VICTORY OVER THE WORLD

��VICTORY OVER THE WORLD

July 1, 2018

��VICTORY OVER THE WORLD

Metro Pentecostal Church

July 1, 2018

FOCUS

The appeal of the world can become strong to Christians, but we can live a life through Christ which will lift us above the world.

KEY VERSE

For whatsoever is born of God over-cometh the world: and this is the vic­tory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

��SCRIPTURE LESSON

A Psalm of Asaph.

1 Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.

2 But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped.

3 For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

4 For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm.

5 They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men.

6 Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment.

7 Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish.

8 They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily.

9 They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth.

10 Therefore his people return hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them.

11 And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High?

12 Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches.

13 Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency.

14 For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning.

15 If I say, I will speak thus; behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children.

16 When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me;

17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end.

��LESSON OUTLINE

INTRODUCTION

I. THE APPEAL OF THE WORLD

A. Its Deceptive Designs

B. Its Entrancing Effects

C. Its Apparent Success

II. THE PLACE OF VICTORY

A. The Sanctuary of God

B. Communication with God

III. THE DEMANDS OF GOD

A. Forsake Its Friendship

B. Relinquish Its Affections

C. Modify Its Character

SUMMARY

INTRODUCTION

"For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith" ().

One of the great benefits of being born again is the ability to triumph over the strong allurements which have defeated us in the past. We do not have to live frustrated by the en­ticements of sin. When we are planted in the likeness of Christ's death and raised in the power of His resurrection, sin has no more dominion over us ().

When a man is born again he has power over the world through his experience of regenera­tion, having received the nature of God (). His changed nature enables him to obey God's requirements through the power of the Holy Ghost within his life.

The evidence of the power of God, to make a new creature of the sinner, is for a Christian to live victoriously, avoiding his former life of sin (). This is a witness the world needs to see. It is an evidence of the bearing of spiritual fruit. It shows that there is a righteousness which is by the faith of Jesus Christ, a faith that can prevail over world­ly allurements too strong for most people to withstand.

Before a person can live by the faith of Christ he must first be crucified with Him (). Dying to self and walking with Christ bring us victory over worldliness. Our new regenerated nature makes it harder to disobey than to obey God. Fulfilling the re­quirements of God becomes almost second nature to a person who is a partaker of the divine nature.

Because humankind is made in the image of God, it is impossible for him to feel comfort­able when he is disobedient to God. The only peace possible is through a surrender to the One who gave the law for our benefit (Deuter­onomy 10:13). How often we consider the com­mandments of God as a restraint and hin­drance. God knows that they are a blessing because they express His nature to us. He knows that the only way possible for humankind who is made in His image to be contented is to obey His commands.

I. THE APPEAL OF THE WORLD

📷The world can be extremely attractive. The fruit in the Garden of Eden was certainly at­tractive to Eve. She saw that it was good for food or that it looked pleasing enough to eat 6). She was allured first by her sight.

Sight is the beginning of most of the appeal of the world. That which is seen often stimulates the imagination of an individual. A person who is tempted often imagines the thing or activity to be something he cannot do without or something that will give him tremendous pleasure or satisfaction.

The material things of Jericho appealed to Achan. His imagination made those things ap­pear valuable in his life. He could see how he would enjoy them and gain selfish satisfaction.

The nature of man is such that human satisfaction is very elusive when sought through materialism. A man usually finds more enjoyment in the pursuit than in the possession of the things for which he desires. When the thing for which he sought is ob­tained, he is usually more discontent than ever.

Lot saw the well-watered plains of Sodom and Gomorrah. To him there was possibly an appeal to be secure, to not have to work so hard seeking out pasture lands and not worrying about drinking places for his cattle. Perhaps he saw a large city with plenty of resources, protection for his home through alliances, and a place to buy necessities and luxuries he desired. He may have seen Sodom as a place for his children to enjoy a social life with their peers. Obviously, however, his casual dreams disintegrated when the cities were destroyed.

A. Its Deceptive Designs

What is seen in the world is not always what it appears to be. The deceitfulness of Satan draws a person into a "web" of worldly involve­ment like a spider does an insect. When he feels there is no way to extricate himself, a man often gives his life to that which he in­wardly hates.

📷Delilah was not looking for Samson's weak­ness; she was looking for his strength. Her only hope in conquering him was to deceive him in the area of his security. If she could per­suade him to exchange his sacred secret of strength for a time of pleasure, she could make him vulnerable to a fall. Samson toyed with the idea of enjoying this beautiful woman so long that his strength meant nothing to him.

“Better to resist the bait than to be caught in the snare!”

In a similar fashion deception is being reenacted continually in our own day. The world has made drugs so appealing that many youths annually destroy their minds in a vain search for fulfillment. Perversion is mushrooming because of an appeal to curiosi­ty and pleasure. The young man in the Book of Proverbs went after pleasure "Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life" ().

One of the tragedies of the deception of the world is that even when people learn they are deceived, they often enjoy it. The pleasure involved in the deception sometimes causes them to continue, knowing that the path they follow leads to destruction.

"Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them" ().

"The greatest of all cunning is to seem blind to the snares which we know are laid for us; men are never so easily deceived as while they are endeavoring to deceive others." (Rochefoucauld, Francois, Due de La

1630-80)

📷

Not all deception is perpetrated by others. There is a self-deception that blinds us to our own sinfulness. "Blind spots" are justified by the circumstances of life and any argument against our lifestyle is automatically justified in our minds. Once a man allows self-deception in his heart, all other sins become more accept­able to him. Once a person turns away from God, the path downward seems to never end.

"When once a concealment or a deceit has been practiced in matters where all should be fair and open as day, confidence can never be restored, any more than you can restore the white bloom to the grape or plum that you once pressed in your hand."

(Henry Ward Beecher).

B. Its Entrancing Effects

The cunning with which the enemy of our souls can beguile us is amazing. Satan first tries to take away the shamefulness of our sin. He makes it appear that everybody does it or that there is nothing wrong in doing it. Once a person's feeling of shame has been destroyed, he readily partakes of that which he knows is wrong.

As soon as a Christian succumbs to temptation, Satan reverses his tactics. That which the devil so cleverly destroys before we sin, he heaps back upon us in a measure greater than ever shame. Once an act of sin is committed, the question of how it was possible that a person would have done such a thing fills him with guilt and shame.

Adam and Eve probably did not eat the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden until they felt no sense of shamefulness in the thought of doing so. Then once they had eaten it, their shameful conscience drove them to hide from God. The clever use of shame is one of the devil's strongest tools of deception.

Some people live in a virtual dream world of fantasy. Evil imaginations rob a person of his rationale when facing temptation to yield to worldly appetites.

Demas appears to have followed the usual path of the disenchanted. Three times his name is recorded in the writings of Paul. The first time he was deeply involved with the work. Paul called him a "fellowlabourer" (). Another time he was mentioned but nothing was said about whether he was involved or not. He was simply mentioned along with others who sent greetings (). But the last time Demas was mentioned told the sad conclusion of his departure from Paul ().

"Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica"

().

Although we do not actually know in the case of Demas how or why he became indifferent to the work of God, we do know that a fascination with worldliness entices a person away from godliness. A person usually becomes less and less involved with the work of God as he is more and more involved with selfish pursuits.

C. Its Apparent Success

The psalmist Asaph in depicted the struggle man encounters in trying to reconcile the promises of God with the apparent contradiction of circumstances. Worldliness seems to offer such immediate and satisfying rewards. On the other hand, godliness and righteousness do not always appear to bring much immediate reward.

What the psalmist saw caused his steps to "well-nigh" slip (). What caused his questioning of God was his envy of the foolish. Some people desire to get things as easily and as quickly as others. In their envy and covetousness, they want as much as anybody else, and when they do not im­mediately receive their desires they often blame others. The problem was not in what the psalmist did not have which he thought he should; rather it was in what he did possess which he should not have—a spirit of envy and jealousy. (See .)

📷The problem is compounded when the devil begins to suggest the unfairness and inequity of God. If we listen, our mind becomes con­fused with the reminders of struggles and frustrations faced by godly men while the wicked seem to be blessed. The devil seems to make sure a person sees the apparent pros­perity of the wicked. Their success is often flaunted before the world through the news media, in the business arena, and in many public conveyances.

The psalmist faced this kind of mental battle and it caused him much anguish (). The more he thought about it the more depressed he became and the more he saw. He reached a point in his struggle that he had to find an answer.

Asaph went into the sanctuary. There he began to understand the outcome of the wicked. He realized that the only good rewards for an evil man are those which he may receive in this life. Their end, however, is not nearly

so pleasant as the temporal enjoyments they may experience.

Visiting the sanctuary or house of God gives a new perspective to circumstances. In the sanctuary the psalmist realized that the important thing in life is to draw near to God. Everything else in life is really meaningless,

regardless of its seeming success. Perhaps his was the same conclusion that Solomon reached in his search for meaning in Ecclesiastes.

“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man" ().

II. THE PLACE OF VICTORY

📷Understanding the seeming prosperity of the wicked is a recurring dilemma of every man who begins his life for God. One of Satan's foremost tactics is asking, "Why such an ap­parent success of worldliness and such disappointment for the righteous?" Regardless of the reasonings about it and the explanations that we could come up with, the best answer remains that of the psalmist, "Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end" 7).

Joseph possibly faced the same temptation to question God, though he mentioned nothing about it. His brothers had been so wicked, and he had tried hard to do what was right. The results were slavery for himself while they went free.

"Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee" ().

The essence of all religion is to have God in our lives—to know Him and be known of Him. Nothing else in life is of any real significance if we are following God. The world loses its thrill to a Christian when he learns that valuable lesson. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ when He is our passion, or expectation, and our end.

A. The Sanctuary of God

A sanctuary is a place of refuge. There are animal and bird sanctuaries where they are un­molested to live out their lives in peace. They can enjoy their natural habitat and not worry about the infringement of man upon them.

God's sanctuary is a holy place, a place where He can call the soul aside for rest and understanding. It is a place where we can receive a clear perception of the purpose of life and the ways of God. The natural man does not comprehend what happens in the sanc­tuary, for it is foolishness to him, but the child of God has the mind of Christ and can discern spiritual things ().

The Tabernacle in the wilderness beautiful­ly symbolized the sanctuary we have in God and its effect upon the soul. When a person walked in the court of the Tabernacle, he could not see over the wall. He was closed in from the blistering sands that surrounded him. He could not see the enemies that encircled the camp. He was able to see only those things which pertained to righteousness.

Inside the sanctuary he saw even less of the world and more of God. Here were the golden articles of furniture and his view of the world was narrowed to the floor of the sanctuary Finally when the high priest went into the holiest of all, there was nothing there to see but the ark of the covenant, which represented the presence of God. Only the one article of furniture was in the place, and his view was narrowed down until all the world was blocked out while he kept his affections upon that which was above.

📷

The nearer we get to God the less of the world is noticeable to us and the more of God is recognized.

"Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face; And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace."

To many the words of the song may be only a dream and wishful thinking, but to those who have been in the "sanctuary" with God they are reality.

The surest way to overcome worldli­ness is upon our knees.

B. Communication with God

One of the surest ways to overcome worldli­ness is to learn proper communication with God. The devil tries everything possible to hinder Christians from keeping a constant prayer life. Adam and Eve did not pray over their decision to eat the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. That could well have made a difference. Joshua did not pray over making an alliance with the Gibeonites. He merely reasoned out what should have been done us­ing his natural inclinations, and he missed the will of God.

The only way to close heaven to our needs is to close our hearts to heaven. When we con­tinually communicate our feelings to God we are strengthened and encouraged by the Spirit of God. We should take care, however, that we pray from our hearts. It is possible to speak meaningless words in hope of obtaining our petitions without real prayer and without sub­mission to God. God is not flattered by mere words, and He will not accept insincere prayer.

In our communication with God we may often be surprised at the ways in which He answers us. Our way may seem logical and may even look like the only way, but God answers according to His supreme knowledge and wisdom. That is more the reason we need to approach Him, for we often think we know what we need, and yet do not. Our thoughts are not His thoughts and our ways are not His ways (). We are often thankful that all our prayers are not answered the way we pray them. Often what we ask for is the opposite of what we really want or need. God knows the difference and He knows what we really need.

Our communication with God should not be one-sided. When the petition is made there has to be an action on our part to obtain that for which we ask. Real communication with God is finding His will and doing it. There are times when we would like to ask God to do every­thing for us while we sit back and watch the process unfold, but He expects us to believe He will answer and act according to our faith.

We should be able to detect those things which would be considered worldliness by the Lord. Whenever there is something which we cannot feel right about when we pray over it, there must be something questionable with that activity. Sometimes people will pray about situations pretentiously but with no sincere in­tent to listen to God's answer. Such prayer is asking amiss and for selfish gains. The reason such prayers are not granted becomes clear when we consider the motive behind them.

III. THE DEMANDS OF GOD

God knows the devastating effects that the world can have upon us. Therefore, He makes certain demands of us if we are to live our lives for Him. He does not merely suggest that we forsake worldliness; He demands it. Knowing God's nature, we are to turn from any friend­ship with the world, rid ourselves of all affec­tions toward it, and do all we can to change its character. (See ; .)

📷

A. Forsake Its Friendship

The hedonistic philosophy of this world directly contradicts the purposes of God. The philosophy of the world is illustrated by John Cowper Powys in his book, In Defense of Sensuality, p. 91.

"It is necessary to undermine with skepticism (a) the duty of serving humanity (b) the pursuit of truth ... A person who has found the secret of a thrilling life of happiness, why should he bother with a lot of people? He has no wish to convert them, no wish to change them, no wish to gain their admiration. His only wish concerning them is that they should take themselves off and leave him alone.”

John Cowper Powys (1872-1963)

Is it any wonder that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Such self-centered life is the very core of worldliness. It is a life of the parasite, always taking from others and giving nothing worth­while in return.

God desires that we forsake the friendship of the world because its basic goals are tem­poral and in opposition to those of God. Worldly-minded individuals search for material wealth, fame and power over the lives of others. This philosophy of life is opposite to that of the servant of Christ. Meekness is re­quired of a believer.

The kingdom of the world is in eating and drinking and pleasure. The kingdom of God is not in such temporal things, but in righteous­ness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost (). The two are worlds apart. They do not have the same base, and therefore they are at odds with each other. It is impossible to recon­cile the thinking of the one with the thinking of the other.

"To be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be" ().

B. Relinquish Its Affections

There is too great a distance between God and the "world" for a man to hold to both. He must decide between the two and cleave to the one while relinquishing the other. Two opposite loves do not remain in a man's heart for long. A conflicting new love always drives out an old one. When our affections begin to turn to the world they will drive out our love for God. (See .)

Jesus told the church at Ephesus that they had "left" their first love. He did not say they lost it, or merely that they were not using it, but that they left it. They had evidently turned toward another love. They were hard workers and still went through the mechanics of their religious obligations. However, the first love was no longer there. It had been left behind for the acceptance of another.

It appears that many would like to retain a love for both the world and God, but as John stated, if a man loves this world the love of the Father is not in him (). Everything that is in the world is not of the Father. It is opposite of His design and purpose.

When we have a sincere love for God and for the things of God, He sanctifies our desires. We are to love Him with the whole heart, mind, soul, and strength. When we do there is a process whereby we begin to change into His image. We behold Him as in a mir­ror and are changed into the same image from "glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (). This spiritual transformation brings us liberty. In our new freedom there is a distaste for the things of the world, and the closer we draw to God the greater this distaste becomes.

According to the three areas that the love for the world lies within are the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. That which is fulfilling to the flesh is selfish and sensual. That which satisfies the lust of the eye is the continual acquisition of material gain to the exclusion of the impor­tant spiritual accomplishments. The pride of life makes us egotistical and self-centered.

All these designs of the world are to be avoided; we cannot afford to love this world. We are to despise its ungodliness. We are to follow the design of spiritual disciplines that lead to virtue and truth. Our bodies are to be surrendered as living sacrifices () so that we can have a renewed mind and transformed spirit.

C. Modify Its Character

Instead of allowing the world to form us and put us into its mold, we must let the Spirit of God transform us into the image of Christ. God is only satisfied with our lives as He sees us in His image and likeness (; ).

We continually put off the "old man" with its corrupt lusts and put on the "new man which is in Christ" (). We crucify or destroy the characteristics by which we once lived while in sin () so that the life we live in the flesh will be the life of Christ (). When we forsake this world, relinquish the affections of the world, and attempt to change the character of this world, we manifest the life of Christ to the world around us (). Our aim in life is to live so that others see Christ in us. To have true religion is to "visit the fatherless and widows in their afflic­tion" and to keep ourselves "unspotted from the world" ().

Instead of pursuing self-centered happiness and peace, we pursue the kingdom of God and His righteousness and find that we have hap­piness and peace added to us ().

SUMMARY

Victory over anything is sweet, but never does it come without struggle and effort. There must be a battle waged and a risk of life in the process. So, it is also in gaining vic­tory over this world. It will not come easy, but the reward will be a great contentment and satisfaction of soul.

Victory is achieved only by our faith. We first must believe that God will reward those who diligently seek Him. We therefore dili­gently seek Him and diligently strive to over­come. We cannot afford to idly sit by and hope God will do it all for us. There must be a strong effort that makes our faith effective. We must hear the preaching of the Word of God and mix the Word with faith (). We must put "legs" to our prayers and determine in our hearts that we will gain the victory.

Victory is achieved only by our faith. We first must believe that God will reward those who diligently seek Him. We therefore dili­gently seek Him and diligently strive to over­come. We cannot afford to idly sit by and hope God will do it all for us. There must be a strong effort that makes our faith effective. We must hear the preaching of the Word of God and mix the Word with faith (). We must put "legs" to our prayers and determine in our hearts that we will gain the victory.

We should expect the battle and be ready to fight the good fight of faith every day. We are fighting a battle that we expect to win.

Desire alone is not enough to achieve vic­tory over the world. We need preparation. We must learn the wiles of our enemy in his ef­forts to turn our desires toward the world. As we seek God's love which transcends the lusts of the world, He changes our character into the likeness of His character. We are to put on Christ that we might be like Him (), and at His appearance, we will have His immortal life and body ().

REFLECTIONS

· How does the Bible describe the world? Discuss.

· Discuss the difference between the idea of the world God loves () and the world we are warned not to love.

· Discuss the faith required to overcome the world ().