WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.840 Welcome to Baptist Bible Church. 00:00:03.520 --> 00:00:04.799 Where is everybody? 00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:10.240 Oh, we're not meeting outside. 00:00:14.480 --> 00:00:16.079 They're all up north, aren't they? 00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:18.800 Isn't that what everybody says over Memorial Day weekend? 00:00:18.879 --> 00:00:20.000 We're going up north. 00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:22.320 Where do the northerners go? 00:00:23.359 --> 00:00:25.120 Do they say we're go is it in the UP? 00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:28.320 In the UP is the phrase, we're going down south. 00:00:29.120 --> 00:00:29.440 No. 00:00:30.079 --> 00:00:31.519 Chris, Chris, you and No. 00:00:32.079 --> 00:00:37.679 Do you still consider yourself a youper or do you have you have you transitioned identities now? 00:00:39.359 --> 00:00:40.159 No comment. 00:00:44.719 --> 00:00:47.119 Well, hey, it's great to have you all here this morning. 00:00:47.200 --> 00:00:48.399 I hope you're excited to be here. 00:00:48.560 --> 00:00:51.039 Hope you're excited for the service this morning. 00:00:51.280 --> 00:00:53.439 Just a couple of announcements before we get started. 00:00:53.600 --> 00:00:58.320 Don't forget, next Sunday, we're going to take up a love offering for our CBM builders. 00:00:58.399 --> 00:01:01.359 They're just about finished with that project out in Montana. 00:01:01.439 --> 00:01:05.120 They're ready to start making the long journey home. 00:01:05.280 --> 00:01:15.840 And so we as a church family, we just want to bless them and show them we love them and care for them and help them with some of those travel expenses as they make their way back here to the Midwest. 00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:22.159 So don't forget, next week, Sunday, we'll be taking up an offering for our CBM builder families. 00:01:22.400 --> 00:01:29.120 And also don't forget the Asure Women's Center baby bottle fundraiser is going on right now. 00:01:29.200 --> 00:01:30.879 That'll be running through Father's Day. 00:01:30.959 --> 00:01:42.319 So if you haven't already, make sure to grab a bottle from the mission stable and start collecting some money so that we can be a blessing to the great work and the ministry that they're doing at the Asure Women's Center. 00:01:42.719 --> 00:01:51.359 And then a quick programming note, don't forget, next Sunday we have one final adult Sunday school class, one final Sunday school class. 00:01:51.599 --> 00:01:58.879 Next Sunday, we'll we'll be wrapping up our series on the books of the Bible and the Old Testament, and then we'll be taking a short summer break. 00:01:59.040 --> 00:02:04.480 So one final Sunday for a Sunday school class, that's next Sunday, and then we'll be having that summer break. 00:02:04.959 --> 00:02:07.359 Let's pray and then we'll go ahead and get started this morning. 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:09.039 Heavenly Father, thank you for today. 00:02:09.199 --> 00:02:10.159 Thankful for this opportunity. 00:02:10.319 --> 00:02:11.360 We have to be here this morning. 00:02:11.439 --> 00:02:32.159 We're thankful for the chance to come together and to worship and to take some time out of our day to just devote it solely on you, to take time to uh remember you, reflect on the truths of your word that reveal who you are, to worship you and to study your word. 00:02:32.800 --> 00:02:44.639 And I pray, Father, this morning that you'd help us to to do so, help us to remove distractions in our minds, and to really seek to honor you and worship you and praise you and grow closer to you this morning. 00:02:45.360 --> 00:02:46.639 It's in Jesus' name I pray. 00:02:47.120 --> 00:02:47.599 Amen. 00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:02.960 If you would please stand with us and let's sing. 00:03:03.439 --> 00:03:05.120 Lord, I need you. 00:09:36.559 --> 00:09:37.200 Amen. 00:09:37.679 --> 00:09:39.360 I think it's meet and greet time. 00:09:39.519 --> 00:09:40.960 We've got three minutes. 00:12:59.519 --> 00:13:06.879 Being Memorial Day weekend, we want to remember those who have given their lives. 00:13:07.440 --> 00:13:14.159 I know we have several individuals in the congregation that are veterans. 00:13:15.039 --> 00:13:25.440 So we have Air Force, Army, Navy, any other represented here? 00:13:28.080 --> 00:13:31.519 And parents and family of those that were and are. 00:13:34.240 --> 00:13:34.799 Yeah, good. 00:13:34.960 --> 00:13:47.840 Well, we want to thank you for your service for the time you uh put in the military and your efforts to keep our country safe from harm. 00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:49.440 That's appreciated. 00:13:51.200 --> 00:13:53.519 Let's go to the Lord in prayer, shall we? 00:13:55.759 --> 00:14:02.000 Dear Heavenly Father, we are so thankful and grateful for you, for your love for us. 00:14:05.919 --> 00:14:10.159 We're so thankful, Father, for your grace and your mercy. 00:14:12.159 --> 00:14:31.120 Father, we're thankful for your Son Jesus Christ, who came and without sin lived a perfect life and willingly gave of himself as a sacrifice to pay for the sins of mankind, to pay for my sins. 00:14:31.600 --> 00:14:45.120 And Father, we're so thankful for his sacrifice, laying down his life for those who would turn their hearts to him. 00:14:46.320 --> 00:14:54.720 And we are thankful not only for his death and burial, but for his resurrection, and that he is now seated at your right hand. 00:14:56.720 --> 00:14:59.360 Father, we are thankful for these things. 00:15:00.559 --> 00:15:26.159 We are so mindful of that even on this Memorial Day weekend when we are thankful and grateful and have no comprehension of the pain and the suffering that individuals have gone through in being in the military and making efforts, Father, to protect us who are not. 00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:31.919 Father, for those that gave their lives, we are thankful grateful for that. 00:15:33.279 --> 00:15:43.279 Help us that we might be a people that do not forget that, that we remember that and do not take it for granted. 00:15:44.080 --> 00:15:47.600 I confess I do take it for granted so often. 00:15:48.480 --> 00:16:08.240 Father, for the families that lost loved ones, even in more recent years, Lord, we pray that your hand would be with them, Lord, that they would turn their hearts to you, that they would find the ultimate comfort in you, Lord Jesus, and in your strength. 00:16:09.120 --> 00:16:14.320 And even during the pain, Lord, that they would put their hope and their trust in you. 00:16:15.840 --> 00:16:45.679 Father, we just pray for our military now, and for our leaders of our nation, that your hand um would be with them to Lord, that they would look to you, Lord, that they would look to your word for guidance, that they would look to you for direction and how to lead our military, how to lead our country. 00:16:46.879 --> 00:16:48.480 And we pray for peace, Lord. 00:16:49.120 --> 00:17:00.639 We just pray so many people, not only in Iran, but in other countries, are burned being persecuted for their faith in you. 00:17:01.200 --> 00:17:10.720 And we just ask, dear Father, that you would be with them, strengthen them, encourage them, Lord, help them through the pain and the suffering. 00:17:11.680 --> 00:17:13.519 We ask for your hand of protection, Lord. 00:17:15.119 --> 00:17:25.839 Father, too, we are thankful for when we look at our own church family here for the good report that has come back for Jim. 00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:31.119 And we just are so excited about that, Lord. 00:17:31.200 --> 00:17:38.720 But we just pray for your continued hand and his body and uh through the ongoing medical work. 00:17:39.920 --> 00:17:45.200 Father too, for Emily that she is gonna have surgery soon. 00:17:45.359 --> 00:18:03.200 We just ask, dear Father, that you would comfort her, Lord, and that you would encourage her, and Father too, that you would be with the medical staff as they do the surgery and uh do uh treatment for her. 00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:12.720 And we just pray that you give them wisdom, Lord, and that they might do an excellent job, and that she would have good healing and quick recovery. 00:18:14.079 --> 00:18:23.759 Father, we are so thankful for those that have been faithful here through the years and now are shut ins, Lord. 00:18:23.839 --> 00:18:30.319 We just ask that you hand your hand be with them, that you encourage them and strengthen them, Lord. 00:18:31.200 --> 00:18:38.480 And Father, that they might continue walking with you and reading your word and in prayer. 00:18:39.039 --> 00:18:45.680 And we ask, Father, that you would guide us and the rest of this service, that it would be honoring and pleasing to you. 00:18:46.319 --> 00:18:47.839 We ask this in the name of Jesus. 00:18:48.480 --> 00:18:49.119 Amen. 00:18:57.920 --> 00:19:00.319 Take your own copies of God's word now this morning. 00:19:00.400 --> 00:19:01.759 Turn to Psalm number two. 00:19:02.160 --> 00:19:08.799 If you don't have a Bible, there should be one in a chair in front of you or adjacent to you. 00:19:09.759 --> 00:19:13.759 Let's take a moment here now to read quietly on our own Psalm number two. 00:21:30.400 --> 00:21:37.920 And the next two songs, um, Great Are You Lord, and then a new song, O Church Arise. 00:25:19.359 --> 00:25:30.720 Sul brick source. 00:25:50.720 --> 00:25:54.720 This next song, O Church Arise, is a new song to us here. 00:25:54.880 --> 00:26:01.519 It's a hymn put out by the Gettys, and it really fits in with the pastor's messages. 00:26:02.720 --> 00:26:04.160 O Church Arise. 00:30:08.640 --> 00:30:23.119 It is generally understood in the art of warfare that knowing your enemy's battle strategy, his tactics, and his ultimate goal is a key component to victory. 00:30:23.519 --> 00:30:29.279 And I applied this same philosophy in my rook playing days. 00:30:30.079 --> 00:30:39.759 Any good rook player knows you never play the hand, you always play the opponent or the player. 00:30:39.920 --> 00:30:40.319 Yes. 00:30:40.720 --> 00:30:41.759 You play the player. 00:30:42.160 --> 00:30:43.200 Know thy enemy. 00:30:43.440 --> 00:30:43.759 No. 00:30:43.920 --> 00:30:45.039 Know their strategies. 00:30:45.359 --> 00:30:49.359 Know their tactics, know their abilities, know their goals and objectives. 00:30:49.519 --> 00:30:55.920 And the better you know the enemy, the better equipped you are to defeat them. 00:30:56.799 --> 00:31:03.680 It's interesting that Paul articulates that same exact concept in the book of 2 Corinthians, chapter 2. 00:31:03.920 --> 00:31:16.240 He says, so that we would not be outwitted by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his designs or his plans or his schemes or strategies. 00:31:17.039 --> 00:31:32.400 Paul's point is that in order to not be outwitted by Satan, to not be defeated by Satan's craftiness and his schemes, you must know what his scheming is. 00:31:34.079 --> 00:31:45.279 For the Christian today, this is essentially this is this is essentially one of the most uh important uh keys to victory. 00:31:46.160 --> 00:31:52.240 It is certainly true, I believe, today, that many Christians don't really know who the real enemy even is. 00:31:53.440 --> 00:32:00.000 Many Christians today couldn't even identify who the true enemy is that they're actually fighting against. 00:32:00.640 --> 00:32:10.559 Oftentimes Christians think of enemies and they unfortunately place the wrong person or thing in that category. 00:32:11.920 --> 00:32:24.000 Christians today need to know who the enemy is, they need to know what the enemy is trying to do, what the enemy's objective or goal is, and how the enemy is seeking to accomplish that goal. 00:32:24.640 --> 00:32:43.519 Which is why in our series on spiritual warfare, as we begin this series, the first thing we need to do is to establish who our enemy is, and what the enemy is seeking to do, and how the enemy is seeking to accomplish those goals. 00:32:44.240 --> 00:32:49.759 Before we dig into this very first enemy this morning, a quick reminder on what spiritual warfare is. 00:32:50.079 --> 00:33:06.720 Spiritual warfare is the believer's continual struggle against the devil, the flesh, and the world, one by standing firm in Christ through faith, obedience, truth, prayer, and the ordinary means of sanctification empowered by the Holy Spirit. 00:33:09.359 --> 00:33:18.559 If you missed last Sunday, could I encourage you to make sure you go back and listen to that very first sermon we did on spiritual warfare? 00:33:19.519 --> 00:33:23.200 And that very first sermon we established some of the different views. 00:33:23.359 --> 00:33:25.519 Spiritual warfare can be a confusing topic. 00:33:25.759 --> 00:33:31.680 And depending on who you ask what spiritual warfare is, you may get some very different answers today. 00:33:32.079 --> 00:33:33.440 So I would just encourage you. 00:33:33.519 --> 00:33:38.079 If you missed last week, we record our sermons and put them on YouTube now. 00:33:38.799 --> 00:33:43.039 So thank you to Randy, Deacon of Technology, for getting that set up for us. 00:33:43.119 --> 00:33:49.680 So you are able to go, if you look up on YouTube Baptist Bible Church, look up sermons, you'll find our sermons posted on YouTube. 00:33:49.759 --> 00:33:52.400 You'll also find them on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. 00:33:52.480 --> 00:33:59.200 If you like to listen to podcasts, if you miss a sermon, you can always go back and listen to some of those previous sermons. 00:33:59.440 --> 00:34:05.759 Last week we identified what, when I'd say spiritual warfare up here from the pulpit, we're talking about spiritual warfare. 00:34:05.920 --> 00:34:08.880 Last week we we identified what that is. 00:34:09.519 --> 00:34:10.960 What is spiritual warfare? 00:34:11.119 --> 00:34:12.880 And so this is the basic definition. 00:34:12.960 --> 00:34:16.480 This is the working definition we'll be utilizing as we go forward in this series. 00:34:16.559 --> 00:34:22.800 But if you missed last week, make sure you go back and listen to that one again so you are caught up and know what we're talking about. 00:34:23.519 --> 00:34:30.239 Alright, so with that being said, what is what is the first enemy of the Christian? 00:34:31.360 --> 00:34:32.159 That would be the world. 00:34:32.880 --> 00:34:33.280 The world. 00:34:33.440 --> 00:34:35.519 Well, what is the world? 00:34:36.320 --> 00:34:36.960 Next question. 00:34:38.639 --> 00:34:40.719 In the Greek, the word is cosmos. 00:34:42.159 --> 00:34:46.719 The most commonly utilized word for world in the New Testament is cosmos. 00:34:47.360 --> 00:34:50.800 In some contexts, the word has a neutral tone. 00:34:51.360 --> 00:34:52.159 It's neutral. 00:34:52.880 --> 00:35:00.880 So for examples, in some contexts, the word simply refers to the natural or physical world, the earth upon which we live. 00:35:01.840 --> 00:35:06.320 In other contexts, the word refers to the sum total of all human beings. 00:35:06.639 --> 00:35:10.719 So John 3 16, for God so loved the world. 00:35:10.960 --> 00:35:12.960 So that's a reference to humanity. 00:35:13.599 --> 00:35:16.719 So we notice in some contexts the term is neutral. 00:35:16.960 --> 00:35:19.440 There isn't a positive or negative tone to it. 00:35:19.519 --> 00:35:20.719 It's simply a neutral word. 00:35:20.880 --> 00:35:24.960 However, in other contexts, the word takes on a hostile tone. 00:35:25.920 --> 00:35:27.039 A hostile tone. 00:35:27.760 --> 00:35:43.679 In these contexts, the word can refer to either unsaved people who are opposed to God and to believers, or it can refer to attitudes or values that are opposed to God. 00:35:43.840 --> 00:35:54.480 This would be the system of belief, the values of what the world values, what the world loves, what the world believes in opposition to God. 00:35:54.800 --> 00:36:06.159 So in these contexts, the word takes on more of a hostile tone, and it's this, it's this world that we're referring to when we use it in reference to spiritual warfare. 00:36:08.239 --> 00:36:09.119 We can define it this way. 00:36:09.280 --> 00:36:28.000 The world in the context of spiritual warfare is a system of beliefs and values arrayed in opposition to God, his character, and his truth, notice, which both influences and flows out of unbelieving humanity. 00:36:28.320 --> 00:36:31.280 And we'll notice that in some of the texts we look at today. 00:36:31.760 --> 00:36:44.400 When we talk about spiritual warfare, we talk about one of the enemies of the Christian being, the world, we're referring to the system of values and beliefs in the world that are in opposition or contrary to God and his character. 00:36:44.960 --> 00:36:57.440 And this system, it influences people, it exerts pressure on people, it influences them, but it also flows out of unregenerate, unbelieving humanity. 00:36:57.840 --> 00:37:04.559 Humanity is both the source and it is the object upon which the world exerts its influence. 00:37:06.239 --> 00:37:08.800 So this is the world as enemy of the Christian. 00:37:10.239 --> 00:37:12.400 Well, then what is the world's objective? 00:37:13.119 --> 00:37:19.199 The world's objective, what the world wants to do is to conform you into its mold. 00:37:19.760 --> 00:37:27.360 The world's objective, what it's trying to do to you this morning, is to conform you into its mold. 00:37:27.519 --> 00:37:28.400 Why do I say that? 00:37:28.559 --> 00:37:32.719 Well, turn with me in your Bibles to Romans chapter 12 this morning. 00:37:33.119 --> 00:37:36.400 Romans chapter 12, look with me in verse 2. 00:37:37.119 --> 00:37:38.320 Romans 12. 00:37:46.320 --> 00:37:48.719 Romans chapter 12, verse 2. 00:37:48.960 --> 00:37:54.800 Paul says, do not be conformed to this world. 00:37:55.679 --> 00:37:58.880 Do not be conformed to this world. 00:37:59.039 --> 00:38:02.960 The word conformed is a rare word in the New Testament. 00:38:03.360 --> 00:38:07.519 It means to form something after a pattern or a mold. 00:38:09.519 --> 00:38:12.159 So picture yourself this morning a lump of play-doh. 00:38:14.320 --> 00:38:15.119 And what do you do? 00:38:15.199 --> 00:38:16.800 What do kids like to do with Play-Doh? 00:38:17.679 --> 00:38:18.559 They like to mold it. 00:38:18.880 --> 00:38:19.679 They like to mold it. 00:38:19.760 --> 00:38:24.480 Now I feel like back in the olden days, the toy was the play-doh. 00:38:24.960 --> 00:38:25.599 Right, Scott? 00:38:26.079 --> 00:38:26.400 Okay. 00:38:27.039 --> 00:38:28.719 The toy was the play-doh. 00:38:29.119 --> 00:38:34.800 If you wanted to play with the, if you wanted to play play-doh, you get the play-doh out and you mold it and you craft it and you do these things. 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:48.000 Now today we have a play-doh bin at our house, and there's about like 20% of the bin is play-doh, and 80% is all of these other mechanisms and toys you use to then play with the play-doh. 00:38:48.480 --> 00:38:56.239 And so you have like the guy that you like put the play-doh in and you push him down, and he like grows hair, and like you can cut the hair, right? 00:38:56.320 --> 00:38:59.519 Or there's like one of the most famous ones is the spaghetti maker. 00:38:59.599 --> 00:39:00.719 You all know the spaghetti maker. 00:39:00.960 --> 00:39:04.639 You put the play-doh in, you push the lever down, and what does it do? 00:39:04.880 --> 00:39:12.960 It squeezes and pushes, it exerts pressure on that play-doh to form it into a specific shape. 00:39:13.760 --> 00:39:20.480 Okay, now I've contextualized the word and put it into application in our modern day today, but but this is the idea of the word. 00:39:20.639 --> 00:39:32.559 This is the concept that the world is seeking to act as the mechanism that exerts pressure and influence on you to push you and to shape you into a specific mole. 00:39:33.440 --> 00:39:33.760 Right? 00:39:33.840 --> 00:39:35.679 So we can you can imagine it like this. 00:39:35.920 --> 00:39:37.920 Okay, here you have that's you, there's Plato. 00:39:38.800 --> 00:39:40.320 Okay, I'm missing some of my pictures here. 00:39:40.559 --> 00:39:41.840 I'll have to look back and look at those. 00:39:42.159 --> 00:39:45.119 Okay, the world is seeking to shape you into a mole. 00:39:45.199 --> 00:39:46.480 That's Romans 12, too. 00:39:46.639 --> 00:39:47.840 Notice how it does this. 00:39:48.639 --> 00:39:49.760 Notice how it does this. 00:39:51.199 --> 00:39:56.800 The world wants to conform you into loving what it loves, which is sin. 00:39:57.760 --> 00:40:00.559 So it wants to conform your affections. 00:40:01.599 --> 00:40:14.960 Your affections, it wants to shape what you love, and secondly, it wants you to believe what it believes, which are ultimately lies that are contrary to the truths of God's word. 00:40:15.199 --> 00:40:15.280 Okay. 00:40:15.760 --> 00:40:17.599 So these are the strategies here. 00:40:17.679 --> 00:40:18.639 This is the objective. 00:40:18.719 --> 00:40:20.880 It seeks to shape you or conform you. 00:40:21.199 --> 00:40:25.440 These are the methods by which it does it, and this is the outcome. 00:40:25.760 --> 00:40:26.480 This is the outcome. 00:40:26.559 --> 00:40:27.360 Sorry, I'm missing some. 00:40:27.440 --> 00:40:28.639 I had like an equal sign here. 00:40:28.719 --> 00:40:33.360 I'm not sure why those didn't translate over to the um to the uh picture here. 00:40:33.440 --> 00:40:35.039 So maybe you're more confused now than ever. 00:40:35.280 --> 00:40:36.880 But this is this is the objective. 00:40:37.039 --> 00:40:38.320 Imagine an equal sign. 00:40:39.840 --> 00:40:42.320 Vessel of opposition to God. 00:40:42.480 --> 00:40:44.239 That's what the world ultimately wants. 00:40:44.400 --> 00:41:03.519 That's the mold it's seeking to push you into to make you into an object that is arrayed in opposition to God because you love what God hates, and you believe what is contrary to what God says is true. 00:41:04.159 --> 00:41:08.559 So we're gonna see, we're gonna take a closer look now at how the world does this. 00:41:08.800 --> 00:41:14.960 We're gonna look at how the world does this, and specifically those two strategies mentioned here. 00:41:15.679 --> 00:41:20.000 So turn with me now in your Bibles to 1 John chapter 2. 00:41:21.119 --> 00:41:24.639 1 John chapter 2 in verse 15. 00:41:24.800 --> 00:41:27.280 1 John chapter 2 is where we will begin. 00:41:43.679 --> 00:41:52.880 Strategy number one, the world seeks to draw your affections away from God and instead lure you into loving sin. 00:41:53.440 --> 00:42:05.360 So we're keeping in mind the objective, it's shaping you, it's pushing you into a mold, and it does it, number one, by drawing your affections away from God and instead luring you into loving sin. 00:42:06.559 --> 00:42:09.440 1 John chapter 2, read with me in verse 15. 00:42:10.719 --> 00:42:13.679 Do not love the world or the things in the world. 00:42:14.400 --> 00:42:19.840 If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 00:42:20.480 --> 00:42:25.440 So once again, we have to make sure we're understanding what John mean by cosmos. 00:42:25.679 --> 00:42:27.119 What does he mean by world? 00:42:27.679 --> 00:42:29.440 He says, Don't love the world. 00:42:30.079 --> 00:42:30.880 Don't love the world. 00:42:31.039 --> 00:42:36.800 So does John here mean cosmos to the humans of the world? 00:42:38.960 --> 00:42:40.000 Everybody do this. 00:42:42.079 --> 00:42:43.199 Okay, you're not doing it with me. 00:42:43.519 --> 00:42:44.320 Now I just look silly. 00:42:44.400 --> 00:42:45.360 I'm doing this by myself. 00:42:46.639 --> 00:42:48.000 Why do we say that? 00:42:48.559 --> 00:42:49.840 John 3, 16. 00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:51.760 For God so loved what? 00:42:52.880 --> 00:42:53.519 The world. 00:42:53.760 --> 00:42:55.519 So that can't be what John is referring to. 00:42:55.599 --> 00:43:01.119 Here we understand our uh responsibility as Christians. 00:43:01.280 --> 00:43:04.239 Our responsibility is what does Jesus say is the second greatest commandment? 00:43:04.320 --> 00:43:05.199 Love your neighbor. 00:43:05.760 --> 00:43:07.519 And he doesn't distinguish who that neighbor is. 00:43:07.760 --> 00:43:11.360 In fact, he tells the whole parable of the Good Samaritan to make that exact point. 00:43:11.920 --> 00:43:15.519 So we understand it's our responsibility to simply love people. 00:43:16.239 --> 00:43:28.400 And one of the greatest ways we can love people is by sharing the gospel with them, seeking to reach the law, seeking to reach those who don't know Jesus so that they can have their sins forgiven. 00:43:28.960 --> 00:43:36.000 So John John here doesn't mean you have to you have to hate people that don't know Jesus. 00:43:36.400 --> 00:43:40.960 That's not what the word world is being used here to identify. 00:43:42.079 --> 00:43:50.400 The word cosmos, it's our definition of what cosmos is in the context of spiritual warfare. 00:43:50.559 --> 00:43:56.480 This is the system of values and beliefs that are opposed to God. 00:43:57.280 --> 00:43:58.480 I don't love that. 00:43:59.119 --> 00:43:59.760 I don't love that. 00:44:01.519 --> 00:44:06.079 And we notice here how the world, how the world gets you to love. 00:44:06.960 --> 00:44:08.880 How the world gets you to love. 00:44:09.440 --> 00:44:23.039 It seeks to conform you by shaping your affections, drawing you, luring you away from love of God by offering up an alternative object of love. 00:44:24.719 --> 00:44:30.559 The world wants to offer up another object of love instead of God. 00:44:32.000 --> 00:44:33.920 It's almost Father's Day. 00:44:34.159 --> 00:44:41.280 One of the traditions for us for Father's Day is I get to choose the dessert for Father's Day. 00:44:41.519 --> 00:44:42.880 And I get to choose the dessert. 00:44:43.039 --> 00:44:46.000 Anybody else have that same tradition? 00:44:46.159 --> 00:44:46.400 No? 00:44:46.559 --> 00:44:46.800 Wow. 00:44:46.880 --> 00:44:47.119 Okay. 00:44:47.199 --> 00:44:48.880 Well, guys, here's a good one for you. 00:44:49.119 --> 00:44:50.639 You get to pick the dessert. 00:44:51.039 --> 00:44:55.199 And I'll have to admit, there's one dessert that I almost always pick. 00:44:55.360 --> 00:44:57.360 It's almost always the dessert I pick. 00:44:57.840 --> 00:45:01.199 It's Liz's famous strawberry shortcake. 00:45:01.440 --> 00:45:02.800 It's delicious. 00:45:03.039 --> 00:45:03.840 It's delicious. 00:45:04.000 --> 00:45:04.880 It's so good. 00:45:05.119 --> 00:45:13.599 In fact, I can remember several years ago, this was, I think, probably even before we had kids, Liz made that strawberry shortcake and I brought it to a deacon's meeting. 00:45:13.760 --> 00:45:16.800 And I'll never forget, it's like in it's like burned into my memory. 00:45:16.960 --> 00:45:23.679 I'll never forget Jim Rouse ate a piece of this strawberry shortcake, and I'll never forget his face when he ate it. 00:45:23.840 --> 00:45:26.239 It's like he had been transported to heaven. 00:45:26.480 --> 00:45:33.599 And he run, and I remember he like had that bite of shortcake in his mouth, and he looked at me and he said, It's still warm. 00:45:34.159 --> 00:45:36.079 Like, oh, so good. 00:45:36.400 --> 00:45:36.719 Okay? 00:45:37.119 --> 00:45:38.079 You have to tell Jim. 00:45:38.159 --> 00:45:40.320 You'll have to remind him of the shortcake when you get home when he. 00:45:40.719 --> 00:45:47.280 Okay, so this is the, so this is the, this is always like the object of my affection is the strawberry shortcake. 00:45:47.360 --> 00:45:56.480 But I'll admit there are times when I'm like scrolling on Instagram or I'm looking, I see Instagram, the algorithm knows me, it knows I love dessert. 00:45:56.719 --> 00:45:59.519 Because it's always sending me new dessert recipes. 00:45:59.679 --> 00:46:04.639 And I'm looking and I'll admit there are other competing loves. 00:46:05.199 --> 00:46:06.960 There are competing loves. 00:46:07.119 --> 00:46:10.239 And I look and I say, ooh, that peach cobbler. 00:46:10.559 --> 00:46:15.119 That's a contender that might replace my love of strawberry shortcake. 00:46:15.280 --> 00:46:16.880 Or that blueberry pie. 00:46:17.280 --> 00:46:19.039 There's other contenders. 00:46:19.280 --> 00:46:21.039 This is the strategy of the world. 00:46:21.119 --> 00:46:22.719 This is what the world seeks to do. 00:46:22.800 --> 00:46:29.599 It seeks to say, look, here are other things you can love that are better than God. 00:46:30.239 --> 00:46:31.840 They're better than God. 00:46:34.320 --> 00:46:37.360 Why is this an effective strategy? 00:46:38.320 --> 00:46:40.239 John says it right here. 00:46:40.800 --> 00:46:46.000 Because you can't love God and sin. 00:46:47.599 --> 00:46:51.440 You can't love God and sin. 00:46:52.000 --> 00:46:53.199 It's not an and or. 00:46:54.639 --> 00:46:56.800 Or it's not, it's not an and also. 00:46:58.239 --> 00:46:59.119 It's an either-or. 00:47:00.239 --> 00:47:02.559 You either love God or you love sin. 00:47:06.079 --> 00:47:13.199 For us as Christians, we must settle with that fact. 00:47:13.840 --> 00:47:15.679 We must settle with it. 00:47:16.239 --> 00:47:22.000 Because I think that us, and I think there's a lot of Christians out there that want to love both. 00:47:22.559 --> 00:47:23.840 That want to love God. 00:47:24.000 --> 00:47:32.000 They want the blessings, the goodness, the benefits of having a loving relationship with God, but there's sin that we don't want to let go of. 00:47:32.639 --> 00:47:39.360 There's sin that we hold on to, sinful tendencies, sinful attitudes, sinful desires, and we hold on to those. 00:47:39.599 --> 00:47:50.559 And God is saying, if you're holding on to that, if you are holding on to your sin, if you are cherishing your sin, you don't love me. 00:47:51.599 --> 00:47:52.880 You can't. 00:47:53.599 --> 00:47:57.440 Because it's like if you were here this morning and you say, you know what? 00:47:57.599 --> 00:48:01.840 I love the University of Michigan and Ohio State. 00:48:02.079 --> 00:48:03.920 I love them both equally. 00:48:04.159 --> 00:48:05.039 They're filled. 00:48:05.280 --> 00:48:09.039 My heart is filled with love and affection for both teams. 00:48:09.599 --> 00:48:15.039 We would say, Derek, no, no, impossible. 00:48:15.280 --> 00:48:16.239 Impossible. 00:48:16.480 --> 00:48:21.039 Either your blood is maize and blue or your blood is scarlet and gray. 00:48:21.280 --> 00:48:22.400 There's no room. 00:48:22.639 --> 00:48:24.079 There's no room. 00:48:24.719 --> 00:48:29.519 The concept John is teaching us here is that you can't love God and sin. 00:48:29.599 --> 00:48:31.039 You can't love it both. 00:48:31.280 --> 00:48:33.199 Either it's one or the other. 00:48:33.519 --> 00:48:37.119 Which is why this is the strategy of the world. 00:48:38.480 --> 00:48:45.840 The world wants you to replace your love and affections for God with a love for sin. 00:48:46.800 --> 00:48:51.679 And it offers sin up on a silver platter. 00:48:52.239 --> 00:48:54.239 We see that in verse 16. 00:48:54.800 --> 00:49:06.719 For all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes, and pride of life is not from the Father but is from the world. 00:49:06.960 --> 00:49:10.079 Okay, we notice here the desires of the flesh. 00:49:11.599 --> 00:49:14.559 The desires of the flesh is the first category. 00:49:14.800 --> 00:49:30.239 Flesh here is a reference to your physical body, your physical body, which means that these types of sins that he's referring to would be the sins of physical gratification, temptation through physical gratification. 00:49:30.400 --> 00:49:42.239 This would be sins such as gluttony, lust, substance abuse, these types of sins that are satisfied through the flesh, through the physical body. 00:49:44.000 --> 00:49:49.440 He goes on and he references the desires of the eyes, the desires of the eyes. 00:49:49.599 --> 00:49:57.280 This would be a reference to desire activated by sight, sinful cravings activated through what you see. 00:49:57.840 --> 00:50:03.679 Think of the sins of covetousness, jealousy, discontentment. 00:50:04.159 --> 00:50:09.119 I see with my eye, and it awakens a sinful desire in me. 00:50:09.920 --> 00:50:14.000 The pride of life is the final category he mentions here. 00:50:15.119 --> 00:50:18.400 Most scholars interpret the phrase life. 00:50:18.559 --> 00:50:20.239 It's not our normal word for life. 00:50:20.400 --> 00:50:39.440 Many interpret it as possessions or property, pride in what I possess, which would essentially then be a reference to love of money, love of possessions, love of the material things of the world, the physical things of the world that I can accumulate, that I can have, that I can get. 00:50:39.840 --> 00:50:43.199 And it's a pride, it's a love in those things. 00:50:44.159 --> 00:50:46.480 These are powerful influences. 00:50:46.960 --> 00:50:48.960 These are powerful influences. 00:50:49.119 --> 00:50:55.119 The world seeks to offer these things up to you and says, you can love these and you can be satisfied. 00:50:56.400 --> 00:51:03.440 We'll satisfy those cravings and their powerful influences, their powerful temptations. 00:51:03.519 --> 00:51:05.440 But notice the reminder of verse 17. 00:51:05.519 --> 00:51:12.559 He says, And the world is passing away along with its desires. 00:51:13.440 --> 00:51:18.320 But whoever does the will of God abides forever. 00:51:18.719 --> 00:51:26.960 We notice here the reminder that the world and the sins that the world offers you are passing away. 00:51:28.079 --> 00:51:30.079 This world is temporary. 00:51:30.559 --> 00:51:37.840 This world will pass away, and the satisfaction of sinful cravings will pass away with it. 00:51:38.960 --> 00:51:48.480 Whereas the satisfaction, the joy we have in God abides forever. 00:51:48.719 --> 00:51:52.639 That's an eternally lasting satisfaction. 00:51:53.119 --> 00:51:56.000 A joy that lasts into eternity. 00:51:58.000 --> 00:52:01.280 The satisfaction of sin is a temporary satisfaction. 00:52:01.440 --> 00:52:02.880 It doesn't truly satisfy. 00:52:04.719 --> 00:52:12.000 And so, as a believer, we'll get into these strategies as we go along, but just to say this morning, you fight the battle this morning. 00:52:12.400 --> 00:52:21.840 You engage in spiritual warfare when you choose to believe in faith that joy in God is the better joy. 00:52:22.480 --> 00:52:24.400 It's the higher joy. 00:52:24.639 --> 00:52:26.559 It's the better satisfaction. 00:52:26.719 --> 00:52:29.199 It's better than what the world offers. 00:52:29.360 --> 00:52:30.159 It's better. 00:52:30.400 --> 00:52:32.960 It's better than sin can offer me. 00:52:33.599 --> 00:52:36.000 And that is a fight this morning. 00:52:36.320 --> 00:52:37.679 That's a fight. 00:52:38.079 --> 00:52:40.639 Christian, do you believe me? 00:52:41.519 --> 00:52:44.239 Can you say by experience you believe me? 00:52:44.480 --> 00:52:50.159 Sometimes it's a fight in your flesh to say, I need to choose by faith. 00:52:50.320 --> 00:53:01.679 Because right now, what sin offers me, the gratification I know I can have by sinning in this context is a powerful urge. 00:53:02.079 --> 00:53:04.400 And I think that'll feel really good. 00:53:05.920 --> 00:53:14.480 And you need to force yourself into submission by faith to say, I'm going to choose to love God. 00:53:14.960 --> 00:53:17.760 I'm going to choose to love his commands. 00:53:18.719 --> 00:53:33.039 And believe by faith that that will satisfy me more, abundantly more than the mud pie that sin offers me instead. 00:53:33.920 --> 00:53:35.360 It's a fight. 00:53:36.159 --> 00:53:37.599 It's a fight. 00:53:38.880 --> 00:53:40.400 You have to fight. 00:53:42.159 --> 00:53:51.440 I think there's many Christians, way too many Christians, that say they're battling sin, but what does that battle actually look like? 00:53:51.920 --> 00:53:54.000 Does it just mean you sin all the time? 00:53:55.360 --> 00:54:07.039 Or does it mean you're actually fighting to force your will to submit to say, I believe that God is better. 00:54:08.159 --> 00:54:09.440 I believe it. 00:54:10.239 --> 00:54:16.079 So even though I don't want to in my flesh, I'm gonna obey. 00:54:24.559 --> 00:54:32.239 Strategy number two, the world seeks to convince you to believe what it believes instead of truth as it is revealed in Scripture. 00:54:32.480 --> 00:54:34.800 This is the second strategy the world employs. 00:54:34.960 --> 00:54:39.280 Turn to Colossians chapter two, verse eight. 00:54:39.599 --> 00:54:41.840 Colossians two, eight. 00:55:03.679 --> 00:55:06.320 We saw the first way it's a battle for the heart. 00:55:06.639 --> 00:55:09.360 The second strategy, the mind. 00:55:10.079 --> 00:55:10.639 The mind. 00:55:10.880 --> 00:55:12.800 Colossians chapter 2, verse 8. 00:55:12.960 --> 00:55:28.400 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. 00:55:28.639 --> 00:55:30.960 Notice the warning, the warning. 00:55:31.840 --> 00:55:33.760 Don't be taken captive. 00:55:34.320 --> 00:55:36.079 Don't be taken captive. 00:55:36.480 --> 00:55:39.440 And how is it that you are taken captive here? 00:55:39.679 --> 00:55:54.159 You are taken captive when you are persuaded to believe a philosophy, or in other words, a system of beliefs, or a worldview that is in opposition to Christ. 00:55:55.199 --> 00:56:12.559 This is how, this is the second strategy the world uses to take you captive by persuading you to believe in things, to believe values, systems, truths, philosophies, worldviews that are in opposition to Christ. 00:56:13.519 --> 00:56:15.679 And this is the world strategy. 00:56:15.840 --> 00:56:21.519 Notice that this philosophy here, this philosophy is described as empty deceit. 00:56:21.760 --> 00:56:23.440 It's empty deceit. 00:56:23.679 --> 00:56:28.239 That's a very interesting choice of phrase there. 00:56:28.480 --> 00:56:30.880 We notice deceit, number one, it's a lie. 00:56:31.760 --> 00:56:35.119 The system of belief, whatever it is, it's a lie. 00:56:36.000 --> 00:56:38.960 It's a twisting or morphing of truth and reality. 00:56:39.039 --> 00:56:40.880 But notice it's an empty lie. 00:56:41.119 --> 00:56:42.239 It's an empty lie. 00:56:42.320 --> 00:56:49.840 It may promise you fulfillment or satisfaction or purpose and meaning, but at the end of the world, there's simply nothing there. 00:56:50.159 --> 00:56:51.199 There's nothing there. 00:56:51.360 --> 00:56:53.440