The Marks of Regeneration: Overcomes the Love of the World by J.C. Ryle

A Regenerate man does not make the world's opinion his rule of right and wrong.

He goes against the stream of the world's ways, notions, and customs. "What will men say?" is no longer a turning point with him. He overcomes the love of the world. He finds no pleasure in things which most around him call happiness. He cannot enjoy their enjoyments—they weary him; they appear to him vain, unprofitable, and unworthy of an immortal being. He overcomes the fear of the world. He is content to do many things which all around him think unnecessary, to say the least. They find fault with him—it does not move him. They ridicule him—he does not give way. He loves the praise of God more than the praise of man. He fears offending Him more than giving offence to man.
He has counted the cost. He has taken his stand. It is a small thing with him now whether he is blamed or praised. His eye is upon Him who is invisible. He is resolved to follow Jesus wherever he goes. It may be necessary in this following to come out from the world and be separate. The Regenerate man will not shrink from doing so. Tell him that he is unlike other people, that his views are not the views of society generally, and that he is making himself singular and peculiar—you will not shake him. He is no longer the servant of fashion and custom. To please the world is quite a secondary consideration with him. His first aim is to please God.
Reader, I place this mark also before you. What would the Apostle say about you? Are you born of God?

~ J.C. Ryle

"Whoever is born of God overcomes the world." (1 John 5:4.)

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The Resoultions of Jonathan Edwards in Plain English (#11-20)

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Being Saved From The Ways of Wicked Men - Part 1 - Proverbs 2:12-15

Proverbs 2:12-15 ESV Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, who leave the straight paths to walk in dark ways, who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways. There are two main ideas presented here. One is that there are wicked men . The other is that they have bad ways that we need to be saved from. Wisdom , in these proverbs, is the personification of God. But more specifically, I would say that wisdom is a person's conscience that has been filled up with the truth of God, so that when temptations come along, decisions can be made that will keep us from falling into the traps of Satan. Since wicked men are often the tools Satan uses to try to tempt us, these verses tell us how to identify these men. Of course, this doesn't exclude women. In this post, I'm just going to take a close look at the first bit of advice we ...

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