In The World But Not Of The World
IN THE WORLD BUT NOT OF THE WORLD
READING: Leviticus 18:1-5
INTRO: ILLUST: OIL AND WATER. If only we found it that easy to realize our make up, our calling and
our proper place. Our reading is emphatic, not negotiable. The Israelites were God’s people. They were not to do as the people around them, period! It was up to them to listen to the drumbeat of heaven.
John 17:15-17,20- in the world but not of the world.
I Peter 2:9- “chosen... in order that...”;
I Corinthians 6:19,20- H.S. lives inside, bought with a price.
This is so important and so difficult
I. THIS IS A TIMELESS, RELENTLESS PROBLEM
A. Even In “The Good Old Days”
1. ILLUST: “The Good Old Days”
2. I John 2:15-17 is very old, but timely
3. Rom.12:2 was written before our good old days
B. But, There Never Has Been An Onslaught Like Now
1. Christians are being coaxed to worldly standards
a. ILLUST: Worldliness Is....
b. ILLUST: I Forgot That Dimension
2. ILLUST: A Little Influence
3. Even the number of items from we have to choose indicates society’s trend- shampoo, cars, telephones. (Even setting them up)
4. Our wants have risen to needs.
a. 119 wants, 17 needs
b. 973 wants, 117 needs
5. The Clincher:”Because you’re worth it.”
II. THERE ARE REFRESHING EXCEPTIONS
A. ILLUST: Giving Thanks In Vaughan Mall
1. This told me:
a. They were in touch with God
b. They believed He was responsible for food
c. They didn’t belong to Egypt/Canaan/World
d. They knew they had been redeemed by J.C.
2. Did I describe you? Or me?
B. Jesus Asks For More Than Crowd Followers
1. Matt. 16:24
2. ILLUST: Can You Tell The Difference?
CONCLUSION
Charlemagne born 742. Goal- to rule the world and have everything. Unearthed 200 years ago. Finger on Mk. 8:36- “What does it profit a man if he should gain the whole world and lose his soul?”
ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS LESSON
ILLUST: Oil and Water
I recall as a little tyke watching my father change the oil in an old car. He took the opportunity to pour some water into to the oil. First, I was amazed that the heavy stuff rose to the top, then, I realized that it was impossible to make them mix.
ILLUST: “The Good Old Days”
Always had the “good old days”. Sitting on barber shop steps or blacksmith shop and listening to the yarns of bygone days. These men were the age I am now and were talking about when they were young or even their parents...The good old days didn’t have as much violence, illicit sexual activity, abuse, drugs, and gas was 10 cents a gallon.
ILLUST: Worldliness is...
Worldliness, then, is a preoccupation with ease and affluence. It elevates creature comfort to the point of idolatry; large salaries and comfortable life-styles become necessities of life.
Worldliness is reading magazines about people who live hedonistic lives and spend too much money on themselves and wanting to be like them. But more importantly, worldliness is simply pride and selfishness in disguises. It's being resentful when someone snubs us or patronizes us or shows off. It means smarting under every slight, challenging every word spoken against us, cringing when another is preferred before us. Worldliness is harboring grudges, nursing grievance, and wallowing in self-pity. These are the ways in which we are most like the world.
ILLUST: I Forgot That Dimension
A preacher of the gospel was invited to dinner in the home of a very wealthy man in Texas. After the meal, the host led him to a place where they could get a good view of the surrounding area.
Pointing to the oil wells punctuating the landscape, he boasted, "Twenty-five years ago I had nothing. Now, as far as you can see, it's all mine." Looking in the opposite direction at his sprawling fields of grain, he said, "That's all mine." Turning east toward huge herds of cattle, he bragged, "They're all mine." Then pointing to the west and a beautiful forest, he exclaimed, "That too is all mine."
He paused, expecting the minister to compliment him on his great success. The preacher, however, placing one hand on the man's shoulder and pointing heavenward with the other, simply said, "How much do you have in that direction?" The man hung his head and confessed, "I never thought of that
ILLUST: A Little Influence
Some years ago, musicians noted that errand boys in a certain part of London all whistled out of tune as they went about their work. It was talked about and someone suggested that it was because the bells of Westminster were slightly out of tune. Something had gone wrong with the chimes and they were discordant. The boys did not know there was anything wrong with the peals, and quite unconsciously they had copied their pitch.
So we tend to copy the people with whom we associate; we borrow thoughts from the books we read and the programs to which we listen, almost without knowing it. God has given us His Word which is the absolute pitch of life and living. If we learn to sing by it, we shall easily detect the false in all of the music of the world.
ILLUST: Giving Thanks In Vaughan Mall
Refreshing to see young couple thank God for their fast food in the middle of a large mall. In touch with heaven while in the world.
ILLUST: Can You Tell The Difference?
Addressing a national seminar of Southern Baptist leaders, George Gallup said, "We find there is very little difference in ethical behavior between churchgoers and those who are not active religiously...The levels of lying, cheating, and stealing are remarkable similar in both groups. Eight out of ten Americans consider themselves Christians, Gallup said, yet only about half of them could identify the person who gave the Sermon on the Mount, and fewer still could recall five of the Ten Commandments. Only two in ten said they would be willing to suffer for their faith.
15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. I John 2