Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

Denying Worldly Lusts Pt.2

Amen. Excited about what the Lord's doing. We were sharing with you some of the exciting things that are going on in Africa right now. The church is growing in Nairobi, as we said. We're having to go out and make provision to double our capacity, so that's exciting, praise God--happening in just these few weeks. Then a great report from Kakamega. We just found out that in the church in Kakamega now, in our Discipleship Training (in our school), 62 children! Can you say, Praise God, for that? So it's exciting!

Some of the offering--we're looking at how to deal with some of the giving that's come toward Africa. As I shared with you on Wednesday, the land has come available for us. Land is not cheap in Nairobi; the one acre is costing us $40,000. So we're in the process of buying that. We gave the guys the go ahead on Thursday, I guess it was, to firm that deal up. It's a pretty good way they're giving us to pay for it. We're putting $10,000 down, and then we're going to pay them quarterly--$10,000 a quarter. So that's part of what's ahead of us, right now. Some of the giving that's come forth--I don't know this; I'm just going off the top of my head, but we have enough I believe to make the down payment at this time. So as you continue to give toward the missions work, that's a good chunk of change that we're going to have to come up with. So that $40,000--if we get a tent, we're talking about another $18,000, and that's all at the same time we're going to be doing Joash. So can you say, Praise God? So some exciting times that are ahead. We may have to reemphasize a few things here over the next twelve months in prioritizing, but we know God is well able. What we're doing is bearing fruit--excited about it!

We're looking at putting together one of our missions projects. The last few years our missions projects have gone to New York and a couple up in Baltimore, in serving up there. It's been a while--I think our last one that was in a third world situation was St. Kitts. We've been to Mexico. The first was probably the most rustic that anybody had been on; that one that Star and Kimberly and Jeff and some of you were able to go on. Berin, I think you went. Were you able to go on that one or not? I can't remember who all went. Jamie was there; I know he caused the dogs to be howling down there. So these guys were able to go on that. It was pretty rustic; that was probably the toughest of all of the missions trips.

It looks like we might be putting one together to Kenya, praise God. So it's exciting. So those of you who have graduates coming up--Hallelujah! It'll be a little more expensive than going to New York. The greatest expense will just be the airfare, and we're looking at how we can deal with keeping that as low as possible. Food is not a problem--they probably won't want to be eating. So a lot of interesting things. I know that many will be wanting to go along as chaperones, so we're going to probably have to put some kind of limitation on that. But if you are interested, and you think, "I'd like to go help chaperone some of these young people," then you can talk to us about that, and we'll be making that as an opportunity to go and see what God's doing there in Africa. It's an exciting thing.

One of the things that we're looking at doing, too, is trying to strike that balance that I was talking about. The nation as a whole is a people that are used to handouts, and it's more than just a socialistic approach. It's more than just a welfare mentality like we've created here in our nation. There's an underlying spirit; and this may seem surprising to you, but the people have been told, really, that they are God's chosen people. Now that may sound strange to you, but they really think they deserve this--that it's their right to have things handed to them because of the fact that they're just frankly better than everybody else. We know where that came from--the tree in the midst of the garden; but they've bought on that, and they really have believed that.

So in the process, as we're trying to grow this church in Kakamega, in letting them assume responsibility and to discipline themselves and to sacrifice--and they've been doing well. I wish I had a letter; I think I'll read parts of it tonight. The letter that we just received from Pastor Charles will bless your heart. His spirit, his gratitude for all that's been done--not just monetarily, but the wisdom that's been put in his heart, the spirit that's been conveyed and transferred to them--just rejoicing. So thankful for the hearing aids that came for his son. What a privilege; he's able to now minister. He can hear, praise God, and he's ministering in the school. Sixty-two kids already! They're all part of the congregation; just like we do it. They're not just saying to the community, Here's free education. You'd have a lot more than 62. That's our kids, praise God, just like it is here, and it's an exciting thing!

He did say, however, that the majority of them--he's asking for some wisdom. They're getting full; they're outgrowing the church. The church now is getting close to 300, and it's growing all the time, praise God. So it's exciting, but most of the kids--this will help you be thankful for what you have--most of the kids, their desk is the fact that they turn around, kneel on the floor, and write on a bench. That's their desk; that's where they do their schoolwork. We're blessed. Amen? And not only are we blessed, we're going to be a blessing. That's not going to continue to go that way for a long time. So when we see them doing all they can do, then we're going to make up the difference, praise God--God enabling us.

So those are some things that are ahead; be prayerful about that. Just rejoice. There are some good things that are happening. Thank God for your faithfulness, your prayers. Who knows what the Lord's going to do, should He tarry, in these areas.

Let's turn to Titus. We'll pick up where we were on Wednesday night. Isn't it great to be able to finish the course, running these last days that are before us? Not only raising up a godly seed here but being able to go into all the world and preach the gospel. Isn't it exciting to do it God's way? So many people are caught up with just cares and fears and self-preservation, and I thank God for people that are willing in these last days, uncertain as they may be, to give of themselves. We've shared so many times that this is where our confidence should be, because a man's righteousness is what's going to sustain him in the hours that we're facing.

Titus, the 2^nd chapter, verse 12, "Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world." That word "world" there is talking about the "age," the eon that we're in. In this present age, he says that we're going to have to deal with the spirit of antichrist. In the last days we understand from the apostles what the environment is going to be. Men are going to be lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. In this present age men are going to be heaping up teachers to themselves, having itching ears, the Scripture says. They're going to want to hear the smooth things that are prophesied. They're not interested, the majority of people today, in sacrifice as we've been talking about, but, in fact, in affluence (not in giving, but in receiving).

What we need to look at is, in the age that we're in, it's very easy to discern who is among the Body of Christ by looking at those who are living by the wisdom of God and not the wisdom of the world. We should stand out; we should be unique. We should be a people unique and distinct--about the things that are above and not the things that are on the earth. So when we were talking Wednesday, we were dealing with many of the subtle things that are creeping into our midst. Things that we have to be aware of, that are in fact ungodly, that some of us would kind of think are maybe just amoral. So we want to make the distinction between things that are lawful and things that are necessary, things that are possibly amoral as opposed to things that would edify. It's not enough to be static; we need to be growing in grace and in the knowledge of God. Amen?

So in this day that we're in, we can't maintain. We can't just say, Okay, what are the things of the earth that are not obviously antichrist--they are not obviously unbiblical? They are "amoral," possibly. These are things that could be "disputable" matters. It's a time to begin to take thought about ourselves and say, Am I growing? Am I being made strong? Am I pressing on toward the mark, the prize, the high calling of God that's in Christ Jesus? It's not a day to just maintain; it's a day to grow. It's a day to be strengthened. It's a day to make sure that we've adorned ourselves with the full armor of God.

So Paul, as he's speaking here in the epistle to Titus, says, Look, this is the life that I want you to have as you see that day approaching. Titus says it this way, following this passage, "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." If you really believe, Paul says, that this is the hour that we're in to where we're looking up (we believe that Jesus is coming real soon)--John says, "And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure" (1 John 3:3). If we have that hope of the "blessed hope" dominating, then we will be denying ungodliness and worldly lusts.

The word "deny" is very interesting here. It means once for all. Isn't that interesting? The denying here is a quality decision that I'm not going to follow that course anymore. It's not just an individual turning down opportunities, "Nah, I don't think I'm going to do that." Listen. If you're reserving to yourself the role of making individual decisions whether I'll do that at this moment (maybe that's acceptable, maybe that's not), you're going to be led into error. We need to make a once-for-all decision to break from the wisdom of the world (anything that smacks of the world, I don't want anything to do with it!)

Now we have to define "the world," don't we? We were talking about that on Wednesday. We know the old Pentecostal definitions of "the world": "We don't smoke, we don't chew, and we don't run with girls that do." We've talked about that in the past. We realize that there's the Pharisaical approach--there's the legalism. We talk about the long hair--the woman's glory is this covering, so the old Pentecostals would have their hair all up in a big bun that would be stacked about this high (Pastor holds his hand about a foot above his head). The higher the bun, the more glory. I grew up around that. I saw that--not growing up in church as a child, but as a teen--well actually I had just fallen out of my teens when I was born again at 20. I'd just turned 20 and came into some of these traditional Pentecostal churches, and what an eye-opener, man!

Now don't get me wrong. These are people that love God; they just--a lot of them had not been taught. But what they did think was that holiness was seen by not playing pool. It was a sin to play pool, even in your own house. Now, I understood the real thought process behind the environment. The pool halls in those days, of course, they were bars and the drinking--I used to go hang out at the bar with my Dad when I was a little guy. I could hardly see the pool table; I'd have my fingers over the rail and guys would be cussing me out and all of this kind of stuff. I was kind of always one of those who was a curious type guy, and I didn't realize the fact that I was moving the balls around affected the game. So I understand that environment; I was raised in that kind of an environment. But to actually talk to people--educated people, intelligent people who couldn't understand that the environment is what we were addressing, not the game, and in many of their thoughts it was sin to play pool in your own house, as if somehow having a couple of balls collide was sin--I had trouble understanding that.

Going to the movies was sinful. I guess I'm the one that led Janet astray years ago. I took her to her first movie; she had never been to a movie. We went to a drive-in; we were married. We went to a drive-in and saw Peter Pan. It was a good thing the Lord didn't come at that time; we would have been lost--in the thinking of people at that time. I'm talking about people we fellowshipped with (people in our church). Now that's an extreme.

The long black dresses and long sleeves and white-powdered faces that looked like they had been embalmed, because they didn't want to be a Jezebel. No make-up, and of course, as I've said many times, I agreed with one preacher I heard who said, If the barn needs painting, paint it! We've got to look at you. Men are inherently better looking than women in the species of all of God's creation, and so you all need help! It was a man, I'm sure, that came up with the idea of cosmetics. So we take the spirit of a Jezebel, and it wasn't the fact that Jezebel wore mascara; it was the spirit.

So when we talk about that in the age that we're in, let's not come up with a false definition of worldliness. Let me give you an understanding of what worldliness is. 2 Corinthians 4:4 tells us the source of worldliness: the god of this world has blinded the eyes of those who would partake of the wisdom of God, of the glorious gospel or good news or Word of God. Worldliness is supernatural, satanic opposition to the wisdom and methods and purposes of God. That's worldliness; you can't define it any other way. We have our own little pet convictions; and we all think that our perception of truth is eternal and infinite, and yet we have to realize that there is room for conscience. There is room for, as we've taught many times, working within disputable matters and each one of us working out our own salvation with fear and trembling. People don't have to do it your way, but we all have to do it God's way, don't we?

So we have to understand, then, what is the wisdom of God? What does God's Word tell us we're responsible to do in opposing the spirit of this age--this present world, this present age, eon? We're to be opposing that with all of our hearts, with all of our strength. So as we begin to define worldliness, we have to allow the Scripture to speak toward that. 1 John 2:16 tells us, "For all that is in the world, [is what?] the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and [what?] the pride of life..." So we begin to break this into a couple of different areas. The lust of the flesh, "...in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing..." (Romans 7:18).

My flesh! It's not just talking about my body. It's talking about the sinful nature that every one of us was born into--the sin that's still in our members that's being dominated now by the Spirit of God that indwells us, by the effect of the redemptive work of the blood of Jesus (the fact that old things have passed away and all things are become new). But we are still influenced by sin that's in our members, or sin that's in our flesh. All that's in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the sin nature.

So the world then is the thing that gives credibility to that; it gives license to that behavior, to those appetites that the Word of God opposes. The world is going to try to somehow make acceptable, palatable, these lusts that God says are sin; and to be carnally minded, fleshly minded, worldly minded, is (say it) death. It's death! But the world's system is going to try to tell us, just like Satan did in the garden, "You won't surely die! These things are natural." And they'll go to the extremes, won't they? They'll say, "Look, you're not going to die! It's natural! God gave us the appetite! We have to eat to stay alive!" "So I want to live a long time; that's why I eat 40, 50 thousand calories a day. There's nothing wrong with eating! It's natural!" Yes, it is. And sleeping is natural. And we hear the Bible talk about gluttony and slothfulness, don't we? So we have to learn that there are things that are natural, but the world's system perverts them and then justifies it--and tries to justify it from God's original intent and care for humanity. So we have to be very careful about that.

So when we talk about the lust of the flesh, we're talking about the sinful nature, the sinful desires, and it's not just about physical appetites. It's not just about eating, sleeping, sex. When we talk about the lust of the flesh, we have to talk about original sin, which then includes those other areas: the lust of the eye and the pride of life. The pride of life is just the pride of controlling our own lives--becoming gods. The day that you eat of this, your eyes will be opened, and you'll be as gods (Genesis 3:5). You'll be in control of your own life. That's the pride of life. That's what dominates the world: personal lordship, "self" being the final authority.

Now most of us that are Christians that are dominated by the pride of life, we like to quote Scripture and say that, "Well, what I'm doing is based upon the Word of God." But the real motivation of our heart is taking the Word of God and trying to use it to effect our own will. I read the Word of God, I study the Word of God, to prove my point, my purposes, to fulfill my ambitions. So it's very subtle when you find the pride of life within professed Christendom.

We make the distinction then when we begin to see the humility of Jesus that comes and says, I haven't come to do My will, but the will of He that sent Me. I didn't come to be ministered to; I came to minister. The greatest among us is the servant of all. You begin to see things that are totally contrary to the way the world does it, the way the majority does it; and you begin to know then that's the Spirit of God, the wisdom of God that's working in the life of an individual--the things that I used to love, I now hate. I'm not seeking the approval of the world's system; I'm not looking for men's approval. I only want to hear, Well done, good and faithful servant.

So we begin to understand who it is that's moving under the spirit of the age: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, secular humanism, self-will. I was just talking to somebody yesterday, and I gave him just one practical thing. I was sharing with him some things that they're battling with the flesh, and I said, "You know what would be good for you to do?" I said, "Get a 3" x 5" card, put some real big letters on it, and carry it with you. Don't necessarily even put it in your purse or in your Bible. Laminate it; have it in your hands at all times. Just carry it around; and before you do anything, before you make any decision, before you open a door to walk through it, hold that thing up, and these words are on it: "DIE TO SELF. DIE TO SELF." I said, "It will begin to be a start of the renewing of your mind. It will begin to remind you who we are and what it is that we're believing God to do in our lives."

It's that spirit of this age that is dominating so many people in the church today, and it's not supposed to be that way. Because if we walk in the Spirit, what? We will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. So we have to learn to walk in the Spirit. How do we do that? What did he say right here in Titus? "...denying ungodliness..." How do I then walk in the Spirit? I walk in the Spirit by making an initial spiritual decision to die to self (denying ungodliness). If something offends us, what do we do? You cut it off. You say, "I'm making [denying] the decision once for all that this thing in my life is changing today--this aspect of ungodliness."

We defined it on Wednesday night. Ungodliness is friendship with the world, which makes us at enmity with God. To be a friend of the world is to be the enemy of God (James 4:4). I don't want to be in that condition. I don't want to be opposing God. You see, we're not just disobeying God, we're warring against God when we move in the wisdom of the world, when we're governed by the cares of the world.

We talked about things that are as subtle as--you remember the other night we were talking about the little video games. Pastor Gardner came to me afterwards and said, Praise God; we're having to deal with some of that among our seventh graders and some of these different ones. He said it was timely for where we are at this particular time.

We were talking about the little handheld video games and the kids sitting in the back of the cars with their headphones on. We said that's ungodly, and you think, "Well, how can that be ungodly? Isn't that more amoral?" We were sharing with you the subtlety of ungodliness. We said the fact that you've got some little game going "deet deet deet [sound of video game]" and little things are killing other things and that kind of stuff, that's not immoral, that's not ungodly. What's ungodly is this. The Bible says that we're to teach our children when we rise up and when we walk in the way. It didn't say put headphones on them and hand them a video game. It said teach them. And to go with the wisdom of the world--you see, there's a big difference between teaching and appeasing and the life that we're to be pouring into our kids and instructing them in the ways of godliness and the wisdom of the Word of God. It just seems to be, "Well, you know, it's just recreation." There's a time for that, of course. There are times when we're going to experience different forms of recreation, but what is it that's dominating our lives?

As we've shared, Romans tells us very clearly: to be spiritually minded is what? Life and peace. To be carnally minded is death. We talked about that spiritual-mindedness being intent or having our minds set upon the things of the Spirit. Carnal-mindedness, spiritual-mindedness, means whatever it is we're intent upon, whatever it is that's occupying our time, what's won our hearts, what is the prize that we're pursuing--whatever it is that satisfies us, the things that we long for.

Do you have to come to prayer, or do you get to come to prayer? I have my own time of prayer and devotions in the morning and different areas, but you know, I look for that time of day, don't you? To me I can't wait for that time to roll around--that 7 o'clock hour up here every day, and just to know that I'm able to roll in here into the atmosphere of this place that we've set aside where God can put His name and to spend time in prayer and the appetite to know that I'm going to be visited by the Spirit of God there! That's spiritual-mindedness. Is that how you approach it, or do you have to come? "Well, you know, if I don't come, people are going to say, 'Where were you?'" Might as well stay home. All you're doing is being worried about your reputation and not Jesus' reputation. All you're doing is seeking a name, seeking to appease some type of law--a Pharisaical approach. It's not walking in the Spirit. The fact that you're fulfilling some type of "religious" requirement says nothing about the condition of life in your heart. The world is full of religion. That approach to the things of the Spirit of God is ungodliness. "Un," like "uncola." There's none in there.

So when we look at this wisdom that God's calling us to, we see then that the first thing we have to do is deny ungodliness. Well, to deny ungodliness, we have to understand what godliness is. What does it mean to be godly? Well, moral? Yeah, moral, but more than moral. Listen. To be godly is more than moral! To be godly is to be right, to be righteous, to be right in God's presence, to be a partaker of truth. To be godly is to walk in the light where there is no darkness. "...if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). "...God is light, and in Him is no darkness [say it] at all" (1 John 1:5).

So you see, godliness then, has to do with the environment of light and truth, and to be godly is to then be driving out or opposing darkness and lies. It's not passive; it's active. It's a continual coming to know Him in fellowship and walking in greater light. It's bringing people with us; it's sharing this gospel so that people can be free. Godliness isn't just a standard of rules that we're keeping. Godliness is not a Pharisaical withdrawing ourselves from the world because we're afraid of getting defiled. Jesus was involved in the world. He was in it, but He wasn't of it. The world cannot defile us if we're walking in the Spirit, if we have on the full armor of God. You don't get leprosy, they get healed, praise God, if you're walking in the Spirit! You don't get seduced into their perversions they get converted and delivered, praise God, if you're walking in the light, if we're walking in the Spirit! But there has to be a complete liberty, there has to be the fact that there is none of the world in us.

Jesus walked free because they couldn't find anything in Him. There was no place for the enemy to take hold of Him because He gave no credibility to the world's system, the god of this world--the one that came to try to seduce Him, the one that pulled on Him all the same tricks that got pulled upon the first Adam, or that spirit that's still in the world: lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, the pride of life. It was all pulled on Jesus, but what did He respond? Every time He responded with, "It is written." Godliness then is representing what is written, what is the will of God; and we don't give any credibility to any other source of wisdom. We don't give it any credibility! Now, we don't deny the different facts of what exists out there. We're just not in awe of what man is able to produce.

Just read another article--people hand them to me all the time. I can't remember what the first one was, but it talked about the redundancy of men (men are no longer needed). We can make these babies and continue to bring about procreation without man; we have other sources. This one talked about the fact that women are now redundant, because there's no longer a need for a womb. So those who are doing all of this genetic engineering and all of these scientists, they're boasting that they're going to be able to produce life and they're going to find the aging gene and man is going to be able to live forever and all of these things that are in the guise, of course, of making life better for us. "We're going to do this so we can do away with Alzheimer's, and we're going to defeat this type of a disease..." Basically all it is, is man trying to become God. It's not for the good of humanity! It's in defiance of God! That's the spirit that's behind all of this! What about the new bioethical approach to whatever? It's just rebellion to God!

So we're not in awe of man's wisdom, because God Himself said, If I don't confound them, [what?] nothing is impossible. We're created in God's image! We are creators! There is no limitation, God said, to what we can do as His children. Isn't it interesting, though, that from the fruit in the midst of the garden, those people believe that. Why do we think, as the church, that there's so much impossible to us? Natural man doesn't think anything is impossible to him in his own wisdom. Why do we think it's impossible to pray the prayer of faith and see the sick raised up? Why do we believe it's impossible to see the windows of heaven open and God pour out blessings that we can't contain? Why do we believe that it's not possible for His presence alone to bring peace and satisfaction for us to where we don't have to be fulfilled by the lusts of the sin that's in our members?

I think the majority of them are more committed to their god than many of us are--the god of this world. So many of them are single-minded: they don't even consider God! We're trying to consider God and still looking at the things of the world, and the double-minded man is unstable in all his ways (James 1:8). So when we talk about worldliness, that's what we're talking about: the distraction from single-mindedness. If the eye be single, it's full of light.

So here we are, living in this world, but we're not to be of it, the Scripture says. "...denying ungodliness and worldly lusts..." If we'll deny those things, if we'll see them for the evils that they are, if we'll stop trying to justify the little bit of good that's in them so that we can continue to embrace them, and separate ourselves and no longer befriend the world (the age; the system; the wisdom of the god of this world; the wisdom that is not from above; the wisdom that is earthly, sensual, and demonic)... It'll cause you to be a success in their world. You want to be a successful businessman? Alter the books! Enron proved that, right? He's a success, but has to deny it before Congress. "Are you successful?" "I refuse to answer that on the grounds that it may incriminate me."

The world has its own wisdom and its methods. Poor Enron employees. Let's tax the rest of the people so they can have more in their 401(k)s, because they got duped. They didn't get duped! They lusted for more money. It was great when it was rising up. I didn't see any of them giving us any cut of theirs when their stock was riding high. Why should they get your money because they made a bad investment? The spirit of this world. Everybody wants to be taken care of; and it's great when we're succeeding, but don't ask me to pay consequences for any of the bad judgments. I know there are things that need to be fixed. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the spirit.

So how do we, as people that are not part of the world, deal with that? How do you deal with that? "Well, bless God, we need to go and we need to sue and we need to..." Who is your source? Who are you trusting? I know the law is for the lawless. I'm just talking about the spirit of the age. Where is your confidence today? Is your confidence in some portfolio that you might have, that one stroke of the pen can do away with, whoever might be in leadership at any given time? Is your confidence in Social Security? I hope not; they spent it. So we begin to see the wisdom of the world.

James 4:4 says, "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not know that the friendship of the world [to be a partaker, a friend, one that endorses the world's methods] is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." Colossians 3:2 says, "Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth." So we're talking about denying ungodliness, we're talking about denying worldly lusts, we're talking about coming to the place to where we now live soberly.

So I begin to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts. Okay, good decision, but now I have to literally, actively live soberly. Now the word "sober" means to be temperate. Temperance really talks about balance or under control. "Soberness" can be used in many ways. The word itself can talk about temperance, self-control. It also talks about "sophron," the mind that is saved, or "whole" is another word that can be used in the understanding of the term of "soberness." So we could say it this way. We're talking about having a "saved" mind under the "control" of the Holy Spirit which gives you absolute "balance" in your life.

Deny ungodliness, deny worldly lusts--give no provision for it, make no provision for the flesh, cut off all of those opportunities, cut off those associations, cut off the source. If you're reading The Wall Street Journal and Money magazine more than you're reading the Bible, get rid of it! You're out of control! You're embracing the wisdom of this world! Deny that wisdom and become sober.

"Well, how am I going to do this? If I'm not studying this and I'm not following up on all of these different things, how am I ever going to make a success out of this--how am I going to do this?" I don't know, but I do know this: if you walk in the Spirit and you're not fulfilling the lusts of the flesh, the Spirit of truth will lead you into all truth. How many of you believe that? It didn't say the Spirit would lead you into the greatest investment of your life. It said He will lead you into truth. Do you want to gain the world and lose your soul, or do you want the truth?

"Well, can't we do both?" Yes, if you're what? What's the first word; what are we talking about? If you're what? Sober! See, the problem was you were drunk with the world. You need to get sober, and once you're sober, then you can pick up Money magazine, Wall Street Journal. When you're sober, God can supernaturally bring you peace, God can supernaturally prosper you. God will sustain you. You'll begin to see there are other things that are more important in life; but the fact is you're drunk with the world, and we need to be sober. We need to get back to where we're disciplined and making wise decisions. The wisdom that James says is from above, which is first of all what? Peaceable.

Can I ask you a question? Are you at peace this morning? You see, anybody who is in the world is in anxiety. There is an anxiousness in the world; but the Bible says we're to be anxious for nothing, but in everything with prayer, supplication and thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God; and the peace of God that passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7). Can I ask you a question this morning? Are you at peace? "I don't know. Let me check my stock. No, I'm not at peace." "I don't know. Let me check my pulse."

The wisdom that is from above is peaceable. There's no anxiety in it. You know that you're in the truth! You know that if God is for you, nothing can be against you! You say, "Pastor, isn't this a little bit of an oversimplification?" No, this is the truth of God's Word. This is simple! This is taking no thought for the morrow. This is casting our care upon Him because He cares for us!

I was talking with the Pastors just the other day about different things and walking in the Spirit as their children are growing and different things--some of them are teenagers now and some of them are younger. As we were discussing some of these things, one of the men said, "I've watched you for years, and I've watched all of the decisions you've had to make and thought, 'Yeah, praise God, that's the Word. Amen! That's what we need to do.' Now I have my children. That was interesting that you took your children when they were two years old and six months old and loaded them up and had nothing and didn't know where you were going and drove across the country and that you emptied out every cent you had in your name and put it into the building of the gymnasium. Then again you emptied out every dime you had in your name and everything that you possessed and put it into the education building. And, 'Amen! That was the Word of God. Yes.' We were young warriors, and we said, 'Yeah! Amen!' And now we have kids; and they're growing up, and they might have to have an education. What are they going to do when they get a little older and...?" "Yeah--and I had to make those same decisions," is what I was sharing with them.

You're either walking in faith or you're not walking in faith. The fact that God has given us some prosperity not only as individuals but as a fellowship and different things and there is some excess, don't begin to trust in that! We've got to walk in the same Spirit that we did when we didn't know from day to day where our daily bread was coming from. Amen? Because we can find ourselves in that place again tomorrow, but I want to tell you something. If the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches and the lusts of other things begin to choke the Word of God out of you, you will not be able to rise up like Samson and just shake yourself and be ready for the war tomorrow, if you're not prepared today.

The weights and the sins that do so easily beset us! It's all philosophical. It's all how we view the world. It's all how we view the things that are temporal around us. We say that we don't have any earthly treasures. We say that our treasures are in heaven, but how do we respond to the discomfort of many of these things that are not as stable as they used to be? So we ask ourselves, Am I sober? Are the decisions that I'm making being made strictly by the wisdom of God and not my emotions and not the wisdom of this world?

The world says you have to do this! Practical case in point: the world thinks you would be stupid to take any money that you could be using for yourself (investing for yourself, enjoying for yourself) and send it to Africa just because some kids over there are having to kneel and write on a bench. We understand another wisdom--one that says you scatter to your increase. There's another wisdom that says prefer others better than yourselves. There's another wisdom that says give and it will be given to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over.

"You think there's any way, man, that I'm going to put my kid on an airplane and send him to Kenya! With all of the terrorism that's just across the border to the north! With the AIDS epidemic! And not only that, the cost! I was going to buy a new microwave." And then there's the wisdom that says go into all the world and preach the gospel. I want to tell you something. Those children that get to go on some of these things--you're never the same. It changes you for life. Not only what you get to view in a third world country, but the ability to move out and trust God and walk in faith. Yeah, there are terrorists in the world today, and there's AIDS in the world today--and Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever!

Which wisdom is going to govern your life? Is it going to be the fear that's in the world? We haven't received the spirit of fear! We've received the spirit of love, power, and a sound mind. Amen? What's governing you today? Are we worldly? Are we fearful? Are we bound by all of the cares and all of the methods that the world uses, or are we going to believe that if God is for us, nobody can be against us--that the Spirit of the Lord has gone before us, His glory is our rearguard, the angels of God bear us up lest we dash our foot against a stone, praise God!

How much of the world has crept in? When you're faced with any of these decisions like going on a missions trip to a place like that, having to sacrifice and give, what are the first things that come into your mind? Is it the world's analysis of this thing, and then somehow the Holy Spirit has to beat the door down and finally get a word in and then you go, "Oh, yeah. Well, okay"? Where are you in relation to the wisdom of God? Or is the first thing you hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, and you say, "That's God." "How do you know that's God?" "It's totally contrary to everything I'd naturally do." Many of us need to start making decisions that way in our lives: "Now, what would I do?" Then do a 180.

Our minds are so bound by the world's wisdom. So many of us would do better that way--we'd get closer. Then coming to know the wisdom of God and being able to realize that under the times of pressure, when we haven't eaten for 40 days, and the enemy comes and says, "If you're the Son of God, command that these stones be turned into bread"--and you look him dead in the eye and say, "It's written, man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God!"

"Throw yourself off the pinnacle. Men will see that God is for you. They'll see, and you'll get all of the fame and greatness and notoriety. You'll become the toast of the town." "Thou shall not tempt the Lord Thy God. I'm not going to put myself in any position that tempts God for my own personal gain, but I do know this. That when the enemy comes against me like a flood, God raises a standard up. There's no weapon formed against me that will prosper. I do know that His angels have been given charge over me. I'll not tempt Him, but if God is for me, nobody can be against me, praise God!"

What wisdom are you moving in today? "Look what's out there! All you have to do is bow your knee. You don't have to do it publicly. Let's just do it over here in private, and I'll give you everything you want. They're mine, and I can give them to whoever I want. I'm the god of this world. I will make you a success; just bow your knee." Denying ungodliness, "Get behind me, Satan."

Do you understand the daily warfare we're going through? That's what it's all about--to get you to bow your knee. With his subtlety he uses all these other methods that we're talking about. According to Ephesians, the 2^nd chapter, all of us have walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air. You see, we're not just facing a philosophy. This is a demonic, satanically-inspired, and empowered force that has something very real in our members to solicit. Every one of us has receivers that respond to that transmission of self: self-indulgence, self-gratification, self-glorification. Every move that he makes appeals to every one of our members. "...in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing..." (Romans 7:18). We're all susceptible; we hear it. We see all those opportunities. That sounds appealing to our flesh! "Yeah, I'd like to have more money. I'd like to have more recognition. I'd like to have more time to myself. I'd like to be king of the world!" Then the Titanic sinks--the guy became Neptune. How much of the world is influencing us? How fearful are we as opposed to peace? How direct are we in the pursuit of godliness? Do we know where we're going?

I am going to finish with this for this morning. One of the biggest problems with most of us is we don't really know where we're at; we don't know our own hearts. The natural tendency in man is to think of himself more highly than he ought to think. That will help you in making your own evaluation. "Okay, I'm going to evaluate my own life, but the first thing I know before I make this evaluation is, I'm going to think of myself more highly than I should." So the judges cast the ballot, and you're a Canadian. (Pastor's reference is to a judging controversy in the 2002 Winter Olympic competition.)

We have that tendency to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think. No man knows his own heart--it's deceitful, desperately wicked! "Yeah, but I'm born-again. I've got a renewed heart." Yeah, I understand that. I realize the Spirit of truth and the Word of God that's working in you, but don't forget the fact that in us dwells no good thing. So when I draw this evaluation of myself, listen--we'll finish with this for this morning. It can't just be a discerning of my own heart; it has to be a revealing of my own heart. "I feel about myself..." "I'm sensing about myself..." What happens is most of us, as I've shared before--most of us are judging ourselves by our intentions and not by our actions. "You know, I've got a good heart. I intend to do this...I purpose to do this...what I really want to do is this..." but what are you doing? For by their fruits you shall know them.

The Spirit of God is a discerner of the thoughts and the intentions of our heart and, by the Word, reveals those thoughts and intentions. So when you get ready to judge yourself this morning, open this book up and say, "Okay, let's look in it and let's not forget what manner of man we are--righteous and unrighteous--and let's let the Word of God bring the verdict of where I am at this place in my life. How worldly am I really? How many of my decisions are being made purely by the Word of God and the wisdom of God, and how much time have I given to the wisdom that's not from above? We'll talk about it some more tonight.

Father, we thank You for the Word of God. As we're facing the spirit of antichrist in this day, as we're lifting up our eyes and looking for the blessed hope (the glorious appearing of our God and our Savior), there's a spirit that's opposing us (the god of this world; the prince of the power of the air; the wisdom that is earthly, sensual, and demonic.) It's powerful. It works. It brings success. It is the right wisdom for the world's system. It does work there, but we can't carry Your wisdom over into this world. There is no fellowship between light and darkness--to be a friend of the world is to be the enemy of God.

So there's no place for us to try to succeed with worldly methods. If we're going to succeed from the world's perception, it's going to have to be supernatural. But even if from the world's perception we never "succeed," have we succeeded in the Kingdom of God? Have we left our children a million dollars, or have we left them a godly heritage? Have we left our children a Harvard education, or have we left them an understanding of the Word of God and the truth of walking in the Spirit? Our success is not measured by the world's standards. Anything less than disciples, we're a failure! Make it real to us, Father, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

Let's stand before the Lord this morning. As Gary plays for us and we evaluate the condition of our minds, whether we're sober or not (temperate)--letting this renewed mind (the mind of Christ) dwell in us, be not conformed to this world, but transformed by the renewing of our minds that we might prove what is the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God. Transformed--a metamorphosis, the coming to age of the butterfly! Unique, distinct, a peculiar people--a peculiar people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, showing forth the praises of God!

As we'll see tonight, the vanity--it's ludicrous, it's insanity--as we'll look tonight at the children of Israel, as God supernaturally brings them in and they defeat their enemies and then want to take up their gods, and do it the way they did. How did they worship their gods, who were their gods, when the Ancient of Days had parted the Red Sea and caused the priests to walk across the Jordan on dry land, the shout of glorifying God brings the walls down--and then they embrace their gods. What got you where you are today is what's going to take you home, praise God! And everything that's offered you by the world will kill you--to be carnally minded is death. We didn't come here by faith and then leave the world's wisdom to our children and to the next generation. They need to learn to walk in faith just like you did.

Let's sing it together and just glorify Him. "Lord, You are..." We bless You, Jesus! We exalt You, Jesus! Sing it again. Just bless Him. Hallelujah! Just worship Him. Take a moment this morning and just glorify Him. Thank Him for the wisdom of God that's brought you this far, that freed you from the god of the world's system. Thank Him for the Spirit of God that dwells in you, that's leading you into truth, that's saying, "This is the way; walk in it," praise God!

Oh, rejoice in the appetite He's put in your hearts for the truth. Thank Him for that compulsion within you, that appetite for the Word of God. It says, I found Your Word and I ate it, and it became to me the joy and the rejoicing of my heart. There's a way that seems right to men, but it's destruction. The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. God didn't say it was foolish to the world. He said He counts it foolishness, because the fool has said in his heart, There is no God. Their wisdom makes them fools (professing their wisdom makes them fools). The wisdom that I'm talking about this morning is spiritually discerned.

Before you go, turn to somebody next to you and say, "Be sober," praise God. Amen! Go in peace; God's love go with you.

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