Do you love the world?

Good morning and welcome to CCC

What a wonderful day yesterday was.

Kenny

Tony

Michael

Tommie

and me went to the Faith and Feathers Youth Peasant hunt day

There were about 40 11-17 year old youth both boys and girls who got to learn about shotgun safety, got to shoot clay pigeons, got to go on an actual peasant hunt with dogs and then participate in a tower shoot

A tower shoot is where there is a big tower in the middle of a field with shooting stations all around the field. They throw birds out and the kids get to shoot them

There was some great food but more importantly Bibles were handed out and the gospel was shared with them.

The whole day was designed to foster fellowship and relationships that lead to salvation or discipleship

What a wonderful blessing yesterday was not only to the kids and parents who attended but to those of us who went and served. God is so good!

Pray

START OBS

We have looked recently at love

1st we looked at Loving others as Jesus loves you then we looked at loving not hating your brother

Today we look at Do you love the world?

Church this is important

Loving the world will cause so many Christians to hear away from me I never knew you when they meet Jesus face to face

In our world today it is so easy to love the world and it is easy to struggle to realize you are loving the world

Your flesh will fight to love the world

your heart will lie to you to keep you loving the world

Society and those around you will demand you love the world

Every where you go and every where you look screams for you to love the world

You must be able to identify this spiritual warfare and fight it with spiritual weapons to overcome it

1 John 2:15–17

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“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”

I want to walk down through this passage together this morning

Again as Christians who live in America we will fight this every minute of everyday

We must fight it

We must refuse to give in

We must put God 1st and die to ourselves and the world

I want to begin by looking at a few words

Love is agapo, brotherly love

world is kosmos both literal and figurative the world

lust is epithymia longing desire

pride is alazoneia self-confidence, boasting, pride

of life is bios life, present state of existence

These are also in your notes so you can refer back to them this morning and next week as you dive into the sermon in your secret place.

I urge you to do that dive into your sermon notes during the week

not because it is my sermon and to bring me glory but to dive into the scriptures and what God hit you with that you wrote down to make sure you got HIS message

Look at the scriptures used today

Study the scriptures used today

Seek God and what He wants for you to get out of this morning by diving into it all week long

Application doesn’t come on Sunday morning it comes as you dive into it all week long

Knowledge comes on Sunday morning

Change comes during the week as you study and pray and the Holy Spirit shows you how to apply!

Don’t sell yourself short

Don’t miss out on what God has for you!

Die to yourself and the world

If you truly are a Christian this is not an option

or a catch phrase

or something you wear on a tshirt

It is a MUST

So many today think because they said the sinners prayer that they are saved and a true Christian

Now I have nothing against the sinners prayer…in fact it is an effective way to verbalize a heart change

The problem is people read or hear Romans 10:9 and think confess…say Jesus is Lord and believe God raised Him from the dead and they are good

Confess means agree that Jesus is Lord

That you are making Him Lord and Savior over your life

To do that you must die to yourself

Luke 9:23–26

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“And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels.”

Jesus was serious

Die to yourself

Look at the examples Jesus uses here

For what is a man advantaged, what does a man gain

what good is it for a man to get

the whole world,

this is wealth

material possessions

house

car

investments

jobs

power

status

prestige

fame

success by worldly definitions

gain all of that and lose his soul

be cast out

go to hell

Life is not about worldly things but about relationship with Jesus!

There was never a place Jesus went that was the same

Ask the fig tree that didn’t produce figs.....it wasn’t the same it withered and died

There was never a person who truly encountered Jesus who was the same

Ask Saul who became Paul.....same physical body but completely different person

Died to self!

If you claim to be a Christian yet are exactly the same as you were before Jesus you are a liar and have not truly accepted Jesus

If you are a true Christian you will see spiritual fruit being produced in your life through the Holy Spirit

Period

End of story

No excuses

Die to yourself and the world

Take up your cross daily

I beg you here this morning

Ask God to show you where you are on this

God am I truly saved?

Am I taking up my cross daily?

This is the start

You must start there at true salvation

Many will justify this away

Many will leave here or when they stop watching online will say things like I am good

I know Jesus

I have died to myself and then go on about their day or week and return right back to the loving the world and hating Jesus

You see those are the only two options

You can’t love the world and love Jesus

1 John 2:15

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“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”

There is no gray area here

You either love God

Take up your cross daily and die to yourself and the world

or you love the world and the things of the world and the love of the Father is not in you

Either or not both

These are the only two options

no fence to ride

no gray area

You either love God or the things of the world and the love of God is not in you

Matthew 6:24

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“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. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

The ESV uses money instead of mammon because that is what mammon is money

You can’t serve God and money

You can’t serve God and the world

You will hate one and love the other

That is why this is such a big deal church

If you love the world and the things of the world you hate God!

This is so much more than external

Many look as if they don’t love the world or the things of the world on the outside but inside they love them and are lost!

Church please ask God to search your heart here

So many will be rejected by Jesus because they never really knew Him because they loved the world

You can’t even be comfortable with the world

The world hates Jesus and if you are saved that means it hates you too.

Does the world hate you

Does the world attack you

Many will say yes I suffer attacks all the time but does the world really attack you because of your faith in and love for Jesus or just because it is evil?

Do you stand upon God’s Word

Do you speak about Jesus

Do you witness to everyone you come in contact with

Do you live the Word of God out in your life

If you do those things the world hates you and you will have persecutions and attacks constantly in your life

Why

Satan and the world only want to kill you

steal from you

destroy you and your family

Why on earth would you be comfortable with that

I am going to chase a rabbit for a minute

There is a WORLDLY holiday coming up on the 31st of this month

Actually let me rephrase that there is a satanic holiday coming up on the 31st

Halloween is one of satan’s largest recruitment days

It is a day that everyone walks around celebrating satan and evil

I have to ask you a question......

Do satanists celebrate the birth of Jesus?

Do satanists dress up in religious costumes one day a month and parade around town?

Do satanists say it is okay to be okay with Jesus for a day, it doesn’t mean anything

No

They spend all of their time and energy trying to destroy the things of Jesus not celebrating them

That is what Halloween is, celebrating the devil

You can call it what you want

You can justify it however you want

but it doesn’t change that is an area where so many Christians love the world therefore hate God

Why on earth would you love the world and hate God who sent Jesus to die for you

TO pay your price

To shed His blood to cover YOUR sins

God just said you don’t have the love of the Father in you if you love the world

All in or all out

No gray area

You may be sitting here today or online thinking Pastor Josh

I accepted Jesus

I go to church

I tithe

I serve

I help those around me

If you love the world and the things of the world none of that matters!

You can’t love Jesus and the world

Notice this isn’t people

You are to love all people as we have looked at over the past few weeks

Love of the world is internal One may not see it externally in your life

It is all about your heart relationship with Jesus and God

Now if He hasn’t stepped on your toes already here it comes…get ready

If you are a true Christian then Romans 12:2 must be applied and apparent in your life

Romans 12:2

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“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

You must not conform to the world

What does that mean

you must believe different than the world but so many go against their beliefs to appease the world

To get ahead at work you compromise your Godly beliefs because it goes against the boss or workplace’s beliefs

You omit some information to avoid getting in trouble

You allow someone else to take the fall for your actions because you have to have this job

You love the world

You must stand firm on God’s Word

If something goes against God’s Word you must be against it

Abortion is an example

Man says you don’t want the baby kill it

Actually they don’t use that terminology they use terminate or end the pregnancy because that is not as harsh....the world hates truth so it calls it different things that sound better

God says in Jeremiah 1:5 He forms you in the womb so life begins at conception making abortion murder

Period

Not a woman’s healthcare choice

Not an option to end a pregnancy

Murder of an innocent life

You cant’ love the world and God

So how do you change?

The renewal of your mind

First you must accept Jesus and truly make Him Lord and Savior over your life

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All In

Your opinion no longer matters

God’s Word is all that matters to you

You are no longer allowed to be offended, who are you to be offended You have died to yourself so there is nothing left to be offended

You are no longer in control, you were never in control but felt you were

God is beginning middle and end

It is that serious and that iron clad

You must be a Jesus freak

That is one of the things baptism signifies

You dying to yourself

You dying to the world

You dying to your old beliefs

You dying to your past

your past sins

your past lifestyle

your past

Dead to you and the world!

Second you must Be in God’s Word

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How can you stand on something you never read

How can you truly know God’s character if you are never in the Bible

How can your life change without God’s Word being put into your heart?????

Be in prayer

Be in an intentional discipleship relationship

Be in fellowship with God and other Christians

Do life together

You have to make God #1 priority

you have to make loving others, both God’s people....brothers and sisters in Christ and the lost 2nd priority

You are to die to you and the world so you are not even on the list

Friends this matters

Eternally matters

So many want to justify sin away

So many want to be comfortable with sin and worldly lusts

Here in I John 2:16 we see three things listed that are not of the Father but of the world

1 John 2:16

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“For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”

1. Lust of the flesh

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Remember lust is longing or desire

Flesh means flesh, the body, also physical human nature

longing or desire of our physical human nature

Physical longings and desires

This is a preoccupation

a fixation

an addiction to physical desires

Anything physical you can’t stop thinking about is a lust of the flesh

sex

sexual desire

porn

sexually inappropriate tv, movies, or music

social media

Here is the thing with sex and sexual desire it is not just physical

Matthew 5:28

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“But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.”

Jesus took this a step further here

He made adultery thoughts, desires, lusts it is not just the physical act

If you lust after someone other than you spouse you have committed adultery

It is not just sexual however

Drugs

Alcohol

cigarettes

tobacco

nicotine

vapes

addiction is a sin because you turn to those things instead of turning to God

You are preoccupied with them

You are lusting after physical desires

When I chewed I always had chew on my mind therefore I loved the world

2. Lust of the eyes

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A longing or desire for physical things

a new camper

a new boat

a new truck or car

the best jeans

the best shoes

the latest and greatest phone or electronics

Being preoccupied

longing

desiring after things not God

Society and the world scream at you to bow your knee to the god of materialism

You are rewarded for wanting more

for getting more

for desiring the best and greatest things available

Loving the world and having lust of the eyes is not of the Father!

3. Pride of life

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This is preoccupation

longing

desiring for status or importance

Watch a commercial and you will see the pride of life on full display

You are taught from a very young age to go after status

to go after importance

We put professional athletes

movie stars

music stars

tv stars

the wealthy

politicians

famous people

on a pedestal and then wonder why our world is falling apart

We long to be like them

We long to have their money and success

We desire to be looked at as you look at them

we have put people and stuff and money where God belongs and wonder why He removed His hand from our country

Pride is sin

Pride is the root of so much sin

Pride drives you away from God and right to satan and hell

Pride is a major weapon of the devil

He attacked Eve with pride in the garden

He attacked Jesus with pride in the wilderness

Pride is a major weapon of the devil

Right now the LB whatever community and movement....homosexuals

gender definers and confused

use pride and the rainbow as hallmarks of their movement

Why

Because the movement is satanic

pride is one of satans main weapons....what is the movement called....the pride movement

the rainbow is a symbol of God’s promise and satan uses to represent something God calls an abomination

it is not coincidence it is intentional

it is spiritual warfare!

1 John 2:17

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“And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”

anything not of God is temporary and will pass away.

the world

the lusts of the world

You if you are lost

all will be gone

but he that doeth the will of God lives forever!

You can’t love the world and love God

So how do you change?

Remember Romans 12:2 renewal of your mind

Be in God’s Word

Be in Prayer

Be in an intentional discipleship relationship

Be in fellowship first with God then with other true Christians

Break bread together

Do life together

You see what happens is as you commit to these things

As you spend time in the Word and prayer

As you study the Word and pray together in a discipleship relationship

As you have hard conversations in a discipleship relationship

As you fellowship with God and Christians

You change

You are confronted with your sin and must choose to conform to the Word or continue to conform to the world

You renew your mind

Your mind changes

Your beliefs change

You change

you have to make God top priority and you have to make loving others both God’s people and the lost 2nd priority

Again you are not even on the list

So many are comfortable with the world

So many are comfortable with worldly lusts

Church my heart breaks because so many, even some here today, will hear away from me I never knew you because you loved the world

What about you?

STOP OBS

Invitation song

Clear the Stage