The DEVIL Is In Voddie Baucham's MOST VIEWED Sermon | Pastor Reacts

Voddie Baucham’s Sermon on the World, the Flesh, and the Devil

And in addition to those things, as if that were not enough, there is actually the devil. There is actually evil spiritual forces. There is actually a demonic world, a demonic realm.

Ooh, what an expression. Did somebody invite her? They were like, hey, just come to my church one time. And she finally goes,.

Okay. And then Vody walks up there. That's not radical enough. You came with desires that were evil and the devil and the world did not have to seek you out.

That was the most loving drive by shooting I've ever experienced. What should you as a Christian be looking for when it comes to preaching? How will you know when someone is preaching well? How will you know when they're doing it badly?

That's what we're looking to answer in this video. Welcome to Wise Disciple. My name is Nate Sala. I'm here to help you become the effective Christian that you were meant to be. I'm a teacher, a speaker, and I was for a number of years a pastor at a church in Las Vegas called Life Baptist Church.

Before I was a pastor, I was a debate teacher. And so that's kind of a weird background. But I put all of those skills together on this channel in order to assemble Voltron. That's what we're looking at.

And that's how old I am. So if you catch the reference, hey, please make sure to like and subscribe so this video can reach more people who need to see it. Today we're looking at Votie Bacchum's most viewed sermon of all time on YouTube.

This is called The World, The Flesh, and the Devil. That's an intriguing title. As of this recording, there are over 5 million views for this particular sermon. So let's just jump right in. My assignment.

Tonight is to address the topic of the world, the flesh, and the devil. And I'm going to do that from the first paragraph here in Ephesians chapter 2, where we see all three of those things interacting with individuals.

As we do this, and as I look at this, I'm reminded of a conversation that I had a few weeks ago. I was leading a group in Israel, and I met an Israeli guide. He wasn't our guide, but I met an Israeli guide.

Our guide was a believer, and though we didn't see things exactly the same way, he was a brother in the Lord.

The Trinity, Doctrine, and How Preaching Should Begin

So what's great already is Bacchum has already done a couple of important things to set the table. He says, you know, here's the topic that I'm talking about today. Here's where we'll be in Scripture.

You know, it's Ephesians chapter 2. And now he's telling a story that presumably is going to contextualize the topic to the congregation. I've said this before, but every preacher is faced with the issue of how to begin, right?

You know, how do we begin our sermon? How do we begin to preach God's Word to his people? That's what preachers wrestle with. Preachers worth their salt, I should say. That's what they wrestle with. I did the same thing when I got up to preach, and the reality is the preachers answer this question in different ways, right?

Some like to begin with a news story. You know, they'll bring up a headline. Some like to share an important statistic. Some like to ask a driving question that ultimately drives the entire sermon. You know, they're seeking to answer that question.

And some like to just tell a story. All of this is excellent. It sets up the congregation to hear what they need to hear, to pay attention to what is important. So, good on Bacham.

It was a secular Jew who really was kind of new age more than anything else. And as we began to talk, he realized that I understood something about Judaism, understood something about the Old Testament.

And he said, you know, there's just something that somebody's just going to have to explain to me, this whole Trinity thing. And so he sat there, I don't know, for the next 15 minutes, just talking about the doctrine of the Trinity.

And after a while, he just sort of shook his head and smiled real big and told me how much he appreciated it, because he had talked to many Christians and been involved with many Christian groups. And the most he'd ever gotten when he said somebody's going to have to explain this Trinity thing to me was, well, you just got to believe it.

And that's kind of where we've come to. And it's unfortunate because not only do we not even try to grasp or understand or explain the doctrine of the Trinity, but we don't even think in Trinitarian terms.

And because we don't think in Trinitarian terms, our faith sort of becomes lopsided.

So this is what I love about Bauckham. He is an apologist at heart. I did a video with, it was with Ben Shapiro, I think, you know, and you can see that coming out as well. He wants God's people to be good critical thinkers.

He wants us to be biblically literate and to know our doctrine. And so you'll typically find him advocating for something like this, you know, a deeper appreciation of doctrine and theology. And so here comes this story that, I mean, it looks like he's setting up the dilemma for us.

We are largely unaware of how our theology works, and that's a.

Huge problem. And so we'll either be those who emphasize one person of the Trinity or another and not understand the interrelated nature of the persons of the Trinity, the oneness of the Godhead, and the beauty of the oneness of the Godhead, and the richness that it brings to our understanding of our faith.

Well, as I thought about this issue of the world, the flesh, and the devil, I realized that just like we tend to be lopsided when it comes to the Trinitarian nature of our faith, we also tend to be lopsided in terms of our understanding of these three influences.

Ah, and there's the connection, okay? The Trinity, so if you're sitting there going, what does the Trinity have to do, like, why this story about the Trinity? There's the connection. The Trinity story reveals that we don't fully understand and appreciate our own theology.

And this also applies, this ignorance also applies in the area of the devil, the world, and the flesh. So, love the setup so far. Some of us view the world as.

The only problem or the main problem. And as a result of that, we think that our greatest need is to somehow just get away from the world. We have this kind of Amish mentality. If we just don't touch the things of the world, if we just don't wear clothes like the world, and drive the cars like the world, and use the appliances of the world, then somehow that will make us safe, and then we are left with the flesh and the devil.

Not to mention the fact that just because you use something that's not from the world today, how many of y 'all realize that the stuff that you use from the world yesterday was still from the world? So, I won't use a car, but I'll use a buggy, because back in the days of the buggy, that wasn't the world.

Look at that. So, he has command of the room. And the quickest, fastest way to do that, besides telling a story, is you tell a joke and you watch what happens next. By the way, it sounds like I'm suggesting in preaching that you sort of utilize skills that would be more related to a secular TED Talk.

That's not what I'm saying. As a matter of fact, I'll unpack more this later, but I'm just making observation here that, wow, he really does have his presence, the tone, everything that he's doing to set the table, he has control of the room.

Then there are others. And we just concentrate on the devil, and everything's the devil. Flip Wilson theology. The devil made me do it. And all we do is we look for the devil everywhere. Or as we'd say in Texas, look for the devil everywhere.

That's beyond everywhere. Okay. And so, it's the devil. It's always the devil. It's the devil that made you do this. It's the devil. It's the devil. It's the devil. And there we are left with the world and the flesh.

And then there's others. And we think that the only problem is a flesh. And that brings with it its own set of difficulties. But there is a broader problem.

The Radical Nature of Human Depravity

And here's where the stakes get set. Okay. Boncombe is setting up why this all matters. By the way, notice the inclusive use of pronouns. We have a problem. Not you. We think it's the world. That's the problem.

Some of us think it's the devil all the time, right? Now, here comes the end of the setup. Check this out.

Boncombe. With a lack of understanding of these three things and how they work together. And the broader problem is this. Unless we understand this interplay between the world and the flesh and the devil, we do not understand the sinfulness of our sin.

There it is. We do not understand the radical nature of our depravity unless we understand that we are hemmed in on every side. That it's not just one issue, but it's everything around us and everything about us.

And there are many of us who have lost an understanding of the radical nature of our sinfulness. And as a result, we've lost an understanding of the radical nature of the sinfulness of those around us as well.

Mmm. Love it. The goal of the preacher is to relay God's revelation in a manner that is glorifying to God and transformative to the listener. There are a couple of biblical precedents for this. 2 Timothy 2, verse 15.

Do your best, this is Paul speaking to Timothy, do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. Okay. But wait a second, there's also Ephesians 4, right?

Verse 11. And this is what it says. He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, pastors, and teachers to, here it is, equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.

Timothy was the pastor of Ephesus. And the roles themselves, including the pastors in the church that God designed, they ultimately lead to the fundamental goal. It's to equip the saints for the work of ministry.

So putting both of these passages together, then, pastors and teachers, they are to rightly handle the word of truth in order to equip the saints. That doesn't exhaust all of the scriptural passages in this area.

You could even throw in Romans 8, 29, which shows us the ultimate outcome for all of us is to conform to the image of Christ, right? So it's all interconnected. Here's the question, then. How do you do that as a preacher?

When you get up and you have the Bible opened at the pulpit and you are speaking to the brothers and sisters, how do you do this, equip the saints? And the answer is, you help the brothers and sisters understand how the word comes to bear on their lives and the lives of every single person on this planet.

So, Bauckham has set the stage in a great way to do just that. I think, so far, he's doing a really.

Great job. And so this impacts and affects even our approach to evangelism and our approach to apologetics. If their problem is just the world, then I just need to try to get them away from the world.

If the problem is just the devil, I just need to get them to be aware of the devil. If the problem is just the flesh, then I just need to get them to change some habits. But if they're hemmed in on every side, this also affects our understanding of the radical nature of our redemption.

We don't have a full-orbed picture of what it means to be saved, what we're saved from, whom and what we're saved by. And so, on both ends of that spectrum, it's important for us to grasp these truths.

So, if you will, join me here in Ephesians chapter 2, and let's look there at those first 10 verses.

So, you don't write this sermon, you don't come up with this particular message, without first really thinking through long and hard about the people you're speaking to, right? Again, understanding how this all works out and the biblical passages that give you a precedent as a preacher to get up at the pulpit and speak, clearly your goal is to equip the saints.

Well, where are the saints? Maybe that's another question that a preacher should be asking. Where are these saints on their journey following after Jesus Christ? You don't come up with this kind of message without first thinking through that particular problem.

And so, Vodie has done some time to think through and diagnose maybe the spiritual condition of the church writ large. I imagine this is not the only sermon that he's preaching to. Like, this is not just to this church, but this is probably a pocket sermon that he brings around as he travels around and speaks to many churches.

And so, this is based on his diagnosis of where the church is, and I think he's right. Do you? Like, if he's diagnosing the fact that we don't take our walk seriously, that we don't take the understanding of sin seriously, I think he's spot on.

I mean, that was, from my experience being a pastor at a church, traveling around to churches all over the country, that's my diagnosis as well. And you were dead. I'd just like to pause there.

It's amazing how complicated people make that in order to fit their theological systems. For some people, that means sick. For some people, that means you were terminally ill, really, really, really ill.

For some, it means you were sinking in the ocean and about to drown, but my Bible says you were dead.

Ooh, what an expression. Did somebody invite her, and they were like, hey, just come to my church one time. They've been begging her for months and months and months, and she finally goes, okay, I'll just give it a try, and then Vody walks up there.

Yeah, the expressions from the audience is something to see, for sure.

You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air. So there's world, there's the devil, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all lived in the passions of our flesh.

There's the third one. Carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind,.

But God. So let me pause here real quick. I hope that for a lot of you, you have your Bible apps open, or you have a Bible in front of you open, but for those of you that don't, just take a look at this real quick, for those of you that are visual, like me.

This is what Vody is preaching from, Ephesians chapter 2 verse 1. There's a few verses here that he's working off of, but here it is. And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world.

So again, the title of the sermon is, The World, is it the world, the devil, and the flesh? I think it's what it is. So here's the world, right? That's where we get from the passage. Following the prince of the power of the air, that's the devil, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh.

So those three influences, the world, the devil, and the flesh, that's the basis for this entire sermon. Just so you see this for your reference. Being rich in mercy,.

Because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved, and raised us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

So that in the coming ages, he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Amen. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. That's one of those passages you can just read and sit down.

Powerful. But I won't. In order to grasp this, I want to.

Ephesians 2 as the Framework for Salvation and Sanctification

Give you a couple of tools that will be helpful. So he's framing the talk now, okay? And so if you've seen some of my debate reaction videos, I talk about laying a framework. You'll notice there's overlap here, also at the pulpit.

It's important, okay? He framed a bit at the outset of the message, and he's doing it again. He keeps doing it. Why? You know, he knows what he's doing, okay? But why do this? It's because a preacher worth his salt wants God's people to be equipped.

Again, remember that. And that means they need to help God's people to understand what they're hearing, and for them to make sense out of it. That's why you take these necessary steps. Bauckham knows this, and he's excellent at it.

I mean, he's probably one of the better speakers that I've seen at the pulpit. I just hope that his handling of the Word is just as excellent.

First, I want to help you understand this letter, this letter that's divided in half, divided between the first half where we look at orthodoxy, and the second half where we look at orthopraxy, the first half where we look at our calling, and the second half where we look at our conduct, the first half where we look at indicatives, and the second half where we look at imperatives, divided right down the middle.

And in order for us to know that this division has occurred, at the end of chapter 3 we have a doxology, and at the beginning of chapter 4 we have a therefore clause. We've ended one thing, and we've begun another.

And in this first half of the book, it is filled with these indicatives. It is filled with this picture of what God has done on our behalf through Christ and His person and work. And then when we get into the second half, and we get into these imperatives, the indicatives don't just go away.

They're still there. And so we have these imperatives. We have things to which we are called, but we are called to them in light of, and as a direct result of, that which Christ has accomplished on our behalf through the Father's glory, through the cross.

And so we are called to these things, and our desire to do these things, and our ability to do these things is connected inexorably to those indicatives in the first half of the letter. So it is imperative that we grasp and that we understand these indicatives in the first half.

And right in the middle of all of these indicatives in the first half, we have our paragraph. But before we get back to that, let me show you something about these indicatives in the first three chapters.

You know what I love about this? And I'm biased, but he's a teacher. At heart, that's who he is. And by the way, that's not true of every preacher. That's not true of everybody who walks up to the pulpit and opens up the Bible and reads from it.

You get a lot of preachers who just get up there and they read the word and they say, this is what it says. But they're not teachers. They're not going to break it down for you and help you see the deeper layers of the scripture and what it means.

By the way, a preacher worth his salt, again, is answering three questions in his sermon. Number one, what does the Bible say? Number two, what does the Bible mean? And number three, how can we all live by it?

And Bauckham is all about question number one right here, in this moment, he's just doing a fantastic job. I love it. Hey, real quick, I'm so glad that you're watching, but did you know that 68 of you that watch are not subscribed to the channel?

Can you believe that? That blew my mind when I saw that. That's amazing. Would you please help me get this video out to more people by liking and subscribing to the channel? I really do appreciate it.

All right, let's get back to the video. Let's look at these things in turn. First, the world.

Following the course of this world. And we know that word world is used a number of different ways in the New Testament. It's used a number of different ways in Pauling literature. Paul uses it sometimes to refer to the entire created order, the world, the cosmos.

Sometimes he uses it to refer to all mankind. At other times, he uses it to refer specifically to Jews and Gentiles.

Alike. Mm-hmm. So he's breaking down Ephesians 2 verse 2. It says, "...in which you once walked, following the course of this world.". All right, following the Prince of the Power of the Air. The word for world in the Greek is kosmos.

Okay, so there it is. Bauckham is explaining how Paul uses this word across the New Testament. But other times, this word is used to refer.

To that which is against God, to that which is opposed to God. For example, in Romans chapter 12 verse 1, do not be conformed to the pattern of this world. Do not be pressed into the mold of this world.

There is the idea of this world and the world to come, this age and the age to come. The idea of those things that are opposed to God. When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He didn't use this world, but He used this idea.

What do we pray? Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. That's what He calls us to pray. Why does He call us to pray that? Because this world is opposed to Him and opposed to His will.

This is important to understand. It's all we know. It's what we're born into. It's like Aristotle's ancient question, does a fish know that he's wet? Right. The answer.

Is not to take him out of the water. The reason why he's pressing this point so hard is because most of us in the church just do not understand this. And so this goes back to what I think was his original diagnosis, which informed the entire sermon in the first place.

Oh, we pay lip service to the concepts of the world and its influence, of the devil and his influence, but we don't truly understand what that means, and we certainly don't live by it as if we fully 100 believed in it moment to moment.

How do I know that? Because we very often do what the world does, and Bockham knows this. This is supposed to be a wake-up call for a lot of folks in the church. There's a term that my wife uses for a pastor like Bockham.

He's a butt-kicker. But he's doing it because it's that important. That's why he speaks with such passion. That's why he speaks with such urgency. We are being duped. Our view is warped, as he says it is.

But if we know the various ways that we are being influenced by the world, the devil, and the flesh, we can do something about it. Why? Well, because now we're equipped.

Amen.

There are these subtle adjustments here and there. It's like the air we breathe. It's like the matrix, and it's all we know. Next there is the idea of the devil. Not only are we in this world, not only are we in this system that is opposed to God, not only are we fully pressed into the mold of this system that is fully opposed to God, but there is also this influence following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.

So first of all, there is this system that is set up, this world to which we belong, these lenses over our eyes, this picture of reality that's painted for us, these things that are assumed because they are all we've ever known.

And in addition to those things, as if that were not enough, there is actually the devil. There is actually evil spiritual forces. There is actually a demonic world, a demonic realm. And we can get in trouble in two ways here.

There's a ditch on both sides of the road. We can overestimate the influence of the devil, or we can underestimate the influence of the devil.

Amen. Yeah, I wonder about that. I wonder which side of that ditch most of us land in the church. I imagine the majority of us act like practical atheists. There is a book, The Way of the Modern World.

It basically called us out. We're practical atheists. That's when we Christians act as if God does not exist, as if there are no spiritual beings in the unseen realm, to steal from Heiser on that one.

We are disenchanted, as Charles Taylor says it, to the idea of a supernatural reality behind the curtain of our own senses. And because of that, we fall prey to the very problem that Bockham is talking about now.

The fact of the matter is, the scripture's clear.

We were under his influence. So we have this world, this system, that is teaching us what to believe and what to think, what is right and what is wrong, what is true and what is false. And then we have the spiritual reality of the devil himself, this spiritual reality of demonic forces, this spiritual reality that is influencing us and that is actively working against us, that is actively working to keep us blind, actively working to keep us satisfied with the world and not aware of or desiring anything other than that.

And lest you think you're just innocent in all this, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind.

There's two important things here. He brings this full circle when he refers to the rest of mankind. He's making a point there.

The point there goes back to the world. I love how every shot to the congregation has captured a pained expression. I mean, this is, there's this grueling look on people's faces, you know, as they hear Bauckham preach.

I remember this one time I preached just like this, and I could sometimes be a gentle butt-kicker at the pulpit, but I remember this one time I stepped away from the pulpit after the message and went out into the lobby to greet people, and after the sermon, one of the ladies on the worship team came up to me, and she gave me a big hug, and she smiled, and she said, Nate, that was the most loving drive-by shooting I've ever experienced.

These people are getting their butts kicked, but I don't think they mind it, you know? I think they know that it's true. He's making a point there. The point there goes back.

To the world, and it is not as though the world is just sort of here in pockets here and there. It's the rest of mankind, and the people who are not under this influence are in the minority. There is a broad gate and there is a narrow gate.

But before he says this, he makes reference to our flesh, to our own desires, to our bodies and our minds and what our bodies and our minds want. So, here is why the world and the devil are so powerful, because they give us exactly what we.

Want!

Amen. So, he's, again, in terms of the three questions, right? What does the Bible say? What does the Bible mean? Now, how should we live by it, right? Vodhi is still—Bacham is still on the first two questions.

He's spending a lot of time answering and unpacking the answers to those first two questions.

That's who we are! We're not individuals who would otherwise pursue God if the devil would just leave us alone. Far from it! Since the fall, with the first Adam as our federal head, we are averse to all good things.

Listen to the way the Confessions put it, both Westminster and London. From this original corruption whereby we are utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposed to all good and wholly inclined to all evil do proceed all actual transgressions.

Our sins come from our sin nature. It's who we are. It's what we want. It's what we desire. So, don't think of it as though we come into this world and we're innocent and we're really looking for a way to find God and a way to please God, but all of a sudden this world says, no, don't do that.

And the devil says, no, don't do that. Actually, no, that's not radical enough. That's not sinful enough. That's not who you were. Here's who you were before you came to Christ. You came with fleshly desires that were against God.

You came with desires of your body and your mind that were alienated to God. You came with desires that were evil, and the devil and the world did not have to seek you out.

So, Bockham now has connected all three of the influences together, in Ephesians 2, all three of them in a holistic framework. The world, the devil, and the flesh all work together in some kind of interconnected way in order to keep us from seeking God with all of our heart.

And that's what's at stake in our lives. And that explains Paul's words that we were dead in our sins. Okay? So, Bockham has, again, he's told us what the Bible says, and he's told us what it means. What I'm curious about now is how that affects us in our lives as Christians.

Could he get more practical in terms of what he's saying? Absolutely. He's answered the first two questions, but now here's the last one. How should we all live now that we understand the reality of the influences of the world, the devil, and the flesh?

And let's find out how he handles that.

Ordinary Means of Grace and the Christian Life

Notice that there is a complete reversal of our previous condition. We were dead, now we're alive in Christ. Amen. We were following the pattern of this world, now we're seated in the heavenly places with Christ.

We were under the influence of the prince of the power of the air, but now we are in Christ. We were gratifying our desires, the desires of our body, the desires of our minds, and yet now we have been recreated.

We are God's workmanship, and there is work that God has for us to do that brings Him glory in the heavenly places. That's right. Now we understand the nature of our salvation, but it's only when we understand the radical nature of our depravity.

You understand the radical nature of your depravity, you understand your need for salvation. You understand the radical nature of your depravity, you understand what has to be the mechanism for your salvation.

God's got to do that. You can't do that. You understand the radical nature of your depravity, you understand the magnitude of your salvation. You understand what you've been saved from and it also gives you a picture of the magnitude and the glory of Christ.

Who is the one whose person and work has purchased us for God?

Mmm, you also know what you were saved for. I mean, that's why this passage is so powerful and I'm trying to remember now if I preached Ephesians 2 but Many will preach from this passage to to look at both sides of that coin so to speak.

Which is not only does Ephesians to show you what you were saved from and how dire that really was. But it also talks about what you were saved for. You are God's workmanship saved for good works. Which is amazing.

Anyway, it's it's a powerful passage on both sides and you also understand.

The need for us to preach the gospel. People don't need good advice. They need good news. You didn't need good advice. You needed good news.

So I'm waiting to hear how to now live. Now that we've heard and understand the passage, you know, perhaps Bauckham is about to answer this question. Maybe his answer is now that you understand go explain this to someone else which maybe Explains the reference to the gospel there and preaching the gospel, but let's find out.

Yeah, but yeah, what about the rest of that stuff?

Covers it in the last three chapters. We get this incredibly.

Practical.

Application of the truths in the first three chapters. All throughout the second half and it's so that we understand one thing. That in Christ we have all that we need and yet in Chapter six we come back to the infamous spiritual warfare passage.

Why? Don't miss this. I was dead and I was living according to the pattern of this world. I was under the influence of the Prince of the power of the air and I loved it. I loved it because it was right in line with what my flesh desired with what my body desired with what my mind desired.

It was all I knew. I Was completely wrapped up in it. In fact when I heard about Christianity. One of the responses to Christianity and this is all of us how do people respond to Christianity you hear about Christianity and you chafe.

Against the idea of rules you chasing you chafe against the idea of your fun and your freedom being taken away. Mm-hmm. Well, why do you think we do that? Because that's what the world and the Prince of the power of the air says to you.

The Prince of the power of the air says hey your flesh is really satisfied right now. Actually, it's not which is why you got to continue to pursue more and more and more and more and more. But that's a whole nother sermon, but your flesh is satisfied right now.

You get to go pursue what you want when you want the way you want it that stuff over there. They're telling you you can't have that anymore. You don't want that. And your flesh is going. Yeah, that's bad but God being rich in mercy.

Because of the great love with which he loved us. He opens our eyes and we see ourselves. And we see the world. We see the devil. We recognize the fact that we are enemies of God and objects of his wrath and he saves us and it is Glorious and we're grateful and this is still all we know.