Living in God’s Divine Nature #2 Evil Company Corrupts Good Habits

Divine Nature Habits Overview

In this powerful message from NTC Ministries, the speaker continues his series on Living in God’s Divine Nature, focusing on one of the most urgent warnings in Scripture: evil company corrupts good habits. Drawing from 2 Peter 1:1-11, Proverbs 4:20-27, 1 Corinthians 15:33, Romans 12:1-2, and 2 Corinthians 5:17, the message challenges believers to move beyond a casual, Sunday-only faith and into a daily, deliberate pursuit of God’s nature. The sermon opens with a sobering look at how end-times culture increasingly calls good evil and evil good, and why believers cannot afford to be passive. Using a striking breakdown of the average Christian’s weekly schedule, the speaker demonstrates that most people spend over 60 hours per week in front of screens while leaving almost no time for God. He emphasizes that the company we keep, the content we consume, and the habits we cultivate will either draw us closer to God’s divine nature or slowly erode it. The altar call closes with a heartfelt invitation to repentance, renewal, and a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit.

Divine Nature Habits Outline

• 00:00 – Welcome and Series Introduction: The speaker opens by anchoring the message in 2 Peter and reintroducing the series on living in God’s divine nature, reminding the congregation they are in the world but not of it.
• 05:30 – Reading 2 Peter 1:1-11: A full reading of the foundational passage, unpacking the call to add to faith virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, and love as partakers of the divine nature.
• 12:00 – Knowing God Through Relationship: The speaker stresses the importance of daily, intimate fellowship with God beyond Sunday attendance, using personal examples of talking with God throughout the day.
• 19:00 – Proverbs 4 and Guarding Your Heart: Walking through Proverbs 4:20-27, the message calls believers to guard their hearts, keep their mouths from corruption, and be steadfast in the paths they choose.
• 27:30 – The Reality of Sin and Its Wages: A sobering examination of Romans 6:23 and Ephesians 4:27, warning against dabbling in sin and giving any place to the devil, with a clear statement on eternal consequences.
• 35:00 – You Are a New Creation: Drawing from 2 Corinthians 5:17 and Romans 12:1-2, the speaker encourages believers that old things have passed away and God is transforming them into new people with renewed minds.
• 41:00 – The Weekly Time Audit: A data-driven illustration showing that between work, sleep, television, and internet use, the average person has almost no time left for God, calling for a reprioritization of daily life.
• 47:30 – Evil Company Corrupts Good Habits: Anchoring in 1 Corinthians 15:33, the speaker explains how the influences we allow into our lives shape our nature, and why believers must be the influencers rather than the influenced.
• 51:00 – Altar Call and Closing Prayer: An invitation to repentance and renewed commitment, with a congregational prayer confessing sin, receiving cleansing, and asking for a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit.

Scripture References

2 Peter 1:1-11, Proverbs 4:20-27, 1 Corinthians 15:33, Romans 6:23, Romans 12:1-2, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 3:20-21, Ephesians 4:27, Matthew 6:33, Acts 1:8

Key Takeaways

• Partaking of God’s divine nature is not a one-time prayer but a daily, deliberate lifestyle of faith, diligence, and surrender to Christ.
• Evil company corrupts good habits, meaning the influences, content, and relationships we allow into our lives will either build or erode our walk with God.
• Guarding your heart above all else is essential because everything you do, speak, and pursue flows directly from it.
• The average believer spends over 60 hours per week on screens while leaving almost no dedicated time for God, making intentional reprioritization urgent.
• As a new creation in Christ, your past is forgiven and forgotten by God, and you are empowered to walk in His nature starting today.
• Sin is never harmless or manageable for the believer, because Romans 6:23 is clear that the wages of sin is death, not merely an inconvenience.
• God has placed you here for such a time as this, and His divine nature equips you to be a light and an influencer rather than someone who is influenced by the world.

Divine Nature Habits Notes

The Core Teaching on Divine Nature

The heart of this message rests in 2 Peter 1:3-4, which declares that God has already given believers everything pertaining to life and godliness. The divine nature is not something to be earned or waited for in eternity; it is available right now through the knowledge of Christ. The speaker makes clear that this nature must be actively cultivated by adding to faith virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, and love. Passive Christianity produces spiritual blindness and unfruitfulness, but diligent pursuit of God’s nature produces a life that never stumbles and enters abundantly into His eternal kingdom.

Why Evil Company Is a Spiritual Threat

First Corinthians 15:33 is the anchor verse for the second half of the message: do not be deceived, evil company corrupts good habits. The speaker illustrates this principle by observing how people naturally adopt the speech patterns, attitudes, and behaviors of those they spend the most time with. For believers, this means that if they are not actively influencing their environment with God’s nature, the environment will influence them. Being in the world is not the danger; failing to remain distinct from it is. The call is not to isolation but to intentional, Spirit-filled influence rooted in a daily encounter with God.

A Striking Illustration About Weekly Time

One of the most memorable moments in the sermon is a practical time audit of the average week. With 168 hours available, roughly 50 hours go to work, 50 hours to sleep, 17.5 hours to television, and nearly 48 hours to internet use. This leaves approximately two hours of discretionary time, less than 20 minutes per day. The speaker uses this not to condemn but to awaken, asking how anyone can absorb the divine nature of the Father when almost every waking hour is consumed by the noise and content of the world. The point is simple: what you feed grows, and what you starve diminishes.

Guarding the Heart as a Daily Practice

Proverbs 4:23 commands believers to guard their hearts above all else because everything they do flows from it. The speaker expands this to include the words spoken, the content consumed, the thoughts entertained, and the paths chosen. Satan is described as a real and active adversary who looks for any opening, not to inconvenience believers but to claim their souls. Practical heart-guarding means casting down vain imaginations, rejecting corrupt talk, keeping eyes fixed on God’s direction, and refusing to give even small compromises a foothold. The believer who walks in God’s nature has no room for offense, fear, or doubt because those things simply do not fit the nature they carry.

New Creation Identity Changes Everything

Second Corinthians 5:17 is declared with force: if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away and all things have become new. The speaker addresses those burdened by past failures, reminding them that God has thrown their sins into the sea of forgetfulness. When Satan attempts to resurrect the past, believers are equipped to remind him that they have been redeemed and transformed. This new creation identity is not theoretical; it is the foundation upon which a believer builds new habits, new relationships, and a new life fully aligned with God’s divine nature and His exceedingly great promises.

A Call to Reprioritize Before Christ Returns

The sermon closes with urgency rooted in eschatological awareness. The speaker reminds listeners that the signs of the end times are unmistakable, that good is being called evil and evil good, and that believers have been divinely appointed for this very moment in history. The call is not to fear but to rise, to run and not grow weary, to walk and not faint. Coming to church more as the day approaches is not optional but essential according to the word. The altar call invites everyone, regardless of background or how deeply entrenched in sin they may feel, to confess, receive cleansing, and be filled afresh with the Holy Spirit for the days ahead.

Frequently Asked Questions