Let's be turning to 1 John chapter
2. 1 John chapter 2. The first verse of our text is verse
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. When I first, well, when
I began to read this text, preparing for a message, the words, love
not the world, stood out to me because it reminded me of what
John himself wrote in the Gospel of John in chapter three concerning
the love of God when he said God so loved the world that he
gave his only begotten son. And what struck me first was
knowing that there's no contradiction in what John is saying. There's
no contradiction between these words here. The word world does
not always mean one thing or the same thing in scripture. There's not just one definition
of that word world. It's used differently in different
scriptures. It holds a different meaning
in different scriptures. For example, in the Gospel of
John in chapter three, that verse which we quote so often, the
word world there is used by the Lord to instruct Nicodemus, to
show Nicodemus that God is not the God only of the Jews. He's not the God only of the
Jews there, but rather Christ came not to set up an earthly
kingdom of the Jews where they would rule over the Gentiles.
What he's saying is that the salvation of God is for both
Jew and Gentiles. There's one flock. There's one
body of Christ. That's what Christ came to do,
to save his people from their sins. He didn't come to set up
an earthly kingdom. He came to save his people, Jew
and Gentile. That word, world, for God so
loved the world, Nicodemus, I have a people not only of the Jews,
but of the Gentiles also. There's one There's one God,
one salvation, one Savior. And this is exactly what the
scriptures teach. For example, Isaiah 49, verse
6, and he said, it is a light thing, a small thing, that thou
shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to
restore the preserved of Israel. That's too small. That's too
small for your glory. I will also give thee for a light
to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end
of the earth." Isaiah 49, 6. And so God so loved the world
that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. And so to that world of believers
now. And that's another way that that
word world is used. To that world of believers, all
for whom Christ shed his blood. The Apostle John now addresses
us when he says, love not the world. Love not the world. What world then does John have
in view in his epistle when he tells us love not the world? And that's what I want to look
at with you tonight. So, 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. So, that world that we are
not to love, in one sense is, don't love this as an habitation,
as a lasting habitation. This is not our eternal inheritance,
brethren. This is not our inheritance here,
this world. This is a temporary dwelling
place. It's not lasting. We are strangers
and pilgrims in this world, so we ought not to be too attached
to it because it's passing away. And he tells us this because
by nature we are very attached to this world. by nature. We're very attached to this world,
and so he's saying it's passing away. It don't love this world. Even our physical bodies teach
us that. They're passing away. They are
a tent that is fading. It has holes in it, weaknesses
in it. It's something that perishes
and is discarded. It's put away. You think of Abraham. Think of Abraham. Abraham is
the father of all them that are of faith. He is the father of
the faithful, those that are of faith. And reading from Hebrews
11, if you turn there, Hebrews 11, in verse eight through 10,
this is that chapter of faith, here speaking of Abraham, we're
told that by faith, verse eight, Hebrews 11, eight, by faith,
Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he
should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed and went out, right? He
heard the word of God and he walked in obedience to that word,
right? He believed the word of God and
he went out not knowing whither he went. By faith, he sojourned
in the land of promise as in a strange country, dwelling in
tabernacles or in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with
him of the same promise. And you think, well, wait a minute,
God gave him this land, and yet he never dug down and set up
a foundation and built up a more permanent structure. He continued
to dwell in tents with Isaac and Jacob, those who also received
that same promise of God. Why? For he looked for a city
which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Not man's works, not man's hands,
not anything of this flesh, but of him that calleth, of him that
promise, of him who has given his people an eternal inheritance
in himself. That promise, what was promised
to Abraham was a picture, a type, of what is our eternal inheritance
in the heavens with our God. Our God. So we have, we having
the first fruits of the spirit, right? That down payment of your
inheritance, the spirit of God is given to you. It's an earnest,
a down payment of God's promise that our inheritance is with
him in the heavens. We have an eternal inheritance
with him. So adding, to not loving the
world, John says, neither the things that are in the world. There's so much about this world
that in the flesh attracts us. It appeals to our lusts. It's a great temptation to us. It engages our thoughts. It engages
our imaginations so that we are consumed by it. with our interests,
with our resources, with our energy. We're consumed by the
things of this world. Now, the Apostle Paul tells us
something about this world, something about the way and the course
of this world, which by nature, we don't understand. We don't
see the bondage that we are in by nature, in this flesh, by
nature. He writes in Ephesians chapter
two, over in Ephesians chapter two, you should turn there. Beginning in verse one, he points
out that you hath God quickened, you that are that world of believers
who confess Christ and believe him and walk in obedience to
the word of God, the faith of Christ, you hath he quickened
who were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in time past He
walked according to the course of this world. There's a course,
there's a way of this world. Things function a certain way
because it is the course of this world, which functions according
to the prince of the power of the air. That's the devil, the
wicked one, the deceiver, the liar, the murderer, that wicked
one. And he has this world under his
control, under his sway, under his influence, his power, The
systems we see are all under his wicked hands, under his wicked
way, under his course. And the people of it, the customs
of it, how things get done and how things operate, all have
just filth touching them, just a way that is just not right,
and a way that is deceitful and dirty and destructive. And he's
the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience,
among whom also we all had our conversation, our walk, our way,
our words, our doing in times past, in the lusts of our flesh,
fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were
by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But here's our
salvation, brethren, because this is why this is brought to
us, for us to know that the things of this world are not our salvation,
and by the things of this world, we're not gonna be saved, right?
There's not a political solution to our problems. There's problems
in the world because we're sinners, but here's our salvation, verse
four, but God, who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith
he loved us, right? We didn't wake up one day and
figure it out and go, oh, I see now all this wickedness, Let's
fix this thing. We didn't wake up, we don't save
ourselves, but God intervened. Even when we were dead in sins,
hath quickened us together, hath given us life together with Christ. By grace, we are saved. And hath
raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus. That's touching on, that's speaking
of our inheritance. right now seated with Christ,
as you read from Colossians 3, that right now we're seated in
heavenly places with Christ, in Christ. That's our dwelling
place. That's our hope. That's our lasting,
eternal inheritance is in Him, it's with Him, that in the ages
to come, He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness
toward us through Christ Jesus, which is now made known unto
us through the preaching of the gospel, right? The broadcasting
of the gospel, the declaration of what God has done to save
his people, to deliver his people, to turn us from the dead works
of this world and the systems of this world unto the true and
living God, to know him, to worship him. But there's this physical
world which is known to this flesh and there's an and eternal
inheritance, and heavenly inheritance in Christ, which is made known
to us by the grace of God through the gospel, declaring unto us
Christ, our salvation. And so to the living souls on
this same thing, Peter writes to us in 1 Peter 2.11, dearly
beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims abstain from fleshly
lusts. which war against the soul. We take these things that are
good and profitable for us, they're good and profitable for men,
things that are good in and of themselves, but we abuse them.
We make idols out of the things of this world. We covet those
things that we place value on, usually a corrupt value on, and
that's what we go after, and that's what we focus on. by nature
in this world, whether it's material possessions, whether it's of
power, rank, wealth, something of that nature. That's what we're
doing. That's why the Lord says, even
the plowing of the wicked is sin, because we corrupt it. We taint it. We take that which
is good and profitable, and we add our sin and darkness to that
thing. Let us take heed to what the
Lord says. Matthew 6, 24, no man can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one
and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise
the other. He cannot serve both God and
Mammon. The love of God and the love
of this world are two very different things. They are what can be
called mutually exclusive, meaning that both can't be true at the
same time. You either love God and serve
God, or you love this world and serve this world. You cannot
serve both God and man. Again, from Matthew 13, 22, he
says in that parable of the seeds, He that received the seed among
thorns the thorns is he that heareth the word and the care
of this world and the deceitfulness of riches Choke the word and
he becometh unfruitful We see that truth even in our own selves
We see that where we get so focused and caught up on the word world
that it chokes the word it chokes that that attention which is
turned from the world to Christ, these things turn our attention
back to the world and focusing on these dead things that cannot
save. If any man loved the world, the
love of the Father is not in him, John said. And so God, we're
called to, we're called by God to God. And he's first and foremost
in our hearts. He's first in all in our hearts. And from that, as our all, with
Christ as our focus, with the true and living God as our aim,
our focus, that's how we love our families, love our brethren,
love the, go at the things of this, what we're called to do
in our vocation, that's how we do those things rightly. It's
good to be good at what you do and to enjoy what you do. That's
not wrong. But it's in knowing God, in loving
Him, in serving Him, and with all your heart, mind, soul, and
strength, that's where we learn and do love our neighbor as ourselves
rightly. It's in the love of Christ, in
the face of our God. And so it's not wrong to love
your family, it's not wrong to do your jobs well, and to do
what you're called to do well, but it's through It's through
the true and living God that we even get reset and get our
focus and our thoughts on the things that otherwise pollute
us. It's only by His grace that we
are made to understand and to know God and obey Him, walk in
that obedience of faith rightly, that then we love one another
the way we ought to love one another. And Christ said it this
way in Luke 14, 26, and 27. If any man come to me and hate
not his father and mother and wife and children and brethren
and sisters, yea, in his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. That is, if we put those things
first, if we make them our priority, then God is in our priority.
We make God our priority, we serve him first, and that's how
we rightly then love our wives, that's how Our wives will submit
to their husbands. That's how our children will
hear us and how we'll know how to instruct our children. It's
how we'll go at our work and our vocation rightly in light
of the true and living God. And whosoever doth not bear his
cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. And so with Christ
as our aim, that's where all these other things that are otherwise
can be profitable are made profitable in Him, in Him. Now John says,
verse 16, for all that is in the world, this is 1 John 2,
16, for all that is in the world, everything that corrupts and
pollutes and defiles, 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. So John gives three headings
here And one thing I want us to notice in that is it all speaks
to the fountain of sin, right here, this heart. We spend so
much time looking outward and being very ignorant of the fact
that this is the fountain of sin in man. It's our heart. It's our own heart. And so John
speaks first of the lust of the flesh. We'll go through each
of these three here. The lust of the flesh, which
is also the lust of the body. It's talking about that which
this flesh, this body lusts and looks for. And again, these things
flow out of the heart of man. And these are similar. I'm gonna
read from Mark 7, verses 20 through 23. And you'll notice that as
we're going through these things, I didn't pull from Colossians
3, but those same things that Paul touches on are right here
in these other scriptures. Mark 7, verse 20, and Christ
said, that which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. All right? Here's the problem.
I'm the problem. It's my heart. It's my thoughts. These, my actions come out of
this sinful man, this old man of flesh. For from within, out
of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts. All right? He's
gonna list, these are the things that man, the flesh, turns to,
to deal with problems, to deal with things. He turns to these
things, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness,
wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride,
foolishness. All these evil things come from
within and defile the man. Right? Religion was teaching
them, well, you push off all these unclean things out here
and you'll be clean. No, we're just whitewashed supplicants. We're dead by nature. That which is of the flesh is
flesh. We're already dead by nature. And so we spend this
time, you know, shunning all these other things from without.
And there is wisdom. There's things that we ought
not to pick up and not to handle and not to do. There is some
wisdom in that. But that isn't going to change
the fact that I'm diseased already. By nature, I'm born with the
disease of sin. I'm already under the law of
sin and death in my members. I'm already worthy of eternal
hell. Just by nature, it's what I am. And so it can't be cured by putting
out just eternal things. and just avoiding eternal things
and adopting a monastic lifestyle where you just put out and shut
out and gate out everything of the world because I'm the problem. I'm the one inside the gate already
that's got the disease of sin. I'm the pollutant. I'm the diseased
one. And so it's already too late
when you shut everything else out. Again, there's wisdom in
it because there are things that stir up the lusts of the flesh.
that aren't profitable for us, that aren't profitable for our
brethren. But the problem is me. And so, sin is what we are
by nature. It flows out from within, out
of this corrupt heart. And Paul spoke of these same
things, right? In Galatians 5, Galatians 5,
19. Now the works of the flesh are
manifest, which are these, and again, this is what man turns
to to fix his problems, to comfort himself, to soothe himself, to
handle problems and to justify himself and to cause justice
for other people what he thinks according to his ways. Again,
adultery, fornication, uncleanness, which is living in impure lustfulness,
lasciviousness, which is just outrageously shameful things. Things that just vulgar, in-your-face
wickedness, right, that's lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, right,
turning to things to get an edge, these wicked things, these spiritual
things that we don't understand what we're doing in opening that
up, those are wicked idolatry and witchcraft, so we're trying
to get some edge, hatred, variance, which is quarreling and contentions,
fighting, emulations, which is jealousy, wrath, and then strife,
which is, The word for that is electioneering, meaning trying
to persuade others to your side, to how you understand things.
It's persuading others to take your side and not their side.
That's strife. And then the next thing is what
follows, seditions, right, the actual divisions, the seditions. And then heresies, endings, murders,
drunkenness, revelings, which is riotous living, and such like
of the which I tell you before, as I have told you in time past,
that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom
of God." And so these are all sins which flow out of us, that
are very common to man, very easy for man to do. This is how we destroy the world,
by these things. Because sin is in us, and we're
the ones that are destroying it. We're the ones ruining it. For this cause, God sent his
son into the world. For this cause, because we can't
fix it, we can't make it right, God the Father sent his son into
the world, like unto us, made like unto us, but without sin.
And he, as the Lamb of God, sacrificed himself on the tree. to propitiate
the wrath of God which was against us for our sin. He did that. He gave the just for the unjust
to obtain our forgiveness and to give eternal life, to give
life in himself. And so he gives his spirit as
that down payment, as that earnest of our inheritance. This is what
he gives to all his redeemed, all for whom he died, he gives
his spirit to give us a new birth, to make us to know Him, to bring
us out of that darkness, to give us light in Himself, because
we think we gotta figure it out by nature, and all we're doing
is going the course of this world. And so it's by the Spirit of
God that we bear fruits of righteousness, to the praise, honor, and glory
of God, such as love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness,
faith, meekness, temperance, against such there is no law,
right? The law of sin and death has
no power over that. The law of that second death
hath no power over you, that hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. These lusts remain in us, and
that's why the apostles said, abstain from these things, because
they are there, they're present in our members, they're present
in this flesh, but he gives the spirit to show us the truth,
to cause us to groan in our spirit, crying out, Lord, save me. Lord,
have mercy on me. Lord, turn me from these wicked
works to the true and living God. And keep me walking in obedience
and faith in Christ, for which you've saved me, for what you've
done. And so by him, we cry out, Lord,
come Lord Jesus. We cry out for his coming. John
also speaks of the lust of the eyes, and this speaks to the
riches of the world, the things that the natural man covets,
desires, and wants in this world, things that gain him wealth,
power, influence, standing, stature, all these things that we think
improve our standing in ourselves and in the eyes of others, even
to give us a sense of self-sufficiency from the need of God. Man trusts
in his riches because then he thinks, I don't need God. But
the scriptures show us God, when it pleases Him, can take our
lives in an instant. In an instant. It's not that
God needs us. We need Him. We need His grace. The scriptures show us a pattern
here where man sees a thing, he places some value on it, he
covets it, And then he takes it. And we see that in Joshua
7, verse 21, concerning Achan. Achan was an Israelite who was
with the Jews when they came out of Egypt and they began to
conquer the cities there under Joshua, who led them into the
promised land there. And Joshua was asking him about
it. What did you do, Achan? And Achan
said, when I saw, when I saw Among the spoils of a goodly
Babylonish garment, and 200 shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold
of 50 shekels weight, then I coveted them and took them. And behold,
they are hidden in the earth." Right? We see that pattern there.
I saw it, I coveted it, and then I took it. And that's what we
do by nature. That's the lust of the eyes. And they slew Achan promptly
for that. They slew him promptly. And that was a just thing under
their law. They put him to death immediately. And yet, as judicious
as they were in putting to death sinners according to their law,
they still fell in sin, because again, the fountain is in this
heart of nature, this heart of man. It's only by the grace of
God in the Lord Jesus Christ that we are saved. Flee to him. The Lord shows us
these things, that we would flee to Christ and not think more
highly of ourselves than we ought to think, because we are desperate
sinners. in need of his grace and he is
the only salvation for men under heaven, the only name given among
men whereby we must be saved. And so the Lord tells us, seek
ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these
other things will be added unto you. Which goes back to what
I said before, when we love the Lord our God with all our heart,
mind, soul and strength, out of that is how we rightly love
our families, our friends, our neighbors, our brethren. It's
in knowing and loving the true and living God rightly. And so
we're all slaves of something, right? When you've spoken to
another sinner, a young man, for example, I've spoken to other
men, and they don't want to be slaves to Christ because they
think they're free. But we're all bond slaves to
something. You're either a slave of sin
and death and wickedness, or you're a slave of Christ. And
if you're a slave of Christ, you're free from the law of sin
and death. You're free from that death and
that destruction. And all who are slaves of Christ,
they're happy. They're happy for it. Because
in Him we find mercy. In Him we find peace. In Him
we find thankfulness. In Him we find comfort and joy
because He is the life giver. He is the light of men. He is
our God and creator. And knowing Him, there is great
freedom, great joy in serving Him. Now John also speaks of
the pride of life, the pride of life. And this speaks of the
vain confidences of man, such as certain which trusted in themselves
that they were righteous and despised others. or they which
receive honor of one of another and seek not the honor that cometh
from God only. Our Lord said in Matthew 23,
five and seven, all their works they do for to be seen of men. And at that time he was speaking
of the religious sort, the Pharisees and the Sadducees. And he said,
they make broad their phylacteries and enlarge the borders of their
garments. And we see that also in those
that are of a worldly nature. They broaden and expand their
riches, their footprint in the world. They get bigger houses
and nicer cars and they do things to flaunt their opulence and
to show everybody, I've arrived. I've done it, I've arrived. And
so, whether you're in religion or you're living in the world,
we do the same things. Broaden and expand and have things
to boast of before men. They love the uppermost rooms
at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, or in the
restaurants, or whatever it is, the country club, and greetings
in the markets, and to be called of men, rabbi, rabbi. To be worshiped
and adored by men. They want to be popular and accepted
of men. None of these things, however,
impress God. None of these things impress
the true and living God. And they're not of God's spirit
and of his grace. They're of the flesh. or of the
flesh, John concluded that this pride is not of the Father, but
is of the world. Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is
the wisdom of God and the hope of the riches of God, the hope
of our eternal inheritance where neither thief nor rust nor moth
break in and destroy. He declared in Proverbs 8, verse
18 through 21, he tells us, and honor are with me, yea, durable
riches, enduring riches, and righteousness. My fruit is better
than gold, yea, than fine gold, and my revenue than choice silver. I lead in the way of righteousness. This is Christ in the midst of
the paths of judgment that I may cause those that love me to inherit
substance. Not this physical world substance. The eternal things where Christ
is seated. That enduring, durable substance. Our lives. Our eternal life in
and by the Lord Jesus Christ. And I will fill their treasures. I believe it. I believe it. And you also believe it. Otherwise,
this world would be your pursuit. But we forsake these things because
of His Word, setting up that pillar of faith
on His Word. Believe Him. He is God. He has spoken this Word. He is
God Almighty, El Shaddai, who is able to bring it to pass because
it rests entirely upon His broad, mighty shoulders. And then John
adds in verse 17, and the world passeth away, and the lust thereof."
So the way this world functions and as it stands right now, it's
passing away. And all the lusts with it, everything
that we relish and cherish and go after, it's all passing away. It's all marked for utter destruction. It's all shaken by the Word of
God, and it crumbles. It crumbles. His Word shows us
that these things are not lasting and cannot save you. Christ alone
is the Savior. And here's the good news for
you that believe Christ. He that doeth the will of God
abideth forever. So, in closing, what is the will
of God? What is it to do the will of
God? Well, our Lord tells us Himself
in John 6. Let's turn there. In John 6,
He tells us Two things. First, verse 39. John 6, 39. And this is the Father's will
which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should
lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And so what he's telling us there,
and this is where it all begins, right? He's telling us there
that Our God has a people who will hear this Word and who believe
Him, who trust Him, who know, Lord, You're true. Let every
man be a liar, but God is true. He's true. He's telling us the
truth here. And He's saying that none of
them will perish. And it speaks to those whom the
Father chose and gave to the Son. It speaks of those that
were chosen of God and redeemed by the Son faithfully and who
were effectually called by the Holy Ghost. There's a people
who hear because God has intervened. God has interposed for them and
they will not perish. That's what he says there. This
is the Father's will that all which he has given me I should
lose none. Verse 40, and this is the will
of him that sent me that every one which seeth the Son, and
believeth on him, may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up
at the last day." The so-called churches today love to divide
those two truths, but they stand together. Without God, without
His hand, without His sovereign will and purpose being executed,
we would never believe Christ. We would never believe Him. And
so what he's speaking of there is, this is how those whom the
Father loved from before the foundation of the world and gave
to me to save. This is how they'll be revealed.
This is how you'll know them. They shall see Christ crucified. How do we see Christ crucified? We see him evidently set forth
in the preaching of the gospel, declaring unto you that Christ
is your salvation. And this is how he obtained it.
through his death and sacrifice on the tree. And so, by the preaching
of the gospel, Christ crucified is evidently set forth before
you. And they shall believe on him,
confessing with your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ, believing
in your heart that God hath raised him from the dead. You that believe
him, that confess Christ, You are saved. You shall be raised
again. You shall not perish in your
sins and lie in that grave till the judgment day to be cast into
hell. No, you shall be raised anew to stand in the presence
of Almighty God forever, accepted of Him. Not for your works, but
you'll be singing the praise, that song of redemption, praising
your Savior all the day long, all the eternal day long. I pray that the Lord comfort
you, bless you, show you Him, because it's only in Him that
we will not love this world, which is passing away, and love
Him, who is true and righteous and holy and wonderful. Amen.