Your World View

In the title of the sermon today, Your World View, the subtitle would be Understanding Today's World. What is your worldview and why is it important? First of all, we might ask, what is a worldview? Your worldview defines your core values, determines how you view yourself in relationship to the peoples of the world. Furthermore, it shapes how you think about all facets of life and the responsibilities you have in fulfilling your reason for being. Your d'or raison d'etre, as the French call it. Your worldview should include your view toward marriage and family. It should include societal structure, relationship with others, and of course, first and foremost, your relationship with God, and then the various institutions, financial, political, how the world is governed, how do you view the world and all of its functions.

Arthur Holmes states that the need for a worldview is fourfold one, the need to unify thought and life. Most people don't even think about a worldview. They don't think about much peoples in other parts of the world. They don't think about a coherent worldview in which they are able to rationally sit down and think through why they believe what they believe about politics, about the economy, about the government, about their view of marriage and family, about so many things, and once again, more especially, their relationship with God. A worldview also helps you to define the good life and find hope and meaning in life.

What do you want out of life? What do you expect? And what kind of hope do you have and what do you base that hope on? It also helps you guide your thoughts and the need to guide your actions. So do you think about life from this point of view? Jerry Solomon writes, we're challenged to sort through a vast mixture of worldviews on a daily basis, and we're continually bombarded in today's world through the various media.

All kinds of worldviews are tossed before us, and ever present within our world today is what's called the Hegelian dialectic. Maybe you've never heard the term Hegelian dialectic. Hegel was a German philosopher in the mid-1800s who came up with the idea of thesis-antithesis. You present a thesis on the one hand, and on the other hand, you have the counterpoint running against it. And Marx uses this to a great degree when he developed the idea of communism, of thesis-antithesis, the great struggle going on between those who own the capital and the means of production and the working class. And eventually these merge form a great synthesis, and the world marches into a new era.

While virtually every news program today that you see, what you're going to see are two opposing viewpoints. They have mastered the Hegelian dialectic. You have the positive side for whatever it is. You have the negative side for whatever it is. Okay, if it's Republican-Democrat, you have a Republican advocate. You have a Democratic advocate. If you're talking about free trade, you have those who refer it and those who again it.

And it just goes down the line. And furthermore, they've also today mastered this art of opinion polls. And we saw this week where Google is tracing some of your searches, especially on disease, with regard to flu. Like if there are a lot of people in Georgia searching flu, then it goes to the Center for Disease Control. The Center for Disease Control knows that there's probably an outbreak of a flu going to take place in Georgia, or that they are already in a mild epidemic or whatever.

So everything today is continually presented from this point of view of two contrasting opinions. One hand, we could call it positive, negative, negative. And the goal is this synthesis. And we march on to a greater reality, as they might call it. Don't forget that. And remember the next time you turn on a news program, and when you turn on such things as Bill O'Reilly, Hannity, and Combs, and a whole host of others, including Anderson 360 on CNN, Lou Dobbs is about the only one on CNN.

It's one way with Lou, and that is, you ain't coming across the border unless we invite you. But for the rest, it's pretty much these two opposing viewpoints. And out of this is supposed to come the great synthesis. And you're continually bombarded, and you're continually being brainwashed and manipulated by these people.

Solomon goes on to say, worldviews are so much a part of our lives that we see and hear them daily, whether we recognize them or not. For example, movies, television, music, magazines, newspapers, government, education, science, art, and all other aspects of culture are affected by worldviews. If we ignore their importance, we do so to our detriment. What is being presented to you through the various media is where the world is going. And to ignore it, and to barrier head in the sand, and to think that it won't impact you in the short run oftentimes, but especially in the long run, is to deceive yourself. You know, every year, dozens of youth from the United Church of God families graduate and leave home. The majority pursues some form of higher education. Basically, higher education is designed to advance a worldview that denies the spirit world described in the Bible. It's basically designed to advance the idea that God does not exist, that we live in a world that is how we describe why there is anything. I guess according to them, it would be through chance. There is a universe, and there are human beings, and there's life on earth. But that is the worldview that is more and more being advanced, and millions, billions being spent to try to convince you that that is the case. When our young people go out today, most of them have been taught in the so-called outcome-based education. And you can easily be deceived by that. We desire certain outcomes. Just a few years ago, when we were pursuing accreditation, it was called objective-based education. This thing has been paraded out under a number of different umbrellas and titles through the years. And to a certain degree, it's good. At the end of this course, the student will be expected to name, to list, every county in Texas. Well, I doubt you can do that. There are over 400 counties. Very few people could. But at one time, I taught Mississippi history, and there were 82 counties, 82 county seats, and I could rattle all of them off. I could come close today, but I would miss some. See, teaching to the test. You teach to the test. At the end of this course, you'll be able to name all the U.S. presidents. Or, you know, you could go on and on with the outcome that you desire. But what does this do? To a certain degree, okay, you fill your head with knowledge. You're able to regurgitate it, maybe on a standardized test or certain testing instruments. But when it comes to the ability to think, to analyze, to critique, to really determine the truth of a matter, it is largely lost. You know, about the best they can do today, they know Saturday Night Live satire. Oh yeah, we can all do Saturday Night Live satire. But can we really analyze, critique, and think through a situation? All these people, they might talk of the human spirit and spiritual experiences, but they will not advance the worldview of Jesus Christ, nor will they admit that evil spirit, that an evil spirit led by Satan and the demons, even exist. Obviously, if they don't believe God exists, they're not going to acknowledge the existence of a great evil prince of the power of the air, Satan the devil. So let's examine, for example, two contrasting views of the world. There are two Greek words translated as world in the New Testament. One is cosmos, spelled k-o-s-m-o-s, or some spell it c-o-s-m-o-s. It has to do with the order and arrangement of the universe. And then there's a second word that is translated world in the New Testament, and that Greek word is aeon, a-i-o-n, and it means this age. In Matthew 13, let's turn there, please, Matthew 13, verse 39, we can see clearly that this aeon, this age, is going to end.

In Matthew 13 and verse 39.

The enemy that sowed them is the devil, the harvest, is the aeon of the world, the end of the age. The harvest will come at the end of the age, not at the end of the cosmos, but at the end of the world. And the reapers are the angels. You know, there is a study in philosophy, astronomy, called cosmology, having to do with the study of the order, the arrangement, the development of the universe. Now, people who are uneducated and not skilled in what the Bible says think that cosmos is going to end. That is the world order. Now, there is a certain order that is going to end in the cosmos, but is that what is meant? For example, when we look at Matthew 16 and verse 26. Look at Matthew 16 and verse 26. Matthew 16 and verse 26.

For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole cosmos? That's not the end of the age, if he shall gain the whole world order. And of course, one of the things that they're talking about, and I have an article here that I'll perhaps read, Gordon Brown, Prime Minister of Great Britain, said that in this meeting that they're having Washington, D.C., that we have an opportunity to develop a new world order, a new world financial system and order. Of course, that term, new world order, hastens back to George Bush Senior, back during the days when Iraq did their invasion and we intervened there in the early 90s. We have the opportunity to forge a new world order.

So here in verse 26, what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world, the physical literal sense, and lose his own soul? Or what shall it profit a man? Or what shall he give in exchange for his soul? In Matthew 28, 19, verses 28, 19, and 20, we see what is called the Great Commission to the Church. And once again, we see this word, world, used in the King James translation. Matthew 28, 19, Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the Aeon, to the end of this age, not the end of the literal physical world. In John 12, 31, we see that the prince in Greek, its archon, or ruler of the world, is Satan, and he is going to be cast out. So we don't want our worldview based on what Satan has to offer because this age and the way it is currently structured is going to come to an end. But human life is not going to cease upon the return of Jesus Christ. As we know, there's much, much more to the story and much more that has to be done. In John 12, 31, Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sake, now is the judgment of this world, this Aeon, and now shall the prince, the archon, the ruler of this world, be cast out. The ruler of this world. Who is the ruler of this present evil age? According to Jesus Christ, it is Satan, the devil. Now we turn further here, turn forward to 2 Corinthians 4.4, and we see the apostle Paul reiterates this in 2 Corinthians 4 and verse 4.

Satan is the god of this world. Christ says that he is the ruler of this world and that he's casting him out. Satan is to be cast out of our lives now, but he will not be totally cast out from influence on this world and its society until the day of atonement is fulfilled in the spiritual sense. Satan has an office. His influence is worldwide. God revealed at the Tower of Babel. Let's turn there to Genesis 11. I'll be talking as you turn there. He revealed at the Tower of Babel that his plan for the nations of the world is to have sovereign nations, none of whom would be allowed absolute control over all the earth. You know, what would be one of the main reasons why he would do that? Well, this Tower of Babel was built by Nimrod, who was a mighty hunter before the Lord, who set himself up in the place of God. He wanted the peoples of the world to look to him for their protection, for their care, and that he in turn would provide them security. But you've got to give your loyalty and allegiance to him. That's the price that you pay. Maybe we'll look at a couple of verses here in Genesis 10 leading up to this. Genesis 10a, Cush begotten Nimrod, he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Eternal. That means setting himself up, as Satan had done earlier when he rebelled, who said, I will be like the Most High that you read about in Isaiah 14. He was a mighty hunter before the Eternal, whereof it is said, even as Nimrod, the mighty hunter before the Eternal. Then you'll notice what did he do? And the beginning of his kingdom, that is Nimrod's kingdom, the beginning of his kingdom is Babel and Enoch and Akkad, Kalna in the land of Shinar. And Babel, of course, or Babel, whichever one you want to call it, is in Shinar. Now in Genesis 11, what you find out is that God had given a command to Noah for them, that is, for humankind to be fruitful, to multiply, and replenish the earth. Now that is the second best obeyed commandment. And that's a joke, but it's true, because people can reproduce.

But the best obeyed commandment, I think I've already told you this, thou shall not eat pork. But anyhow, in Genesis 11.1, and the whole earth was of one language and of one speech, and it came to pass as they journeyed from the east. See, God had given them their inheritances. He had set the bounds and habitations of the nations, and the table of nations is found there in Genesis 10. So as they began to journey forth, they were of all one language. And as they journeyed from the east, they found the plain in the land of Shinar, where Babel is, and they dwelt there, and they said one to another, Go let us make brick, burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, slime for mortar. And they said, Let's build us a tower, a city, whose top may reach into heaven. Let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. This was in direct disobedience to what God had said. Be fruitful, multiply, go replenish the earth, go to your various inheritances. The Nimrod, seeing the opportunity to rule over all of humankind, began to build this tower. And of course, God was greatly displeased. Verse 5, he looked down, he saw it. Verse 6, it says that people have become as one, and nothing will be restrained from them, which they imagined to do. So he went down, as you know, confounded the languages, which forced them to go into their various inheritances. God is the author of nations and sovereign nations. And he didn't intend that they all be gathered together as one. But see, that's the whole human cry in recent times, is to gather the nations together, and a new world order and sovereignty, national sovereignty, is to go by the boards. Now, they haven't yet got China on board with that, as you've read. But of course, to some degree, they are on board, because the goose that has been laying the golden egg for China is the United States of America, and its rampant consumerism, without which, if they didn't have all of these dollars coming in, and this great export market, then their slave labor might not be able to survive. But in the last days, Satan inspiring the Antichrist will become a supreme dictator over the entire earth. This dictatorship is going to be religious, political, and economic. We can see this political control if you turn to Revelation 13.8. First of all, the religious control in Revelation 13 and verse 8.

Revelation 13 and verse 8. And they that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the Lamb's Book of Life slain from the foundation of the world. Verse 7. It was given unto him to make war with the saints, overcome them. Power was given to him over all kindreds and tongues and nations. And whosoever named not written in the Lamb's Book of Life will be deceived, and they will worship him. It is political and economic as in verse 16. He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond to receive a mark in their right hand or in their forehead, heads that no man might by herself save he that has the mark in the name of the beast and the number of his name. So Satan has a powerful office. He is a ruler of this present evil age, and you'd better believe that he is about his business, his insatiable quest to be worshipped. He's going to appear on the scene more and more as time goes on. The world has been conditioned through many wars and rumors of war, desire for peace at almost any cost. Headlies today scream, desire for peace and safety. Even in the past few days, Israel had elected a woman who is the foreign minister, Levi or Livni, but she was not able to form a coalition government. The various factions. Israel has 40-something different political factions. So, Olmert is still basically the the prime minister. And even in recent days, he's talking about what Israel will be willing to cede to the Palestinians for peace. Parts of Jerusalem, the West Bank, basically going back to the borders before the 67th war. So, some people are willing to give almost anything for peace. And in the midst of these great troubles and trials and upheavals, eventually, Satan and Antichrist will appear. Recent events on the world financial scene have brought Satan much closer to realizing his insatiable quest to be worshipped.

We've seen a meltdown of the world's global financial system. And as I mentioned earlier in the announcement, President Bush has called for this global summit. I'm now reading from an article from the UK. Brown seeks new world order. Prime Minister Gordon Brown will call on fellow world leaders to seize the opportunity created by the current worldwide economic crisis to create a, quote, truly global society. Mr. Brown will use a high-profile speech in the city of London. I don't know if you've ever studied city of London, but if you haven't, you have a search engine you put in city of London. City of London is a city within a city in London. It is the financial capital of Europe. It is where the great it is tantamount to equal to the wall wall street in the US. High-profile speech in the city of London to say that Britain, the US, and Europe should join together to provide leadership in the creation of a stronger and more just international order. He also promised on Sunday to work with US President-elect Barack Obama to build a new global society in which the markets are subjected to morality and ordinary people's interests are put first. In electing Mr. Obama, US voters, this is a quote from Brown, showed their belief in the progressive agenda of government intervention to help families and businesses through the current crisis. A little bit of a lesson in history and economics and politics here, and most of you who are older should know this, and most of you are older. The South was solidly democratic until when? It was solidly democratic until John F. Kennedy. Now, what was the big thing that shifted during the days of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson? Well, sadly and unfortunately, it was the issue of civil rights and integration, which was a shameful thing. Of course, it was segregation in the South, but what they were advocating was integration. It was a shameful thing. I grew up in the South. As a little boy, I worked in the fields during the week, and on Saturday, my parents would give me three dollars. I would go down, I'd walk about a mile, and I would catch the bus into town. I think it cost 25 cents. And then I would go to the various sporting goods store, swing the bus, and I would go to the various sporting goods store, swing the bats, try on the gloves, feel the baseballs, throw the football, whatever. Then we'd go to the Strand Theater and have the double-feature Gene Autry shoot them up on Saturday afternoon and then go home. The South was solidly democratic until then. Some of those stores I'd go to, I'd go to SH Crest. None of you have ever been to Crest, or what you call it, Crest is an F.W. Woolworth. There would be two drinking fountains. One would say colored, one would say white. Then if you caught the city bus, white sat in the front, colored, black went to the back. It was a shameful thing. And we, I think we have repented of that, but that's a part of the history. I recruited the first black person to play at a four-year college in the state of Mississippi. I personally recruited him from KK Country. So don't talk to me about prejudice and that kind of thing. But the point is, you see in the old country song, I think it's by Alabama, where he talks about the South. And there's a line in there that says, and Mr. Roosevelt's going to save us all. See, coming off of Hoover, see Wall Street didn't do a thing, and neither did the government or the Fed to try to help Hoover out of the crash in the 20s. Then Roosevelt came in with all the public works projects. They began to build roads and bridges, and some of the schools in the South did not have a gymnasium until the 50s, some into the 60s.

But then when the Civil Rights Movement began in the 60s, the South switched to Republican. Then after Lyndon Johnson didn't run, Nixon was elected, left office in disgrace, and so a Democrat barely squeaked in in the late 70s. Carter's administration was really quite an abysmal failure. Interest rates, you want to talk about interest rates? 20 percent. I remember having a couple of little T-bills during the late 70s. I got 18 percent return. Now I'm getting, on my T-bill that I have now, I'm getting .5 percent. One half of one percent. So Reagan came in, and we hear about Reaganomics today, and Reagan began the deregulation, and that started the great mergers of the great corporations. The led to Enron and all kinds of things. Now that's not to say he didn't do a lot of good things. He did. But I'm just here, that's a little lesson of how the transition took place. First of all, took place over integration, civil rights. Then it moved to economics, and now the two hottest things has to do with homosexuality and abortion.

See, my daddy was a working man, and he spent between 25 and 30 years in a door mill where his job was to stand over this belt sander and push those doors through and sand them and make them smooth. And what do you get from that? Well, you get all this dust flying up into your face and in your eyes. And it was only because of the unions that they finally went from getting a dollar and something in an hour to maybe three and a half an hour. And man, you thought you were getting rich in the 50s in making almost a hundred dollars a week. And they began to have a little bit of health insurance and so on. So there's a whole big story here with regard to this thing about economics and politics.

Brown goes on to say, the alliance between Britain and the U.S. and more broadly between Europe and the U.S. can and must provide leadership, not in order to make the rules ourselves, but to lead the global effort to build a stronger and more just international order.

He goes on to say, the transatlantic relationship has been the engine of effective multilateralism for the past 50 years. As America stands at its own dawn of hope, so let that hope be fulfilled through a pack with a wider world to lead and shape the 21st century as a century of a truly global society. That is their goal, and to eventually have a common currency that no man could buy or sell unless they have that currency. And of course, President Bush is hosting that. So higher education and media base their worldview almost entirely on human reasoning. However, the reason to reason from a set premise that will eventually cause them to remain in darkness. And that set premise is, there is no God and there is no spirit world. So let's go now to 2 Timothy. 1 Timothy 2 What is the result of that premise? What is the result of that aspect of the worldview? When your worldview denies the existence of God, where does that leave you?

In 2 Timothy 2 in the first several verses, the Apostle Paul, writing to the young evangelist Timothy, Paul is in prison, writes about conditions that will exist at the end of the age. In the last days perilous time shall come. He names all kinds of aberrant behaviors. Verse 5, A form of godliness, but denying the power thereof, from such turn away. For of this sort, as they which creep into houses and lead captive, silly women, laden with sins, led away with different lust. Here's our verse, ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. And as long as you deny God and the spirit world, you will never come to the knowledge of the truth. So the premise is, the spirit world of the Bible does not exist. If this premise was not presupposed, now listen to this, if this premise were not presupposed, and it is, but if it weren't, even human reasoning would lead to believe, at least it would mean, that the most logical view of creation would demand a creator of superior intelligence to the creation. So how did it all happen? It just happened, and there's no purpose to it? Does that make sense? Note how the Apostle Paul describes this in 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 17. We sang this during the opening hymn service in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 17. Christ sent me not to baptize but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of non-effect. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputing of this world? Oh, there are so many disputers out there now. You listen to Bill Maher, which Larry King rarely has on. It seems like Larry just sort of the fawns at his feet as Maher cuts religious people into shreds and pieces and talking about how anti-scientific it is. Is it anti-scientific to use your brain? I believe it is.

Verse 18 again, the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us that are being saved the power of God. It is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. In other words, through human reasoning, they never figured it out. There are all kinds of stories and myths through the various civilizations through history of trying to identify who is God. And they worshiped idols and four-footed creatures and various beasts, but never came to the understanding. Because, why is Paul writes in Romans 1? Because they denied. They denied God as the creator. For after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, the Greeks seek after wisdom. In other words, if you're going to show me that you're spiritual, the Jews say, and you said to Jesus quite often, what sign do you show us? Or the Greeks would say, like Paul on Mars Hill, Acts 17. What has this vain badberg got to say? Let's hear from him. But we preach Christ crucified under the Jews, a stumbling block. They rejected Jesus Christ. And under the Greeks, foolishness just doesn't make sense. It's really not scientific. But under them, which are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. It didn't say not any. Surely the Apostle Paul was one of the most learned men of his day. And God does use our talents and abilities. If we're willing to pursue them, and to really work on increasing them, he can use them in his service. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God had chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty, and the things of the world, and the things which are despised, have God chosen. Yes, and things which are not, in other words, the unseen world, to bring to nothing things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are we in Christ Jesus. It is not of our doing. Who of God is made unto us wisdom in righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption, that according as it is written, he that glories, let him glory in the Lord.

What you and I understand about spiritual things did not come from our intelligence or from our education. Now, of course, we are like in having some fifth and sixth generation Christians, people attending the Church of God today. To a large degree, you embrace what you grew up with. Of course, there's a paradox within the Church of God in that it seems that the Baptists and other religions are able to retain more of their youth than we are. I think there's one of the great reasons for that is not teaching accountability as we should. So there's one big caveat or one big if to understanding spiritual things. You must respond to the Holy Spirit and the Word of God when the Word of God and the Holy Spirit convict you of the truth. You have to respond. Otherwise, you quench the Spirit. You never understand the weightier matters of the law. A November 2003 survey taken by Barna Research Group reveals startling facts about how professing Christians view the world. Of course, they didn't interview, as far as I know, anybody in the Church of God. But these statistics are interesting. Only 4% of adults surveyed have a biblical worldview. A biblical worldview centers on who is God, what is God, what is His purpose, who is the Creator, why did He create the universe, why did He create you and I, is He active in the course of human history, or did things just happen continually, health or skelter, with no direction from God Himself? Only 9% of, quote, born-again Christians surveyed have a biblical worldview. Only 7% of Protestants have a biblical worldview. Only 2% of mainline Protestants have a biblical worldview. That's like the Methodist, the Presbyterian, the mainline. Only 0% or 0.04% of 1% of Roman Catholics have a biblical worldview. Only 13% of non-denominational Protestants have a biblical worldview, but however, they're higher than any of the others. Only 10% of Pentecostals have a biblical worldview. Only 8% of Baptists surveyed have a biblical worldview. Basically, all forms of education and media are designed to try to advance a particular worldview. So how do you judge whether the information being conveyed through the various forms of media is true? Here we are in 1 Corinthians 1. Let's go to 1 Corinthians 2.

Verse 9, it is written, I am not seen, near and not heard, and it is entered into the hearts of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man, say, the Spirit of man which is in him, even so the things of God knows no man but the Spirit of God. It is only through the Spirit of God that you can understand the spiritual things, and when you deny the existence of the Creator God, what hope do you have of understanding? Now we have received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God, which things also we speak, not in words which men's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. So the first requirement there is that the Spirit of God has to open your mind to the truth. The Spirit of God is the great enabler. Now if you go back to Romans chapter 10, as briefly here, how does conviction take place? How can you begin to the spiritual journey? I'll quote parenthetically now Hebrews 10 in verse 6, for those who would come to God must first of all believe that he is and a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. Now in Romans 10 verse 14, see, the Spirit of God works in conjunction with the Word of God. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they hear if they don't have a preacher? See, and we've read the Great Commission. Go ye therefore in all the world, disciple all nations, teach them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. So that's one of the great purposes of the Church, is to preach the Word. And the Word of God and the Spirit of God work in concert to convict. Now you go to John 16, and you see here once again the role of the Holy Spirit Remember, John 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 centers on what Christ did that night. He instituted the symbols of the New Covenant Passover. And in John 16, we see here one of the great works of the Holy Spirit. John 14, 28 identifies the Comforter as the Holy Spirit. John 16, verse 7. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not away, the Comforter. And John 14, 28 identifies the Comforter as the Holy Spirit. The Comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart, I will send him unto you. Comforter is masculine in the Greek, therefore the pronoun him is correct, though it doesn't make Comforter, of course, a person. And when he is come, he will, Elemcho, E-L-E-N-C-H-O in the Greek, convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. But that word has to be preached. Now we go to Isaiah 8, verse 20. So how do you sort out when you hear these various things? When you hear the Hegelian dialectic presented on television or in the media, here is this point of view. Here is this point of view. Here is the thesis. Here's the antithesis. Here's the synthesis they're trying to get to. What is the truth? Are we ever learning, never able to come to the knowledge of the truth? In Isaiah 8, 20, to the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no truth in them. I want to point out one more thing. This verse I will emphasize over and over and over and over again. John 663. John 663. How many can quote that right now? John 663 without looking.

In John 663, John 6 is called the Bread of Life chapter. Christ talks about Him being the bread of life that will give everlasting life and that you have to eat and drink of His body and His blood. The Jews were offended at this. Of course, they shouldn't have been because even in the Pentateuch, it talks about man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. To eat and drink of His body and His blood is a figure of speech. How do you do it? Well, of course, it's ingesting the Word of God. Notice the equation that is made here. It is the Spirit that quickens, makes alive. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. So the words of Christ are equated with spirit and life. Thus, we call it the Book of Life. And we read Matthew 4.4, man shall not live by bread alone. But by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

In the book that's titled, The Universe Next Door, James Sire, spelled S-I-R-E, catalogs the most influential worldviews of the past and the present. He names them as Christian theism, deism, naturalism, neolism, existentialism, eastern pantheism, and new age or new consciousness. But there is a new worldview that is on the scene that is making more inroads than any other worldview. Do you name what it is? It is Islam.

Mr. Jack Elliott, who is an elder up in East Texas, posted this on the elders forum yesterday. He has a excerpt from an article given by Jert Wilders, G-E-E-R-T-W-I-L-D-E-R-S, chairman of the party of freedom announcing the, quote, facing jihad conference. In other words, how are we going to face jihad? It's a conference to be held in Jerusalem in December. I'll just read a little bit of this today for you to get the flavor of this. See, there are over 1.2 billion adherents to Islam today. It's the fastest growing worldview. What is the worldview of Islam in a nutshell? Well, there is no other god but Allah. He neither begets, neither is he begotten. So that excludes anyone from being on that plane.

And that the goal of humankind is to convert every person on the face of the earth to Islam. And if you don't convert, you're to be killed. Jihad.

He titles this, America is the Last Man Standing. Gerrit G-E-R-T is Wilders. Europe, you know, is changing. The Europe, you know, is changing. You're probably seeing the landmarks, the Eiffel Tower, Trafalgar Square, and Rome's ancient buildings, and maybe the canals of Amsterdam. They're still there, and they still look very much the same as they did a hundred years ago. But in all of these cities, sometimes a few blocks away from your tourist destination, there is another world. A world where very few visitors see and one that does not appear in your tourist guidebook. It is the world of the parallel society created by Muslim mass migration. All throughout Europe, a new reality is rising. Entire Muslim neighborhoods where very few indigenous people reside or seldom seen. And if they are, that is, indigenous people, the native people, they might regret it. This goes for the police as well. You see what the Muslims are imposing in Europe and these communities is what's called Sharia law. It is the law of the Quran that everything civil and religious affairs are governed by the Quran. It's the world of headscarves where women walk around in figureless tents with baby strollers and a group of children. Their husbands or slaveholders, if you prefer, walk three steps ahead with a mosque on many streets. The shops have signs that you and I cannot read. You'll be hard-pressed to find any economic activity. These are Muslim gattos controlled by religious fanatics. These are Muslim neighborhoods and they are mushrooming in every city across Europe. These are the building blocks for territorial control of increasingly larger portions of Europe, street by street, neighborhood by neighborhood, city by city. There are now thousands of mosques throughout Europe with larger congregations than there are in churches. Of course, the Europeans have basically stopped going to church a long time ago. And in every European city, there are plans to build super-mosques that will dwarf every church in the region. Clearly, the signal is we rule. Many European cities are already one-fourth Muslim. Just take Amsterdam, Marseille, and Malmo in Sweden. In many cities, the majority of the under-18 population is Muslim. Paris is now surrounded by a ring of Muslim neighborhoods. Perhaps, heard about those riots a couple years ago. Mohammed is the most popular name among boys in many cities. In some elementary schools in Amsterdam, the word farm, F-A-R-M, can no longer be mentioned because that would also mean mentioning the pig, and that would be an insult to Muslims. Many state schools in Belgium and Denmark only serve halal, or that is kosher food, their word for kosher, to all pupils. In once tolerant Amsterdam, gays are beaten up almost exclusively by Muslims. Non-Muslim women routinely hear whore, whore. Satellite dishes are not pointed to local TV stations, but to stations in the country of origin. In France, school teachers are advised to avoid authors deemed offensive to Muslims, including Voltaire, Diderot. The same is increasingly true of Darwin. The history of the Holocaust can in many cases no longer be taught because of Muslim sensitivity. In England, Sharia courts are now officially part of the British legal system. Many neighborhoods in France are no longer areas for women without head scars. Last week, a man almost died after being beaten up by Muslims in Brussels because he was drinking during Ramadan. Jews are fleeing France in record numbers on the run for the worst wave of antisemitism since World War II. French has now commonly spoke on the streets of Tel Aviv, Netanyahu, Israel. I could go on forever with stories like this. Stories about Islamization.

So, as we conclude today in it, I will pick this up again next week. I want us to ask once again the question, what is your worldview? And what is your worldview based on? And I would ask you to give some serious thought between now and next week in trying to formulate a worldview. What do you believe, really believe with regard to God, his plan, his purpose, and why you're here? What do you really believe about justice? What do you really believe about the way society should function? What do you believe has to do with a just economic system, political system? All of that is answered in the pages of our Bibles. So, if you really want to develop a consistent worldview, you have to open the pages of your Bible and be led by God's Spirit. And remember, God is Spirit. Those who worship Him, must worship Him in Spirit and in truth.