COVENANT COMMUNITY CHURCH
PASTOR: TERRY VAUGHAN
SEPTEMBER 29, 2002
KJV
SERMON TITLE:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
Romans 12: 1 “I be beseech you brethren by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service. Be ye not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
I want to preach to you this morning on that question. Are you conformed or are you transformed?
When I think of that word conformed I think of the word like. To be like. Conformed means you mix right in. Paul was telling us right here not to mix right in with the world. He said we’re supposed to be transformed. When I think of the word transformed I think of the meaning being upgraded. If you’ve been saved this morning then you’ve been upgraded. This world is not a place for us. The hardest thing for Christians to learn is how to live a Godly and Christian life in this present world that we’re living in. Often times the devil throws things up and we feel in our nature that we have to be like the world and other people. That’s common. There’s nothing wrong with us thinking those thoughts because it’s our natural fleshly nature. We were born in this world and we’re used to this world and everything revolves around this world. But Paul said not to be conformed to the world but be transformed. This world is full of sin and destruction and death. But Jesus is full of Godlyness and light and eternalness. He’s got what we need if we’ll just humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. The Bible says that He’ll exalt us in due time.
Matthew 16:26 “For what has a man profited if shall gain the whole world yet lose his own soul?”
There’s a lot of people in this world that always want this and that and their looking for bigger and better things. They think the Pasture is greener on the other side. That’s just like the prodigal son. He took all the share of the goods and he went out and wasted them on ridious living. That’s what a lot of Christians are going through today. Their wasting what God’s done for them in their life. Their wasting all that God wants them to be. He wants us to be all we can be in Christ Jesus. The hardest thing for us is to live that godly life in this present evil world. How to understand and know how to live. We can do it through the word of God and through prayer. We need to be seeking the Lord Jesus Christ. But so many times we seem to forsake him.
I want to talk about three things real quick. First I want to talk about God’s relationship with the world. Second I want to talk about Jesus’ relationship with the world and thirdly I want to talk about Christians relationship with the world. I found some interesting things in the scripture.
NUMBER ONE: God loved the world. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world….” But he doesn’t love what the world does. He can only love us through his Son Jesus. Now don’t take this wrong way because God loves every sinner. But he only loves them through the body and the blood of his Son Jesus Christ. You see the Bible says that God can’t look on sin. Everyone of us were born in sin. He had to find a way that he could get them out of sin and into salvation so he sent his only son. That’s the way that God loves the world. So I want to say that God’s relationship with the world is very important. Isn’t it wonderful? How would we make it without his Son? I don’t know how people make it today without knowing Christ. They have nobody to turn to and cast their burdens on. We have somebody we can trust in and turn to. There’s a lot of people that don’t include God in it. Their living in this world having no hope. They don’t have anything. But we have something. We have God who loves us and his relationship with the world is very important because he sent his only Son to die on a cross for us.
NUMBER TWO: Then I got to looking at the relationship between Jesus and the world. I found that it far different than the relationship that God has with the world. It’s unimportant to Jesus. It was important to God but it’s unimportant to Jesus. John 1:10-13 “He was in the world and the world was made by him and the world knew him not. He came unto his own and his own received him not. But as many as hath received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God even to them that believe on his name which were born not of the blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God.”
He came into this world and they didn’t even know him. Isn’t that pitiful? God that sent his Son Jesus, manifested in the flesh and people don’t know him. The Bible says we live and move and have our being because of Jesus Christ and what he’s done for us. All throughout the Bible you’ll see things in the universe that were made by things that weren’t seen. The Bible says that means there is faith there. Why? Because God is a Spirit. The world was important to God but it’s unimportant to Jesus. I heard one of my favorite preachers say that John 17 is actually the true Lords prayer and not the one where the disciples said to teach us to pray. And he said, “Our Father which art in heaven..“ That was just an instructional prayer. John 17:9 “Father, I pray for them. I pray not for the world.” If the world was important to him he would have prayed for it. But he prayed for his people. If we’re going to be part of Christ then we need to get out of the world and be not conformed to it. We need to be transformed. There’s a lot of people that aren’t transformed. There good at living their life as a Christian on Sunday but when Monday comes around it’s a different story. I spend more doing for the Lord on Monday through Saturday than I do on Sunday. Sunday is the easy day. Sunday is the day of rest. A Sabbath day, a Holy day. It’s a day when we can get excited in the Lord. But during the week we’ve got to labor and work. That’s what brings the blessings.
John 18:36 “My kingdom is not of this world.” Must not have been too important to him. He said, “I go to prepare a place for you and if I go to prepare a place then I’ll come again to receive you unto myself.” This world is unimportant to Jesus and the only reason it’s important to God is because he sent His Son. There’s other scriptures. John 16:33 “These things have I spoken unto you that in me you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” He defeated death, hell and the grave. This world is not our home. He said heaven an earth will pass away but his world will never pass away. Some people in their Christian lives act like their going to make this world their eternal home. That’s how used to it they get. They can’t make it without this and that. Personally…I can’t make it without HIM. This world doesn’t have anything to offer me. But I do admit that it is hard to live a Godly life in this world. That’s the hardest task, I believe, for any Christian. There is a path for a Christians life and this world doesn’t have anything to do with it. If we don’t reach out to others and all we do is limit our selves to our families then we’re restricting God.
NUMBER THREE: So what’s our relationship to the world as Christians? First we learned that the world is important to Christ. Why, because he sent his Son. Second we learned that the world is unimportant to Christ. Why? Because he’s gone to prepare a place for us. Thirdly is our relationship to the world.
Number one, Christians should not be conformed to the world. James 1:27 “Pure religion and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” Unspotted! I’m telling you there are Christians in the world today that have so many worldly spots on them that you can hardly tell their a child of God. We need to get out of the filth and the flesh and out of the lust and get over in that Salvation living. I like living like God wants me to live. It’s not hard to do if you trust in Him. 1 John 3:1 “Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us not because it knew him not.” The world didn’t know him when he came and it doesn’t know us when we come. It’s hard for them to comprehend what we have as Christians. OH Them old Hypocrites down at the church. They live one way on Sunday and another way on Monday. That’s true about a lot of Christians. But there are some good old Saints of God, built upon the solid rock’s foundation and that rock being Christ and they are different. I wonder how different you are today.
1 Timothy 6:7 “For we brought nothing into this world and it’s certain that we can carry nothing out.” Nothing you gain in this world will you be able to carry to heaven except your Salvation. So Christians should not be conformed to the world. You hear a lot of preachers preaching on Separation. It needs to be a serious issue in our lives. You know why a lot of people do what they do? Because they saw somebody else do it. When they see somebody else do it they think automatically that it’s okay for them to do it. Others do things because of things that they heard. This world has nothing to offer us and we should only do things according to what doth saith the Lord. Did you know that we’re supposed to be led by the Spirit of God? I was reading in Matthew last night where Jesus said he come down from the mountain and he went before the disciples. And they were amazed! Then it says they followed him and they were afraid. That’s good scripture. We’re supposed to let God go before us. We’re supposed to be followers of God as dear Children and walk in love. We’re supposed to be followers of God and not leaders of God. We’re not supposed to get into a position in our lives and say God, come over here where I’m at. We’re supposed to find out where God’s at and say, Lord I want to be where you’re at. But too many Christians want God to get down on their level. We need to be getting up on his level. Christians should not love the world. 1 John 2:15-17 “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that’s in the world; the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father but of the world. And the world passeth away and the lust thereof but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.” The worldly things will die but the Godly things will always be alive.
James 4:4 “Ye adulterers and adulteresses know ye not that friendship of the world is enmity with God. Therefore whosoever shall be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” If we love the world then the love of the Father is not in us and if we love the world we’re the enemy of God. Jesus said you’re either for me or against me. You can’t straddle the fence and be both. There’s a lot of people trying to be both today. I’m not going to do it. I’m going to do what God says to do and if you don’t like then I’ll worship God by myself. I don’t have to have five thousand people to do what God says. If you’re going to be with me then you’ll be going that way with him too.
Christians should not trust in the world. Matthew 6:19-20 “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth where moth and rust doeth corrupt and thieves can break through and steal but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust doeth corrupt and thieves cannot break through and steal but where your treasure is there will your heart be also.” Colossians 3:1-3 “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above. Where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Put your affections on things up above and not on things of the earth for your dead and your life is hid with Christ in God.” If we preadventured and looked into the world 100 years from now…none of us would be sitting here. We’re going to that place eventually. We ought to start acting like Christians and start getting ready. We need to get ready. You can’t get out of it. There’s certain things I like to do while I’m here but I like to do them in the Lord. If you try to mix up the Lord with a bunch of garbage, I won’t have any part of it.
I like this last verse. 1 John 4:4 “Greater is he that is in you than he that’s in the world.” Govern your life after Jesus Christ. When Christ comes to take us home he’s not taking the world with him. He’s taking the church with him. The saved, the anointed. Those that have been washed in his blood. Those that have been made white in the blood. He’s not taking this world. When Jesus died on that cross his last words were: “IT IS FINISHED.” I’m glad he finished what he came to do. I’m glad we were made a part of it. We should live soberly and righteously in this present world. So I want to ask you this question: Are you conformed or transformed? You don’t have to be honest with me because God already knows the truth of your life. I wonder how effective you are as a Christian. Is your Christianity fed by the things of this world or is it fed by the things not of this world? I respect the Christians that don’t let anything come between them and God.
Thank you and may God Bless you is my prayer.
