WEBVTT 00:00:01.040 --> 00:00:03.660 I'm going to read verses 1 and 2 because they 00:00:03.660 --> 00:00:07.299 flow together. Our thoughts will be focused primarily 00:00:07.299 --> 00:00:13.679 on verse 2. I urge you, therefore, brethren, 00:00:13.800 --> 00:00:18.320 by the mercies of God, to present your bodies 00:00:18.320 --> 00:00:24.960 a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, 00:00:25.000 --> 00:00:30.320 which is your spiritual service of worship. And 00:00:30.320 --> 00:00:35.140 do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed 00:00:35.140 --> 00:00:39.200 by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove 00:00:39.200 --> 00:00:43.679 what the will of God is, that which is good and 00:00:43.679 --> 00:00:50.119 acceptable and perfect. We have studied together 00:00:50.119 --> 00:00:57.340 that God looks to us as priests during this age. 00:00:58.159 --> 00:01:01.520 to offer unto him spiritual sacrifices which 00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:05.480 are acceptable. One of the sacrifices that we 00:01:05.480 --> 00:01:10.760 offer is the sacrifice of our bodies. In verse 00:01:10.760 --> 00:01:15.640 1, the Apostle Paul urges us, as those who are 00:01:15.640 --> 00:01:20.260 the recipients of the mercies of God, to present 00:01:20.260 --> 00:01:24.500 our bodies, that is our total selves, all of 00:01:24.500 --> 00:01:28.950 our capacities, our powers, To present ourselves 00:01:28.950 --> 00:01:35.430 to God as a living and holy sacrifice. That is 00:01:35.430 --> 00:01:39.069 well pleasing to God. And we are to do that in 00:01:39.069 --> 00:01:42.609 such a way that it involves every part of our 00:01:42.609 --> 00:01:46.810 being. We should know what we are doing. It is 00:01:46.810 --> 00:01:50.829 not to be an empty ritual. But it is to be something 00:01:50.829 --> 00:01:55.069 that we do fully conscious of what God is asking 00:01:55.069 --> 00:02:02.719 of us. We are to do that once and for all, it 00:02:02.719 --> 00:02:05.859 seems to be the thrust of the verb present. But 00:02:05.859 --> 00:02:11.319 you and I well know that whereas we do that initially 00:02:11.319 --> 00:02:16.580 in a once and for all sense, that every day after 00:02:16.580 --> 00:02:21.000 that we are challenged by our spiritual enemies 00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:27.319 not to live up to that commitment. I think of 00:02:27.319 --> 00:02:31.159 our spiritual enemies. of the world system, the 00:02:31.159 --> 00:02:38.120 flesh, the devil. If you and I are going to keep 00:02:38.120 --> 00:02:41.860 that commitment of the sacrifice of our total 00:02:41.860 --> 00:02:47.960 selves, it is going to take the power of God 00:02:47.960 --> 00:02:54.539 to enable us to do it. If we want the power of 00:02:54.539 --> 00:02:57.879 God to sustain us in that commitment, there are 00:02:57.879 --> 00:03:02.240 two responses that we must make. Those are given 00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:06.080 to us in verse 2. Today we're going to look at 00:03:06.080 --> 00:03:12.419 the first one. Literally, the apostle says, stop 00:03:12.419 --> 00:03:17.520 being conformed. Next week we will go on to understand 00:03:17.520 --> 00:03:20.599 what he means when he says, continue being transformed. 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:24.639 This message is one of those messages that... 00:03:25.240 --> 00:03:28.219 began to swell in my heart as the week went along. 00:03:29.080 --> 00:03:31.039 Have you ever seen those little sponges that 00:03:31.039 --> 00:03:34.539 some people give away as promotional gimmicks? 00:03:35.240 --> 00:03:37.319 They look like a piece of paper, but you put 00:03:37.319 --> 00:03:40.560 them in water and they swell. And that's the 00:03:40.560 --> 00:03:42.620 way this message is. When I drew out the outline, 00:03:42.840 --> 00:03:45.180 it was a little piece of cardboard, and now that 00:03:45.180 --> 00:03:47.199 my heart has been in it a while, it has swollen, 00:03:47.319 --> 00:03:50.979 and it's gotten too big for one Sunday. So we're 00:03:50.979 --> 00:03:52.900 going to look today at the first half of it. 00:03:52.919 --> 00:03:54.639 You're welcome back next week for the second 00:03:54.639 --> 00:03:59.180 half. He says, stop being conformed. And the 00:03:59.180 --> 00:04:01.860 way that he says that, he means stop something 00:04:01.860 --> 00:04:04.599 that is already right now in progress in your 00:04:04.599 --> 00:04:10.979 lives. So to some degree, to some extent, these 00:04:10.979 --> 00:04:14.979 people were already being conformed to the world. 00:04:15.879 --> 00:04:19.139 We can identify with that, can't we? Because 00:04:19.139 --> 00:04:21.540 I would have to say that to some degree or extent, 00:04:21.639 --> 00:04:23.939 every person who's a Christian in this room today 00:04:23.939 --> 00:04:29.699 is in some way conforming to the world. We're 00:04:29.699 --> 00:04:33.459 going to talk about that. What is it that's bringing 00:04:33.459 --> 00:04:37.920 pressure upon us? It is the world, he says. Stop 00:04:37.920 --> 00:04:42.199 being conformed to the world, to this world. 00:04:43.540 --> 00:04:46.680 The word world here is not the normal Greek word 00:04:46.680 --> 00:04:49.259 that you think of. When you see the word world 00:04:49.259 --> 00:04:53.439 in the English, that word is cosmos. It's the 00:04:53.439 --> 00:04:56.800 opposite of chaos, which is what your home probably 00:04:56.800 --> 00:04:58.620 looked like as you rushed off to church this 00:04:58.620 --> 00:05:01.660 morning. Cosmos is what you wish you were going 00:05:01.660 --> 00:05:06.000 home to. Cosmos means everything is in order. 00:05:07.120 --> 00:05:10.339 It's an arrangement. Everything is systematized. 00:05:10.579 --> 00:05:15.750 And the word means that this... world around 00:05:15.750 --> 00:05:22.009 us is organized, it is systematized in its rebellion 00:05:22.009 --> 00:05:26.970 against God. And the one who has organized it 00:05:26.970 --> 00:05:32.110 is none other than Satan himself. 1 John 5, 19 00:05:32.110 --> 00:05:36.129 pictures Satan as having the world system in 00:05:36.129 --> 00:05:40.949 his arms, rocking it like a parent rocks a little 00:05:40.949 --> 00:05:44.899 baby. He cuddles the world system because it 00:05:44.899 --> 00:05:49.560 belongs to him. He originated it. And so he protects 00:05:49.560 --> 00:05:54.079 it. He has had experience over the thousands 00:05:54.079 --> 00:05:57.939 of years since the creation as to how to be effective 00:05:57.939 --> 00:06:01.579 in organizing the world's rebellion against God. 00:06:02.540 --> 00:06:08.319 That's the cosmos. The cosmos is very intellectual. 00:06:08.399 --> 00:06:14.060 It is scientific. It is religious. Yes, but it 00:06:14.060 --> 00:06:17.100 is above everything else opposed to the truth 00:06:17.100 --> 00:06:21.540 of God. That's the cosmos, but that is not the 00:06:21.540 --> 00:06:25.000 word used here. The word that is used here and 00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:27.000 is translated to the world is a word that is 00:06:27.000 --> 00:06:33.959 ion. It means age. So literally he says, stop 00:06:33.959 --> 00:06:38.019 being conformed to this age. Now there's not 00:06:38.019 --> 00:06:41.540 a great deal of difference between the two. But 00:06:41.540 --> 00:06:46.500 the word age seems to emphasize, as Bishop Trench 00:06:46.500 --> 00:06:50.160 has stated, a Greek expert of another generation, 00:06:50.519 --> 00:06:56.620 that mass of thoughts, opinions, maxims, speculations, 00:06:56.680 --> 00:07:02.420 hopes, impulses, aims, aspirations, at any time 00:07:02.420 --> 00:07:06.139 current in the world. Did you get all that? He 00:07:06.139 --> 00:07:09.949 wrote for a different age, didn't he? Basically 00:07:09.949 --> 00:07:12.810 what the bishop is saying that this Greek word 00:07:12.810 --> 00:07:19.170 means is that it's the peer pressure that you 00:07:19.170 --> 00:07:22.310 and I face out there in the unregenerate society 00:07:22.310 --> 00:07:26.769 around us. It's peer pressure. It's the way of 00:07:26.769 --> 00:07:33.509 thinking. It's the ideals, the motives, the aspirations 00:07:33.509 --> 00:07:41.569 of people who are unregenerate. We might say 00:07:41.569 --> 00:07:47.029 it's the current fads, not just in dress, but 00:07:47.029 --> 00:07:51.689 in everything. It's what is current at the particular 00:07:51.689 --> 00:07:55.930 time. You see, ages change, situations, ideas, 00:07:56.350 --> 00:08:01.569 conduct changes. And so this word age, or ion, 00:08:01.689 --> 00:08:04.250 or world as it is here, refers to whatever may 00:08:04.250 --> 00:08:10.110 be current when you're around. Now he says we 00:08:10.110 --> 00:08:15.089 are to stop being conformed to the ways of thinking, 00:08:15.310 --> 00:08:19.230 the standards of conduct, the lifestyle, which 00:08:19.230 --> 00:08:24.129 is adopted by the unregenerates. They are a part 00:08:24.129 --> 00:08:29.949 of this age, of which Satan is its God. 2 Corinthians 00:08:29.949 --> 00:08:42.179 4 .4. In Galatians 1 .14 he says, evil age. The 00:08:42.179 --> 00:08:44.960 reason that we are not to be conformed to this 00:08:44.960 --> 00:08:49.340 age is because we are part of the age which is 00:08:49.340 --> 00:08:55.059 to come. We are not actually citizens of this 00:08:55.059 --> 00:08:59.299 world. Therefore we are not to adopt the ways 00:08:59.299 --> 00:09:04.100 of this age in which we live. This age then is 00:09:04.100 --> 00:09:09.149 the atmosphere of the unregenerate society that 00:09:09.149 --> 00:09:14.009 is around us. Now the word conformed is an interesting 00:09:14.009 --> 00:09:20.909 word to look at. It refers to an outward molding 00:09:20.909 --> 00:09:26.409 which does not represent what one is on the inside. 00:09:27.549 --> 00:09:32.830 So do you see why he chose that word? It means 00:09:32.830 --> 00:09:36.940 to mold yourself so that outwardly you are not 00:09:36.940 --> 00:09:41.639 appearing what you really are in your being. 00:09:43.960 --> 00:09:47.519 So he says, you Christians, who are children 00:09:47.519 --> 00:09:53.039 of God, who are sons of the age which is to come, 00:09:53.220 --> 00:09:59.799 stop outwardly adopting the ways of this age. 00:10:01.419 --> 00:10:03.659 Because that doesn't represent what you really 00:10:03.659 --> 00:10:09.590 are. Maybe a good illustration of this is a chameleon. 00:10:10.830 --> 00:10:15.669 Have you ever seen a chameleon? It's a little 00:10:15.669 --> 00:10:21.570 lizard that has the ability, the God -given ability, 00:10:21.710 --> 00:10:26.970 to change its colors. It's part of its defense 00:10:26.970 --> 00:10:31.490 system. It's hard to tell, listen, how many of 00:10:31.490 --> 00:10:33.730 those poor little lizards got eaten before evolution 00:10:33.730 --> 00:10:43.200 got around to changing all of that. God made 00:10:43.200 --> 00:10:47.320 that little lizard so that it had the ability 00:10:47.320 --> 00:10:51.200 to defend itself from its predators by changing 00:10:51.200 --> 00:10:54.200 its color. So if you put it on a leaf, that lizard 00:10:54.200 --> 00:10:56.860 will change itself outwardly to look like the 00:10:56.860 --> 00:11:02.080 leaf in color. It's camouflaged. It doesn't mean 00:11:02.080 --> 00:11:06.080 that the lizard has become a leaf. It's still 00:11:06.080 --> 00:11:11.269 a lizard at heart. But he outwardly adopts. the 00:11:11.269 --> 00:11:14.269 appearance, the color of what's around him. That's 00:11:14.269 --> 00:11:16.850 an illustration of what he's talking about here. 00:11:18.330 --> 00:11:20.590 Maybe one that will be more meaningful to some 00:11:20.590 --> 00:11:28.889 of you is Mr. T. I see you. Some of you have 00:11:28.889 --> 00:11:32.230 no idea who Mr. T is. Maybe you're better off, 00:11:32.309 --> 00:11:37.549 I don't know. Mr. T is one of the hottest things 00:11:37.549 --> 00:11:43.100 around Hollywood these days. Mr. T was a bodyguard 00:11:43.100 --> 00:11:46.500 for Muhammad Ali, if you can imagine him needing 00:11:46.500 --> 00:11:50.759 a bodyguard. But today he's a television star. 00:11:52.559 --> 00:11:59.879 And he is a cool dude. He has a chest that comes 00:11:59.879 --> 00:12:03.539 out here about this far. His arms are about that 00:12:03.539 --> 00:12:06.639 big around. He has a stripe of hair that comes 00:12:06.639 --> 00:12:09.659 down the middle of his head. He has this ornate 00:12:09.659 --> 00:12:13.919 jewelry hanging from his ears and from his fingers, 00:12:13.980 --> 00:12:22.220 and he's tough. But did you know that outward 00:12:22.220 --> 00:12:27.039 appearance is not what Mr. T really is? He is 00:12:27.039 --> 00:12:29.700 a very religious person. I have heard he is a 00:12:29.700 --> 00:12:32.100 born -again Christian. I have never heard him 00:12:32.100 --> 00:12:33.919 give a testimony, so I wouldn't want to judge 00:12:33.919 --> 00:12:37.539 on that. He is at least a very religious person 00:12:37.539 --> 00:12:42.200 and loves to play with children. He has a beautiful 00:12:42.200 --> 00:12:46.899 smile, which you very seldom see in public, because 00:12:46.899 --> 00:12:49.200 that's not his image, you see. That's not what 00:12:49.200 --> 00:12:54.759 he wants to portray. What he portrays in his 00:12:54.759 --> 00:12:57.940 image is not really characteristic of what he 00:12:57.940 --> 00:13:02.279 is on the inside. Now that's this word conform. 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:08.419 He says, do not mold yourself after the world 00:13:08.419 --> 00:13:11.740 system because if you do, your conduct, your 00:13:11.740 --> 00:13:16.419 way of thinking, your ideals will appear to be 00:13:16.419 --> 00:13:20.059 something that they should not be because of 00:13:20.059 --> 00:13:23.840 who you are in the inside. Don't adopt the world's 00:13:23.840 --> 00:13:29.340 ways. What do we mean when we talk about peer 00:13:29.340 --> 00:13:32.490 pressure? or the pressure that the world puts 00:13:32.490 --> 00:13:35.970 upon us to be conformed to its mold. Well, there 00:13:35.970 --> 00:13:38.470 are four areas that I would particularly like 00:13:38.470 --> 00:13:40.610 to zero in on for our thoughts this morning. 00:13:41.309 --> 00:13:47.309 These are not by any means all -inclusive, but 00:13:47.309 --> 00:13:48.929 I think you will get the idea of what I've been 00:13:48.929 --> 00:13:51.649 talking about as we see four philosophies or 00:13:51.649 --> 00:13:55.649 ideas which are a part of this age and which 00:13:55.649 --> 00:14:03.720 this age tries to push upon us. One is sensualism. 00:14:05.259 --> 00:14:07.539 Now, I looked that word up in the dictionary, 00:14:07.779 --> 00:14:09.320 which is occasionally a good thing to do with 00:14:09.320 --> 00:14:13.100 words, and I found that it means the belief that 00:14:13.100 --> 00:14:16.320 pleasure of the senses constitutes the greatest 00:14:16.320 --> 00:14:20.500 good. That's what sensualism is. Now, please 00:14:20.500 --> 00:14:25.639 understand something. Pleasure in itself is not 00:14:25.639 --> 00:14:30.309 necessarily wrong. As a matter of fact, God gives 00:14:30.309 --> 00:14:35.990 us the ability to enjoy pleasures. He gives us 00:14:35.990 --> 00:14:41.330 the need for pleasure. One of Satan's favorite 00:14:41.330 --> 00:14:44.970 tactics is to take what God has given and which 00:14:44.970 --> 00:14:49.950 is good, therefore, and to distort it or to twist 00:14:49.950 --> 00:14:53.769 it so that it becomes evil. Doesn't he love to 00:14:53.769 --> 00:14:58.379 do that? And this is a prime example. God has 00:14:58.379 --> 00:15:03.559 given us all things richly to enjoy. God wants 00:15:03.559 --> 00:15:06.080 us to enjoy living. God wants us to have pleasures. 00:15:06.159 --> 00:15:11.179 But when pleasure becomes an end of itself or 00:15:11.179 --> 00:15:13.879 pleasure is found in a way which God has forbidden, 00:15:14.159 --> 00:15:19.440 then that pleasure becomes sinful. And that's 00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:22.440 the way that our world primarily seeks pleasure. 00:15:23.080 --> 00:15:31.990 In ways that are displeasing to God. Let me give 00:15:31.990 --> 00:15:35.070 you an example of that. We have in our day an 00:15:35.070 --> 00:15:39.129 emphasis upon personal choice. Whatever you want 00:15:39.129 --> 00:15:42.549 to do is what you should do. Whatever pleases 00:15:42.549 --> 00:15:48.409 you. The effect upon somebody else is not so 00:15:48.409 --> 00:15:52.330 important as to whether or not you are fulfilled 00:15:52.330 --> 00:15:58.090 and you are able to realize yourself in those 00:15:58.090 --> 00:16:02.340 things. Personal. Fulfillment and pleasure, self 00:16:02.340 --> 00:16:07.419 -actualization. It involves the casting off of 00:16:07.419 --> 00:16:13.840 restraints which God has put upon us. Today we 00:16:13.840 --> 00:16:17.000 are told that, for example, homosexuality is 00:16:17.000 --> 00:16:21.820 a perfectly acceptable lifestyle. And our society 00:16:21.820 --> 00:16:25.700 is gradually, progressively working that direction 00:16:25.700 --> 00:16:31.690 of saying it's okay to be gay. And that, of course, 00:16:31.750 --> 00:16:34.909 is one of the favorite statements of those people. 00:16:36.350 --> 00:16:41.049 The age around us says it doesn't make any difference 00:16:41.049 --> 00:16:45.289 what the antiquated Bible has to say because 00:16:45.289 --> 00:16:52.730 we know that people are this way because of genetics, 00:16:53.070 --> 00:16:56.830 which, of course, is something that we don't 00:16:56.830 --> 00:17:01.490 know, but we are told that we know that. And 00:17:01.490 --> 00:17:05.009 therefore, it's okay to seek your fulfillment, 00:17:05.210 --> 00:17:07.549 your pleasure in that way, if that's the way 00:17:07.549 --> 00:17:15.509 you are. The age around us is saying that premarital 00:17:15.509 --> 00:17:20.529 sexual experiences are healthy. How can you know 00:17:20.529 --> 00:17:23.930 if you really want to marry that person if you 00:17:23.930 --> 00:17:27.329 haven't experienced all the pleasures of marriage 00:17:27.329 --> 00:17:33.160 before you make that commitment? Isn't that what 00:17:33.160 --> 00:17:39.420 the world is saying today? Sure it is. You need 00:17:39.420 --> 00:17:45.579 to get experience before you get married. Nobody 00:17:45.579 --> 00:17:48.359 wants to make a fool of himself after he's married. 00:17:50.200 --> 00:17:52.640 So it's okay to have premarital experiences. 00:17:56.680 --> 00:18:01.940 There's a push in our day for the approval of 00:18:02.349 --> 00:18:09.829 There are people who are organized, trying to 00:18:09.829 --> 00:18:16.990 remove incest as an illegal activity in our age. 00:18:18.369 --> 00:18:21.890 They say it's a perfectly normal and healthy 00:18:21.890 --> 00:18:30.049 expression of family love. Having affairs at 00:18:30.049 --> 00:18:33.680 the office. is all right. I mean, after all, 00:18:33.759 --> 00:18:36.119 you and your wife are both professionals, and 00:18:36.119 --> 00:18:39.980 if you each fall in love with somebody else and 00:18:39.980 --> 00:18:41.759 want to have a little affair, that's all right. 00:18:41.799 --> 00:18:44.440 You understand each other, right? I mean, you 00:18:44.440 --> 00:18:47.599 accept that in one another. And, I mean, you're 00:18:47.599 --> 00:18:49.339 broad -minded. You're liberal. You're liberated. 00:18:50.380 --> 00:18:53.400 And therefore, affairs are perfectly normal and 00:18:53.400 --> 00:18:57.619 healthy. They broaden you as an individual. That's 00:18:57.619 --> 00:19:00.700 our age, my friend. And don't you think for a 00:19:00.700 --> 00:19:03.299 moment that those pressures aren't felt by God's 00:19:03.299 --> 00:19:08.299 people who are called to purity and obedience 00:19:08.299 --> 00:19:13.200 to the Word of God, because they are. Those pressures 00:19:13.200 --> 00:19:20.099 are phenomenal. There are some of you that take 00:19:20.099 --> 00:19:24.779 this stand. You say, I would never permit my 00:19:24.779 --> 00:19:27.500 daughter to go out and shack up with some guy. 00:19:29.769 --> 00:19:31.930 But you don't mind having Three's Company on 00:19:31.930 --> 00:19:36.750 your television, do you? Where that whole philosophy 00:19:36.750 --> 00:19:38.930 just comes flowing and all this rottenness right 00:19:38.930 --> 00:19:43.289 into your living room. Where's the consistency? 00:19:46.849 --> 00:19:50.430 Has there been some conformity to the ideas of 00:19:50.430 --> 00:19:54.170 the world? Well, not in your profession, but 00:19:54.170 --> 00:20:02.630 what about your actions? I can meddle all day. 00:20:06.630 --> 00:20:10.410 When I think about sensualism, I think about 00:20:10.410 --> 00:20:14.750 indulgence. We live in a day when people are 00:20:14.750 --> 00:20:20.049 not concerned about commitments. They're more 00:20:20.049 --> 00:20:25.269 concerned by the things they want to do. They're 00:20:25.269 --> 00:20:29.490 leisure, for example, obsessed with leisure or 00:20:29.490 --> 00:20:33.180 with luxuries. Well, I want the car that's got 00:20:33.180 --> 00:20:36.940 the power windows and power locks. I want the 00:20:36.940 --> 00:20:43.539 big screen television. People are obsessed with 00:20:43.539 --> 00:20:49.440 sports. There are some men that believe that 00:20:49.440 --> 00:20:52.400 they could never come back to church on Sunday 00:20:52.400 --> 00:20:56.519 night and sit through another hour service. But 00:20:56.519 --> 00:20:58.359 they don't mind going out and sitting in a duck 00:20:58.359 --> 00:21:00.960 blind when it's raining and windy all day Saturday. 00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:04.319 Well, the church is a little drafty, you know. 00:21:08.359 --> 00:21:13.180 Got these fans up here. And the seats are hard. 00:21:14.920 --> 00:21:25.440 Gotta sit there. We live in a day when our age 00:21:25.440 --> 00:21:30.460 is forgetting the commitment of the home. We 00:21:30.460 --> 00:21:32.920 have this abominable thing called no -fault divorce. 00:21:35.599 --> 00:21:40.019 Sensualism, doing what pleases myself. This is 00:21:40.019 --> 00:21:42.299 illustrated in an interview I saw on television 00:21:42.299 --> 00:21:44.220 just last night, as a matter of fact, regarding 00:21:44.220 --> 00:21:52.819 the stealing of television signals. by those 00:21:52.819 --> 00:21:56.440 who have cable TV. Apparently those little black 00:21:56.440 --> 00:21:59.180 boxes can be tampered with so that scrambled 00:21:59.180 --> 00:22:03.299 signals can be unscrambled. And without paying 00:22:03.299 --> 00:22:06.740 for the service, while you'd want to pay for 00:22:06.740 --> 00:22:09.279 it in the first place is an amazing thing, but 00:22:09.279 --> 00:22:11.920 without paying for the service, you can get the 00:22:11.920 --> 00:22:16.960 whole thing. Unscramble what they scramble. And 00:22:16.960 --> 00:22:19.740 they were asking people about this who had been 00:22:19.740 --> 00:22:23.839 caught. And such answers as, well, it's okay 00:22:23.839 --> 00:22:26.400 as long as you don't get caught, isn't it? I 00:22:26.400 --> 00:22:29.039 mean, after all, everyone else is doing this. 00:22:31.380 --> 00:22:33.859 One woman said, it costs me a lot to subscribe 00:22:33.859 --> 00:22:36.099 to this thing. Why shouldn't I get all of it 00:22:36.099 --> 00:22:40.220 for my money? Makes no difference about the contract 00:22:40.220 --> 00:22:44.279 that she signed. One of the cable executives 00:22:44.279 --> 00:22:47.799 who was complaining about all of this. said that 00:22:47.799 --> 00:22:50.500 people will do in the privacy of their own home 00:22:50.500 --> 00:22:52.440 what they would never do in shoplifting from 00:22:52.440 --> 00:22:55.900 a store. So he's concerned about what people 00:22:55.900 --> 00:22:59.099 do in the privacy of their own homes. Now, he 00:22:59.099 --> 00:23:06.440 isn't in some other areas. Pleasure. Materialism 00:23:06.440 --> 00:23:10.099 is a second one. The doctrine that comforts, 00:23:10.099 --> 00:23:13.819 pleasure, wealth are the only or highest goals 00:23:13.819 --> 00:23:18.460 or values. And again, it's not wrong to have 00:23:18.460 --> 00:23:23.240 things, folks. It's not wrong to have material 00:23:23.240 --> 00:23:26.980 possessions. But when those become gods to us, 00:23:27.019 --> 00:23:30.259 when they become the essence of life, when what 00:23:30.259 --> 00:23:34.460 one accumulates, the money he possesses, or the 00:23:34.460 --> 00:23:37.039 things that he has are for selfish ends or for 00:23:37.039 --> 00:23:42.420 pride, then materialism sets in. And that's the 00:23:42.420 --> 00:23:44.599 thinking of our age. How much you've got, the 00:23:44.599 --> 00:23:47.200 home that you have, the car you drive, your bank 00:23:47.200 --> 00:23:52.759 account. Modern advertising is built on this 00:23:52.759 --> 00:23:56.799 idea of materialism. You need this. And if you 00:23:56.799 --> 00:24:00.339 don't have this item, you are going to die an 00:24:00.339 --> 00:24:09.890 unhappy person. That's a hamburger. Advertising 00:24:09.890 --> 00:24:13.789 uses subliminal thoughts. While you are watching 00:24:13.789 --> 00:24:16.869 a commercial, there are calculated little ideas 00:24:16.869 --> 00:24:19.710 that are placed into your subconscious so that 00:24:19.710 --> 00:24:21.650 when you go into a store, something will suddenly 00:24:21.650 --> 00:24:24.390 trigger you and you will want that product. Happens 00:24:24.390 --> 00:24:26.490 all the time. We're not even aware of it. It's 00:24:26.490 --> 00:24:30.390 a whole area of advertising. Subliminal advertising. 00:24:33.950 --> 00:24:39.779 Materialism. Buying more. Owing more, etc. Secularism 00:24:39.779 --> 00:24:45.960 is the third idea in our age. A system of doctrines 00:24:45.960 --> 00:24:49.000 and practice that rejects any form of religious 00:24:49.000 --> 00:24:52.680 faith and worship. The belief that religion and 00:24:52.680 --> 00:24:55.160 ecclesiastical affairs should not enter into 00:24:55.160 --> 00:24:57.460 the functions of state, especially in a public 00:24:57.460 --> 00:25:02.539 education, says Dr. Webster. In other words, 00:25:02.559 --> 00:25:05.599 it is the extraction of God from all areas of 00:25:05.599 --> 00:25:08.480 life. Keep God over there in the church or in 00:25:08.480 --> 00:25:11.880 your home, but don't bring him into public. After 00:25:11.880 --> 00:25:14.980 all, this is a pluralistic society, isn't it? 00:25:15.619 --> 00:25:19.660 So you keep God out of politics. Don't mention 00:25:19.660 --> 00:25:25.519 him around a public school. Don't bring God into 00:25:25.519 --> 00:25:28.759 foreign affairs. Keep the nativity scene out 00:25:28.759 --> 00:25:32.400 of community life. Don't mention the Bible around 00:25:32.400 --> 00:25:36.099 science. The Bible is just religion. I mean, 00:25:36.119 --> 00:25:41.359 science is reality, says the world. And all this 00:25:41.359 --> 00:25:46.680 leads to the devaluing of life so that today 00:25:46.680 --> 00:25:51.299 our society seems to be more and more accepting 00:25:51.299 --> 00:25:56.940 abortion, the ending of the life of an unborn. 00:25:59.009 --> 00:26:01.569 Infanticide is already here and being practiced 00:26:01.569 --> 00:26:04.150 in some places. If a baby is born that is not 00:26:04.150 --> 00:26:08.150 normal, the parents, the doctors can decide that 00:26:08.150 --> 00:26:12.069 that baby should die and not live, even if they 00:26:12.069 --> 00:26:17.529 have to starve it. Euthanasia is coming. By that 00:26:17.529 --> 00:26:19.930 I don't mean that I foresee a day in the immediate 00:26:19.930 --> 00:26:22.410 future when we're going to have gas chambers 00:26:22.410 --> 00:26:24.849 and ovens for the old people instead of old folks' 00:26:24.950 --> 00:26:30.599 homes, nursing homes. Don't mean that. But it 00:26:30.599 --> 00:26:33.599 will come down to the economics of it, my friend. 00:26:35.440 --> 00:26:38.420 There are laws that are right now being implemented 00:26:38.420 --> 00:26:44.960 with some need and some good motives which could 00:26:44.960 --> 00:26:50.339 ultimately mean that an older person who's on 00:26:50.339 --> 00:26:56.150 Medicare and who has severe complications will 00:26:56.150 --> 00:27:00.829 not be accepted by any hospital because the hospital 00:27:00.829 --> 00:27:03.670 can't afford to take that patient. The government 00:27:03.670 --> 00:27:06.710 limits them to so much money. And if they take 00:27:06.710 --> 00:27:11.309 that patient, they're going to lose money. It's 00:27:11.309 --> 00:27:13.930 not tomorrow. It's not even next year. But there's 00:27:13.930 --> 00:27:17.130 this specter of the possibility of ambulances 00:27:17.130 --> 00:27:19.670 with people, older people in them running around 00:27:19.670 --> 00:27:21.829 the city trying to find a hospital that will 00:27:21.829 --> 00:27:25.859 accept them while they're dying. Isn't that euthanasia? 00:27:28.339 --> 00:27:30.440 Allowing people to die because of the economics 00:27:30.440 --> 00:27:36.299 of it? You see, it's not so alarming when it's 00:27:36.299 --> 00:27:40.119 disguised in certain ways. And then our society, 00:27:40.160 --> 00:27:44.200 our age, has the idea of imperialism. We usually 00:27:44.200 --> 00:27:46.579 hear that word in a particular context, but I'm 00:27:46.579 --> 00:27:49.099 using it in a broad context meaning power building. 00:27:50.599 --> 00:27:53.700 The domination of others for one's own profit 00:27:53.700 --> 00:27:57.900 or purpose. Now again, power is not bad in itself. 00:27:57.960 --> 00:28:01.660 It is God who gives power and authority. But 00:28:01.660 --> 00:28:06.039 when the gaining of power becomes one's God, 00:28:06.200 --> 00:28:09.640 then it's imperialism in its broadest sense. 00:28:10.599 --> 00:28:13.140 There are people who are willing to compromise 00:28:13.140 --> 00:28:19.420 all morals, hurt anybody, pay any price. to have 00:28:19.420 --> 00:28:23.900 a prestigious position, or to control people 00:28:23.900 --> 00:28:29.380 or things, does that affect you where you work? 00:28:29.819 --> 00:28:32.140 Do you see that in the office where you are? 00:28:32.759 --> 00:28:34.920 Does that make a difference in the decisions 00:28:34.920 --> 00:28:41.819 that you make in your business? The way you do 00:28:41.819 --> 00:28:49.450 things in your factory? I believe that today 00:28:49.450 --> 00:28:55.809 you and I do not begin to realize how much the 00:28:55.809 --> 00:28:58.049 way that we live, the way that we dress, the 00:28:58.049 --> 00:29:01.809 way that we think, the way that we talk has already 00:29:01.809 --> 00:29:08.109 been conformed to this age. What I am praying 00:29:08.109 --> 00:29:10.210 that God will do in these weeks that we talk 00:29:10.210 --> 00:29:12.730 about this is that he'll begin to reveal to us 00:29:13.279 --> 00:29:16.019 that conformity, when we have begun to take on 00:29:16.019 --> 00:29:17.960 the outside an appearance of something we're 00:29:17.960 --> 00:29:24.920 not really on the inside. Stop being conformed 00:29:24.920 --> 00:29:30.000 to this age, says the apostle. Don't allow this 00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:33.900 age to set your standards. Why? Because you, 00:29:33.960 --> 00:29:36.819 my friend, if you're a Christian, are a part 00:29:36.819 --> 00:29:44.720 of the age which is to come. Linsky, the Lutheran 00:29:44.720 --> 00:29:47.859 commentator, has said, There is danger that the 00:29:47.859 --> 00:29:50.680 Christian may adopt at least some of the world's 00:29:50.680 --> 00:29:54.940 ways, run with worldly men, especially when they 00:29:54.940 --> 00:29:59.079 mock us if we do not. Christians sometimes imagine 00:29:59.079 --> 00:30:01.539 that they can do this without injury to themselves, 00:30:02.019 --> 00:30:06.059 can remain unspotted from the world amid the 00:30:06.059 --> 00:30:10.079 worldly unchristian associations, amid worldly 00:30:10.079 --> 00:30:13.430 and questionable practices. The resultant casualties 00:30:13.430 --> 00:30:18.490 are many and exceedingly sad. And I'm talking 00:30:18.490 --> 00:30:26.950 to some today. Paul warned Timothy about two 00:30:26.950 --> 00:30:32.470 men, 1 Timothy chapter 2. He says the problem 00:30:32.470 --> 00:30:34.250 with them is that they have set aside a good 00:30:34.250 --> 00:30:36.250 conscience and faith. They've made shipwreck. 00:30:37.390 --> 00:30:39.670 I'm talking to some people today who are on the 00:30:39.670 --> 00:30:43.329 rocks. and others of you who are approaching 00:30:43.329 --> 00:30:50.009 the rocks. And I warn you today that while there 00:30:50.009 --> 00:30:56.150 is time, stop being conformed to this age. But 00:30:56.150 --> 00:30:58.009 let God have his way in your life. We'll talk 00:30:58.009 --> 00:31:02.490 about that next week. Let's pray. Father, apply 00:31:02.490 --> 00:31:05.349 this message right where it needs to be applied 00:31:05.349 --> 00:31:08.630 in my life and the life of every one of us. May 00:31:08.630 --> 00:31:11.660 we not escape the point. of conviction which 00:31:11.660 --> 00:31:14.900 the Holy Spirit desires to bring. Expose, I pray, 00:31:14.980 --> 00:31:19.279 within us the conformity to this world around 00:31:19.279 --> 00:31:24.859 us. And may we repent of that, repent of it, 00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:30.079 so that then we can offer ourselves to you as 00:31:30.079 --> 00:31:32.539 living in holy sacrifices, and it will stick. 00:31:33.680 --> 00:31:38.890 In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Let's stand together. 00:31:38.990 --> 00:31:40.069 I'd like for us to sing.