The World

This transcript was generated automatically. Its accuracy may vary

Short Summary
The discourse explores the biblical concepts of “the world, the flesh, and the devil” as three intertwined sources of temptation that challenge spiritual growth. It emphasizes distinguishing the physical world’s beauty from the corrupt “way of the world,” which focuses on materialism and warped values, and supports this with key scripture passages illustrating the futility of wealth and the necessity of prioritizing one’s soul and relationship with God. The speaker encourages vigilance in guarding the heart, rejecting worldly temptations, and living devoted to God’s kingdom through faith and reliance on divine support.

Long Summary
Detailed Summary of the Discourse on “The World, the Flesh, and the Devil”

Introduction and Context:
– The discourse begins by acknowledging the complexity and depth of the topic “the world, the flesh, and the devil.”
– The speaker references Brother Obi, who initially introduced the topic, noting the wealth of material to cover.
– A Latin phrase, *Tempest fugit* (“time flies”), is used to emphasize the need for brevity and focus.

Understanding the Symposium Format:
– A symposium is defined as a format where panel members present concise, well-prepared views on assigned subjects.
– Due to time constraints, the session may not allow extensive questions or debates.

Key Biblical Terms and Their Occurrences:
– The phrase “the world, the flesh, and the devil” appears together in at least three places in Scripture (specific citations available after the session).
– These three represent major categories of temptations that believers face.

The Three Major Temptations:
1. The World:
– Defined as a continuous headwind of distractions and temptations.
– Often involves the pursuit of wealth, material possessions, status, acclaim, and influence.
– Other terms related to “the world” include “the way of the world,” “the flow of the world,” “the current of the world,” and “the undertow of the world,” emphasizing its dangerous, pulling nature.
– It embodies warped values opposed to God’s kingdom.
– The speaker stresses the difference between the physical world (which has much beauty and is God’s creation) and the “way of the world,” which reflects fallen human values.

2. The Flesh:
– Represents base human desires, sinful inclinations, and appetites.
– The speaker briefly introduces this and defers detailed treatment to Brother Michael.

3. The Devil:
– Personifies the evil one, a personal tempter and enemy.
– Seeks to lead people away from God.
– Brother Tim Balinowski will elaborate on this aspect.

Interconnection of the Three Forces:
– These temptations are often intertwined and work together to distract and pull believers away from spiritual growth and devotion.

Biblical Foundations and Key Verses on “The World”:
– The speaker chose to focus on approximately 10 key Bible passages that clearly address the topic of the world and its folly, emphasizing Scripture as the clearest guide.

Proverbs 23:4-5
– “Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone…”
– This warns against exhausting oneself in pursuit of wealth, which is fleeting.

Mark 4:18 (Parable of the Sower)
– The seed among thorns symbolizes those who hear God’s word but are choked by life’s worries, wealth, and desires, producing no fruit.

Mark 8:34-38
– Jesus calls followers to deny self, take up the cross, and follow Him.
– Warns that gaining the whole world is meaningless if one loses their soul.
– Jesus promises that if one is ashamed of Him, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person at His return.

Mark 10:17-27 (The Rich Man)
– A man asks Jesus how to inherit eternal life; Jesus tells him to obey commandments and then sell possessions and follow Him.
– The man goes away sad because of his wealth.
– Jesus explains how difficult it is for the rich to enter God’s kingdom — “easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.”
– The disciples ask how anyone can be saved; Jesus replies, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

Luke 12:15-21 (The Rich Fool)
– Jesus warns against greed, saying life is not measured by possessions.
– Tells a story of a wealthy man who stores up goods but dies that night.
– Concludes that it is foolish to store earthly wealth but not be rich toward God.

John 15:18-20
– Jesus tells His followers that the world will hate them as it hated Him because they are not of the world.
– Persecution is expected as a result of following Christ.

Closing Exhortations and Final Thoughts:
– Proverbs 4:23 is cited: “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”
– Believers are urged to vigilantly guard their hearts against the allure and friendship of the world, especially where it conflicts with Christ’s example.
– Encouragement to renew one’s consecration commitment, “die to self,” resist the devil, and bind one’s heart to eternal values of God’s kingdom.
– Submission to God’s sustaining power is encouraged, referencing Deuteronomy 33:27 about being supported by “the everlasting arms of God.”

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Key Bible Verses Mentioned:

– Proverbs 23:4-5:
“Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.”

– Mark 4:18:
“Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.”

– Mark 8:34-38:
“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me… What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?… If anyone is ashamed of me and my words… the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory.”

– Mark 10:17-27:
“Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor… It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God… With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

– Luke 12:15-21:
“Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions… You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you… This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

– John 15:18-20:
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first… If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.”

– Proverbs 4:23:
“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”

– Deuteronomy 33:27 (referenced):
“The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.”

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This discourse offers a thoughtful biblical exploration of the temptations from the world, the flesh, and the devil, emphasizing the importance of guarding one’s heart, embracing sacrifice, and living a life rooted in God’s kingdom values rather than worldly pursuits.

Transcript

Okay. As you know, the. The topic, as we just heard, it’s the world, the flesh and the devil, and I guess I gotta say, when I heard about this first from Brother Obi, I thought. What, you’re gonna ring that much information out of.

Yeah, yeah, there’s a lot here, and for that reason, we’re going to have to kind of move this along, adhere closely to the speed limits, or I should say, you know, to keep. Keep it going. I have a note to myself here in Latin. Tempest fugit.

Tempest fugit means time flies. All right, so we’re going to get started on that note, and first I’d like to start out with, and hey, I’m learning this for the first time.

We have. We have a few questions to cover that any reasonable Bible student would want to know, and starting with question number one, What’s a symposium? I know I’ve heard the word before, but I can’t tell you exactly what it is. Some kind of orchestra or maybe people dance around and throw posies.

Symposium. But here’s the answer. Symposium is a format where panel members are selected to present a few well thought out views in their assigned area of inquiry. We know what that is. Now, in this case, there may or may not be sufficient time to raise questions or pursue differing views from the panel members or audience members.

This evening, due to time constraints, we’ll just have to, and see how the time element pans out. So now, continuing with our topic. Well, first of all, next, there’s a second question, and that is, where in Scripture do we see the words the world, the flesh and the devil? And you know, I used to think that nowhere, that there’s nowhere where all three of them are mentioned, but there are.

And I, I might give you the citations, but I don’t know that it’s something you’d want to jot down, and you can see me afterward. So it’s good to know that there is at least about three places in the Bible where those three, what we call them, dangers or temptations are mentioned together. But anyhow, all right, what I’d like to do is give you. No, this is question three.

Sorry. I knew it. There must be, and I’m having a hard time seeing my own, My own starting point here, but there’s so many lines that go around. Here’s a brief sketch of the three major categories of temptations to give you a better sense of who they are and how they compare.

I thought that’s a kind of reasonable thing one would want to know. Now, what I’M going to do is not encroach or poach on our other brethren who are going to really fill in with more details here. But here are the three and I believe they will be the first one. Well this is, this is mine really, and one definition is that it’s a steady.

The world. The world is a steady headwind of distractions, pursuits, temptations and it often involves the single minded pursuit of wealth and material possessions. That last one is really huge. It almost overweights all the the others. But there are a lot of others too.

So now I want to point out that. So what we call the world is sometimes also called the way of the world or the flow of the world or the current of the world or the I would add the undertow of the world. It does have a tendency to pull us under as we will see, and that is the thing to be feared and guarded against.

Now the. So the first category that, that is really mine is the this the world or the way of the world represents the allure of material possessions, wealth, status, acclaim, influence, champagne, chained, you name it and and over all others are warped values which are contrary to God’s kingdom, his incoming kingdom and the flesh. Number two, which is not mine but will be followed up by brother Michael is refers to base human desires, appetites, sinful inclinations. That’s all I’m going to say on it, and again we’re going to leave it to Brother Michael to fill that in.

And finally, number three is the devil. The devil embodies the evil one. A personal enemy and a tempter who seeks to lead people away from God, and our, our brother Tim Balinowski will cover that. But these three forces are often presented as interconnected, intertwined, and they work together to tempt the faithful away from spiritual growth and devotion.

Now, so much for interview. Let’s put forward. Well, I think we’ve gotten almost a detailed enough description of the world. One other thing I wanted to say is that you must make a distinction between the world and the way of the world. Because if you mean the world, this planet, my gosh, it’s just loaded with beauty and just fantastic things that are not to be considered in the way of the world, which is entirely the droppings of the human race really.

And we’ll get into this a little more.

Okay. So the above description does not negate the fact that there is an enormous amount of beauty and fascination to be found throughout our planet earth and beyond. All thanks to God and his son Jesus.

So we’re, we’re definitely not doing across the board dump here. It’s. It’s very specific, as we’ll see. Okay, so let’s. All right, let me say this.

When I was preparing this, this presentation, I was tempted to do what I usually do, and that’s just gather a ton of material and then rip through it really, you know, rapidly, find out what are some of the differing points of view, et cetera. You know what? I found the thing that had the most cl. Clear cut and helpful contributions were that which came from the Bible. So I took it upon myself to find out what are the top 10 or 11 verses that speak to this issue of the world and the foolishness of it as we’ll see.

And I came away that the best way to spend our very limited time is for me to just draw your attention to these 10, 10, 10 passages. Okay, the first one is Proverbs 23, 4 through 5, and I call this a funny favorite from the Old Testament. There aren’t so many of these in the Old Testament, but here’s one, and it goes like this. Well, the.

All right, it goes like this, verse 4. Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich. Don’t wear yourself out. Be wise enough to know when to quit in the blink of an eye when wealth disappears, for it will sprout wings and fly away like an eagle. Now, I won’t take short hands, but I wonder how many of you have ever taken upon yourself to simply say play, or I would say trade the stock market.

Well, let me say, if you. If you’ve done it, you know what I’m talking about. You know how I got this hair? You know that your life will never be the same, though you will not sleep well, you will. You’re.

You get a nasty attitude toward everybody and everything around you. So anyhow, if you haven’t tried it, don’t worry. Just find a reputable person if you want to do that, and let them manage it for you. I mean, that which is, of course, you know. All right, so here’s the next one, Mark 4:18.

And this is the parable of the farmer scattering seed. The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God’s word. But all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit gets produced. Next, mark 8:36, and what do you benefit if you gain the whole world?

All right, this is sort of the overview title, by the way. I’ve kind of lost, gotten way Behind? No. All right, we’re getting close. I think the next one, the next one just.

Yeah, here we go. What do you benefit? You gain the whole world, and let me give you the whole thing here.

Well, it starts this way in verse 34, mark 8. 34, and get this then. Calling the crowds to join his disciples. This is Jesus speaking.

He’s calling the crowds to join his disciples. I don’t recall ever hearing about that before. But you know, he did have a, a rather large following outside the closest circle of his disciples. So these say 70 or so people might be the, the group referred to here. But anyhow, J said, now, if any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross and follow me.

That was amazing. This is long before his crucifixion would occur. But here’s what he’s. That’s what he says, and then 35.

If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the good news, you will save it, and what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Sometimes translated life or your. Your innermost being.

But yeah, let that one stand as, as. As it appears and it continues. Is anything worth more than your soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, he thought those were adulterous and sinful. But in continuing, the Son of man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

Now this would appear to be the so called apocalypse phase, when everything is out in the open and everything is seen by the whole world. That hasn’t happened quite yet, has it? But anyhow, that’s the full, the full passage with a little bit of context to help you. Here’s the next one. Mark 10:17.

We would title it the Rich man, and well, there’s another title too. But let’s, let’s start with verse 17. As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him and knelt down, and he asked, good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?

Jesus says, well, why do you call me good? Only God is truly good. That one requires a little follow up. But we won’t go into it here. 19.

But to answer your question, this is Jesus speaking. You know the commandments. You must not murder, you must not commit adultery, you must not steal, you must not testify falsely, you must not cheat anyone, honor Your father and mother, Teacher, the man replied, I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young. Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. There is still one thing you haven’t done, he told him.

Now go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. We heard about that recently, didn’t we? And then, then come follow me. Wow. At this, the man’s face fell.

I think I must have fallen off, and he went away. Sad, for he had many possessions. By the way, this, this incident is often called the parable of the the Rich Young ruler, and I think some more recent translators have said they find no evidence of that in this.

The. The manuscripts that they’re working with. So it’s just called the Rich Man. But you might be interested. Okay.

Continuing. Verse 23, Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. Dear children. Oh, but, but then this amazed them. But then Jesus said again, dear children, it is very hard to enter the kingdom of God.

In fact, it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. This the disciples were astounded, and then they said, I can almost hear them saying this in unison. Well, then, how in the world can we or anyone be saved? They asked.

Jesus looked at them intently and said, humanly speaking, it is impossible, but not with God. Everything is possible with God. Now, my understanding of this passage is that with God’s grace, with God’s assistance, guidance and grace, even a rich man can enter the kingdom of God. But then I would add, but probably mine is his bank account and all his stuff. Next we go to Luke 12:15, and this one is called, much more to the point, the Rich fool.

Starting with verse 15. Then Jesus said, beware. Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own, and then he told him a little story.

A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops, and he said to himself, ah, what should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops. Then he says, I know I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and the other goods.

And then I’ll sit back and say to myself, my friend, referring to himself, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry. But God said to him, my younger brother Russell often had take turns Trying to saying this.

God said to him, you fool, and we sometimes, you know, embellish that a bit. But you fool, you will die this very night, and then who will get everything you worked for? Then Jesus concluded, yes, a person is a fool to stir, stir, store up earthly wealth, but not have a rich relationship with God.

Yeah, think about that, and now I’m going to do with my good buddy Todd, Alexander would do, if he was standing right here, and he would say something like, do you have a rich relationship with God? Whatever the size of your net worth? Yeah. Everyone will step back and say, okay, you’ve got to think that through this, Todd.

You’re so good at addressing questions like that to us. They. They really hit where they should. Okay, I got to rehearse this up then. John 15:18.

Jesus is speaking here. If the world hates you, remember it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belong to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so now it hates you. Do you remember what I told you?

A slave is not greater than its master. Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you, and if they had listened to me, they would listen to you. Okay, tell you what, there’s only two more, but I’m going to skip over to keep us, you know, on a reason keel, and I would say this in conclusion.

Keep your heart with all the vigilance, for from it flows the springs of life. That’s from Proverbs 4. 23. Guard your height, your hearts today and this evening in Christ. Reject the friendship of the world, especially those aspects that are contrary to the example and the values of your Lord and master Jesus.

Renew the vision and the enthusiasm you pledged at your consecration. Die to self, resist the devil. Bind your heart to eternal values of God’s kingdom. Live in Christ and submit to being held, supported and carried by the everlasting arms of your God. From Deuteronomy 33.

27. Thank you very much, friends.

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