Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to 1 John chapter 2. 1 John 2. I'd like to look at verses 15
to 17. 1 John 2. 15. Love not the world, neither the
things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the
love of the Father is not in him. 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. And the world
passeth away, and the loss thereof. But he that doeth the will of
God abideth forever. The Apostle John gives this word
of warning. Love not the world. neither the things that are in
the world. If any man love the world, the
love of the Father is not in him. Now, when we consider this
word, world, the term throughout Scripture has one of three meanings
or three senses. First, it denotes the physical
universe, the world. as we look around, look outside,
and I see the world, the creation itself, that creation that is
a work of Almighty God. Here's what the scripture says
concerning the world. In the beginning God created
the heaven and the earth. He made this globe that we're
standing on. He made this. The earth is the
Lord's and all that's within it, all things therein. So it means the physical creation. Secondly, the world as it's applied
to all people. the order of man. Everybody without distinction that resides
in it, the world of mankind. Let me say it like that. And
God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and
that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only
evil continually. Everybody comes forth from their
mother's womb evil. They're wicked. That's the world. That's everybody. But then thirdly,
the world refers to those who by nature are not found to be
the Lord's in covenant grace. Those who live in and will die
in sin. How do you know who they are?
I don't. The Lord does though. Scripture sets forth that the
Lord knows those who are His. They're His. That song we were
just singing about. Almighty God knows. God has an
elect. And whom He will, He shows mercy.
And whom He will, He leaves to themselves. And we don't have
any right to question God on that. He made us. We're the Lord's. So the Lord, speaking of His
people, for that third one, He said, I pray for them. I pray
for them. But of those that are found to
be reprobate, when I say reprobate, this is what I mean. This is
what a reprobate is. Those that God Almighty has chosen
to leave to themselves. That's a reprobate. He leaves
them to themselves and will justly deal with them. according to
their evil deeds. They're reprobate. I pray for
them as people. I pray not for the world. Wasn't
talking about the dirt. Wasn't talking about all the
world without distinction because he does pray for his people.
But here that word world means a people referred to that is
not found within God's covenant of grace, the world. Now considering
the first one that I looked at, the creation of man, when it
says love, not the world. It's not improper when it's talking
about that particular world, this world of creation, to love
the world as the work of the Lord, when Almighty God created
the heaven and the earth. This is what the Lord said about
it. God saw everything that he had made and behold, it was very
good. There's some wonderful things
about this earth. This is the Lord's. God made
this earth. He created this earth. And there's
some things that we enjoy, that we really possess. They're ours. Listen, everything
in this world illustrates the wisdom and the power and the
perfection of Almighty God. And He saw that everything that
He had made was good. Well, why shouldn't we enjoy
the creation that God has made? Here's what charged them that
are rich. Here's what the Scripture says
in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain
riches, but in the living God who giveth us richly all things
to enjoy." There are some things in this
world that are just enjoyable. I mean, to be able to eat, and
to breathe, and to feel the sunshine, and the cold brisk winds, and
see the snow. God made them. God's people love
the things that the Lord has graciously given them in creation
and providence. And consider them the second
clause, that second world, the general world of mankind, all
men in particular. It's not wrong to love the people
with a love of benevolence and concern for their eternal good. To have love toward our kindred
and friends who constitute part of what we're talking about,
humanity, though many know not the Lord. But you love them. You desire that the Lord save
them according to His good pleasure. We're commanded to love our enemies. I heard Henry say one time a
man was talking to him, he was just out done with his wife,
and he said, I just don't love her. And Henry said, well, you're
just an unbeliever. We're commanded to love our enemies. I want people to hear the gospel. I want them to hear the truth.
I want God to save my kids, my grandkids. I've got grandkids
that don't know God. And they're growing up. And they
show no interest. But I love them. Pray for them. Pray for them every day. Pray
for you every day. Pray God have mercy. But in reference
to that third sense, that love which includes the corruptions
of mankind, that love which reigns in the heart of fallen man, which
is opposed to the true and living God, which exalts itself against
all that is holy and just and good, concerning that which is
opposed to Almighty God, The scripture says, love not the
world, the world of rebellion, the world of anarchy against
God and God's people. So here, before we go any further,
let's understand something. The world, spoken of that we
are not to love, refers to the world of unbelievers and their
attitude toward God Almighty. Here's what the Scripture says,
If ye were of the world, the world would love his own, but
because you're not of the world, I've chosen you out of the world,
therefore the world hates you, hateth you. So, here's the problem. We either love the things of
God or we love the things of this world and its rebellion
against God. No man can serve two masters,
for either he'll hate the one and love the other, or he'll
hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and temporal
things. Mammon. So when John says love,
not the world. Here's what he's talking about.
That which is opposed to Almighty God, that which is stolen and
possesses the heart of natural man, which is connected with
this present life, which is contrary to the gospel of God's grace
and life in Christ, and it draws the heart of man away from Him. So John says, Love not that which
is rebellious against God. Then he says, Neither the things
that are in the world If any man love the world, the
love of the Father is not in him. Now, the Spirit of God moved
upon John to write something to qualify what he was talking
about when he was saying the things that are in the world.
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. Verse 16 starts, these things
that are in the world. Now when I'm talking about, remember,
I'm talking about that which is within man, left to himself,
that is rebellious against God. That's the world. If the world,
if you were of the world, if you were of the mindset of those
that hate the gospel of God's grace, hate the Christ that we
love, hate the God that we preach, He said, all that is in the world,
all that is within that manner of rebellion against God. Not
the dirt, not man in general as we love and pray for him,
but that attitude within man that is rebellious against God,
the world. All that is in the world. Here's
the totality of everything that's within the world. The lust of
the flesh, The lust of the eyes and the pride of life. And that's not of the father,
but it's of the world. Now, the totality of that which
manifests the heart of rebellion is summed up in those three things
right there. That's it. And John says, don't love it.
Don't love that. That's the manifestation of what
we're not to love. Now, to understand the truth
of all that is found within the world. And here's the sad part. All of these things are found
in every believer too. They're in every believer. And
but for the grace of God that Almighty God would put them away. in their guilt, we'd have no
hope. What is this that is within the
world that we are not to love? We do not love this. First of
all, and to find out what he's talking about, you can hold your
place right there and turn to Matthew 4. When our Lord was
tempted of the devil, these three things right here was what Satan
attempted to cause the Lord to fall. He attempted the Lord to
sin. Matthew chapter 4. Now I want
you to, let's just listen to what happened here. The scripture
says in Matthew 3.16, And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up
straightway out of the water. And, lo, the heavens were opened
unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove
and lighting upon Him and lo, a voice from heaven saying, this
is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." This is what the
Father said, this is the Son of God. This is the Son of God. Well, obviously from a conversation
that's going to take place starting in chapter 4, I mean, there was
someone there that heard that. Satan. the one that goes throughout
the world seeking whom he may devour. And immediately after
the Lord was baptized and God spoke from heaven and said, this
is my beloved son whom I'm well pleased. Then was Jesus led up
of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And
when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward
and hungered. And when the tempter..." Isn't
it amazing how the Spirit of God sets forth exactly who He
is? "...when the tempter came. To
him He said, If thou be the Son of God..." Where do you get that
information? God spoke from heaven. and said,
this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. So here he
is, he's going to try to cast doubt, if you are. If thou be
the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But
he answered and said, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Now
here's the first thing that the tempter tempted the Lord Jesus
Christ with. The lust of the flesh. Christ
was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. He fasted 40 days
and now the scripture says he's hungry. And Satan tempted him
to do that which he was perfectly capable. of doing? Making bread out of stones. You
think he could do that? Absolutely. He took five little
loaves and two fish and blessed it and fed 5,000 men plus the
women and children. You think he could make bread
out of rocks? Absolutely. but as a representative
of his people, to miraculously perform an act to meet his own
need would have been disobedience to his father. He came into this world as the
sheep's federal head to obey God Almighty in all points, and
he walked by faith. He walked before God, believing
God to meet all of his need as our representative. The reason
that he didn't do it is because I can't do it. He obeyed God in all points,
walking before God's law. And for him to succumb to the
tempter's suggestion, to not believe God, His Father as He
was man. He had to wait upon God and for
Him to not wait upon His Father would have been the eternal damnation
of His people. Because the robe of righteousness
in which we are robed is His perfect obedience in trusting
His Father. When He went to the cross, He
went in absolute subjection to His Father's will. Father, if
there be any way this cup can pass from Me, nevertheless, not
My will, but Thy will be done. He walked before God as the God-man,
believing the Lord. And here Satan comes and tempts
him with the lust of the flesh. So what is this lust of the flesh
that we're not to love, that's in the world? Here it is. The lust of the flesh is to not
believe or trust God. That's the lust of the flesh.
To not walk by faith. and to long for separation from
God's sovereignty and God's will and God's purpose. It's the desire
in the old man to have my will to supersede God's will. That's
the craving and hunger of the old man. The lust of the flesh. Don't
love it. It's that temptation of Satan
to not believe that God will provide. Secondly, Satan tempted the Lord
with the lust of the eye. Still back in Matthew. Matthew
4, 5-7. Then the devil taketh him up
into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,
and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, Cast thyself
down, for it is written, he shall give his angels charge concerning
thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any
time thou dash thy foot against a stone. And Jesus said unto
him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy
God." The lust of the eyes. Now you know we might think that
the lust of the eyes would be described as being something
that we look upon. A man lusting after a woman or
looking upon things or mess or stuff and craving after them. You know, the lust of the eyes,
looking at something and envying after it. But let me ask you
something. Looking upon something that one
desires and wanting to have it for yourself is nothing more
than the lust of the flesh. That's still the same thing.
I'm looking after it, I'm thinking on it, I hear it. That's still
lust of the flesh. No, the lust of the eyes is set
forth in the temptation of our Lord. We'll look at this, what
exactly, what happened, and we're going to understand exactly what
the lust of the eyes actually is. It's revealed to be the God-despising
desire to please men rather than God. This is the lust of the eyes.
To covet another's approval rather than the approval of God. To
look good in somebody else's eyes rather to be concerned with
obedience to Christ. Here's what Satan said to it.
If you are who you say you are, why don't you just jump off?
before me and before the angels who are surely watching. And
why don't you prove yourself to us? Do it for our eyes of
approval. The lust of the eyes is the desire
to look good in somebody else's eyes. rather than God. Listen to what the Lord said
concerning the Jews, John 12, 42. Nevertheless, among the chief
rulers also many believed on Him, but because of the Pharisees
they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the
synagogue, for they love the praise of men more than the praise
of God. Turn over just a page or two,
Matthew 6, 5. Listen. to this, the Lord says, when
thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are. For
they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners
of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say
unto you, they have their reward. This is the lust of the eyes,
to look good in somebody else's, to make somebody think that you
are ours, what you're not. to elevate yourself in front
of somebody else to make them to believe that you're holier
than thou. That's what it is. Why don't you just jump off and
prove to me, just show me how the angels are going to bear
you up. Show me, if you're the son of
God, you show me that you are. That's when the Lord told him,
it is written, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. The fear
of men is a snare. They wanted the applause and
the praise of men's acceptance to appear in the eyes of the
world to be faithful. The lust of the eyes. Then Satan
tempted the Lord with the pride of life. Matthew 4, 8-11. Again the devil taketh him up
into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms
of the world, and the glory of them, and said unto him, All
these things will I give thee if thou will fall down and worship
me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get
thee hence, Satan, for it is written, Thou shalt worship the
Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou worship. Then the devil
leaveth him, and behold, the angels came and ministered unto
him. The pride of life is the lying
thought that one can gain or produce power or life by an act
of your own will. If you'll bow down and worship
Me, all you've got to do is exercise your will. You bow down and worship
Me, I'll give you all this." Here Satan tempted the Lord,
insinuating that he could gain the power of this world's fleeting
kingdoms which belonged to the Lord. They were the Lord's. And
here's Satan telling Him, you bow down and worship Me, I'll
give you all this. All you've got to do, is bow
down to me instead of God and I'll give you this. The pride
of life in the carnal man is listening to Satan's lie that
by an act of man's will he can produce eternal life and gain
the kingdom of God. That man can be as God. thinking that he's the source
of life and power. That was Satan's lie. Look at
Genesis 3, 1-7. That was Satan's lie. Here's the pride of life. That's
what happened in the Garden of Eden. Genesis 3, 1-7. Now the
serpent was more subtle. And any beast of the field which
the Lord God had made, he said unto the woman, yet hath God
said you shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman
said unto the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the tree
of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst
of the garden, God has said you shall not eat of it, neither
shall you touch it, lest you die, which is not what God said. And the serpent said to the woman,
You shall not surely die, for God doth know that in the day
you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, you shall be
as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the
tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes,
and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit
thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her,
and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were
opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig
leaves together and made themselves aprons. Satan told Eve, as he
insinuated to the Lord Jesus Christ, you listen to my wisdom,
he said. You exercise your will and desire
to gain power, you bow down to me. and you'll have it. Adam and Eve hearkened to the
devil's voice, and they died spiritually. The Lord heard Satan's
blasphemous word and said, You get hence, Satan, for it's written,
Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou
serve. So we are told back in John, all that's 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. And the world passeth
away, and the lust thereof. But he that doeth the will of
God abideth forever. The world of unbelief and all
the evidences of it That which is of my flesh to satisfy myself
apart from the will of God, to satisfy others in their eyes to make them think
that I'm something that I'm not. And the pride of life to think
that I have the ability to gain the whole world by an act of
my free will, especially the world to come, eternity. The
pride of life, that's of the world. Don't love it. Don't love
it. It's going to pass away. But
he that doeth the will of God. Now here's the closing thought. What is it going to take for
me to live forever? I'm going to have to do the will
of God. Turn to John 6 in closing. John
6, 27. John 6, 27. What is the will
of God? What is the will of God? John
chapter 6 and verse 27. Labor not for the meat that perisheth. Don't labor for earthly treasure
or comfort which is not going to endure. It's not going to
endure. There are some things in this world that we enjoy. I thank God for it. I thank God
for the Lord's provision. But to labor for those things
which are not going to endure at the expense of forsaking God,
labor not, the Lord Jesus Christ said, for the meat which perishes,
but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which
the Son of Man shall give unto you, for him hath God the Father
sealed. Do labor for that meat which
endureth unto everlasting life, salvation by the gift of God
Christ, whose people This is the will of God. Look at verse
28. Then said they unto Him, What shall we do that we may
work the works of God? Christ answered and said unto
them, This is the work of God that you believe on Him whom
He has sent. And look at verse 40 in John
6. This is the will of Him that
sent me. Now what are we going to do?
What Scripture says, you know, love not the world, neither the
things that are in the world, the things that are in the world
are passing away, but he that doeth the will of God, verse
40, this is the will of Him that sent me, that everyone which
seeth the Son and sees Him as the Christ, that's what Peter
said, you know, everybody was forsaken Him, and the Lord asked
His disciples, are you going to go away too? Peter said, where
are we going to go? You have the words of eternal
life, and we're sure that you're the Christ, you're the Messiah.
He that seeth the Son, seeth Him by faith, and believeth on
Him, believes on Him, not on anything else, not in anything
else, not in myself, not in my faith, not in my will, not in
my power, not in my works, He that seeth the Son, and believeth
on Him, may have everlasting life. And I will raise Him up
at the last day. Love not the world of rebellion,
thinking that I can accomplish what Almighty God says I cannot.
the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of
life. It's of the world. It's of the world. And that world
passes away. May the Lord bless these words
to our heart for Christ's sake. Amen.