Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

What in the World!

Let's turn to Galatians this evening. We want to take a little time here on Resurrection Sunday as a people who have been bought from the kingdom of darkness and put into the kingdom of light. Even in the recognition of this day there is such a contrast, a conflict, with the humanistic view of Christianity. Humanism has so infiltrated the church that we've lost sight of who we are as citizens of the kingdom of light: pilgrims who are just passing through in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. Paul says in Galatians, Chapter 6:14--we've spent a lot of time on this verse recently in our study on the cross, but I wanted to start this even by reading this passage--"But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." We talked this morning about Paul saying, "I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation" (Romans 1:16). What are we boasting in as a people? He said, "I'm not going to glory in anything, boast or take pride in anything, but the cross." When we talk about the cross (and we shared it before) we're not talking just about the historical event of Jesus' death, but we're talking about the daily identifying with our own personal death, our own personal humbling of self, making our opinion less, trusting in our abilities less, taking no satisfaction or personal worth from our works and what we're doing. Whether it's secular work--"I'm just proud I've done a great job for my employer"--or not. Boast in nothing but the cross. Our personal pouring out of ourselves for the glory of God is what we boast in; that is where our worth is. You know the little chorus we sing: "More of You, and less of me." That is glorying in the cross.

When we did the study on the cross, [we learned that] this is a daily battle. Have any of you arrived once for all? You've seen the crucifixion of the flesh, and now you're free; praise God. You never consider yourself first anymore. You're always thinking of others and doing things for the glory of God, and you never become number one in any of your thoughts or actions. Is that anybody here? I want to see somebody stupid enough to raise his hand. Oops, there's one guy. That's because he doesn't understand the question. What about that? Paul said, "...in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth [say it] no good thing" (Romans 7:18). If Paul, the greatest Christian who ever lived, said, "I have one concern: lest...when I have preached to others, I myself should be castaway" (1 Corinthians 9:27) and, "In me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing," then where do you think you fit on the list? Now, if you're like me, you think, "Man, I'm not even on the list; I'm in the waiting room over here on the--what's that thing where you put your name in. You go down to eat at the restaurant and they say, "Don't even bother." For me, if I go to a restaurant and they say twelve minutes, that's too long to wait. There is no food in the world that's worth a wait of twelve minutes; are you kidding me? I'm doing a study on patience right now, by the way.

But here's Paul, talking to us about the boasting in the cross. Think about that: "I live to glory in Christ in me. I live for His purposes. I live by His power." Then we have to understand that the cross is that central point which makes a distinction between the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness, the church and the world. I want to encourage us tonight to begin to boast in the cross, and realize, in looking at your own life, how far you now are in your journey from the world. Can it still reach out, tap you on the shoulder, and get your attention? "I've repented; and I've changed; and I'm going in this direction, but does the world still have access to me? Can it reach out and tap me on the shoulder? Can it get my attention? Do I still feel some kind of obligation to my unregenerate boss and coworkers?" Let me share something with you as Christians: Our responsibility, in how we relate to our boss and our unregenerate coworkers, is to win them for Jesus. To delight in a relationship, call them friends, and spend time and energy with them is to not glory in the cross. We need to understand something, beloved, and I'm going to try to make this clear: I'm not talking about having no interaction with these people; I'm not talking about pharisaically pulling our robes around ourselves; I'm not talking about living in monasteries. I'm talking about getting caught up with, and influenced by, and concerned with the world. Some of you are caught up into politics, and you're worried about our political position. Who cares? How much time and energy do you spend worrying about America? You can't do anything about it! But what you can do is reach your coworker for Jesus. Amen?

I always have to come up with titles. After thirty years, titles are tough. He said, "What's the title for tonight?" I said, "What in the World!!!" and do you know what? I am so glad I don't recognize anything in the world anymore. Have you had something come by and you say, "What in the world is that?" In other words, it seems non-worldly. "I've never seen anything like that before." There is nothing in the world I want. Now, in me (that is, in my flesh) there are physical appetites I war and crucify daily. The world is constantly becoming more vile, the spirit of antichrist more prevalent and more militant than ever. You have the right to be everything in America today but a Christian. There are even special interest groups. "If you are a minority Christ-hating handicap, you're first in line. We have a group for you." I'm just trying to show you how ridiculous it has become. The question we're asking tonight is: What, then, attracts you? What is it out there that would cause you to want to relate to, identify with, or invest in it?

So, with that in mind, Paul says in 1 Corinthians, Chapter 7, verse 31 [look at this]: "[Be careful, and realize that if you're one who is using this world, don't abuse it:] for the fashion of this world passeth away." Let me tell you something very clearly, and I'm talking about the world's philosophy, the world's treasures, the world's ideology: "The friendship of the world is [finish it] enmity with God" (James 4:4). Not, "If you get involved in the world and their politics and their sciences then you're going to be blessed less;" but, "To be the friend of the world is to be the enemy of God." That's a powerful statement. Now, what is the world? As we shared before, some people in different religions and different churches and sects will tell you that worldliness has to do with amusements and entertainment. "Worldliness is going bowling. Worldliness is going to the movies." Then some of us would say, "That's not worldliness. I've got liberty. I'm in the world, but I'm not of it. I can go to the movies, and I can go bowling, and I can have a drink, and I can have casual sex; and I can kill people I don't like." How far are you going to go? If you're in the world and abusing it, and you begin to think like they think (everything in the world is situational ethics), there are no absolutes so you have nothing to keep you on course. You always think you're right because, in the world, every man is right in his own eyes. "Yes, but if I narrow this to just the word of God, everybody is going to hate me." Glory in it! Praise God. "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Galatians 6:14). People aren't going to like you.

I shared with somebody the other day how I'm the most disliked person I know. I'm sure there are people who have more people who dislike them than I; I just don't know them. I mean personally, not "disagree with." There are a lot of people who really, really don't like me; and I don't understand it. At one point it was really bothering me. People were saying all kinds of things, and as many of you who have been around here for a long time know, really hateful things. People were wishing me dead, and they were making threats on my life, and all these different things. I thought: "What in the world have I done?" The Lord spoke to Willard Cantelon, who didn't know what was going on, and gave him a word of knowledge. He sent me a Scripture. I have it marked, and refer to it periodically. He said, "Star, I don't know what's going on, but I believe God told me to send you this verse: 'For my love they are my adversaries...And they have rewarded me...hatred for my love'" (Psalm 109:4-5). It's a prophetic word about Jesus. Perfect love was evidenced to mankind, the world's system, which so many of us think is cool. Perfect love was bestowed upon them, and they returned perfect hatred, personal pride, haughtiness and selfishness. Our failure to bring them the cross is to (many times), in their eyes, ratify or endorse their behavior. It happens so naturally to me. I've gotten in trouble with it; and I know I'm going to continue to get into trouble, but that spirit offends me. I can't stand watching bratty kids defy authority and all of these different things. That spirit causes an immediate reaction in me; I do it without thinking. It just becomes natural when I see rebellion, when I see pride, when I see these things and, thankfully, just as much when I see it in my own life. I hate it because it's not what Jesus died for.

Look at this statement Paul makes in Chapter 7, verse 31, of Corinthians: "And they that use this world, as not abusing it." We're in the world, but not of it. We're under the curse of Adam, as men, regardless of whether we're saved. You say, "Well, not me; blessed God! I'm born again! I'm regenerated! I'm not under the curse." There are certain aspects of the curse that you'll never come out of. One of those statements that the Lord had made when man fell was that humanity would now live by the sweat of its brow. You have to work! "Not me; I'm not working." If you don't work, you shouldn't eat. "Okay; I'll work." So, every day we have to go to work using this world, but not abusing it. Using it: Since we're in it, let's become good at what we do. Let's become successful. Let's do it for the glory of God. So, we work as unto [say it] the Lord. So, I go to work, and I'm not working for my boss, and I'm not working for my paycheck. I'm working as unto the Lord. So, now I'm not under the power of the lust for the money: "How much am I making.? I've got to get more. Am I making as much as that guy?" I'm where God wants me. I'm working as unto the Lord. I have to work to eat. I live by the sweat of my brow. It's part of the judgement that came upon humanity, but I'm here for the glory of God. My boasting is going to be in the cross. I'm looking for opportunities to let everybody around me who's vying for position and power and possessions to know that I'm not under these things. "What do you mean, you're not under them and you're not influenced by them?" I don't live for these things. "Well, you're here at work every day, and you're working forty hours a week. It looks like you have a nice home and you're driving a nice car." Yes, "the blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and He addeth no sorrow with it" (Proverbs 10:22). I'm not under the power of this stuff. I don't have to have any of this. I'm here only because this is where God has placed me to share Jesus with you, to use this as a vehicle to feed my family, and to provide for my household; but I'm not doing this for the same reason you are.

The trap you and I have to face is this: Because we spend so many hours out there, we begin to rub shoulders with these people; and we begin to hear their stories; and they bring in pictures of their little freckle-faced kids, and you go, "Aw." "That kid: only a mother could love a face like that." You don't say that, but that's what you're thinking. So lives begin to be intertwined, and you have people who do favors, and a buddy whom you can call. "I know a guy. I'll call him, and he'll give us a special deal." All of this intertwining of relationships: when does it come to the point where we're using it to the point of abusing it? When you now give it the same credibility, time, energy, and worth as the spiritual family, the kingdom, your natural family, and your devotions. As we begin to identify where we are, and this need to come out, Paul says, "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you" (2 Corinthians 6:17). I shared a couple of sessions ago how we're living in a dangerous time. Can you feel it out there? We were just down at Bike Week in Daytona; and that was a lot of fun. I was wondering, "What are we going to run into? Are we going to run into a bunch of garbage and stuff?" because in the old time biker environment were the gangs and that kind of stuff. I think back here on the east coast they had the Pagans; on the west coast we had Hell's Angels. It's not like that anymore: the guy you see riding on his Harley with all this cut off stuff and Levi's and bandana: the guy could be a banker. So, it's changed a little, but there is still the sub-culture. I thought, "What are we going to run into down there?" It really wasn't bad at all: it was more of a family environment than anything. One night we decided we were going to cruise down through the main street. Everything is packed so you can't even move; from the sidewalks, literally, into every restaurant and store is just a mass of people. It's all blocked off, and everybody is just cruising down there to see and be seen. We were cruising down through there on our Harleys: Kevin and his Harley chick, Chris, on the back; Greer has her new Harley, and we're cruising down there. It was very interesting. In this one section of town, as soon as we came over the bridge, I could feel this. Before we even got there, I could feel the whole environment change: you could feel that nasty spirit. Now, there was nothing that happened, we didn't see anything, but it was there: this world that we're living in. What I'm concerned about is that we don't draw the line, thinking that spirit ends with drugs, sex, drunkenness, revelry. It's the same spirit of pride, boasting in our material possessions, discontentment that we don't have more, comparing ourselves by ourselves, the lust for and the worship of, not only higher education, but also what name is on our diplomas. How influenced are we by that environment? If we can even make it through that hurdle, using it but not abusing it, then how taken up do we become with the different problems of the world?

I am beginning to think the number one problem in America is cell phones. Well, number two: The Internet is number one. The information highway: all this information, and everybody knows nothing. They're like Sergeant Schultz: "I know nothing!" That's for all you old people: Hogan's Heroes. What is everybody talking about? What's everybody hunting? Everybody knows a bunch and is doing nothing. What are we doing for the kingdom? Are we going to be content with information about the Bible or are we going to live it? Are we going to put it to work? Are we going to build something with our knowledge and with our community? That is what we're trying to do here. Using the world, but not abusing it: how much of what the world is offering you, and making available, in all of this time sitting in class (Pastor imitates the sound of typing on the computer). You're going to text-message all these guys when you're supposed to be doing something else. You're going to sit and text-message somebody over there, when you have real people to talk to. Kids are going to ride down the road with earphones on, looking at videos. They wouldn't know a cow if one ran over them. Do you remember when we were kids going down the road? It was exciting to see a cow. "Hey, there's a train!" The biggest entertainment was to count the cars when you were traveling. Now they have surround sound and 3-D. If you do happen to stop along side the road and your kid goes over and says, "Here, doggie," you know you have problems when it says, "Moo!" So, what's your kid going to do? Instead of going over and touching the cow and petting it, he's going to go home and look it up on the Internet and see it dissected. Now he knows everything about a cow, but never smelled one. You say, "What's so good about smelling a cow?" It's real.

How much are we living what's not real? How much of this fantasy, which everybody calls reality, this expectation of the utopia, this "information is power" are we're buying into, which is making us discontent and unable to worship, and trust, and be thankful for what God has given us? How much of this (and we've talked about it before) using of the world turns into abusing. We did the whole series on disputable matters. "All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient [and] I will not be brought under the power of any" (1 Corinthians 6:12). When Paul said all things are lawful, he also said they are not all necessary. Just because you have the right to doesn't mean you need to, or should. Why would we want to do anything that isn't glorying in the cross?

We've talked about some of the young adults here who feel they have liberty to have a drink every once in a while, and I've brought it up a couple of times. Why? "Well, there's no harm in it." Well, tell me what good is in it. If there is no harm in it, then tell what good is in it. Tell me how it glorifies God. I'll go along with you; it's not sin. Tell me how it glorifies God. Tell me what good it does for you. Tell me how it edifies you. Tell me how it edifies the body of Christ. Tell me how it makes you a greater witness. Explain that to me. "Well, the Bible doesn't say you can't drink; it says, 'Don't be drunk.'" Amen! Tell me! What good is in it? Remember now, if you're not careful you can say, "Yes, but what good is there in eating a McDonald's Big Mac?" None, but as bad as it is, and neither one of them being sin, can you sin just as much with a Big Mac as you can with a beer? Yes, if you start wolfing down about a dozen of those things a day, it's not too long before you're in sin. You're stupid for eating the first one, but sin gets you when anything begins to dominate us and have power over us. But, you know, not all sins are alike, as much as we like to say so. In God's sight, they're all sin and they will all cause an eternal consequence, but temporally, all sins aren't alike. How many of you think that over-eating, though it's sin, it's a lack of temperance, doesn't have the same consequences as over-drinking? How many of you would agree with that? I believe that, personally. Do you want to know why? Most of the time, when I eat my seventh Big Mac, I don't beat my wife. I might beat the guy up in front of me at the counter to get first in line for my next one, because my life is out of control. But see, these things have consequences. All sin is sin. Yes, it is. But there are consequences. How many of you think that looking on a woman to lust after her is sin? Does anybody think that? How many of you think that carries the same consequence as committing adultery? Try to sell that to your wife! The Scripture says I can look at your wife and lust after her, and I've sinned. But if I commit adultery with her, I cannot bring enough gifts to restore myself to that man. Isn't that what the Scripture says? You've created a breach between you and him, and between you and your wife, that can never be fixed. Sin is not sins: all sin can send you to hell, but all sins don't have the same consequences in time and space. What am I saying to you? Use the world; don't abuse it. There are things you would want to get back that you couldn't get back. Don't buy this bill of goods that has to do with fashion and image: the Hollywood mentality. Dear God! They're shoving this stuff down our throats, and telling us we have to dress like this and look like that. Wear these labels; wear those shades; walk like this; talk like this; then you're the "in" crowd. Who are these people?

I don't know if any of you saw the movie The Aviator, about Howard Hughes. I started to say the other Hugh: Hugh Hefner. They were close. Howard Hughes: there was a line in that movie that I thought was great. He told Katherine Hepburn. Audrey Hepburn was the little skinny one in Tiffany's. I love that one line. While she's going on about something and setting herself up as some expert on everything, he looks at her and says, "You're just an actress. You don't do anything but pretend to be something that somebody else really was. You're nothing. You're just an actress." Yet, do you know what? Those people are some of the most powerful influences in our society today. "Oh, I want to be this tough guy like so-and-so." His wife could probably beat him up. It's all pretend. Using the world, not abusing it: How do we abuse it? By accepting what they're telling us as truth. Everything this world presents to you is a lie. The god of this world, Satan, is the father of [say it] lies (John 8:44). It's all a lie! It's all a hoax! Everything they're selling is an infomercial. The whole world's system is a continuous infomercial. We need to come to the word of God and begin to find out what our foundation is. There is a foundation called the apostles and the prophets; and Jesus Christ is the Chief Cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20). Are we boasting and glorying in those who have made the pages of the Hall of Fame of Faith in the Word of God (Hebrews 11)? Are we identifying with, and standing in awe of, those who made the pages of the Book of Martyrs? Do we look at those who have gone before us in our generation, who have forsaken all the comforts of this world and this life; men like John Garlock and others who have gone to Africa, and laid their lives down to bring the Gospel. And we, people like myself, as young men, have seen this and seen their lives and heard their testimonies and watched their sacrifice, are moved by their commitment and say, "I want to do that!" The first thing we have to ask is, but it would probably be something we would have in the wrong order, to ask the young people: "Whom are you following?" I don't want to start there. I don't want to ask the young people whom they are following. I want to talk to some of us older people: "Are we giving them somebody to follow?" In this world we're living in, how much of it has worth to us? 1 John, Chapter 2, verse 15: "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." I'm not just talking about material things. I'm talking about philosophy, ideology. I'm talking about anything that is antichrist, which is everything that is not the kingdom of light. "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world." What does it mean to love? It means to have affection for, to want to associate with, to relate to. Think about it: you don't even have to have the things of the world; do you want them? How badly do you want it? How strong is that desire? When is lust true biblical lust? Most of us don't even know the answer in our own minds, but God knows. Thankfully, He is the one who will ultimately judge us, as to whether it's lust or not. But, do you want to know when it's lust? It's when, if given the opportunity, you would take it.

As we look at these particular powers, remember that you and I are caught between the battles of these kingdoms. It's not about you. Satan is not after you. Every one of us whom he can destroy breaks the heart of God. That's what he's after: he couldn't care less about you; you don't mean anything to him. "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy" (John 10:10). Everything Satan touches brings death and heartache. It's who he is. He's selling his kingdom in any way that will entice people. He sells it to the liberal humanist in a way that would deify man and make him feel good about himself. For the individual who is caught up in avarice and covetousness, he builds casinos with lights and glitter, Hollywood, Rolls Royces, diamond rings and fur coats. Then your intellectual humanist over here is saying, "Those people are so shallow and caught up. Look, they're over there wearing their furs and diamonds, and they think there is some worth in that. Worth is in knowledge and knowing that you're better than them. Real worth is in knowing that you don't have to have that." He'll use whatever method appeals to the individual. Both of them are in bondage; both of them are believing a lie; both of them are self-serving; both of them are full of pride; and it's all antichrist. Using the world: we're in it but not of it. Don't love the world.

As we look at these different aspects, Paul says in Romans 12:2, "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed [metamorphosed] by the renewing of your mind." "You mean, it's not once for all." No, it's a continual process. How many of you realize you're freer from it some times than you are at others, that your view of the cross is clearer at some times than others? Then there are times when we do get distracted and misdirected. We talked about that couple of sessions ago. Thank God that He sets us back on course. Amen? Thank God that the steps of the good man are ordered by the Lord. When we wonder off course, He can take those things and purge us and chasten us; and we come back, and we're better than we were.

I like what a young man told me not too long ago. He had been caught up in a couple of things. We gave him some counsel and direction in a few things. This young man came in and sat down in the office, and I asked, "What, do you believe, God had spoken to you?" And this young man looked at me, and hit this thing dead on the nose. He looked at me and said, "Do you know what? I'm everything I thought I wasn't, and nothing I thought I was." That's a good place to be. When you walk out with that revelation, and you're stronger and you're more focused, the world is still there to try to suck you back up: to tell you that you are worthy, and you should have more, and you deserve a break today.

Somebody told me this afternoon (of course, you know I love cell phones) about technology coming out right now that, when you get close to a McDonalds, it will let your phone know. Just want I want! Ronald McDonald calling me saying, "You're only three blocks away! Turn right and come on in." You know, if I weren't saved, I'd stop, all right! Ronald might have a red nose, but he'd have a black eye, man. And you know those big shoes? I won't say any more.

The world. Technology. What are we facing in the near future? The banks, the computers: they know everything about you. They know your spending patterns. They know what pushes your buttons. That is why all that junk keeps coming. I'd call Richard and say, "I'm having a little problem with my E-mail." And he'd say--I think this terminology is right--"Our spam thing is filled up." Spam is like junk mail, right? I never liked Spam, ever. They chose the right word for that. Whoever chose that word--I don't know if it's an acronym or not--it's a good word. So much coming in, it's jamming. They're trying to get you. That's how I see it: they're after me.

There was a great show, it just flashed into my mind: The Twilight Zone, years ago. How many of you remember the Twilight Zone episode with the slot machine? Anybody? One old guy is here beside me. The Twilight Zone was cool. In those days it was really scary black and white. It's hokey today because we've been so desensitized by all the garbage and trash. You used to get scared very easily, but now they have to go to extremes. This guy got caught up in the power of gambling. As the show was ending, at the last part of it, all of a sudden he hears something; so he goes to the door and opens it, and there is that slot machine. It came out of the casino and hunted him down. They're after us. What are we doing to give them access? Using the world but not abusing it: does the devil know your spending patterns? Does he know what buttons to push? How much information, by our actions, have we given the enemy, the kingdom, out to destroy us? How do we begin to free ourselves? By glorying and boasting in the cross. How do we free ourselves? By transforming: the renewing of our minds. Begin to set new thought patterns. Begin to set new limits as to where we're going to use the world; but give yourselves that buffer zone. Don't walk up to the line. Stay as far away as you can, and remain in, but not of. There is a work to be done out there. There are many things, we shared, which are amoral: things you can do that won't destroy you until they become abuses. They begin to dominate. They begin to control your thoughts. You're distracted by the secular, the temporal. You begin to make wrong choices as to whom you begin to befriend.

Ephesians 5:11 says, "Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them." Do you just ignore sin? Do you ignore people who are anti-Christ, or do you reprove them? Now, don't mistake what I'm saying. I'm not saying to jump up on the table at work and yell, "Repent! You shouldn't drink, and you shouldn't...." If they're sinners, they should. When I talk about reproving these things, the unfruitful works of darkness, I'm talking about people who are professing to be Christians, but are living that way, not sinners. But we don't fellowship with those things. We have no affinity with these. 2 Thessalonians 3:6 says, "Withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly." Why would that be? It's so the world can see a difference. Not everyone who names the name of Jesus is a Christian. We are called to be a separate people. Jesus said, "I have chosen you out of the world" (John 15:19). So, we need to be very careful whom we relate to, and how we relate: surface, conduct business. They're your enemies. They hate you. They hate the Jesus who died for you. All that the world is projecting as treasure, gain, and success, we need to count as dung: We need to place new values on these things. Paul said, "Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world" (2 Timothy 4:10). Can you imagine being on that missions team, seeing the anointing, the power of God on these men, walking shoulder to shoulder with them every day, watching them, even partaking of that outreach, and partaking of the sacrifice. What was it that caused this man, in a crucial time, to turn his back, desert Paul and leave him, having loved this [what?] present world? It's not who you're hanging out with; it's who you are. It's not what you believe about yourself; it's how you care for others. "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13). We're emulating Jesus as we glory and boast in the cross, personal death, pursuit of eternal things and not temporal, and seek the kingdom first. Greer ordered a basketball. One of her favorite basketball players was Robinson. I watched the kid play some in college and I was always impressed with him. He was different: he was a class act. I had never realized he had made a profession of faith. Michael Jordan had commented to some others that he had always represented the gospel and, tragically, Jordan's response was like so many people's: "What you're saying is right, and I know I need to do it, but later. I'm on a course right now, and at the right time I'm going to take that decision." "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee" (Luke 12:20). Dave Robinson: it was kind of cool to see how he autographed the ball, then put the passage in Matthew 6:33: "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Every one of us, doctrinally, and every one of us, I believe, (I would say 99 percent of us) who is in this room tonight has that as his heart's desire. Practically, what is it going to take? It's going to take a multitude of counselors, and friends who will come to bring reproof in your life: those who will speak instruction. How teachable are you? How humble are you to receive counsel? How ready are you to hear the truth about yourself? If you're not, you will become a victim of the father of lies, the god of this world, because there is no other vehicle Father has put in place to bring you that deliverance than these that are set forth. If you're not reading the Word, if you're not full of the Spirit of God, if you refuse your counselors, if you're not seeking first the kingdom, you're of the world and its ideologies and its methodologies. How does he destroy the majority? I'll end with this: by wrapping the world in religion. (And most professed Christians are part of that wrapping.) Catholicism, Mormonism: what do they have in common? They add to or subtract from the word of God. It's a powerful spirit, beloved, that we're facing today. I'm concerned, in all of our lives, that we never relax. It's not a power that will overtake us. It cannot overpower us, but can infiltrate us; it can become leaven; it begins to distort doctrine; it begins to make us respecters of persons; it causes us to justify our covetousness, our idolatry; it broadens the path and becomes the way of destruction. What, in the world, is appealing to you? Put it to death. Come out from among them. Be not conformed, but be transformed. Use it, but don't abuse it.

Father, we thank You for the Word tonight. We ask that Your Spirit would continue to empower us, and give us wisdom and understanding of our surroundings, to not be ignorant of the enemy's devices, to see it for what it is, to never be seduced and believe that anybody who is not of Your kingdom can be trusted. We make no covenant with them. We do not worship their gods, but we do lay our lives down and proclaim to them the power of this cross, "for [we are] not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation" (Romans 1:16). He who knew no sin was made sin with our sin, that we might be made righteous with His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). Give up your sin; receive His righteousness and embrace the kingdom of light. Reject the lies of the kingdom of darkness. "Walk in the spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16). For that, Father, we thank You in Jesus' name, amen. Let's stand before the Lord.

As Gary plays for us, how much of the world is in the church today? Don't get caught up in straining at gnats and swallowing camels. Go back to these basic biblical doctrines; make them sound. Make sure you clearly understand them, and then you can take the more intricate decisions. Don't make a stand on some little issue when you're totally ignoring the general principles. You try to argue, justify, and stand up for some little right that you have over here, while you're missing the whole point of lordship, of honoring God, of seeking maturity and perfection. Let's sing this together and worship Him.

Jesus, draw me close... Thank You, Jesus. We worship You, Father.

As we were down in Daytona, there were all kinds of different bikes there: motorcycles, all kinds of Harleys, full dress, choppers, really cool V-rods with bad dudes on them. That's what I ride. We were sitting there on the bike, and I hear this talking next to me. I look over, and there is this young black guy on this crotch rocket: really cool. He had the extended swing arms for drag. Everything chromed and powder coated: just a really sleek bike. I heard him talking, looked over, and he was talking to his girlfriend, "Look at that thing." He was talking about my bike and he was pointing stuff out. "Look at that. Look at those...." I looked over and caught his eye. He said, "Dude! That's a bad bike." He's a black guy, so it's probably, "Dog! That's a bad bike." Whatever. I said, "Thanks." You know, I could have talked to that kid for a few minutes about bikes, and admired his bike; he admired ours. After that, I have to start talking about the gospel. I'm not going to sit there and talk to this guy for hours about motorcycles. I like them; they're cool, but how can you talk about a motorcycle and not share the Lord of your life, that motorcycles are not your life, that it's not your God. How long can you go without telling someone what Jesus has done for you. How long can you talk about their final four, motorcycles, hot rods, drapes, the sale at the blue light, or whatever? Let our glory and boast be in the cross. Be consumed with His glory, and not with the masses that would distract us. Yes, we can talk to them. We can go over all that stuff, but where is it on your priority list? How easy is it to talk about that, as compared to talking about the One who died for you? That's what we're talking about.

Father, help us to boast in You, and glory in You, in Jesus' name. Amen. Before you go, turn to somebody next to you and say, "Seek the kingdom first." Go in peace; may God's love go with you.

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