"The Church In The World-The World In The Church"

"The Church In The World-The World In The Church"

Text-Romans 1:1-17

Sermon by-Rev. Danny Moss dannymoss777@yahoo.com

Introduction-

The word "world" is used many times in the

Bible. It is the Greek word "kosmos," which means

"an orderly arrangement of things."

-sometimes it is used to speak of the human beings in

the world

-sometimes it is used of the created planet

-it is also used of a "system of evil ruled by Satan

and all his evil forces that draw people away from

God" Satan is the "god of this world." He rules

as the "Prince of the power of the air." His do-

main is not Hell, but the atmosphere around the

earth.

It is when the word is used in that last

sense that it has an evil connotation. Therefore,

the Bible tells us-

"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 is in the

world: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes,

and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is

of the world." 1st John 2:15-16

"Who(Christ) gave Himself for our sins, that He

might deliver us from this present evil world."

Notice that this present world, with all of its

hate, jealousy, pride, greed, selfishness, and

so forth, is classified as evil. That is, this

world that is ruled over and dominated by Satan.

That is why Jesus said the world hated Him, and

that it hates His followers, because they are

not in agreement with this system of evil. His

kingdom is a heavenly kingdom, ruled by God, full

of righteousness, justice, and peace. So, as

James informs us, "Whoever will be a friend of

the world is the enemy of God."

I. THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD

It is God’s will to send the church out into the

world. The church(Gk. ekklesia-"called out ones"),

those whom God has chosen to be His in this world,

are called to go into the world to be His witnesses,

and to bring glory to His name.

It is good when the church is in the world, but not

of the world, adopting its evil influences and

ideas. We are called to be the "light of the

world," and the "salt of the earth." We, as be-

lievers, are to permeate society, and influence it

for good, to call men to faith in God, and to

destroy the works of Satan. We are to preserve

society, and to be "an oasis of spiritual satis-

faction supplying living water in a desert of

dryness and despair." We are to be "a city set on

a hill," shining forth God’s love and forgiveness.

The world is where God means for His people to be.

It is where we must be if we are to accomplish any

good for mankind who all are dying of spiritual

thirst. We are sent by Christ into the world.

In the New Testament we read of the church at Rome,

or Philippi, or Corinth. They were put there by

God to serve Him, and reach others for Him. I be-

lieve we all have a certain place where God wants

us, and it is there that we are to serve Him. I

believe there is a certain church He wants you to

be in, and a certain community He wants you to

live in.

II. THE WORLD IN THE CHURCH

This is a sad thing, a destructive thing, when the

church that God has put in a certain place to be

His light allows the teachings and influences of

an evil society to creep in, and destroy its

witness and effectiveness for God. Unfortunately,

many churches apparently do this, for our society

and culture is becoming more and more ungodly,

even though there is much "religion" all around

us. We cannot be used of God in the world if we

allow ourselves to be conformed to the world, and

are no different in the way we think, dress, act,

and believe. But, we see that many modern day

churches have adopted the culture’s views of

marriage and divorce, homosexuality, wealth seek-

ing, abortion, and so much more. Instead of

confronting, challenging, and changing the world,

we have compromised and conformed to the ways of

the world, instead of vice-versa.

God help us, and send Revival! In the church we

see worldly dress and talk, worldly fights and

quarrels, worldly goals and ambitions, worldly

competition, and worldly pride and selfishness.

How do you recognize a "worldly church or worldly

believer." Look for things such as compromising

Christian truth plainly taught in the Word of God,

low morals, false teachings, seeking human praise

and recognition, selfishess, greed for money and