all unholy contact with the vain and polluted world. We are not to have a close connection with an idolater or unholy person. We are not to be unequally yoked. An idolater is someone who turns away from God because of other interests that capture and steal their attention and attraction to God, their creator. The things or persons that these turn to are their idols. and they are known as an idolater. An idolater or an unholy person is one who fits into the category of a list that I have just mentioned. Now, how many people who call themselves Christians fit into this category and sit in the pews of churches every week? They ignore the promptings and unctions of the Holy Spirit by hardening their hearts to Him when all He is endeavoring to do is interest and draw them unto the one true and eternal God who desires to bring them in this exciting and the divine and supernatural truths and ways that make up His everlasting kingdom where He can demonstrate His love and His joy and His peace in their hearts and their lives while they journey through this life on earth. In our opening scripture today, in John 15 verse 19, Jesus said, I've chosen you. I've selected you out of the world. Christ's followers are always described as a peculiar or different people and even treasured possessions. and this is because they are not of the world and do not partake of its evil offerings as we have been covering and speaking about in this word today. Christ's followers are separated from the world and Jesus said again, I have chosen you out of the world. And this separation is called separation from sin. The separation actually manifests itself in being true to Christ's commands and demonstrates a joyful obedience and submission to his commands. and it's actually being at one with God in close agreement with his word and maintaining close fellowship with him and enjoying a life of a holy love and internal and eternal joy beyond description. You are actually not your own anymore and you'll love it this way because you've been bought with a price and you know the value and costliness of that price. And you will die for the one whose name means costly. You no longer wish to participate in the futile and empty enjoyments of Satan's system. He no longer has claim on your life. You're free because you live in Christ and your love is fixed on him and not on people. places or things. Satan hates people like this with a passion, but he cannot touch them because God has his mark upon them and that means his protection surrounds them as well. And this means when all this is taking place in your life, that you've answered the call to holy living. And you have agreed with your Master when he called you out of the world and invited you to separate yourself from every sinful desire and deed. And you've sown seeds of righteousness into your heart and you know that God's election rests upon you and in time of need you know that you will reap his mercy. Those who choose to live a life of sin and rebellion are heirs of his wrath and they walk in the darkness believing the lies of the evil one. And these roam with other wild beasts upon the desolate places and are trapped in the web of vanity and pride. You see, when Christ gave you the call and chose you out of the world, you agreed to devote your life to him in a life of purity, instead of a life of slavery to sin. This was God's goodness and His mercy being revealed to you. And your part was to agree to be in compliance with His commands. You see, it is the call of Christ alone that makes a distinction amongst God's true and devoted people. Abraham, once he received the call of God, the word tells us, he believed and he obeyed God. Hallelujah. And he did this because, listen to this, he did it because he knew that he was called. He knew that he was called. He didn't say manana or tomorrow or chew bubble gum and blow bubbles in God's face. He knew he was called. And he was called not because he was more handsome or better or special or smarter than others, but because it pleased God to call him and not others. That's why he was called. Look at 1 Corinthians 1.26, please. 1 Corinthians 1.26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put shame to the wise. And God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty and the base things of the world and the things which are despised. God has chosen in the things which are not to bring to nothing the things that are. Verse 29. that no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him you are in Jesus Christ who became for us wisdom from God and in righteousness and sanctification and redemption that is as it is written he who glories let him glory in the Lord. Just as it pleased God to call Abraham it pleased God to call you out of the world also and the church of the living God consists of those who are called out of the world and demonstrate the true fruit of his spirit the call of Abraham is a pattern or a type of the call of the church which is found again in 2 Corinthians 6.16 2 Corinthians 6.16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God said, I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God and they will be my people. Verse 17 Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you. I'll be a father to you and you will be my sons and daughters says the Lord Almighty you see self-denial is the foundation and proof of all Christian profession let me say that again and may the word go deep in your hearts self-denial is the foundation and the proof of all sincere profession. Abraham began his walk and demonstrated his self-denial and his agreement of his call from God by walking in the highest and greatest examples of faith that earned him the title of the Father of Multitudes And Jesus gives insight into the Scripture that parallels Abraham's example of dying to self and all earthly passions, and it's found in Matthew 10, verse 37. We're just really going through the word today, aren't we? He who loves and takes more pleasure in father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he who loves and takes more pleasure in son or daughter more than in me is not worthy of me. Verse 38 And he who does not take up his cross and follow me, that means cleave steadfastly to me, conforming wholly to my example in living and if need be in dying also is not worthy of me. Verse 39 Whoever finds his lower life will lose it, the higher life and whoever loses his lower life on my account will find it in the higher life. Well, Jesus also speaks another example of what our faith requires in dying to Satan's system of greed. That means covetousness, lust, and carnal passions. And it amounts to this just as stated in the scripture that we have just read. And this one is found in Matthew 16, verse 24. Matthew 16, verse 24. Then Jesus said to his disciples, If anyone desires to be my disciple, Let him deny himself, disregard, lose sight of, and forget himself and his own interest, and take up his cross and follow me, and cleave steadfastly to me, conform wholly to my example in living if need be and dying also. Verse 25 For whoever is bent on saving his temporal life, his comfort and security here, shall lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake shall find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life, that is, his blessed life in the kingdom of God? Or what would a man give as an exchange for his blessed life in the kingdom of God? You see, if you desire or intend to have the faith of Abraham in answering the call to come out of the world and wish to demonstrate the fruit and receive the blessings and the protection of God, you must lay the foundation of it in the abandonment of all things that preoccupy your attention, your desires, and your focus. There are no rights or titles or anything that you possess that can dictate against the righteousness and the purity of God. because of Abraham's united and devoted love for his God and his complete and unyielding obedience and submission to God. God gave Abraham in his posterity uncountable, untold millions and millions of spiritual sons and daughters for which he is rewarded with the title Father of the Faithful or Father of Multitudes. What a reward, dear church. What a reward. For you and me today, it is faith alone in Jesus Christ that gives our souls the satisfaction in future rewards in the midst of our present difficulties and distresses. And you see, this is so with Abraham. In the whole course of his journey, while he lived on the earth, He attained nothing of his promised inheritance. But look at what he is enjoying today, seeing multitudes of faithful saints entering, hallelujah, into the gates of heaven every day. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. When Jesus said, I have selected you or I've chosen you, you out of the world, This is again saying, I have chosen or hand-selected you to come out of the world and be separated from a society that belongs to Satan's worldly system and be placed under the government of my holy commands and laws. so when Jesus stated these words in John 15 19 he also gave the assurance that is given by divine promise that this would be sufficient enough to keep us in the most difficult times in our lives on this road of obedience just as he provided for Abraham who is called the father of the faithful now I've rather intended this word today to be a word of alarm for some a word of encouragement for others and still others a word to draw them forth in desiring the life of purity that comes only by living in Christ as he has called you out of the world and given the command not to touch any unclean thing. And if you could enter heaven today you will find that Jesus attracts every eye and fills every heart with his love beyond what we could ever imagine or fathom. And being called and chosen to come out of the world, there should be some degree of the same inspiration of Christ's love filling your hearts and drawing you nearer and nearer to him every day. The impressions of his love that makes upon your heart is very powerful if this is happening in your life presently. And the impressions of hope and faith cause you to press on and press in until you reach your eternal heavenly home. The impression that he produces in your heart to listen to him and deny yourself, to pick up your own cross, drives you onward with a willingness to follow the Lamb wherever he goes. you see we live in a world today that is teetering on the brink of collapse and soon Christ's words in Matthew 24 and warning of wars and rumors of war and the end of time is right upon us should shake us should awaken us should be a rude and stark awakening within our souls to say oh God what is the condition of my soul oh Lord Show me, I pray, O God. Shake all that could be shaken within me. Because it's a matter of life and death. As Christians, we dare not be neglectful of caring for and being responsible for the condition of our souls. And Jesus says he will come like a thief in the night. And that means that he will come suddenly upon those who know him not. And put off what they should do today in the preparation. of preparing for eternal life. Let me leave you with wise words of our chief apostle Paul when he spoke in Colossians 3 verse 1. Please go with me there today too. Colossians 3 verse 1. Since then you have been raised with Christ. Set your heart on the things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above and not on earthly things. Verse 3 For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. Verse 4 And when Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Verse 5 Put to death therefore whatever belongs to your earthly nature. sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these the wrath of God is coming soon. You used to walk in these ways in the life you once lived, but now you must rid yourselves of all such things and as these anger and rage and malice, slander and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in the knowledge and the image of its creator. Dear ones, let us not live by the sight of our eyes and the desires of our hearts. Let us not incline our ears to hear the evil things that are a part of Satan's evil system. and let us not desire to have wealth and the riches of this world but instead the wealth that is found in God's holy book and found or called the book of life and it's found also as a treasure in Jesus Christ his son and let us not live for the world nor after the fashions of the world but let us live for Jesus Christ and learn to follow the Lamb of God who called us out, who handpicked us to come out of the evil world. And finally, wrapping up our scripture in Colossians 3, dropping down to verse 12. Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, with kindness and humility, gentleness and patience. Verse 13. bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another forgive as the Lord forgave you and over all of these virtues put on love which binds them all together in perfect unity verse 15 let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts since as members of one body you were called to peace and be thankful Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. Verse 17. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Hallelujah. and Amen.