Journey Out of Worldliness

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Journey Out of Worldliness

• First John 215-17

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First John 215-17

• Do not love the world or the things that belong
  to the world. If anyone loves the world, love for
  the Father is not in him. Because everything that
  belongs to the world
• the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and
  the pride in ones lifestyleis not from the
  Father, but is from the world.
• And the world with its lust is passing away, but
  the one who does Gods will remains forever.
• Holman Christian Standard Bible page 1035

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Whada ya Mean, Worldly?

• Sophisticated or worldly-wise
• An experienced and worldly man who had been
  almost everywhere (Willa Cather).
• Polished
• Knows which fork to use at a White House state
  dinner
• Confident

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Whada ya Mean, Worldly?

• Worldliness is drifting with the prevailing
  secular culture.
• Worldliness is living without giving thought to
  eternity.
• Worldliness is believing the lie that something
  in this life, on this earth other than God
  can satisfy our innermost being.

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The Journey Out

• A Portrait of Worldliness

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1. From the WorldWhat the World has to Offer

• 1st John 215-16 Everything that belongs to
  the worldthe lust of the flesh, the lust of the
  eyes, and the pride in ones lifestyleis not
  from the Father, but is from the world.

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From the World

• The lust of the flesh passion
• The lust of the eyes possessions
• The pride of life position
• - Stewart Briscoe

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From the World

• The lust of the flesh a passion for sensual
  satisfaction
• The lust of the eyes an inordinate desire for
  the finer things of life, ease, and affluence.
• Worldliness is reading magazines about people
  who live hedonistic lives and spend too much
  money on themselves and wanting to be like them.
• The pride of life self-satisfaction in who we
  are, what we have, and what we have done

Dave Roper, The Strength of a Man
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2. The World UnderWhere the World Gets This Stuff

• 1st John 519 We know that we are of God, and
  the whole world is under the sway of the evil
  one.

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3. By The WorldWhat the World Can Do to Us

• James 127 Pure and undefiled religion before
  our God and Father is this to look after orphans
  and widows in their distress and to keep oneself
  unstained by the world.

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4. Of the WorldThose Who Belong
And Those Who Dont

• John 1518-19 If the world hates you,
  understand that it hated Me before it hated you.
  If you were of the world, the world would love
  you as its own. However, because you are not of
  the world, but I have chosen you out of it, the
  world hates you.
• John 1714-15 The world hated them because
  they are not of the world, as I am not of the
  world.

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5. In the WorldStaying Safe in a Hostile
Environment

• John 1711 I am no longer in the world, but
  they are in the world, and I am coming to You.
  Holy Father, protect them by Your name
• John 1715 I am not praying that You take them
  out of the world but that You protect them from
  the evil one.

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The Journey Out

• What Doesnt Work

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• Drawing up lists of worldly things
• Whenever people had difficulty with some
  temptation or some particular type of recreation
  or some activity which gave them trouble, they
  learned a lesson from it, or thought they did,
  and marked that particular thing down as
  worldly. - Ray Stedman
• Isolation Surrounding yourself with other
  Christians and rejecting most contact with the
  outside world.
• But because worldliness is a belief system
  within, the world just followed me into
  seclusion. William P. Farley
• Self-discipline
• Using willpower to overcome worldly seduction is
  like telling a man who has gone without water for
  three days to control himself. Farley

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The Journey Out

• What Does Work

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1. The New Birth

• 1st John 54-5 Whatever has been born of God
  conquers the world. This is the victory that has
  conquered the world our faith. And who is the
  one who conquers the world but the one who
  believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
• Billy Sunday, used to make fun of the term
  worldly Christian
  Why to talk about a worldly Christian makes
  about as much sense as talking about a heavenly
  Devil.

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2. The Training of Grace

• Titus 211-12 For the grace of God has
  appeared, with salvation for all people,
  instructing us to deny godlessness and worldly
  lusts and to live in a sensible, righteous, and
  godly way in the present age

Literally, "disciplining us." Grace exercises
corrective discipline to train us to deny worldly
lusts.
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• Titus 211-12 For the grace of God has
  appeared, with salvation for all people,
  instructing us to deny godlessness and worldly
  lusts and to live in a sensible, righteous, and
  godly way in the present age

Denying once for all." We deny "worldly lusts"
when we refuse them. NIV It teaches us to say
No
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3. A Renewed Mind

• Romans 122, NET Do not be conformed to this
  present world, but be transformed by the renewing
  of your mind
• Phillips Don't let the world around you squeeze
  you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your
  minds from within

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4. Courage

• John 1633 You will have suffering in this
  world. Be courageous! I have conquered the
  world.

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