As Christians we need to be in the world, but not of the world. The world attempts to conform us to it's image. We must be on guard, remembering that we are not of this world, but a better world. This is Part IV of a series on Spiritual Warfare. Visit us at bibleguy.org

1. Rescue from Worldliness
I John 2:15-17

2. We are at War
• The Enemy – Satan
– Put on the Full Armor of God
• The Battlefield – the World
– Rescue from Worldliness
• The Battle within
– The Spirit against the flesh
Rescue From

3. Rescue from Worldliness
I John 2:15-17

4. First John 2:15-17
15. Do not love the world or the things in the world. If
anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is
not in him,
16. because all that is in the world (the desire of the
flesh and the desire of the eyes and the arrogance
produced by material possessions) is not from the
Father, but is from the world.
17. And the world is passing away with all its desires,
but the person who does the will of God remains
forever.
The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET
Bible.; The NET Bible. Biblical Studies Press.

5. • The Christian is not ruined by
living in the world, but by the
world living in him.
Source unknown
Rescue From

6. Whada’ ya Mean,
“Worldly”? Not:
• One who enjoys nature/creation
• Sophisticated or worldly-wise:
o “An experienced and worldly man who
had been almost everywhere” (Willa
Cather).
• Polished
• Knows which fork to use… at a White
House state dinner
• Confident

7. Whada’ ya Mean,
“Worldly”? Is:
• Worldliness is drifting with the
prevailing values and affections of the
secular culture.
• Worldliness is living in the present
without giving thought to eternity.
• Worldliness is loving the creation
more than the creator.
• Worldliness is believing the lie that
something in this life, on this earth –
other than God – can satisfy our
innermost being.

8. The RescueThe Rescue
A Portrait of Worldliness

9. 1. From the World
What does the World Offer?
• 1 John 2:15-16 (NET)
15
Do not love the world or the things in the
world. If anyone loves the world, the love
of the Father is not in him, 16
because all
that is in the world (the desire of the flesh
and the desire of the eyes and the
arrogance produced by material
possessions) is not from the Father, but
is from the world.

10. From the World
• The lust of the flesh: passion
• The lust of the eyes: possessions
• The pride of life: position
- Stewart Briscoe

11. From the World
• The lust of the flesh: a passion for
sensual satisfaction
• The lust of the eyes: an inordinate
desire for the finer things of life, ease,
and affluence. It’s wanting what isn’t
yours.
– “Worldliness is reading magazines
about people who live hedonistic lives
and spend too much money on
themselves and wanting to be like
them.”
• The pride of life: self-satisfaction in
who we are, what we have, and what we
have done
Dave Roper, The Strength of a Man

12. 2. The World Under
Who motivates our affections
for the things of the World?
• 1 John 5:19 (NET)
19
We know that we are from God, and the
whole world lies in the power of the evil
one.

13. 3. By The World
The World’s dirt stains our
mission
• James 1:27 (NET)
27
Pure and undefiled religion before God
the Father is this: to care for orphans and
widows in their misfortune and to keep
oneself unstained by the world.

14. 4. Of the World
God’s people vs. the World’s people
• John 15:18-19 (NET) Jesus speaking to the
disciples: 18
“If the world hates you, be aware that it
hated me first. 19
If you belonged to the world, the
world would love you as its own. However,
because you do not belong to the world, but I
chose you out of the world, for this reason the
world hates you.
• John 17:14-15 (NET) Jesus speaking to the
Father: 14
I have given them your word, and the
world has hated them, because they do not
belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the
world. 15
I am not asking you to take them out of
the world, but that you keep them safe from the
evil one.

15. 5. In the World
Staying Safe in a Hostile
Environment
• John 17:11 I am no longer in the world,
but they are in the world, and I am
coming to you. Holy Father, keep them
safe in your name that you have given
me, so that they may be one just as we
are one.
• John 17:15 I am not asking you to take
them out of the world, but that you keep
them safe from the evil one.

16. The RescueThe Rescue
What Doesn’t Work

17. • Drawing up lists of “worldly things”
– “Whenever people had difficulty with some
temptation or some particular type of
recreation or some activity which gave them
trouble, they learned a lesson from it, or
thought they did, and marked that particular
thing down as worldly.” - Ray Stedman
• Isolation: Surrounding yourself with other
Christians and rejecting most contact with the
outside world.
– “But because worldliness is a belief system
within, ‘the world’ just followed me into
seclusion.” – William P. Farley
• Self-discipline
– “Using willpower to overcome worldly
seduction is like telling a man who has gone
without water for three days to control
himself.” – Farley

18. The RescueThe Rescue
What Does Work

19. 1. The New Birth
• 1 John 5:4-5 4
because everyone who has
been fathered by God conquers the
world. This is the conquering power that
has conquered the world: our faith. 5
Now
who is the person who has conquered the
world except the one who believes that
Jesus is the Son of God?
• Billy Sunday, used to make fun of the
term “worldly Christian”:
“Why to talk about a worldly Christian
makes about as much sense as talking
about a heavenly Devil.”

20. Literally, "disciplining us." Grace
exercises corrective discipline to train
us to deny worldly lusts.
2. The Training of Grace
• Titus 2:11-12 (NET)
11
For the grace of God has appeared,
bringing salvation to all people. 12
It trains
us to reject godless ways and worldly
desires and to live self-controlled, upright,
and godly lives in the present age,

21. “Rejecting once for all." We reject
"worldly lusts" when we refuse them.
NIV: “It teaches us to say ‘No’”
• Titus 2:11-12 (NET)
11
For the grace of God has appeared,
bringing salvation to all people. 12
It trains
us to reject godless ways and worldly
desires and to live self-controlled, upright,
and godly lives in the present age,

22. 3. A Renewed Mind
• Romans 12:2, NET: “Do not be
conformed to this present world,
but be transformed by the renewing
of your mind”
• Phillips: “Don't let the world around
you squeeze you into its own
mould, but let God re-mould your
minds from within”

23. 4. Courage
• John 16:33 I have told you these
things so that in me you may have
peace. In the world you have
trouble and suffering, but take
courage – I have conquered the
world.”