It is our joy today to have each of you, young people, welcome again. Another crowd, glad you're here. And we're very glad to have Pastor Robert Briggs with us from Sacramento. And brother, may the Lord bless you as his chosen servant this day. Well, the Lord has given us a good Scottish day today. Yesterday we had a California day. And today we have a Scottish day. You understand what I mean by that, don't you? Yesterday it was sunny, today it's raining. And I much prefer the sunshine now that I live in California, but it's nice to see the rain, which we don't see much of. And I want to just bring you the greetings of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Sacramento, California. It's the best kept secret in America that California is the best place to live in America. At least that's what I think anyway. And it is a great joy for me and a great honor and privilege to be here to speak, especially to the young people. I love young people because I'm a young person, but we have a lot of young people in our church and I'm very thankful for that. And it's a great responsibility as pastors to speak to the young people, to encourage you, to be in your lives, and to encourage you to walk with the Lord Jesus. But it's also good to be here at the church in Holland to renew my friendship with my dear friend Mark and Pastor Chansky. We've known each other now for 18 years and he has never changed. His hairstyle is exactly the same as it was when I met him 18 years ago but we're good friends over many years and I'm so glad that we can come here and it's funny because I forgot something that Pastor Chansky said when he was in Sacramento in December he kept talking about our purple chairs because we have purple chairs in our church but now I know why because he has purple chairs and I'd forgotten about that reality here in Holland that your chairs are the same color as our chairs Ah, okay, well, they must be burgundy as well, because they look exactly the same to me, so there you are. Maybe I am colorblind, Mark, maybe I am. Well, I'd like you to turn this morning, in the Word of God, in the time that we have in this first session, to Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12. Keep your Bible open there. I just want to say a couple of things before I read the text. We, as Christians, living in the 21st century, in American culture, are facing challenges that perhaps no other Christian generation has faced in the same way, every generation has its challenges, but in the same way as generations before us. Being a Christian in Western culture in our generation is challenging because we are living particularly at a time when our western culture, our western civilization is in deep, deep decline and in great, great trouble. Islam is looming large both in Europe and in America. And secularism is dominating the landscape in our generation. I may not live to see all that the implications of that actually plays out, but you, young people, more than likely will. And sadly, there are too many Christians, it seems to me, are simply not equipping themselves to deal with what it means to be a Christian in the 21st century and some would rather live as though they were Christians in the 17th century or even in the middle of the 20th century but we live in the 21st century and we've got to figure out how we would be faithful to Christ in our generation. Now I don't know if it's because God has put me in California and people see everything starts in California and goes across America and goes across the Atlantic and goes across Europe. I'm often caused to think about this but nevertheless we as Christians need to think through what it means to be a 21st century Christian and how we ought to live for the Lord and that's really what I want to speak to you about this morning and this afternoon and today in many ways it will be in broad strokes because we've only got a limited amount of time and I'm still in process as I'm thinking about these things and wrestling with these things but nevertheless The heart of what I want to say to you today is found here in Romans chapter 12 verses 1 and 2 and I'm sure for many of you if you've grown up in Christian homes especially under good biblical preaching as a number of you have, these are not unfamiliar words to you but I want to look at this today and consider this particular theme. Let's read Romans 12 verse 1. I appeal to you therefore brothers by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that by testing you may discern what is the will of God. What is good and acceptable and perfect? When I was your age, young people, these verses both challenged me and stirred me up to try and understand what is the good and perfect and acceptable will of God. And what I want to look at with you today is the whole issue that is really enshrined in that first part of verse two, when it says, do not be conformed to the world. Because I'm persuaded increasingly that as Christians, we often don't understand what that actually means. and we need to understand what that actually means because the reality is that we are in the world and that's where God has put us but at the same time we are not to be of the world but we often have no idea what that really looks like And so today I want to speak to you about biblical nonconformity in the 21st century. Now notice I said biblical nonconformity in the 21st century. This is not gonna be a history lecture on 17th century or 18th century or 19th century. You are 21st century human beings just as I am. Though I was born in the 20th century, I'm going to be living half of my life, if the Lord spares me, in the 21st century. I've got to figure this out. And so I want to speak to you today about biblical nonconformity, or what it means to be in the world, but at the same time called not to be of the world. And we're going to flesh this out in this first session and then, Lord willing, in our morning worship and tonight and our evening worship. And I'm pretty sure there'll be a lot of questions. will be thrown up with this and that's good because I want you to think today. I don't want you to have come to Holland to take your head off and stick it under the seat and not consider your faith but to think through these things. So this morning in this session that I have with you I'm just simply going to lay some foundational principles. First of all I want us to look at the challenge of non-conformity as I'm defining it for our time together. The challenge of non-conformity as I'm defining it because it's quite interesting. In John chapter 3 verse 16 you all know that it says, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. But then you go to John in first John 2 and John says do not love the world. So here we have these two ideas God loved the world, we're not to love the world. What does that mean? Yet Paul then says to the Christians in 1 Corinthians 5, in the context of church discipline, that when we're not to associate with the sexually immoral, he says but I do not mean those of the world, but those who are living hypocritical lives as professing Christians. So we read these texts and and they throw up is some confusion at times in our minds. How are we to relate to the world that God has put us in? That's really what I want us to think about in this first session. So let us consider the challenge as I'm defining it here. You see, it's one thing to read in your Bible, do not be conformed to this world, and it's another thing to actually understand what it means. When you put this back in its context you see then something very significant the apostle Paul is writing in Romans and if the book of Romans is not your favourite book then I want to know why it's not your favourite book because it's my favourite book and if it's my favourite book it should be your favourite book. The book of Romans as you know is about the gospel It's an exposition, an explanation of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul lays out very clearly the realities of man's depravity, the universality of sin in chapters one through three. Then he enters into explaining to us in chapters four and five how we are to be made right with God, and that is by grace through faith alone in Christ alone. And the implications of that are that we then live a holy life, we pursue holiness, we still have that internal struggle with remaining sin and that's what 7 and 8 are all about and then he opens up the glorious realities of election in 9, 10 and 11 and at the end of it he comes to this text and he says in the light of everything that I've said you should be totally committed to Jesus And you should not be conformed to this world but you should be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you might prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. And it's in that context that this text comes to us about non-conformity to the world. How are we to understand what that really means? Well, we need to understand, first of all, that we were born into the world as sinners who do conform to the world. In fact, we don't know any different when we're born into the world, because we come into the world as those who are strangers to God, as those who are enemies of God, as those who do not want God, but rather as those who want to try and live autonomously before God and we will imbibe and we will embrace the ideas of the world, the ways of the world, the spirit of the world and we will live at enmity with God. That's how we're born into the world. That's the bad news about humanity. But when God breaks into our life, sometimes As a child in our home, by our bedside, other times, to the preaching on the Lord's Day, and perhaps you go to college and that's where God breaks into your world, perhaps it might be later in life, nevertheless it is God who breaks in by the power of His Spirit, by His grace, and He quickens you and makes you alive to the realities of your own sinfulness, of your own enmity with God, of your own loss, of your need of a Savior, and that Savior is His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and you come and you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, then what happens is this great definitive transformation occurs, whereby you become a new creation. That's what conversion's really all about. The problem is that whilst you now become a new creation, you're still living in the old creation. And whilst you now have a heart set on things above and upon eternal issues, and there's been a change, and you now know your Creator, and you now trust in His Word, and you now believe in His Son, there's an internal struggle begins with your remaining sinfulness. And you're put into this place of tension, of pressure, of struggle, of conflict, You see, if you don't know anything about that this morning, then I don't believe you're a Christian. You need to have come to believe in Jesus and come through the narrow gate, as it were, and resting in Christ alone for the forgiveness of your sins and becoming dwelt by the Spirit if you would know anything about this internal struggle. the struggle with your remaining corruption, yet at the same time, this longing to please God, this sense of failing when you're not living the way the scriptures teach, and yet at the same time, this blessedness of knowing the forgiveness of sins through the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the realities are that you're now brought into this place where you are in the world, but you're not of it anymore. You're in it, but you're not of it. You've now been given this deposit of the Spirit of God who is of another world but you're still living in the world that has fallen and under God's curse and under God's condemnation and so when we think of biblical non-conformity we're thinking of living in this place of tension. pressure of conflict. And how are we going to do this? This is hard. This is difficult. This is not easy. In the words of Paul, and we'll probably get to this this afternoon in the Q&A, the good that I would, I do not. And that which I would not, that I do. You ever felt that? That's my life. Struggling with sin, thoughts, desires, even words I say I shouldn't say, things I do I shouldn't do, things I leave undone that I know I ought to have done, and you realize who can deliver me from this state? Only Jesus, only God by His grace. I'm in the world I'm not off this world anymore how then am I to live my life in this sense of biblical non-conformity well that's that's really the challenge that defined for you there's this challenge of tension of pressure of conflict of of turmoil as it were because you're now a new creation but you're still living in the old creation and let's sharpen the lens a little bit let's then consider this challenge examined because We've got to examine this issue a little bit further. As we live as new creations, as Paul calls us, in this world, with all that that means, we need to realize there are two pitfalls that we can... end up falling into. As with much in the Christian life, we've got to steer a steady path down a narrow road with ditches on either side of the road, and if we go one way, we'll fall into the ditch on the left, and if we go the other, we'll fall into the ditch on the right, and neither of those ditches are good places to be. Listen to John Stott in his last book that he ever wrote. He's still alive, but he penned this and he said this would be his last book, called Radical Disciple. On the one hand, we are to live, serve and witness in the world. On the other hand, we are to avoid becoming contaminated by the world. He then goes on to say, we are neither to seek to preserve holiness by escaping from the world, nor to sacrifice our holiness by conforming to the world. You see what he identifies? He identifies two ditches, two particular pitfalls, if you like, in seeking to live a life of biblical non-conformity. and more than likely this morning you're tempted one way or the other in regards to these things. I know I am and I know the pendulum can swing back and forward and I look back over my Christian experience and I realise it has swung this way and it can swing that way and then it can swing back that way. We've got to jump on the pendulum and get it back into the centre. What's the first pitfall? The first pitfall is that of escapism, escapism. Now what do I mean by escapism? Well in many ways I think it's a direct descendant of the old ascetic movement. It's the mindset that thinks, well in order not to conform to the world we don't go to the cinema, we don't speak to ungodly people, we don't go to places where there might be sinners. we basically withdraw more and more and more from any contact with anything to do with the world so perhaps even to the point we don't have a television, we don't have anything that might be in a sense infiltrating from outside in the world that might contaminate or influence, we might even decide you know it's so risky to even be near the world that we'll move to the hills and we'll hide away behind our white fence or our green fence or our blue fence or whatever color you want your fence to be. But the realities are we will run to the hills and we will hide away to avoid being contaminated or influenced by the world. When you survey evangelicalism in America over the past 50 years, I'm persuaded this has become the practice of far too many who profess to know Jesus. Now I want to qualify something I'm about to say here. We homeschool our children. okay but I have to say in my experience amongst the homeschooling movement in America and I've been in it for over seven years now I'm convinced that in some of the extremes of the homeschooling movement you hear what I said now I don't want a whole pile of homeschoolers attacking me after this message okay I had to say this to one of our women last week when I preached I said did you notice the word I used extremes of the homeschooling movement implication not everybody's extreme in their homeschooling okay but there are extreme people and they do exist and in some of the extremes you've seen this in the flight of many Christian families to either suburbia or further from suburbia to the hills as it were and created a little world of their own because they're in the world but they're not going to be of the world because they don't want even to touch the world and they live essentially hidden away in without any contact with the world of any meaning or relevance other than to make their little sorties into the supermarket, get their groceries and get back out. Into perhaps work and get back out. And they live with the shutters down and hunkered down because the world were not to be conformed to the world. Therefore, they take it as they're not of any contact with the world. They're not to relate to the world. Now, I want to say to you, young people, that's not how you understand this verse. That's not what the Apostle Paul, who, by the way, went to the biggest and most wicked cities of the ancient world with the gospel, means. How could it mean that if he went there and he engaged those cities? He would be a hypocrite to write this to us when he practiced something very different. And we find there are those who are so afraid of the world, they refuse to allow their children to play sports, to engage in the arts, to have any contact with ungodly, just in case the world contaminates. Now, what does this produce? Because it has produced something. Your conduct always produces something. It has produced too many Christians who are actually afraid of the world, to the point they don't have a clue how to relate to the world. They don't have a clue how to relate to the unsaved. They don't have a clue to how to relate to the culture around them. They don't have a clue how to engage the culture, engage the people who are lost and who are perishing. We find, what else does it actually tend to foster? I want to go further and say this. It fosters in many people, not only fear, but in terms of self-righteousness and pride. and arrogance and prejudice, something that even pastors cannot move out of their lives with nuclear weapons because they're so convinced this is what biblical non-conformity looks like. This is what being not conformed to the world is all about. But you see, I wanna show you something from 1 John. Turn there just for a minute. And keep your finger in Romans 12. We're gonna come back here. 1 John 2, verse 15. And I want you to ask yourself this question. Does the world that we're not to be conformed to have anything to do with contact with the ungodly? Now, I said contact with the ungodly. I didn't say conformity to the ungodly. I'm gonna deal with that in a minute. Look at what John says. Do not love the world of all 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. Now, this is the great thing about the Bible, right? Let the Bible define things. Let the Bible interpret itself. You say, well, the things of the world. Oh no, I mustn't love my baseball bat. I mustn't love my car. I mustn't love my soccer team. Now, don't misunderstand me. Okay, I understand these things can become idols but look at what the text says. Let God define what he means. For all that is in the world, what are those things? The desires of the flesh, the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions is not from the Father but is from the world. John's referring to those spiritual issues of the heart regarding the world and it's true you can have an inordinate love for your sports team, an inordinate pursuit or love for your career but that's a desire of the flesh. The sport is not a sin, the job is not a sin, it's the heart that's the problem. So when you go back to Paul in Romans 12 notice what he says, do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by what? The renewing of your mind, how you think, how you look at things, how you relate from the heart to the world and we need to understand that. The pitfall of escapism has in many ways, for many Christians, taken them out in the wrong sense, disconnected them from the world in the wrong sense, so that the reality is we no longer have any meaningful, effective engagement with the world for the glory of Christ and the furtherance of the gospel. And so as a result, we have to manufacture how we touch people's lives with the gospel. Whereas in reality it should be a natural thing for us if we're relating to people the way Christ calls us to relate to them. We should be able to talk to the guys at college. We should be able to talk to the people that we work with, telling them who we are, what we believe. The realities are we must be in their lives in a natural way. And I'm persuaded that there's a generation of young people, and it may well be that it's your young people, you're those young people, I don't know. I said this to my own young people last week in our own church. I don't want you to be a generation who are so disconnected from the world that you are irrelevant in the kingdom of God. I want you to figure this out. You know why I say that? Because above all generations in Western culture in the last couple of hundred years, yours is the generation that's gonna face some of the biggest challenges that the church has faced with the rise of Islam. 10 missionaries murdered on Thursday by the Taliban in Afghanistan, right? Don't say hostilities not out there. Secularisation continually in our nation, in Europe, anti-Christian sentiment continue. I may still live to see some of it, but if they come from me as an old man, they'll only be ushering me on to where I'm going fairly soon anyway. But for you, the very peak of your lives, the very central part of your lives, when you're at your, if you like, peak in life, could well be characterised by the fact that this whole thing is coming crashing down on the church. And you're going to have to know how to handle it. And it will not be by running to the hills. Because you're called to stand. And in the evil day, stand. So there's the danger of escapism. But then what's the other danger? And perhaps, I really got to emphasize this on the other side for you, the other ditch. We don't want to park our car, drive our car into that ditch. But we don't want to drive our car into the other ditch. And what is it? The pitfall of compromise. You see, Escapism is one pitfall that will disconnect you but at the same time the reaction to that and this is where I think perhaps the younger generation needs to hear a real word in season is there's a danger of compromise with the world so I don't want you to hear this weekend as I'm speaking to you about these things regarding biblical non-conformity and how to engage the culture and how to engage our generation that I'm saying to you that you go in and you compromise your faith and perhaps that's the greater danger that you will face, assimilation with the world, rather than that distinctive engagement with the world without the compromise of the world. You see, the danger that you face is trying to figure out, well, okay, pastor, you're telling us that we're too engaged, but how do we do that? Because that's a challenge in itself, because we can so easily become like the world when we're engaged with the world, and that's absolutely true. That's absolutely true and I want to emphasize to you this morning that whilst we're in the world we are not to be of the world and that these texts are in the Bible for a reason because Paul knew this, Paul understood this as a man who engaged the world he sought to live as one who was not of the world but he knew well the temptations and the dangers of becoming like the world and as new creations in Christ, being called to engage the world but not be of the world, this is perhaps your greatest danger. As you react against escapism, perhaps, and you begin to want to know, well, how do we relate to the world? There's the big danger that you will just simply assimilate with the world, become like the world, and you will lose any effectiveness. And in some quarters in America, that's happening. In some places today, people really think, well, to win the world, you've got to become like the world. But that's not what the Bible teaches. We know in our generation that we must engage this culture, but we need to figure out how are we gonna do it. Because we're gonna face the challenges of the ethics of the world. You just have to listen to your news, okay? You're gonna hear the ethics of the world being propagated. California just recently, again, they've overturned the issue regarding homosexual marriage, and the battle is back on. We knew it would be, it ain't going away. Are we going to simply compromise and say it doesn't really matter then, you know, really homosexuality is a civil rights issue? It's not a civil rights issue, it's a moral issue. We must stand for it. Now we don't have to say it in a belligerent, bombastic, nasty way, we ought not to say it that way, but we've got to say, look, to equate being an African American with being a homosexual is outrageous. that's essentially what they're saying. Well the African-American had to fight for their civil rights and now the homosexual is fighting for their civil rights and we who would deny the homosexual their right to marriage and defining it and redefining it, we're really bigoted, sectarian, we're going to be called names. So we stand against the ethics of the world, the philosophies of the world, the values of the world, but we're called, you see, to follow Christ's values. Now, of course, to follow Christ's values, we need to know what they are. We need to understand them. In the arena of what is right and wrong, Christ must be our guide, not man. In the arena of an accurate worldview, Christ's worldview must be our worldview. That has immense ramifications on things like who created us and where did we come from. If Jesus says in the beginning, God, and we're following Jesus, are we faithful to him when we say, yeah, but he might've got that part wrong. You've got to think this through. And in college and in society, you're going to be put under pressure in the arena of morality and justice and social issues. Christ must be our guide. And so it must be in the realm of our politics, our economics, our education, our commerce, our morality, our science, our ethics. All of it is touched by the lordship of Jesus. And we must not be ashamed of that. We must stand for that. Turn to Colossians chapter 2 just for a moment. Colossians chapter 2. Listen to what Paul says here to the church at Colossae that was under pressure to conform to the world, that was under pressure to compromise with the world. As they were engaging the ancient culture, there was much coming against them. There were those even getting into the ranks that were propagating heresy and error. There were others outside putting them under pressure. Here's what Paul says to the Colossians, and if he says it to them, he's saying it to us today. In Colossians 2, verse 6, Notice clearly what he says here, therefore as you receive Christ Jesus the Lord so walk in him rooted and built up in him and established in the faith just as you were taught abounding in thanksgiving See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition, according to, now notice what he says, the elemental spirits of the world and not according to Christ. for in Christ the whole fullness of the deity dwells bodily and you have been filled in him who is the head of all rule and authority. Notice in him also you are circumcised with a circumcision made without hands by putting off the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. You become a new creation and you must begin to think as a new creation and you must begin to live as a new creation and what that involves is this that you are not taken in by the philosophies of the world, the human traditions of the world, the things that are influencing the world spiritually, you must be, in your union with Christ, faithful to Christ and Christ alone. Now young people, listen to me. That's a lifetime pursuit, right? That's a lifetime of working out your faith with fear and trembling. But it's a glorious life, though at times it's a hard life. But it's also the only life to live. And you must be persuaded of that reality. If you're not persuaded of that, if you're not convinced of that, that only in Christ do we come to eternal glory, you're never going to handle engagement with the world. You will compromise and you will fall away. You see, in terms of our whole lifestyle, we are to be radically Christian. if that even means at some point we're called not American. And I'm convinced that's going to be something that's going to come up in the not too distant future. Now I know for many of you, the old Stars and Stripes, and I love the American National Anthem. I want to be an American citizen. I've got two years to wait. I want to sing that National Anthem. Because you might win the World Cup one day. Scotland will never win it. That's my only reason for becoming an American citizen, that my country will win the World Cup. Not really, but the realities are we may be called one day non-American because we don't buy into the secular stuff, the philosophies, the human traditions that have been brought in by those who are anti-God. We've got to be ready for that. Our loyalty must be to King Jesus above all else. And so I challenge you this morning to think about that pit of compromise because You're going to be drawn towards this continually, and we're going to resist that, but at the same time, as we resist compromising and engaging with the world, we're not going to run to the hills. And that brings me then to the third thing I want to say before we close this introductory session. We want to consider this challenge then taken up by us as God's people. And really, in many ways, the rest of the day is really gonna be this challenge taken up. But I wanna just, in some broad strokes, deal with some issues that I think are big issues, and then we're gonna narrow it down a little bit more the rest of the day. Listen to John Stott again, speaking of nonconformity. He says, it is a call to develop a Christian counterculture. It is a call to engagement without compromise. And if Stodd is correct, and I believe he is correct in regards to his analysis, we're called to be in this world but not of this world and understand the world around us and what is going on and the trends and the traditions that are coming at us and the philosophies that are trying to draw us in away from the simplicity of Christ and the gospel. And we need to be able to discern, as Paul tells us, the wiles of the devil that are governing and destroying the lives of so many people in our Western culture. And I think there are at least three significant trends that you're going to have to come to terms with and stand against, as I am, if we are to be faithful to the Lord and not conform to the world and maintain a biblical non-conformity. The first one is the trend of pluralism. America is not a Christian country. I hope that doesn't shock any of you. It's a pluralistic country. Now what do I mean by pluralistic? This is the trend that promotes the idea that every worldview and every religion and every opinion is of equal value and validity. So we really, this morning, if we were really being faithful Americans, as it were, with this new idea, we would have the imam here, the Muslim imam, we'd have the Jewish rabbi, we would have me, and we'd have a wicked witch, and we'd have another person, and all of our opinions are equally valid, and we just talk about them, and hey, we all live in this wonderful world of unity and harmony, because there's a big rope hanging down from heaven with many different parts, and it doesn't matter which one you get, it's all gonna bring us up there. That's America. Until a Christian stands up and says, well, there's a problem with Jesus, because here's what he says. I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one, no one, no one comes to the Father except by me. C.S. Lewis put it right, hasn't he? Jesus was either a bad man, which means he's lying, a mad man, which means he's a lunatic to make such claims, or the God-man, in which he's telling the truth. And you have to determine which one you believe. I believe he's the God-man. I believe he is the only savior of sinners. Now, if he is the only savior of sinners, please answer this, are these other views of equal value, of equal validity. I'm not saying people are not at liberty to hold them, but that doesn't mean that we say, it's okay, you'll get to heaven as a Muslim, you'll get to heaven as a Jew, you'll get to heaven as a secularist, even though you don't believe in Jesus Christ. You see, if you're a true Christian, you can't compromise with that. and pluralism wants you to compromise pluralism wants you to embrace this agenda and if you do that you lose the gospel and Christ is of no effect and there is no salvation really in Christ he's really a liar that's why you have to be careful even when we watch our news programs our political programs and had a bit of fun with my children this when I preached this last week in Sacramento I said this to my children, you know, I said this from the pulpit, I said, you know, from time to time, I watch Glenn Beck. From time to time, I watch Sean Hannity. From time to time, I watch Bill O'Reilly. My children got into the car and said, Dad, you told a lie in the pulpit. I said, what? You said from time to time, you watch all the time. In their mind, of course, I do, because when I'm watching that, they don't get to watch what they want to watch. But I said this to my congregation. I said, you know, I've learned a lot from these men, and I enjoy some of these programs, but beware. They are no friends of Jesus. If you tell them straight, there's only one way for men to get to heaven, and Jesus is the only way, you're going to see their anti-Christian spirit manifest itself. They're pluralists. They may be right in some areas politically, if that's your perspective. They may have great lessons and things to teach us and some good books to recommend. We read about our history and all of that, and you may enjoy some of that reality, but listen, they are pluralists, and we must listen carefully and not be drawn in. Our loyalty is to Jesus and Jesus alone, and we need to know the difference. between some of the things that are being propagated there and the things that the gospel teaches. And if you don't believe that this pluralism is truly a trend that is basically governing and dominating our country, then the next time you go to school or the next time you go onto campus, go among some people that you know are not Christians and tell them of the exclusiveness of Jesus. And you'll soon find out how hostile they really are. regarding such an idea that there would only be one way to get to heaven. If you embrace pluralism, you may as well throw your Bible away, because the Bible is very clear. Jesus Christ is the only savior of sinners, and we have to stand firm. But that's not the only trend. There's the trend of materialism. And I preach this in California, perhaps the most materialistic state in America, I don't know. But the realities are that since the Second World War, the West has grown in immense material prosperity and material wealth. If you were born in the UK or you were born in the US, it means you were born in the top 2% of the wealthiest people in the world. And you may say, well, in comparison with some of the people in America, I'm not very wealthy. That may be, but in comparison with a majority of the world, you're wealthy. What does that say? And whilst there's a sense in which we're all materialists, we believe this is actually here and it's made of wood and it's material, it's physical, the reality is that we've got to recognize that we're living in a culture that is committed really to the inordinate pursuit. Now hear what I said, the inordinate pursuit of material comfort and wealth at the expense of everything else. We have on our dollar bill in God we trust. It really should say in the dollar we trust. People want to fight about it, but the reality is, the minute the economy starts to take a turn for the wrong direction, people lose all confidence in the living God. I have a friend who lives in New Jersey, and a number of years ago, he worked in the stock exchange in New York, and when they had that first big crash a number of years ago, I remember him telling me that grown men fell to their knees and howled and wept as they watched their shares drop. Why? Because their confidence was in their material wealth. Now don't misunderstand me, and I'm not insensitive. We've got a number of our men are unemployed right now because the economy is taking a dip. And don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying that I want an unhealthy economy. But if God called us all to live in two-bedroom condominiums for the sake of the gospel, could we do it? Could we do it joyfully unto the Lord? Would we be willing to do it? We've just had one of our families, because the construction business has tanked, one of our families, and I've been involved in counselling with them, had to basically downsize from a beautiful five-bedroom home to a small three-bedroom home. And in that three-bedroom home, they're going to have a lot of work to do, but the simple reason is, economically, it's necessary to do this, rather than try and hold on to the material prosperity or the house that they had got because of material prosperity, but they're willing to do it. Why? That they might live within their means. And young people, one of my greatest burdens for you is the terrible debt that's been racked up in America today. It's gonna come crashing down on your heads. But here's the issue. You must not have your hearts fail for fear. I heard the other day, time it gets to my turn for social security, which I pay about $7,000 a year to, there's going to be no money left. And in my heart, I was like, angry. I'm paying for that. And there's going to be nothing left when I get there. 2000 and, what is it, 37 or something. I'm working out my age. I'm 43. I'm thinking, OK, there's going to be nothing left. Why am I paying this? Wait, that's it. I'm not going to pay it anymore. I was struggling with this in my heart. And what I realized was, my confidence is in money. I've got a carnality that needs to be mortified. I need to trust in the Lord and be persuaded, okay, I may not be able to live in the home I live in right now when I'm a retired man, though I'm never going to retire, but the reality is I've got to be willing to make that sacrifice for Christ. You see, the reality is conformity to the world is to buy into its materialistic way of life. And we must stand against that. We must be willing to say that we are not going to go there. Here's what John Stott says regarding materialism. Life on earth is a brief pilgrimage between two points of nakedness. Now think through the implications of that. Too many Christians are caught in the snare of materialism and whether they've ran to the hills in the naive notion they'll escape the world or whether they're now compromising with the world, they have become slaves to their credit cards, they have become slaves to the realities of pursuing bigger and better things and more and more toys. Now don't misunderstand me, bless God that there are rich men in the kingdom of God. I'm not saying that we all suddenly are to become living in two-bedroom condominiums. God has blessed his people, and we rejoice in that. But you see, God gives to men those kind of things who can handle those kind of things. He doesn't give to others those things because they're not ready to handle those things. And the vast majority of us are just average rank-and-file people with average rank-and-file jobs. My father was a mailman. And he was a hardworking man all his days, 40 years he worked hard. And he built up what he could build up. And he gave us, my brother and I, a good life, materially speaking. He's now in a good position where he has no debt. No debt whatsoever, not even a car payment. He's 76 years old. That's why he's able to come to California every year and see me and give me all his money. But the realities are, we've got to be careful, you see, young people. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. And I can assure you, you will have no lack. There'll still be food to eat. There'll still be enough. Don't buy into the American dream idea. The American dream idea has no basis in Scripture. We're called to be those who seek first the kingdom of God. We're to live as pilgrims in a foreign land. Materialism is all around us. It's the headline in the news continually, isn't it? And the figures and the statistics and all of that. We've got to resist that. Not that it's not interesting, not that we shouldn't be concerned about a good economy, as I've said, but nevertheless, we are called to be those who are in the world but not of it. And then finally, let me say this. There is this grave trend in our society of narcissism. Now, there's a sense of which I'm not really particularly delighted with that term, it's more of a psychological term but nevertheless it does convey something. You know what narcissism is? Well the word came from the story of Narcissus who was a character in Greek mythology and he kept seeing himself in his own, seeing his own reflection in a pond that he would walk by and he so fell in love with his reflection himself, that he fell in the pond and he drowned. He was full of self-interest, self-love, self-concern. There was an inordinate interest in himself. That is the very antithesis of the gospel. To be a Christian you're called first and foremost to deny yourself. And we've got to work out what that is. You know, one of the concerns I have amongst Reformed Baptists is the fact that preaching on self-denial seems to have disappeared. a lot of places. I think it's coming back and I praise God for that but we need to realise we're called to a life of self-denial, not self-indulgence, not self-interest, not self-pursuit, not self-promotion. We're called to a life of self-denial but what do we see around us in our culture? We see people who are so consumed up with themselves that they've really got no interest in the good of others. Whether it's in the political world which is just full of narcissism, or in the commercial world where it's dog-eat-dog, or in the sports world where we see the narcissist on the sports field. or the education world or the scientific world. We see this self-interest, this self-love. What do we find? Self-esteem gurus are everywhere. Lovers of self, the Bible says, will be dominating the world in the period before the coming of Christ. Promoters of self, they're all over the media and the entertainment world. People are told when they have a problem, look inward to yourself. and draw out your inner strengths and you'll fix it, rather than their call to deny themselves and look away to another who alone is able to deal with the issues of the soul, the Lord Jesus himself. Too many Christians fail to see the influence of narcissism even in their own lives. One of the things that The Lord has been showing me recently in my own life, even in my marriage with my wife, as we've sat and talked about things, is how self-centered I can be. Even to the point where I just expect she'll have my breakfast on the table. I mean, I'm really good at making cereal, and I'm really good at pouring orange juice, but beyond that, I ask my wife to fix my breakfast, even when she's got other things on. And the reality is I can be very selfish, very self-centered, very self-opinionated. You ever struggle with any of that? That's America, that's our culture but we're called to resist that trend and not be a people of self-interest and self-indulgence and self-serving. We're called to be a people of self-denial, to give ourselves away in the service of Jesus and in the service of others expecting nothing in return. That's the problem isn't it? We'll do it as long as we're going to get something back. What's that? That's narcissism. selfishness, self-interest. I'll do this if they'll do that for me. And the challenges of that are all around us in our generation. Christians are called to live as those who enjoy the love of God, at being shed abroad in their hearts to the point where we've learned, you know what? We've got to die to ourselves. We've got to die to our own desires for the sake of our neighbours. We've got to die even to our own desires for the sake of our enemies. Now, I'm going to deal with that a little bit later tonight, but the reality is, this is what true Christianity looks like. And so we suddenly realise, don't we, there's a lot more about the world in us than we like to admit. Maybe not so much the pluralism, But let's be honest, the materialism and the narcissism, they're pretty prevalent even amongst us as the people of God. And we've got to identify that, and we've got to take this text that Paul is teaching us here, and the text in John, and we've got to say, hold on a little minute. The desires of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, this is what worldliness is. We need to deal with it. We need to put it to death. We need to put it away and we need to begin to adorn Christ. Self-denial. We need to be those who are willing to lay down our lives in dealing with these realities. And so, as we move forward today, we're going to look at this idea of biblical non-conformity. To be in the world but not of the world. As those who have been rescued by grace and brought into this place of tension and pressure and conflict, as those who are new creations. We don't want to, on the one hand, believe that we're to run to the hills and escape, but we've got to be careful that we're not going to compromise with the world and become like the world. And we've got to think this issue through with regards to the many issues that come at us, whether it be pluralism, whether it be materialism or narcissism. We've got to recognize there are many other trends we could look at. We have to be a people who are solidly committed to Jesus. and working out our salvation with fear and tremble, and seeking then to be true biblical nonconformists in the 21st century. May God help us today as we interact with these things and we look at these things and we open up passages in the Scriptures to be saying, Lord, I am in the world, you put me here, but I don't want to be of the world. Help me to understand what that means. Teach me what it means to be a Christian. who lives in the 21st century, who is engaging with the culture, but not conforming by your grace. Amen. Let's pray. Father, I thank you for these dear young people and for the privilege of being here in Holland and opening up your word. And I pray, Lord, as we would traffic in these things from your word regarding biblical nonconformity, that you would help us, Lord. We confess to you, Father, that at times we're confused, at times we are guilty, Lord, of wanting to run for the hills, and at other times we're guilty simply of just compromising with the world. We pray, Father, you would help us by your spirit today to understand what it means to be a Christian in this fallen world and in this particular century in which you've put us. You ordained it that we live now, and you've ordained the boundaries of our habitation, and we need your grace, we need your help, Lord, to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, that we might be a faithful people. to the Lord of glory who has loved us and given himself for us. Oh, Father, hear us. This morning we pray, bless our day. May we know your presence and your power, and may you guide us by the light of your word and the enablement of your spirit to be faithful in all things, for we ask it in Jesus' name, amen.