Come now to the exposition of God's holy word and congregation. Let's take our Bibles out together and turn back to the book of Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 6. Ephesians chapter 6 as we continue looking at this epistle. looking at these practical words of exhortation and teaching for the people of God. And we come this morning to verse number 10, and I want to read in your hearing verses 10 through 13. Here, as the Apostle Paul takes up the practical subject of spiritual warfare. Ephesians chapter 6, and beginning with verse 10. Paul writes, finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age. against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." Let's now pause together for a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we bow before you as we come before your word. And Father, as we come to your Word today, we pray that we would give ourselves to your Word, that we would place ourselves under your Word, that we would seek to be taught by your Word, and that we would, as your people and by the grace and enabling of your Spirit, believe and obey your Holy Word. We pray, Father, that you would help us to realize the very real spiritual war that we are in. And you have called us to be your soldiers and warriors in this world. Help us that we would stand and be faithful to your truth. We pray, Father, that you would draw sinners to Christ, that you would add to your church and extend your kingdom, and that you would receive all the honor and praise and glory As we ask this in Jesus' name, amen. As we continue, of course, we have just finished looking at these three sets of submission authority relationships that Paul addresses. Paul has addressed the relationship of wives and husbands, then of children and parents, and then finally slaves and masters. These three are superior-inferior relationships, and each party has duties to perform. Now when we come to verse number 10, Paul is addressing another practical subject as it relates to day-in and day-out Christian living. It is instruction related to spiritual warfare. I want to read to you a quote from Richard Phillips in his fine commentary on Ephesians as he gives something of the background of Paul's ministry in Ephesus and the reality of the demonic influences in the city of Ephesus. Phillips writes, and I quote, the Apostle Paul's ministry in the city of Ephesus involved a violent clash of spiritual powers. Paul considered the city to be of great strategic importance, and he invested himself in the work for two years. In 1 Corinthians 16 and verse nine, he wrote, I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost. for a wide door of effective work has opened to me and there are many adversaries. Ephesus was a great city and the center of occult magic in Asia Minor, as well as the home of one of the chief pagan temples to the goddess Artemis. Satan and his followers, of course, opposed Paul, and God responded by supplying Paul with supernatural power so that he healed many people and cast out demons. His gospel drew large numbers of converts. Many of them had been practitioners of magic. And when they believed on Christ, they brought their magic books and burned them publicly. Given that history, we are not surprised to find that the theme of spiritual power is prominent in the book of Ephesians. So as we work our way through this epistle, we come here to the end and Paul gives a lot of time and a lot of consideration on the subject of spiritual warfare. The Bible teaches that our world is not an amusement park. It teaches that our world is a deadly spiritual battlefield. And we are called as God's people not to be children playing at a park, but to be warriors and soldiers for the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, we realize that the subject of spiritual warfare, the subject of the devil and demons, while it is very important, is one of those subjects, like so many subjects in the scriptures, where folks tend to shy away from its teaching. And we must have, certainly, a balanced view of spiritual warfare. There are extremes that must be avoided. The extremes that says that the devil's influence is really insignificant or not at all. And then the other side of the coin that says that the devil's influence is exaggerated and great and really a force that is even more powerful in many ways than the church. Well, we reject those extremes and yet we nevertheless must emphasize and reinforce this issue of spiritual warfare in our day. What are some of the common objections that people have to emphasizing spiritual warfare? Well, let me just share with you a few of them. Some say that we shouldn't emphasize spiritual warfare because the concept of spiritual warfare actually reflects a primitive and a pre-scientific worldview. They would say that the idea of the devil and demons, that's kind of like talking about elves or dragons or mermaids, and they're not really real entities. And so they have this false dichotomy between science and the supernatural. And they say, well, we are of science. We reject the notion of the devil or of demons. Secondly, there are those who say that, well, demons and spiritual forces are not very prominent in the Bible. Many unwittingly believe that the Bible just doesn't have much to say on the subject of the devil and demons. And yet the evidence is just the opposite. It is a major theme in the Bible. And the Bible presents this theme over and over again, and because it is true, and the Bible describes the devil and demons as our adversaries, we must be informed of them. There is sometimes this notion that talking about the devil and demons and angeology, that that's something that's reserved for the kind of wild-eyed Pentecostals. They're into that. Interestingly, when you look at the preaching of the Puritans in the 16th, 17th centuries, you will find them very often preaching long series on angeology, on the doctrine of angels and demons and Satan. You say, well, I don't imagine that's even consistent with a reformed theology. And yet you see many, many Puritans who spent weeks and months on series on demons and the devil. And so we recognize that when we emphasize this, we are in the stream of reformed Christianity. Others say, well, we shouldn't emphasize spiritual warfare because all demonic activity died out in the second century. The devil is no longer really a force to be reckoned with. We would acknowledge certainly that the devil and demons were particularly acute during the ministry of the Lord Jesus. But just a survey of church history will tell us that the devil is still active. He is indeed a roaring lion and he is roaming around seeking whom he may devour. The words of Holy Scripture. Others have said, well, the experiences with the demonic and with demons and demon possession, that only happens, and this was a very common belief among evangelicals, this only happens in the mission field, in non-Western environments. This is very commonly held by most Bible-believing evangelicals. They suggest that demons are active in areas of the world where the gospel has not yet reached, where idolatry and false religions are still prevalent. I can remember even in my seminary days, and this was just not that long ago, most of the books on demonology written by mainline scholars of evangelical Christianity, they spoke in these terms. Demon possession, the activities of the devil and demons, that's really for the non-Western world that you find these activities prevalent. Books like Demon Possession and Allied Themes by the Presbyterian missionary John Nevis, The book, Demons, Demons, Demons, by Dr. John Newport, who was vice president at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Go down a long list of books. They would say that this is what you encounter on the mission field, but you don't find it so much in the Western world. Well, congregation, what's wrong with that kind of thinking today, in our day? Well, the Western world has become increasingly more pagan, idolatrous, and multicultural. We have had this endless flow in Western countries that are traditionally Christian, where there is this flooding into Western society of third world people groups and they are bringing with them their false religions. And according to the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verses 19 and 20, these false religions, they are actually worshiping demons and the devil. Whether it is Hinduism or Buddhism or Islam, you go down the list. They are demonic in their orientation. So we cannot say that, well, demonic activity, that's for the missionary field, because the third world has come to us. And now it is in our countries as well, very prominently. Fifthly, there are those who have said, well, spiritual warfare and the imagery of warfare is not really an appropriate metaphor for people who are supposed to be pursuing peace. I mean, talking about warfare? We're to be peacemakers, as Jesus declares. This is what liberal Theologian from Harvard, Harvey Cox said, he said, quote, I don't warm up to military metaphors and battle imagery, end of quote. Well, the problem with that is that he has a problem with the Bible, amen? Because the Bible has a lot of imagery about the issue of warfare and of battling in this world. We used to sing the hymn, Onward Christian Soldiers, because that's how we understood our role in this world. Six, there's another objection to this issue of spiritual warfare, and it is that, well, stressing spiritual warfare leads to a kind of unbalanced experience driven kind of Christianity and theology. It's kind of centering on the spectacular, and certainly many have fallen into this, of which we would be on guard. But just because it could lead to that kind of approach doesn't mean that we are to somehow, therefore, avoid the subject of spiritual warfare. Corrugation, the devil is real. Demons are real, they are active in our world, and they are very prevalent, and they are the drivers of all false religions, according to the Apostle Paul. So let's talk this morning as we think about our text, and we're really just kind of setting the stage for what we will find. First of all, the imagery of warfare in Christianity. Does the scriptures teach this idea that we are in warfare in this world? Listen to what Charles Hatton Spurgeon said. Spurgeon said, quote, the Christian is engaged throughout his whole life as a soldier. He is so called in scripture, a good soldier of Jesus Christ. And if any of you take the trouble to write out the passages of scripture in which the Christian is described as a soldier and provision is made for his being armed and directions given for his warfare, you will be surprised to find that there are more of this character than concerning any other metaphor by which the Christian is described in the word of God. What Spurgeon is saying in that long quote is very simple. This idea of the imagery and the metaphor of warfare, far from it being an isolated type of imagery, Spurgeon says it is the predominant imagery and the picture of what the Christian life is really about. Warriors, soldiers engaged with a real enemy in real warfare. Now when we talk about the church, we talk about it in two different ways. We talk about the church triumphant and the church what? Militant. The church militant. How many of you are familiar with those two terms? The church triumphant and the church militant. What do we mean by those terms? Well, when we say the word, the phrase church triumphant, we are talking about those members of the church who have died and they have gone to their reward. They now are in heaven. They are called triumphant because they have overcome life's earthly battles. And that's why they're called triumphant. They're overcomers. They no longer are in the warfare. But whenever we talk about the church presently in the world today, and that's me and you, we describe the church as the church militant. It is the church militant. We are in this world, we are presently engaged in spiritual warfare. You may not like the imagery, you may not like the idea of being warriors, but this is the language the Holy Spirit has used describing our activity in the world. Let's just look at a few examples of this imagery of warfare. Turn with me, first of all, in your Bibles. Look with me, please, in 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians chapter 10, and we'll be looking at a lot of scripture references today. 2 Corinthians chapter 10, hear the words of the Apostle Paul, verses 3 through 6. 2 Corinthians 10 and verse 3, Paul writes, for though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God, for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. Here Paul says in our text that we are engaged in a warfare, but it is not a physical, fleshly warfare, but rather it is, verse 4, a spiritual warfare. It isn't carnal. And it is a warfare, nevertheless, where we as God's people don't have an option. as to whether or not we will be engaged in this very real spiritual struggle. Again, quoting from Charles Spurgeon on this, he says, like the Spartans, every Christian is born a warrior. It is his destiny to be assaulted. It is his duty to attack. He must be able to say with David, I come against thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. He must wrestle not with flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers. He must have weapons for his warfare, not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. Spurgeon says, we, if we are truly born again, we have been born into this warfare and we will be assaulted and our duty is to attack our enemy. Turn with me, please, in your Bibles over to 1 Timothy. Again, just looking at the imagery of warfare, the fact that we are warriors, we are soldiers, we are engaged in a battle and in a spiritual warfare. 1 Timothy 1. 1 Timothy 1, picking up in verse 18. Paul writes and he says, Verse 18, this charge I commit to you, son, Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, having faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected concerning the faith and have suffered shipwrecked. Verse 18, Paul says to Timothy, he says, as a servant of the Lord, you are engaged and you are to wage a good warfare in the Lord. Look with me, please, still in First Timothy, turn to chapter six. First Timothy, chapter six, verse 11. First Timothy chapter six, verses 11 and 12. Again, these practical words he gives. He says, but you, this is verse 11, but you old man of God flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness, fight the good fight of faith. lay hold on eternal life to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses." Notice there in verse 12, fight the good fight of faith. It is the imagery of a soldier of a battle of warfare. We are warriors. We see this so many places. You're in 1 Timothy, look in 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy chapter 2 Timothy chapter 2 verses 1 through 4 Paul writes again to Timothy, you therefore my son be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus and the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses commit these to fateful men who will be able to teach others also. You therefore must endure hardship as what? A good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. Paul says, you have been enlisted into an army. You are a soldier. You are to be a good soldier. You're engaged in a very real warfare. And then notice what Paul says at the very end. Notice in 2 Timothy chapter four, and most of you are aware that 2 Timothy was Paul's last letter as scholars commonly would recognize, and notice how he describes his ministry. 2 Timothy 4 and verse 6, he says, For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. Verse 7, I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Here again is this idea of warfare. Paul says, looking over his life, he says, I have fought the good fight. Christianity is a fight. It is these verses in the pastoral epistles that some of you are aware, Zach Garris, in his excellent book, Masculine Christianity, he highlights these. And he talks about the effeminate ministers of our day that want to be nice and polite and winsome and never harsh. And he says, we don't need winsome pastors, we need warrior pastors. And that's true, amen? We need to be warriors for the truth. We are in a spiritual warfare. We're not trying to see how nice we can be in a world that hates our Savior. We are to be declaring the truth and doing it realizing that we have an adversary. And it is a fight. And we are to be engaged as warriors and soldiers. as we serve the Lord Jesus Christ. So the imagery of warfare, it is the very essence of what it means to live the Christian life. This is what we are to be about. Now, I want to turn back to Ephesians, and where I'd like for you to look is in Ephesians chapter two. Ephesians chapter two. As we think about our warfare, again, we're just kind of setting the stage in these early sermons Before we get to the text of chapter 6, where we see this armor of God that we're to take on, there's some kind of foundation building that needs to take place. Whenever we think about this warfare that we are in, I want us to think of it in terms of a three-fold front. There is a three-fold reality to our warfare. And we're to be looking at the first of these three today. Paul writes in Ephesians chapter 2, look with me in Ephesians chapter 2. where we read here about the glorious transformation that takes place when someone is saved by the regenerating power of the Spirit. He says in verse one of Ephesians 2, and you he made alive, that speaks of regeneration, who were dead in trespasses and sins in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath as the others. Here we see the Apostle Paul describe the glorious transformation. Those who once were dead, they have been made alive by the grace of God. And they have been transferred into this new relationship and this new company of the people of God. And that all and entirely by God's grace alone. But what I want you to notice in these verses is that we see here that we as God's people have a war on three fronts. A war on three fronts. What are those three fonts? Well, it is the world, the flesh, and the devil. And we're going to be talking about the world today. You see this, and note if you will, in verse number two, the first of these is the world, in which you once walked according to the course of this world. And then notice in verse three, you have the second, and that is the flesh. where he says, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and the mind. So that's the flesh. And then notice again in verse number two, the third front of our warfare is the devil. For you note there, he says, having stated in which you once walked according to the course of this world, Verse 2, Part B, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience. That's, of course, referring to the devil. So we have a three-fold warfare against the world, against the flesh. and against the devil. Before salvation, we were enslaved to all three of these. Before we came to Christ, we were totally dead and depraved, we were hopeless and helpless, and we were enslaved to the world, the flesh, and the devil. After we are saved, while we are no longer enslaved to these three things, we are still enemies of these three things. Amen? They are our enemies still, and they are to be that which we wage a very real warfare against as we grow in grace and holiness and spiritual adulthood. So, let's talk today about the world. That's the first of these three. This idea of warfare. We are at war with the world. Verse 2, he says that it is the course of this world. What exactly is the world? Now, obviously, there are many ways in which the scripture uses the word world. Many different ways. It can refer to the people of the world, it can refer to the planet, it can refer to the universe, all different ways. But whenever we speak of world as it relates to warfare, we are talking about this current satanic world system and culture which we find ourselves in. We are in a climate and culture, the world, that is satanic in nature, and it is contrary to the ways of Jesus Christ. Some have described the world this way. I'll just give you a few definitions. It is, quote, the evil ways of this fallen age, which are contrary to Christ. Someone else described the world this way, it is the values, attitudes, habits, and lifestyles of our Christless culture. That's a good way to describe it. R.C. Sproul described it this way. He said, it is the value systems of our fallen creation. This is what the world is. It is this satanic world system that is contrary to the ways of God. It is a very real hostility and enmity against God, His Word, and His ways. The world is not neutral by any stretch of the imagination. So let me just ask and answer some questions about the world in which we live. First of all, what is the course of this world? Well, turn with me in your Bibles back to Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 5. In Isaiah chapter 5, we see the course of this world described in these familiar verses, Isaiah chapter 5, verses 20 and 21. Verse 20 says, woe to those who call evil good and good evil. who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight. The world is a world that is opposed to the good. It is opposed to Christ. It is opposed to the ways of our Savior. It seeks to deny sin. It says, sin really isn't sin. It seeks to redefine sin. It says, well, no, sin is really just, it's a sickness, and they try to modernize and psychologize, and they try to rationalize sin away, and yet sin is still sin. The course of this world not only seeks to deny sin and redefine sin, but then it also creates new sins. Have you realized there's a lot of new sins that have been created in the last 50 or so years? Sins that will get you into a whole lot of trouble, and yet you'll struggle to find a verse that even addresses them. Because the authority is a different authority altogether than the word of God. And this is the world in which we live. This course of the world is the world of liberalism. It is the world of humanism and evolutionism. It is the world of naturalism and materialism. The world of feminism, which is contrary to the ways of Christ. The ways of Marxism and communism, which is really on the rise in America. Isn't it amazing? We bring all of these people into our country and we have all of these different ideologies that now are vying for priority in our land. We have wokeism in our world, BLM, the Antifa movement, all of these things that are communist in their orientation. And we see that so very often in the Christian world, there is this desire not to call out these false things, the course of this world, contrary to Christ. But many ministers trying to be kind of pragmatic and compromisers, seeking to kind of carve out a compromise, they have adopted what could be called third way-ism. How many of you have heard of third way-ism? Some of you are familiar with this. This was a very prominent thing by Tim Keller, if you've ever heard the name Tim Keller, and John Piper, another very prominent person. Also Russell Moore, Gavin Ortlin is a big promoter of this third way-ism, and Rick Warren. I mean, you can just think, these people all just kind of birds of a feather flock together. And we might have thought that Third Wayism had been buried and was six feet under, but it now has arisen again in the last few months. Rick Warren, just a few months ago, came out and he advocated this third-way-ism, which is really just the course of this world, trying to buddy up with the ways of the world. And he said, you can see third-way-ism by just looking at Jesus on the cross. He was crucified between two sinners, two thieves. He had one on his right, that represents the extreme right. And then he had the other on his far left, but Jesus was right in the middle. That's the third way that we need to follow. Well, congregation, that's ludicrous on its face, but that's what people in this third way ism are trying to advocate. We seek to advocate what the Bible teaches and the Bible is true regardless of what the world says. This third way ism is rooted in pragmatic compromise. And what is fascinating about it is you didn't hear a lot about this third way ism when the Democrats were in control. It's when the Republicans got into control that they started screeching about a third way again, like they did in previous administrations. It is seeking to appear neutral for the sake of their reputation and their comfort. It tries to split the difference between the right and between the left. Congregation, we're not trying to be political, but no Christian with good conscience could ever vote for a Democrat. Amen? Their agenda is straight out of the pit of hell. Now, I'm not saying the Republicans are somehow, they're the saints. They've got their problems, too. But the Democrat Party, and you hear so many of these people, like Ortlin that came up and said, well, we're gonna vote for Camilla this time, and then, you know, we're not gonna, you know, it's kind of a third-way-ism that's being promoted by many influencers. And what they are seeking to do is basically bring compromise. This is what you saw people like John Piper do. He came out right before the election in 2020 and basically said that, you know, Trump is, he's kind of arrogant and that's just as bad a sin as murdering babies. How many of you remember that? He came out and he's very prominent. Some of you remember that. That's third way-ism. And this has influenced many in Christianity today. These big names in these big churches, the problem is they have churches with thousands of people and they've let in all of these leftists and all of these liberals and so they're trying to play neutral because they want, as it were, they want their butts to stay in the seats. And they don't want their churches to somehow shrink by speaking the truth. So they advocated third wayism so that all the feminists don't get mad and leave and drag their husbands out with them. This is the course of this world. And sadly, we see rather than having ministers stand up and speak the truth, they're advocating a third way that needs to be followed. What is the course of this world? It is to deny sin, it is to redefine sin, it is to create new sins in our day. Who is the ruler of this world? Well, turn with me in your Bibles over to John's Gospel chapter 12. John chapter 12, we see very clearly who the ruler of this world system is. John 12 and verse 31. Jesus says, now the judgment, John 12, 31, now the judgment of this is, now is, rather, the judgment of this world, now the ruler of this world will be cast out. Who is the ruler there? Well, that is referring to Satan. It's also stated in John 16 and verse 11. Satan is a usurper. He is the God of this age. He is the ruler of this world, but not legitimately and not ultimately, because God is the sovereign over all things. And yet we live in a world in which Satan is the ruler of fallen mankind, and he is the ruler of this evil world system in which we live. Make no mistake about it. Look with me over in chapter 15 of John and we know what did the Lord say about this world? Did Jesus say what we need to do is come up with a third wayism so that we can split the difference and no one leaves? Is that what he said? No, in John 15 and verse 18, Jesus said this, if the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, a servant is not greater than his master. There's that imagery of slave and master again. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will keep yours also. all these things they will do to you for my name's sake, because they do not know Him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to you, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates me hates my Father also. " Congregation, what should we expect in this warfare against the world in which we live? We should expect that the world will hate us. Amen? Or we're not doing it right. Or we're compromising. Because if we're really telling the truth, the world is going to hate us. It's not going to agree with us. And we're not trying to figure out a way that we can keep them on our side by compromising. The world hated Christ. It will hate us. This is not my words. It's the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. What is our strategy in this world? Turn with me over to Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12, we have clearly this word given to us as to how we are to live in this world. It's a very familiar passage. Romans 12, let's just read verse two. Paul writes and he says, Romans 12 and verse two, and do not be conformed to this world, but Be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. We are to be transformed, never conformed. We are to resist the pressure to conform to the ways of the world. That's what so many compromisers, even in the name of Christianity, are trying to do. They're trying to have it both ways. They want to keep everybody happy. You can't do that. We are not to be conformed to this world. We are to stick out. It's like water and oil. We don't mix. Rather, what we are to do is be transformed by the renewing of our minds. It's how we think and approach and view this very reality. And notice Paul here, he says, it has to do with this world in which we live. Don't be conformed to this world, which is opposed to Jesus Christ. Turn with me, please, in your Bibles back to 1 John 2. 1 John 2, what is our attitude to be regarding this world? Well, we need to try to be friends with the world and like the world and kind of snuggle up with the world so that we'll be popular. Is that the approach? 1 John 2, look with me, verses 15 through 17. This is our attitude towards the world. 1 John 2 and verse 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. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life is not of the father, but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it, but he who does the will of God abides forever. " What is our approach to be? Well, we are not to love the world or the things of the world. Indeed, if we love the world and the things of the world, again, this is what John, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, says, the love of the Father is not in him. You say, oh, that sounds kind of harsh. That seems pretty cut and dry. We need to kind of smooth that over so that it's more palatable. Well, this is what the Holy Spirit says is the reality. Those who love the world, the love of the Father is not in them. Look with me, please, still in 1 John. Turn to chapter 5. 1 John chapter 5, what is our confidence in this world? Well, in 1 John 5, verses 4 and 5, we have this word of encouragement, and it is one that we will have the victory. Scripture says, chapter 5, verse 4, for whatever is born of God overcomes the world, praise the Lord. And this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. " Here we have the reality that our confidence is not found in the world. It's not found in the popularity that comes from this world. It is found in our faith. It is found in Christ. We will overcome. We will have the victory. as we live and serve in this warfare as a good soldier in the world in which we live. So, congregation, when we think about this, let us consider, first of all, and be reminded, we have this three-fold warfare. It's three fronts. The world, the flesh, and the devil. The evil satanic system of this world is not our friend. It is our enemy. The world is a system that seeks to lead people to hell. The world is a system that seeks to teach people that they can live independent of God. In fact, turn with me in your Bibles over to James real quickly. Turn over to James chapter one and verse 27. Here we see the sharp rivalry between God and this godless world. James 1 and verse 27, pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their trouble and to keep oneself, what? Unspotted from the world. The world wants us to live independent of God. The world is a counterfeit order in which people ascribe their lives to. It wants us to leave God out of the equation. And yet we are to be living contrary to the ways of the world. We are to keep ourselves unspotted from the ways of the world. Look with me, please, if you're in James. Turn over to chapter 4, James 4 and verse 4. The world is a satanic system that seeks to appear reasonable. It seeks to appear attractive and beneficial, but you cannot love both Christ and the world. James says in James 4 and verse 4, adulterers and adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." All of these winsome preachers who don't want to be harsh, they want to be nice, they want to get all the world into the church, they don't see evidently the reality that we are at enmity with the world. And the most loving Christ-like thing we can do is not try to come up with a third-way compromise. Everybody's happy. No, it is to tell them the truth. Amen? It is to tell them that they are in the midst of lies. And they need to come to Christ and the truth. That's what they need to be told. Not somehow that it's all really, we're all a part of the same thing. The world is our enemy, and if we are a friend of the world, verse 4, then we are an enemy of God. An enemy of God. We need to remember that we live in this evil, satanic system, this world, and it is ruled by our adversary. Secondly, we need to remember that Christ is King, and we need to declare His word and His will in this fallen world. The church needs to rise up and say, thus saith the Lord, with clarity. It needs to do it without compromise. It needs to do it not in some way to try to make friends with the world, but so that we will be found to be faithful to our Lord. We need to declare the truth of God's Word. We recognize that sinners are not going to turn by our winsomeness or our persuasiveness. They will only be turned to Christ by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit. Amen? And everyone that God has set His electing love upon, they will come to Christ. We need to be faithful to declare the truth. We need to realize that Christ will sustain us as we live in this world. We need to realize that we will be hated, we will be opposed, we will be accused and assaulted. There will be many false pretenders within the ranks of Christianity that are trying to play it off of both ends and they're trying to be popular. But we need to realize that God has called us to be in this world, but never of this world. Turn with me, please, as we conclude this morning. Look with me, if you will, at the words of the Lord Jesus as he prays for us, his people in the world. For the sake of time, really, you could read all of chapter 17, John chapter 17, what we call Christ's high priestly prayer. But I do want you to note, just as we conclude this morning, verses 15 through 17, Jesus says in this prayer, verse 15, I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world, sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth." We are to be living in the world, but we are not of the world. We have a duty. We are the church militant, not the church pacifist. but the church militant. Amen? And we're to be proclaiming that there is a King and it is King Jesus. And every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess, ultimately. Jesus is Lord. My friend, have you done that today? Have you bowed your knee to King Jesus? That's the message of the gospel. Turn from your sin, turn to the sovereign, receive salvation, and you will be delivered and made a part of that company of believers who are warriors in this present evil age. Let's bow together in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word today as we reflect on the realities of this warfare you've called us to. Help us, Lord, that we would turn from all of the compromise that we see in our age. and help us that we would stand strong and we would be good soldiers and that we would keep the faith and that we would declare your truth and recognize that we will be hated and opposed and we will be spoken of and talked about and all manner of evil will go on. And this is not because we are unfaithful. It is because we're doing what you told us to do. Encourage your saints, make us steel-spined in our service as warriors in the faith. And may you draw sinners into your fold. And may they come to Christ and find salvation in him. Father, we ask all of this in the name of Jesus Christ. And for his sake we pray, amen. Amen. Let's all stand together now as we prepare to be dismissed. Again, with the words of Holy Scripture, the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. And all of God's people said, amen, amen.