FBC Adult Bible Study

Turn to 1st John chapter 5 Look at a couple verses here in just a moment 1st

John 5 I'm sure you're aware of it.

But ever since the Garden of Eden we have been in a war. It's a war that began When the serpent came to Eve and said hath

God said Has he really said this and her response was to look upon the fruit as something that was

Good to eat pleasant to see and something to make her wise and ever since that incident from that time on We have been engaged in a war so Genesis 3 15 describes it very very generally as a war between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent

The seed which is Christ and the seed of the serpent which is of course

Satan himself It's a war between a love for God a love of what of who

God is and what God has to Say and a love for as John writes in 1st

John 2 16 a love for all that is in the world it's a war between the kingdom of God and his righteousness and the kingdom of Satan and His darkness.

I was reminded of that contrast between the light and dark the darkness of these two kingdoms at war and their impact and effect in the world with a

Meme somebody posted I just saw it Who was it? Oh some guy anyway, and it's a

These two pictures one on top of the other and the one on the top is a picture of Stephen Hawking you remember

Stephen Hawking is that Atheist Wheelchair bound atheist and he said quote religion is a fairy tale for those afraid of the dark

Religion is a fairy tale for those afraid of the dark in contrast

John Lennox who is Who's from Great Britain? What's he's an

Oxford mathematician, but he's also a Orthodox believer. He said atheism is a fairy tale for those afraid of the light the

Christian faith or religion is Hawking Hawking Hawking would say is a fairy tale for those afraid of the dark and Lennox rightly says no atheism is a fairy tale for those afraid of the light there is this war this ongoing war between light and dark between the kingdom of darkness the kingdom of our

God and It's an inescapable conflict. It's a conflict that affects every every area of life

Joel Beakey in the book we're using on holiness He he described some of these different battlefields

There's a battle the battlefields that we see and we see these things we see this conflict played out vividly before us

Maybe in in very clear ways today that we haven't seen before At least not so clearly so we see it on the in the seats of government and the centers of culture in legislatures and courtrooms in offices and workshops of business in marketplaces and entertainment districts of cities in Classrooms and school boards in our towns and villages in boardrooms and sanctuaries of churches in homes and families and If we're attentive and I'm sure we are as believers in Christ we see this war going on even in our own hearts and minds and it is of course a war with The world and Jesus made it very clear that we are not to retreat from the world

Nor are we to try to escape from it? Instead we are to overcome it

So in John 16, for example, Jesus said to his disciples these things have

I spoken unto you that in me you may have peace In the world you will have tribulation but be of good cheer

Jesus says I have overcome the world and then in the next chapter John 17 when he's praying for his

His disciples his followers Jesus says to the father praise to the father I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one so the world is not something we are to escape or we are to We are to hide from or retreat from but it is something that we are to overcome

So first John 5 this this passage we're looking at this morning verses 4 and 5 says this

Whatever is born of God Overcomes the world and this is the victory that has overcome the world our faith

Who is he that overcomes the world but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

So clearly what these couple of verses tell us is that overcoming the world is one of the hallmarks of a

Christian All right So if that's true, then we need to understand what that means.

What it was involved in Overcoming the world. So let's look at that subject in a couple of different ways

First of all, let's start off with the basics. What does overcoming the world by faith mean?

What does it mean? Let's go back a chapter a couple chapters to chapter 2 and verses 15 through 17

Provides us with a relevant exhortation regarding this John writes do not love the world or the things in the world

If anyone loves the world the love of the father's not in him. So don't love the world

Well, what is in the world? All that is in the world the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes the pride of life is not of the father

But is of the world and the world is passing away in the lust of it But he who does the will of God abides forever

All right. So this Relevant exhortation here makes it clear that there is one love that must rule the

Christian life and that love is a love for God a Passion for God a passion for the things of God a loving of the things of God Jesus said in Matthew 6 remember that no man can serve two masters for either

He will hate the one and love the other or else he will hold to the one and despise the other we cannot

We cannot keep in balance A love for God and a love for the world.

It just you you cannot do it You will love one or the other but not both. All right, so We need to we need to understand what this overcoming the world by faith means.

And so let's Arrive to that understanding by asking a series of questions.

The first is what do we mean by the world? What is the world?

Obviously and and I don't even need to say it but but just have to for an clarity

It does not refer to the physical world the the planet earth. I Realized we could apply that in this way in this way because of our cultures

Fascination with and worship of the planet, you know Mother Nature and all the rest of that kind of stuff

But that's not what he's talking about. He's talking about the ideas that would so elevate the planet as something to be worshipped but that's not what he's talking about he's talking he's not talking about also the the physical mass of people that inhabit the earth which we often talk about as The world what he is referring to of course is

Satan's kingdom of darkness Satan's kingdom of darkness He's talking about the ruler of that kingdom and the inhabitants of that kingdom who are lost in sin.

He's not talking about About hating the the inhabitants of the world or somehow destroying them

But when he's talking about the world he's referring to the kingdom of that the ruler of that kingdom of darkness and the

Inhabitants of that kingdom who are lost in sin and who are wholly completely at odds with Anything that is pleasing to God and that of course shows itself in a whole lot of ways this

Realm the world is a realm that opposes Christ and his church it's a realm that the psalmist refers to in the 2nd

Psalm in verses 2 and 3 Where he speaks of the the rulers of this world standing in rebellion against against God and his against God and his

Anointed one and the church He says the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together together against the

Lord and against his anointed saying Let us break their bonds in pieces and cast away their cords from us and we see this played out

Like like we said in so many different ways in our culture today You see even

In recent days to pick on one specific arena a

Few weeks ago now the state of Texas passed the most strict abortion law of any state and the in the

Union The heartbeat bill as soon as a heartbeat can be detected abortion is prohibited and that's

Obviously not enough but it's a step in the right direction. There's nothing there's no other law in any of the states that is is so restrictive

Right away. You got opposition to that clearly that law of Banning abortion at the at a heartbeat is a step in the right direction

Understood right and it's honoring it's an attempt to recognize the honor and honor life

But right away you get opposition to that and even our own National Department of Justice is is trying to oppose that law

Fortunately, it has been upheld in the in Different courts, but it's now being appealed to the

Supreme Court So that in its that is just one little one little incident in the vast realm of areas of life where we see this rebellion against the

Lord and His dictates we want to cast off those restraints that say you can't kill a preborn baby

It is this this realm is as Beaky says quote the mass of mankind

That is estranged from God through sin and lives after the lust of the flesh the men women and children who focus on this world and neglect the world to come the goal in this realm is

For us as humanity to move forward but not upward

We want to make human progress but not

Interested in human redemption and isn't it interesting that it seems that every

Every step forward in human progress Opens the door to other kinds of problems and and Difficulties and moral and ethical

Dilemmas and challenges than before that progress Was made.

I mean you can go back as you know, you just To for example the

Industrial Revolution You know, I thought this was a great thing. We have learned how to mass -produce things

We can build factories and we can we can do all kinds of stuff much faster and produce goods much more quickly than ever before and And that seems like such a great thing and on one level it was it was human progress

It was human development. There was technological advancement and there were some good things that came of that but along with those good things were a whole plethora of Destructive things and harmful things that we could not have imagined.

We could not have foreseen and And we don't need to go into that but it just points out the fact that the world is is focused on moving forward and making human progress

But because the world is in opposition to God and his rule and his righteousness every step forward creates other problems

Now the thing is that those who are in this realm That we're calling the world

They may not deny God They they may actually claim to be

Those in this realm may actually claim to be Christian But they they in essence ignore him

That God and Christ really doesn't have anything to do with how they live their lives

He is essentially forgotten if God is appealed to at all He is simply used for selfish ends again go back 20 years to September 10th 2001 and and Our country is you know living as it is living the culture is doing what the culture is doing and people are

People are living for themselves and pursuing their agendas and all that kind of stuff there there They they are

Worldly 9 -11 hits this terrible disaster and tragedy which was a bold expression of the kingdom of darkness and those who are allied with the wicked one in violence and murder and all that and And then what do you have the next day?

What even that very day? We need to pray to God We need to we need to pray to God and and all of a sudden you had when baseball games resumed you had you know the seventh inning stretch

Included the little the song god bless america. God bless america Why all of the emphasis on God all of a sudden because we want to use

God the the world If God is appealed to he's appealed to to use him to get what we want

And that is the nature of this realm, so that's the world What is then?

worldliness What's worldliness? And in general we could say worldliness is the state of humanity without God.

It's just the way Human beings live when God is out of the picture but To be more precise worldliness involves being controlled by worldly pursuits such as a quest for pleasure a quest for profit a quest for position and such related things

Now those are three biggies, aren't they that most people are

Focused on they are in pursuit of pleasure profit position

I Want to get ahead. I want to get more. I want to get all

I can get out of this life You know one of the interesting

The interesting effects of the the progress the technological progress and the moving forward of humanity that has been seen in the the

Internet and social media and so forth is this This little thing that we're calling

FOMO FOMO How many of you know what FOMO is?

Okay, one two. What what what is it? What is it June? fear of missing out exactly the fear of missing out and And and the the the culture is and particularly

Younger people and by younger. I mean anybody younger than I am So that's safe then then then those of you who are in your 20s or whatever

You don't feel like I'm picking on you because I'm not We can be talking about those in their 20s and 30s and even 40s have become so enamored of all of the possibilities of life

All of the adventures of life that are out there all of the things that we could do all of the things that are possible that many are even

They're even stymied. They're paralyzed in making decisions Because they're afraid if I do this then

I might miss out on that And there's so many different options This is one of the this is one of the problems of the pursuit of pleasure profit position

If I pursue this I might miss out on that and I and I don't want to miss out on that if that's going to Be better than this why because I've got to get what's going to be most pleasurable most profitable.

It's going to be It's going to be in my best interest And so it involves being controlled by these worldly pursuits worldliness also involves imbibing in the spirit of Fallen mankind, that is the spirit of self -seeking and self -indulgence

Self -seeking and self -indulgence and of course that spirit of fallen mankind is what controls those worldly pursuits now

Here's the thing Every one of us is born worldly That's our natural condition

Every one of us is born worldly but Whatever is born of God.

In other words, whoever is born again overcomes the world

So what then do we mean by overcoming the world? What do I mean by overcoming the world?

Well, let's again Talk about some things that it does not mean in the first place

Overcoming the world does not mean Conquering people Conquering people there is no such thing as Christian jihad's

Christian Holy wars against people now we talked to before about the fact that we are in a holy war

But it's not a holy war against people and You know you think back in church history one of the periods that comes to mind in this regard is the period of the

Crusades and That period is often looked to by the secularists who hate religion and say see religion look at the

Crusades religion is just it's just it's violent and You know Christianity is responsible for all of this violence against other people

Innocent people and so on and so forth Of course, that is a rewriting of history.

That's a revisionism But there was an error in the Crusades and the error in the

Crusades was rooted fundamentally in the The misunderstanding of the role between the church and the state they should be separated and Because during that time period

Church and state were wedded together The the church was simply an arm of the state

And so when the King said as Being over in authority over the church the

King said we are going to go to war against the Islamists who have attacked the

Holy Land Then you know, the church is right in there with it and the church is leading the charge and is calling for calling for The counter -attack and so forth and I mean there's a lot of complexity in the

Crusades, so I don't want to I don't want to be Reductionistic or simplistic in that but but the idea that It's the church's role or the

Christians role to conquer people With violence and with war is not what we mean by overcoming the world.

That's not a biblical concept It also does not mean when you think about conquering people

It also doesn't mean winning power battles over over colleagues, you know, like when you

You go to you go to work and you work in a sec with a secular company I mean you can have co -workers that are worldly have worldly ideas and Worldly passions and you can work for a company where the leadership is taking the company in a

Direction that you you know is contrary to Contrary to You know revealed truth what what

God would say is a good thing. I mean you can see that you know that well overcoming the world doesn't mean that you

Conquer your colleagues your co -workers and you best them, you know You do what you have to do to get them out of positions or you do what you have to do to?

Get them fired from the job or whatever. That's not what we're talking about overcoming the world also does not mean withdrawing from the world as if As if Christians should form cloisters it's one of the one of the potential errors in monasticism

Where those who took monastic orders and vows? they

Many of them had the idea that I'm going to withdraw from the world so that I will not be influenced or Harmed by worldliness.

This is how I'm going to overcome the world But even Martin Luther who was a monk originally

Realized the folly of that He said I can escape from I can escape from The physical presence of the world around me, but I can't escape from the world within me

We could put it that way. It's what he was saying when he said I can't escape from my own self my own sin

So withdrawing from the world is not is not an alternative and it's not what we mean by overcoming it and so for example in South of here we have

You know Amish communities and you know, there's a lot of things that we can appreciate about The lifestyle of Amish communities and so forth, but that's not what the

Christian ideal is called for calls for in the Bible It's not what Christ is calling us to do to so withdraw from the world that we form our own

Our own Communities that are Isolated from the rest of the world

That's not what he's talking about and overcoming the world also does not mean that we sanctify everything in the world for Christ There are some things that can be sanctified if you will so for example the technologies of the that the world develops can be

Sanctified they can be set apart. We can you dedicate use some of those technologies for For Christ's sake for Christ's purposes

For example, we have you know five pews back that we have a camera sitting there. That is right now live -streaming this

Sunday school lesson Over the Internet. Well, you know, I I don't think that Christians developed video digital video cameras and developed they certainly didn't develop the

Internet and all the rest of that kind of stuff, but Those technologies can be set apart they can be used for Christ But that's not what

I'm talking about in overcoming the world doesn't mean that we sanctify everything in the world for Christ the the craziness of that idea by the way,

I Came across an article not long ago that just illustrates how crazy that the application of that idea can be

There are some who think that Overcoming the world means that we take whatever is out there in the world and we set it apart

We sanctify it for the cause of Christ. So I did not read the I didn't read the article

I just saw the headline and a little blurb about it that there was a Female porn star who was converted claimed to be converted claimed to become a

Christian and And She got out of that industry for a while a few years,

I guess But finally finally she says She heard from God who told her that she needed to go back into that work into that industry as a way of glorifying

God And that what? Are you kidding me? Where do where where in the world would you get that notion?

Oh from the idea of that overcoming the world means that we take anything that the world has to offer and we

Sanctify it for Christ's sake obviously that is ridiculous. So we're not talking about that.

What we are talking about is Fighting Fighting by faith against the flow we're gonna describe that more elaborate on it more but fighting by faith against the flow

Some of you have seen this series the chosen and If you've seen it, you'll know exactly what

I'm talking about there is in the opening The opening graphics of that see of each episode as They're introducing it there's this graphic of a whole bunch of dark fish

Swimming down a river and you can swim it along the river and and there is an occasional light colored fish that is swimming upstream swimming against the flow and you've got these few a few occasional light fish that are swimming

Contrary to the multitude of dark fish that are going in the opposite direction and that's a very

Helpful graphic to give an idea of what exactly we're talking about it is going against the flow of The rest of the world around us and we fight that flow by faith

So then the next question we want to consider is what is involved in? Overcoming the world by faith what's involved in it and Beaky suggests four ideas

It is it involves first of all rising above the world's

Thinking and customs rising above the world's thinking and customs the world

Has again remember we're talking we're talking about the world We're talking about the the realm of Satan and the inhabitants of that realm the world has its definitions of what is true and What is good?

All right The world will tell you what is important it is important that we

That we save the planet It is important that we

Uphold a woman's right to choose to kill her unborn, baby and it is you know, all these things that are important the world has its notions of what is

Valuable and what is helpful? Okay, the world also has its definitions of what is good of what is acceptable of what is excellent

Of what is worthwhile? We're exhorted in Philippians chapter 4 verse 8 to Evaluate on a different basis.

I don't know what the world says But Paul says well finally brethren, whatever things are true, and that would be true as God defines truth consistent with God's truth, whatever things are noble again

God's objective revelation being the Standard against which we evaluate

What is noble? Whatever things are just whatever things are pure Whatever things are lovely whatever things are of good report if there's any virtue if there's any thing praiseworthy meditate on these things

So what's involved in overcoming the world is that we rise above the world's thinking and customs and we apply

Philippians 4 8 To that which is around us secondly was involved is persevering in freedom in Christ apart from worldly and even religious enslavement

Persevering in freedom in Christ. So look at Philippians or a second Peter chapter 2 for example second

Peter 2 and verses 19 and 20 2nd

Peter 2 19 and 20 now

Peter's talking about false teachers here and their deceptions and false teachers False teachers do not have to occupy pulpits

Okay, they they can be anybody who well, for example the the governor of New York This the female governor.

What's her name? I just escaped me. Anyway, the governor of New York a couple weeks ago declared that Ministers are to are to be

Proclaiming to their people you must get the vaccination. This is God's will for you to get the vaccination

Well, you know she is she is not a spokesman for God and it is not the place of ministers to stand before their

Congregation and tell their congregation. This is God's will for you That kind of thing is an individual responsible choice that you as a person are to make

So that's that's an example of false teaching. All right, so it doesn't have to be false teaching doesn't have to be occupied

Promoted by those who occupy pulpits. So anyway Peter is talking about false teachers and he says in verse 19

While they promise them Liberty they themselves are slaves of corruption For by whom a person is overcome by him also is brought into bondage

For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ They are again entangled in them and overcome the latter end is worse for them than the beginning

So we persevere in freedom in Christ not listening to these who promise

Liberty Saying you should you should do whatever you want to do You should do what gives you pleasure that will give that will promote your self -interest

That will quote prosper you you should be able to have the Liberty the freedom to do that You do have the freedom to do that the false teacher would say

But then that leads you into a form of corruption We need to persevere in the freedom that we have in Christ Jesus and Galatians chapter 5 verse 1

Speaks of a religious kind of enslavement where Paul tells the

Galatians who were being threatened by A Judaism a form of legalism that said you have to go through these

Jewish rituals in order to be truly saved It's one thing to believe in Jesus okay, you need to do that, but you also need to go through these rituals in order to be saved and In response to that Paul says stand fast in the

Liberty By which Christ has made us free and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage

And what what what I want us to understand here is that there is a religious kind of worldliness that is expressed in this legalism how so because legalism

Legalism as a form of worldliness says that you need to do these certain things in order to be saved you need to You need to follow these certain rules in order to be saved

Well all that that's just a worldly Mindset that says in order to gain the favors of the gods

If there's not just one then we have to arrange life a certain way we have to live a certain way and Then if we are good enough in the in the eyes of that God and we live our lives and do the things

These certain things then the God will be the God or the gods will be pleased with us and happy with us

In other words, it's an old work salvation thing, which is born of the devil the ruler of the world the kingdom of darkness

Thirdly what's involved is Rising above the circumstances of this world as we go through our everyday lives

Day in day out week in week out year in year out. Sometimes life is comprised of a bunch of ups and downs ebbs and flows good days bad days good years bad years and so forth and Worldliness worldliness

If I'm a worldly Christian I am controlled by those circumstances of life

But in contrast to that way of thinking or way of living Paul offers us a different route in Philippians chapter 4

Verses 11 through 13 He says not that I speak in regard to need for I have learned in whatever state

I am To be content and I look at the different states of being that he describes

He says I know how to be abased and I know how to abound Everywhere and in all things

I have learned both to be full and to be hung bound and to suffer need So Paul is saying that I have overcome the world

By learning contentment in whatever my circumstances and how have

I been able to do that? Verse 13. Here's the real application of verse 13.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me I can I can rise above the circumstances of this world

Through Christ who strengthens me There's also an application of this being raised above the circumstance of this world regarding persecution

Persecution Paul tells Timothy in 2nd Timothy 3 12 that all who will live godly in Christ.

Jesus will suffer persecution and Overcoming the world by faith involves rising above those that circumstance of persecution and Well, let me let me share a story with you that Beaky tells in in the book holiness.

He says He says quote a missionary in South Africa told me every time he preaches in Sudan He expects to be arrested and persecuted

When pressed for details on how this missionary is persecuted He said he had experienced only quote minor persecution end quote such as All right.

Sorry about this, but this is what happened to the man such as having his head submerged in a pail of urine

Or having a bag tied around his head until he fainted from a lack of oxygen

He considered that to be minor persecution. He said here's what the missionary went on to say

He says that's nothing compared to what our Lord experienced We Christians must count it all joy when we are persecuted for Christ's sake now, that's overcoming the world by faith

That's being able to handle the persecution that is painful and is miserable and disgusting

But in a way that rises above it Even though this is horrible and that I'm it's painful that I'm enduring.

It's nothing compared to what Christ endured for me Charles Spurgeon in this regard advised this way he says

He said overcome the world by patiently enduring all the persecution that falls to your lot do not get angry and Do not become downhearted

Jests break no bones and If you had any bone broken for Christ's sake it would be the most honored bone in your whole body

That's rising above the circumstances of life that's overcoming the world by faith and Then a fourth thing that is involved in overcoming the world by faith is living a life of self -denial living a life of self -denial

Just think for example of Abraham and how he expressed this how he overcame the world by his faith and In doing so lived a life of self -denial

While in his homeland of Ur of the Chaldees He left not knowing where he was going

He did not choose himself for himself the better land When he and lot, you know, they're they're their flocks got too big for the same to be in the same place

He deferred to lot let him choose that's self -denial He fought when lot was taken captive by Keter Leomar and that Confederacy of Forces he fought to to deliver his nephew lot

Self -denial he refused after that victory and he came back with the spoils of war and And the and freed all those who had been taken captive He refused to be enriched

Abraham did by the pagan King. He said no, I'm not going to take I'm not going to take any reward from you

I'm not going to be enriched by you. And of course the the ultimate experience of our expression of self -denial

Was when he offered his only son Was going to offer his only son as a sacrifice

Yeah, that's overcoming the world by faith that's involved in overcoming the world by faith living a life of self -denial

All right. Well, we'll Finish up on this next Lord's Day Lord willing, but what a what a challenge to Live in this world that is bombarding us constantly incessantly and aggressively

To go with the flow of the world rather than to swim against it

May God give us grace and strength to swim Upstream our

Father on our God we do we do sense and know and Experience the challenge of worldliness all around us every day.

I pray by your grace and By your strength and your spirits work in our lives our hearts our minds

We would overcome we pray in Jesus name. Amen All right about 13 minutes till morning worship service.