“Do Not
Love The World” • 5.3.20 • Calvary Christian Fellowship,
Thursday Night Study (Covid-19 #8)
Intro.
- Chapter two begins with John's statement,
"My little children, I write to you
that you may not sin!" Christians are not to give into sin or sin as a
matter of practice.
- How can we as Christians, win this fight
against our sinful nature? John equips us with three points of defense, the
first being that we remember the victory that Christ has already won. (v.1,2)
- Our Advocate in heaven, Jesus Christ the
Righteous, is the Propitiation, the mercy seat before God for our sins! He has
already won that victory! We have heavenly help!
- Our second defense is to continually keep and
treasure His Word. (v.3-6) Obedience
to the Lord's commands reveal to the Lord, a complete love for Him. This is His
love language.
- A person who loves Jesus eventually learns to
walk just as He did. That's a fitting and appropriate tribute of love to the
Lord!
- Our third defense is to love our brothers.
(v.7-11) Love expressed toward
fellow believers will light our way and help us to avoid being caught in the
traps of offense that might lead to our sin.
- After a parenthesis meant to comfort
believers in verses 12-14, John returns to his final defense against sin in the
section before us and that is separation from the world! Let's look at v.15.
Text
• I John 2:15 : "Do not love the world or the things
in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." : John doesn't mince words with the church at Ephesus. He
strongly commands them neither to love the world or the things in it.
- When a person lives to be as old as John, they
speak with authority born from experience! He is a man who has watched many men
and this Apostolic warning is warranted in every generation.
- Godly men and women are always learning to
manage the difference between being "in, but not of the world!"
- When we read these words in English, there is
a poetic and smooth flow to words, but I'd suggest this is far more abrupt and
blunt, being that it is written in the voice of command.
- You and I would hear it like this: "Don't
ever be in the habit of loving the world!" A few Pastors have freely
translated this phrase, "Stop considering the world precious!"
- Two points of consideration need to be shared
here. First, because there is a command, there is a present temptation to
avoid.
- By virtue of having a fallen, sinful nature,
we as Christians are ever prone to wander from the truth. This has been the
consistent story since the beginning of time!
- Eve continually wandered toward the forbidden
tree even though she walked with God in the Garden of Eden.
- Lot's wife couldn't help looking back at what
she was leaving behind, even though a cataclysmic event was taking place right
behind her!
- Israel wandered in their minds, forgetting
the slavery of Egypt and thinking only of the "leeks and onions,"
even though they had seen miracles and had a visible reminder of God's
presence!
- In the earlier period of church history, the
church wandered from the truth and freedom in Christ and drifted toward
legalism, as in the case of the Galatian church.
- Later, she moved toward formalism, many being
tempted to return to the newly remodeled temple, as is the case of the book of
Hebrews.
- Here, at the end of the first century, as
Jesus had not yet returned, it seems that the church was being tempted to adopt
mysticism that made room for ascetisism as well as debauchery!
- Every church and ever believer from every age
has needed to hear this command and given the last section of John's Epistle,
this applied from new believers to aged Fathers, to young men!
- Do not think for a second that you are immune
from worldly influence! Do not let down your guard for a second! You are not
better than any other Christian in history!
- The second point about command language is
that it is the language of the will. A Christian must respond to what God
commands them! God is not giving you a choice in the matter!
- Each of us, who have ever chosen to love the
world, can just as simply choose not to! We can refocus our attention, leave
influence behind, starve whatever impulse causes our disobedience.
- I think you'd be surprised by just how
quickly your heart will be healed by the Lord when you have identified pockets
of worldliness and made a choice to shun or mute them.
- "Do not love the world!" What does John
mean by "love?" The word that he uses expresses whole hearted
commitment and a desire for it's object's best.
- It's the same word that John uses to express
the love that God has for the world of humanity! (John 3:16) We are not to have this kind of affection and loyalty
for the "kosmos."
- Does this confuse you? God loves the world,
but tells us not to love the world!? The issue is resolved by understanding
that the word "world" is defined by context.
- There are several definitions of this word
and we can certainly eliminate many of them here. John is not talking about not
having a love, an allegiance to order, decor or the Universe.
- He doesn't mean that we shouldn't love people
that are in or are a part of the world.
- Our word "cosmetics" comes from
this word and believe it or not, that word might have more bearing than you
think. More than likely, John means to refer to the following definition:
˚ "The whole circle of earthly goods, endowments riches,
advantages, pleasures, etc, which although
hollow and frail and fleeting, stir desire, seduce
from
God and are obstacles to the cause
of Christ." Blue Letter
Bible
- Did you follow that closely? All of the
trappings of the world, though "hollow and frail and fleeting," cause
God's people to be cut off from the cause of Christ.
- It is not the planet, nor the people that God
warns through John about. It's the current thought and manner of a system that
opposes and distracts from God's will for His people's lives!
- The world puts on it's cosmetic show,
claiming to be innocent in it's agenda, but underneath the caked exterior,
there lies a menacing figure, ugly to the core and malicious in it's intent!
- We aren't to love or be committed to this
world's way of thinking, nor are to we love the "things in the world"
or "that which the world offers."
- These are the proverbial fishing lures that
entice us away from our safety in Christ! The Pastor of Jersualem Christian
Fellowship adds in these thoughts along this line.
•
James 1:14-17 : "But each one is tempted when he is
drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it
gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved
brethren. Every good gift and every perfect
gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there
is no variation or shadow of turning." : That
word "enticed" comes from that concept "to lure." The
things of this world "allure us."
- The world teaches us that we need the latest
gadget or toy, so we approve of that conditioning when we orient our lives to
procure them.
- All the while, we are drifting away from our
intended course, and our distracted hearts begin to forget our primary mission!
- The world desires to entice and seduce you
and it uses anything to draw you to itself. There are certain things that go
along with the world's way of thinking, that it promises to you.
- John commands us to guard our hearts, to
alter the direction of our love, to recognize that a love for the world chokes
out, crowds out a love for the Father! Jesus offers this same insight.
- In the Parable of the Sower, the good seed of
God's Word falls onto the thorny ground and doesn't produce anything at all. Why
did that happen? Jesus explains
• Matthew
13:22 : "Now he
who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of
this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes
unfruitful." : If you have ever been frustrated
at the lack of spiritual progress you are making, you might want to consider if
it's the Lord's Word or if it's you!
- You might say, "Maybe this Christian
thing works for others, but it has never worked for me."
- If you sense that the work of God is stunted
in your life, it's almost certain that an unhealthy love for the world is
winning out and pushing out the love of the Father!
- This is John's concern linked to the command!
The two entities are so far apart, that one cannot hold a love for one without
completely resisting the other!
- Our world loves to proclaim that all
religions can "Coexist." The problem is that each religion
represented in the bumper sticker seeks the elimination of the other!
- This is true with God and the world system! They
are at war with each other! In your heart, it will either be that love is
directed toward the world or it will be directed toward the Father.
- Whether you like it or not, your heart is not
big enough to facilitate a proper love for either!
- If you love the world, you'll be an
ineffective Christian and if you love the Father, you'll be a boring worldling!
You will be useless for either agency and joyless in your existence!
- Love for the world then actually proves that
the Father's love is not in us! If you insist upon loving the world, you cannot
have God's love in you! It's that simple! Verse 16.
• I John
2:16 : "For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of
the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world." : This is the sum total of all that is in the world. This is the
engine that powers the vehicle.
- As the NLT puts it, this is all that the
"world offers." It is all, in that all it offers is the desire, never
the satisfaction! It enslaves, but it never liberates!
- The world system convinces you of needing
something that you do not already possess.
- Then, it entices you to put your energies
toward having that thing or gaining that position.
- Before long, you will have sacrificed time,
talent, and treasure to receive it, only to discover that it was not nearly as
valuable as what you can have next! That is the world!
- It calls you to a different location and
reveals a new desire from that new vantage point, until you are endlessly
pre-occupied with what you don't have!
- When all is said and done, when you peel back
the layers, this is what you will discover! Remember, this is a very old man
that is saying this.
- He's seen it all, but this is not simply his
assessment. This is an apostolic, authoritative assessment! This has been
revealed, transmitted and now communicated to us!
- God, through the Apostle is uncovering the
empty nature of the world's administration!
- There are three categories that he covers:
The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. That is what
powers the world's system of thought. There is first "the lust of the
flesh."
- "Lust" comes from a word that
describes an intense longing or craving for something, especially that which is
forbidden. We generally categorize "lust" with a "sexual"
attachment.
- Biblically, "lust" can refer to any
longing of the heart or in this case, the flesh. These are physical appetites,
most of which are benign and a blessing in their proper context.
- For example, a literal appetite is a good
thing. The signal of when to eat is a blessing. However, when that appetite
controls my life and turns into a therapy, it could prove fatal!
- Certainly a sexual appetite grows as intimacy
between a couple grows. Inside of a marriage, it is a glue that protects and
binds. Outside of a marriage, it manipulates and blinds to real problems.
- The world caters to your physical appetites
and cravings, your passions if you will, broadcasting it's claim to bring a satisfaction that you lack
which exists in the fulfillment of lust.
- We move on to the second category, "the
lust of the eyes." Again, what we have learned about lust remains in
effect here. It is the craving of that which the eye sees!
- Of course, in this case, our physical eye
only receives information. It is a neutral sense.
- It is our "mind's eye" which
processes what can be seen and turns something we see into an imagination. They
eyes direct the soul to possess!
- We "see" another person's gifting
and assume that if we emulate what they have done, we will gain the success
that they have achieved.
- We see people who have certain things and we
believe that possessing them is the key to our happiness. That coveting nature
is born from the world and motivates all advertising!
- This is what makes images, media, and movies
such powerful mediums. This is how we are indoctrinated to believe what is not
true and innoculated against what is!
- The lust of the flesh refers to our passions,
the lust of the eyes deal with our possessions.
- Finally, the third category is "pride of
life" which speaks toward our position! Pride relates to "empty
boasting." Listen to this definition from Blue Letter Bible's lexicon.
˚ "an insolent
and empty assurance, which trusts in its own power and resources and shamefully
despises and violates divine laws and human rights; an
impious and empty presumption which trusts in the stability of earthly things" : This is a person who is obsessed with their own power to do
whatever they desire to do. They see their ability as unassailable and are
therefore, unaccountable!
- They can do what they like and it doesn't
matter who they walk upon to get what they want! That is the pride, the
arrogance of life!
- None of this comes from or originated out
from the Father. These are not attitudes that exist in the Godhead. They are
attitudes born from the world's system of thought.
- Your relating to these attitudes will reveal
to you your own mind and heart occupancy! Does God rule or are you being ruled
by the world? Listen to John's assessment in verse 17.
• John 2:17 : "And the
world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God
abides forever." : The world is passing away.
It is moving away and will soon disappear from sight!
- Imagine all the investment that one might
make in the philosophy of the world and it sure seems to be a constant before
our eyes.
- We think of the world in much the same terms
as our brother Asaph the Psalmist once did. He looks at the people of the world
as being prosperous, untouched by suffering in their death.
- He sees their eyes bulging with indulgence
and their hearts satisfied with possession beyond what they could ask for. It
was enough to nearly stumble Asaph.
- He would have said that the worldly value
system was only gaining strength and becoming more and more powerful. But then,
he says this.
• Psalm
73:16-20 : "When I thought how to
understand this,
It was too painful for me— Until I went into the sanctuary of God;
Then I understood their end. Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction. Oh, how they are brought to desolation, as in a moment!
They are utterly consumed with terrors. As a dream when one awakes, so,
Lord, when You awake, You shall despise their
image." : Asaph agrees that the end of all
who are committed to worldliness are destined to pass away with it!
- The world and her desires, the lusts that
drive all of her ambition to ignore God, alluring as they may be, are doomed to
never be mentioned again!
- This is why God demands separation from the
world! Your very soul is at stake! In His desire is properly filtered and
productive. There is satisfaction in Him that will never end!
- The one who does the will of God is
continually performing the desire of God forever and ever! "Can't you do
both?" That is not necessarily a common question, but it is a common
belief.
- Unfortunately, it is a false belief that is
deadly to the believer who attempts to realize it.
- God's desire is for your whole heart, mind
and soul to be engaged upon His plan, both for your own life as well as the
lives of those He puts you in contact with!
- There is no room in the believer's life to
compartmentalize a loyalty to God's desire, as well as a working loyalty to the
World's philosophy!
- Again, these are so disparate that they
cannot be reconciled and to attempt to do so is to fail to love either one!
- The only person that will abide forever, who
will live comfortably in the presence of God, are those that are found actively
engaged in doing His will!
Conclusion
- Christian, if you will avoid sin, you'll consider the depth of your Savior's work. You'll commit to His Word, you'll concern yourself with His people and you'll consider the world dangerous!
- Christian, if you will avoid sin, you'll consider the depth of your Savior's work. You'll commit to His Word, you'll concern yourself with His people and you'll consider the world dangerous!
- Do not love the world! It can only entice
desire. It can never fulfill it! That is what God does alone! He has given you
desires and He has plans to fulfill them in His time. Trust Him.
- If you don't, you'll attach yourself to
something that will soon vanish from sight and you'll have lost everything in
the process. Let us consider ourselves warned!
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