May God be pleased to bless us
together this morning as we meditate in his word. Let us turn to the
first epistle of John, the second chapter, and we'll read verses
15, 16, and 17. The first epistle of John, chapter
two, reading verses 15, 16, and 17. 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, and 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 for ever. As we commence this new year,
and on this first Lord's Day of this new year, it would surely
be a wonderful blessing and favour for us if the words that we read
here together abode with us throughout the year and perhaps particularly
we might think of just the first four words which speak to us
love not the world naturally we love the world what a blessing
therefore if we have such a word before us perhaps every day And
when we wake up in the morning to think of such a word like
this, love not the world, it surely would have and must have
a good effect upon us. Because what it should do is
to turn our thoughts and our attention to not the things of
the world, but the alternative is of course the things of God. And that of course is so much
more important. the things of God than the things
of this world. So here we have then this statement
this morning. It is a wonderful statement,
love not the world. And it's not addressed to old
people, it's not addressed only to old people, it's not addressed
only to middle-aged people, it's not only addressed to them, and
it's not only addressed to children, but it is addressed to all of
them. So just think this morning, perhaps you children might think,
well I don't think that is a very suitable word for me. Well, just
remember that the apostle here is speaking unto the children,
he's speaking unto the fathers, and he's speaking unto the young
men. So it's a good thing to realise
therefore that this word here does apply to all of us. and not to think it is irrelevant. Well of course nothing in the
Word of God is irrelevant. Every Word of God is true. And
every Word of God is very relevant for us. What a blessing it is. But to realise that such words
have an application toward us. The problem is that by nature
we love the world, and therefore we do not love God. And yet, you see, the Word encourages
us, we are encouraged to truly serve the Lord and to love the
Lord. The Lord Jesus himself spoke
so very clearly about this when he was on the earth, and it's
good just to be reminded of what the Lord Jesus did speak. He
spoke to us about loving God, not loving the world, but loving
God. And in the 12th chapter of Mark's
Gospel and the 30 and 31st verses, we read these words, and thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy
soul. And with all thy mind, and with
all thy strength, this is the first commandment. And the second
is like namely this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
There is none other commandment greater than these. So we're
told not to love the world, but we are told to love the Lord
our God. And Jesus speaks here very powerfully. because it's in answer to one
of the scribes who asked him the question. They were reasoning
together and perceiving that he had answered them well, he
asked him, which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus
said then, the first of all commandments is, hear, O Israel, The Lord
our God is one Lord, and he goes on to say, and thou shalt love
the Lord thy God with all thy heart. Remember, it's not just
a bit of our heart. We shouldn't think, well I can
just perhaps do this and love God in this way and then carry
on and love the world. The problem is, you see that
we're often divided in our attention, divided in our love, and we find
that the world has a grip of us. I heard not so long ago of a
young man who said, the problem is, he said, I love the world.
Well, he was being honest. But it isn't a good thing to
be found saying that we love the world. Because the world
will not last forever. Indeed, the world will vanish
away, as we read here in the third verse. And the world passeth
away, and the lusts thereof. But he that doeth the will of
God abideth forever. Let us not therefore think that
we can just live our life as we want to and then hope at the
end somehow everything will work out alright. No, the Word of
God, we are given to graciously instruct us. And although sometimes,
of course, we know that the things that the Lord speaks of, as we
read, are very difficult really, yet let us come to our God in
prayer, and perhaps pray every day for two things. That we might truly love the
Lord, our God, and also that we may not love the world. It's a good thing, isn't it,
to do. And I'm sure if we were able to do that at the beginning
of every day, it would have a good effect upon us, because it would
direct our hearts into a right channel, into the love of God,
which is, of course, an amazing blessing, and also the love of
the world which brings no benefit at all. Well, the word of God
tells us here, love not the world. And then the apostle goes on,
neither the things that are in the world. Well, we all have
things, don't we, in the world. We all have things perhaps which
we treasure, perhaps we are pleased to have, but we are not to love
them. We are to treat them as they
have been given to us to enjoy and to use, but not to love them,
and not to be surfeited or over-surfeited with them, neither things that
are in the world. And we mustn't forget that we
have a great adversary, the devil, who always endeavours to turn
us away from the things of God. always intends to turn us away
from the love of God. The love of God is a wonderful
consideration, and it's good to meditate on what that really
means. The love of the Father, the love
of the Son, and the love of the Holy Spirit, and they are all
united in love to the Church of God. What a wonderful thing
then, if you and I are, by the grace of God, enabled to turn
away from the things of the world to the things of God. And so,
love not the things that are in the world. appreciate the
things that God has given us, but let us not love them, rather
let us love God. And so, as we think of these
words this morning, may they be a gracious word of instruction,
a gracious word of exhortation. They are really words which exhort
us, direct us, to truly seek after the things of God and not
after the things of this world. The Christian life is one of
a battle. It's a battlefield and there's
a constant strife and constant opposition to the things of God
and a constant concern to do the things which are right for
the people of God and yet are all nature goes off to soften
the things of this world. And yet, as we read together
in these opening verses of this second chapter, we have this
wonderful statement, and if any man sin, we have an advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he is the
propitiation for our sins. Well, we've described that, and
when I read the reading this morning about the propitiation
what it means and it's wonderful to realize that the Lord came
with this wrath-ending sacrifice as he gave his life to take away
the sins from his people. There was no other way of salvation,
there was no other way satisfying to God the Father but that his
only begotten Son should come into the world to save his people
from their sins. And that was only through his
death, that sin atoning death. And then the Apostle, he goes
on and he said, and hereby we do know that we know him if we
keep his commandments. And this is a commandment, love
not the world. And so we shouldn't turn aside
from it. God has given us many commandments
in his word, and this is one of the commandments. Love not
the world. It's very clear, isn't it? And
the things that are in the world. And the solemn statement is that
hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his commandments.
Then he goes on to say, He that saith, I know him, and keepeth
not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
The word of God is very precise, isn't it? And it's very direct,
and it doesn't mince matters. And so we're told here that whoso
keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected. Hereby we know that we, that
we are in him. So really it is this word of
love and how that is taken and how that is addressed and how
that is used and how it is communicated shows to us where we stand in
relation to the condition of our eternal soul. So these things
therefore are very important. There's nothing more important
than to know how we stand spiritually before Almighty God. There's
nothing more important than to know that we love God and that
God loves us. Nothing more important. We may
often be sidetracked. with the things of this world.
And we often find ourselves taken up with the things of time, which
we know in our right mind do not profit. And yet what a battle
it is to continue in the right way. And that's why we should
be very thankful that God has given us such clear direction
in his word to do that which is right. and to seek therefore
the right way. And as these words have been
written for our instruction, as John says, I write unto you,
he writes unto us. What a mercy we have then the
word of God written for our instruction. Love not the world, neither the
things that are in the world, And we need to, perhaps sometimes,
sit down and analyse just what that means. The things that are
in the world. Well, we can appreciate, can't
we? The wonder of creation. It's good to do that. And the
wonder that God has produced all these things that we're able
to observe and to see. But you see, man has made many
inventions. Man has been given ability After
that fall in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve partook of
that fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil There
was a knowledge and God gave that knowledge and he's given
that knowledge to mankind to know that which is good and that
which is wrong and that which is evil and yet you say how often
we cleave to that which is evil and And we don't cleave to that
which is good. And therefore we find that man
has made out many witty inventions, as it is described. Many witty
inventions. But as we look at those inventions,
and we're familiar with them I'm sure in our daily life, we're
thankful for so many of them. But you see, do they bring us
nearer to God? Or do they distract us from the
things of God. The things in our daily life,
the things that we deal with, do they bring us nearer to Christ,
nearer to the cross, or do they take us away? Well I'm sure we
understand they take us by nature away from the things of God. And therefore it's important
to know that we should observe this truth, this word. If any
man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. We are told, the Lord Jesus tells
us, we cannot serve God and mammon. We cannot serve God and the things
of time. The things of time really of
course are considered to those which of course money can purchase
and buy Those things which naturally perhaps attract us and occupy
us, and occupy us out of all proportion, so that we put God
in the background. If any man loved the world, the
love of the Father is not in him. Again, a very clear statement,
isn't it? So if we say, well, as that person
I referred to, when he said, I love the world, then clearly
the love of God, the love of the Father, is not in him. And
that relates to all of us, of course, if we find ourselves
loving the world. And so the apostle goes on, for
all that is in the world. And he gives us the example of
these things. The lust of the flesh, and the
lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father,
but is of the world." You see, the lust of the flesh, what it
really means is that we are found coveting things that we do not
possess. And we're lusting after them.
And we think, well, that would be really good if I had that.
It would be really good if I enjoyed that. You see, and it's the lust
of the flesh. It's not seeking after God. It's
seeking after the things of time. And so, here is this statement,
for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust
of the eyes, and the pride of life. and we're told is not of
the Father but is of the world and often we find ourselves perhaps
trying to justify ourselves justify ourselves and yet if we examine
our heart under the searchlight of God's all-seeing eye we will
find that there are many things for which we are lusting after
our flesh Those things that our nature wants and desires. Those
things that our eyes see. We're thankful for sight, aren't
we? But natural sight, you see, goes after things. And there
is that lusting after them. Is it beneficial? Is it profitable? Does it bring us nearer to God?
Or does it move us away? Well, quite clearly, it doesn't
draw us nearer to God. Quite clearly, it moves us away. And so, the Word tells us, it
is not of the Father, but is of the world. How we need to
be reminded, don't we, of such words as this. How so easily
we find ourselves occupied with the things of the world. And
then perhaps we come and we say, oh how barren is my soul. Or
perhaps we're not even concerned about our soul. We just carry
on in the things of this world. Going after them. The lust of
the flesh and the lust of the eyes. And wanting more and more
of the things of time. More and more of the things of
time. We want this. And we want that. And we desire this. And we desire
that. How easily we are led along that
path. And yet you see the Word of God
directs us in a very opposite way. And how often we forget
the truth of God's Word. That's why as I commenced this
morning with what a good idea to Remember the opening words,
love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.
And in contrast, the desire to love God. Because if we love
God, you know what that will have produced? Not that we love
God, but that God loved us. So if you and I love God, And
if we possess that grace to love God, it will be because He loved
us. What a mercy that is, to know
that God has loved us. Because if God has loved us,
it's with an everlasting love. It's with a love which will not
disappear, will not be taken away. See the sequence. It's very important. and it's
very relevant. So as we seek after the grace
to love God, if that is granted to us, it will be because God
has loved us. And if God has loved us, our
names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. And that eternal
life is ours. Eternal happiness is ours. What
a blessing it is then, to be directed in this way. And how
thankful we should be this morning that we have such a word before
us, which so clearly directs us. For all that is in the world,
the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride
of life is not of the Father, but is of the world. Not only do we have to battle
against the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes, but
also the pride of life. And the pride of life is very
difficult sometimes to come to terms with. By nature, we are
proud people. And that's very evident if you
just pause for a moment and think that we want to be thought well
of by people. We don't want people to think
badly of us, do we? Why do we want people to think
well of us? Pride. Pride of life. Pride of life. We order our conversation, often
with this in view, that people will have a right understanding
and a right view. of what we're doing and what
we're saying. And what is it? The pride of life. And what is
it? It's not of the Father, but is
of the world. These statements are very penetrating,
aren't they? And what a blessing if the Lord,
gracious God, gives us a enlightenment, and gives us a view of these
things in our heart, a right appreciation of what they really
mean. And it might therefore really
cause a concern within us, and we might not covet things, we
might not lust after things. We have a very striking account
in the Word of God about this. You may remember when Israel
came over Jordan and entered into the promised land of Canaan
and they were clearly told not to take certain things. They
were not to lust after them. God was going to give them a
wonderful victory. You know, if you think of that in our lives,
God gives his church a wonderful victory over sin, death, hell
and the grave through the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, the gracious
Lord was going to give a wonderful victory to the Israelites. And yet you see there was one
person who didn't obey the Word of God, didn't obey the command
of Joshua, And who was that? That was a man called Achan. And of course he thought that
he took a wedge of gold and a Babylonish garment which looked very wonderful
and a wedge of silver and he knew he shouldn't have done it.
So what did he do? He hid it. He hid it in his tent. He dug a hole in his tent. and
hid it in the ground. And he thought perhaps no one
would know about it. But of course God knew about
it. My friends in your life and my life, never think, you young
people, never think you can hide anything from God. You can hide
nothing from God. And so you see, Achan hid this,
and it brought disaster to Israel. But you see, God was going to
deal with it. And God knew who had done the deed, and eventually
Achan was found out. Out of all of the Israelites,
he was taken as the one who had done this thing. you see what
happened. He lost his life and his families
and all his goods. Tragic wasn't it? Terrible thing
and yet you see it's because he disobeyed the command of God. He lusted after the things of
the world. God was giving them great victories
but they were not to lust after and take the things of the world. 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 so these
great truths are there and we are not to go after these things,
We're not to labour after the things of the world. It's very
easy, you see, to spend much time labouring after the things
which do not benefit us, do not profit us. And the Lord Jesus
spoke of these things when he was on the earth in the 6th chapter
of the Gospel of John. And in the 27th verse we read
a very clear statement, labour not for the meat which perisheth,
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." We spend our time, don't we, labouring after the things
of this world. What a blessing it would be if
we spend our time labouring after the things of God, seeking after
the blessing of God to be found and to come into our hearts,
into our souls, so that we're blessed with more union and more
fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Labour not for the meat
which perisheth. Of course, the Lord was speaking
to the people because they were seeking after natural food. And yet, you see, it's right,
of course, to seek after the food that we need. But, you see,
we're not to lust after things. You know, we sometimes have narrow
views of what lusting is. And, you know, often we think
of it being of immoral nature. Well, of course it is. Immoral
thoughts and immoral actions. But, you know, also, the Word
of God speaks to us also about being a glutton. about eating
too much food, and about being drunk and drinking too much wine. These things are also quite clearly
spoken against. We sometimes need to just ponder
a moment, especially at this time of year we pass through,
when I suppose if we're honest, we all eat too much. And we cannot
justify that really before God, can we? And yet, you see, the
Word of God speaks about lusting after the flesh and the things
of the eyes. Food and drink and clothes, lusting
after clothes. You know, there we are before
us all the time in shops and in the media. We see all clothes,
don't we, which are depicted and we say, oh, that's rather
nice. I think I'd like to have that.
And well, are we lusting after it? Do we want this? Do we want
that? Yes, it's so easy, isn't it?
To go along seeking the things which are of the world. and not
the things which are of the Father. Not the things which truly benefit
and truly prosper our soul. For all that is in the world,
the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride
of life is not of the Father but is of the world. Well may we therefore be found
seeking the things which do profit. And they are of course the greater
knowledge of God. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit. It's a good desire to have made
known unto us, in a particular way, the love of the Father,
and the love of the Son, and the love of the Holy Spirit. They each have different offices,
and they each give their love, and yet it's united together.
It's a wonderful blessing and it's a wonderful mystery. But it's very worthwhile entering
into those truths to rejoice in the great love of God. United
in that way, the love of the Father and the love of the Son
and the love of the Holy Spirit. It's spoken to us clearly, isn't
it? The Father sent his Son because he so loved the world. He sent
His only begotten Son into the world that whosoever believeth
in Him should not perish but have eternal life. And the love
of the Son was so great that He came and was willing to give
His life as sacrifice for our sin to endure all incarnate God
could bear with strength enough and none to spare. The love of
the Son. Oh my friends, it's past. our
comprehension. What a blessing if in this new
year we know something of the amazing love of the Lord Jesus
Christ towards such unworthy sinners. And it will, and it
must, have a glorious and a gracious effect. It's then we will realise
the cost of our salvation. It's then we will realise we
are bought with a price. the price of blood, the precious
blood of the Saviour. Our friends rejoice in this great
love. And then you see the Apostle
goes on, just to remind us, just to alert us to the reality of
these things. The world passeth away. Our life passes away. However young, however old we
are, our life passes away as the world passes away. Everything rots, doesn't it? Everything grows old and perishes. And, he tells us, and the lusts
thereof. Those things that we desired.
They'll perish. They'll be gone. They won't live
forever. The world passeth away and the
last thereof. And then he gives us this glorious
statement. But he that doeth the will of
God abideth forever. Just meditate on that. He that
doeth. Not only he that heareth, be
not only hearers of the Word, but doers of the Word, as James
tells us. He that doeth the Word of God
abideth forever. He that is one, that hears the
Word of God and does it. These things come very powerful
sometimes to us, don't they? Very close to us. as we look
into our hearts and to ponder he that doeth the will of God. Well, may we look into our own
hearts even today and to realise whether we are doing the will
of God Or are we doing our own will? There's only the two ways
really, aren't there? We're either doing God's will
or we're doing our will. And there's a vast difference.
There's a complete difference. And we are encouraged. And we
are exhorted. And we are commanded. to do the
will of God. What a blessing if therefore
the Holy Spirit enables us to do that. Because in so doing
there is much blessing. Much blessing in our life on
this earth and an eternity of blessing. An eternity with Christ. and the Father and the Holy Spirit
forever and ever in heaven. You see, and he that doeth the
will of God abideth forever because we are in Christ. And if we are in Christ, then
we are possessors of eternal life and we abide forever with
God. And if we abide forever with
God, we shall rejoice in the work of God. We shall bless God
for what he has done, that glorious plan of salvation, and we will
bless God for that work he has done in our heart. When he's
drawn us to himself, when he's drawn us to the cross, where
we've seen a beauty and a preciousness in the Saviour, which exceeds
everything that this world can give, or that we naturally perhaps
lust after. It vanishes away, it perishes,
but the love of God is eternal. If therefore that love of God
has come into our hearts, we are possessors of an eternal
blessing, What a favour then, to know something of these truths. And the Apostle Paul, when he
wrote to the Corinthians, how much good instruction he wrote. And in the 7th chapter, he tells
us this, in the 31st verse, And they that use this world as not
abusing it, for the fashion of this world, pass it away. Yes, the things that we thought
were very fashionable and we lusted after, well, the years
passed by and they've gone. And the fashion's changed. But you see, those who are in
God are blessed forever. And the Apostle has told us,
but this I say, brethren, the time is short. And you and I
don't know how short it is for us, but however long it is, weighed
in the balances of eternity, it is short. But this I say, brethren, the
time is short. It remaineth that both they that
have wives be as though they had none, and they that weep
as though they wept not, and they that rejoice as though they
rejoiced not, and they that buy as though they possessed not,
and they that use this world as not abusing it, for the fashion
of this world passeth away. I would have you without carefulness."
And he goes on to speak about the married wife and the married
situation which is right and good. And so may we understand
the truth of God's Word and how we have God's Word. My friends,
we have God's Word to direct us. It's not a word that you
and I should Just read and then pass over it and forget it. And I hope this morning you won't
go home and forget what has been spoken. At least don't forget
these opening words. Love not the world, and neither
the things that are in the world. And then also remember, but he
that doeth the will of God abideth forever. set your hearts and
affections upon things above and not on things on the earth. Gracious words they are, they're
there for our instruction, they're there to direct us, they're there
to guide us, they're there to encourage us. And may we therefore
come this morning seeking for that grace, to know what it is
to love God and to be loved of God. Remember as I said, God's
love comes first and therefore our love is in return. And if
we have loved God and if we do love God out of a true heart,
it's because He's loved us. And because He loved us so much,
He's laid down His life that we are possessors of the gift
of God of eternal life. My friends, a gift which is beyond
our comprehension. It is an eternal gift. And may
we today have the evidence we are possessors of it through
what Christ has done in order to redeem our souls. Amen.