Okay, join me, if you would,
this morning again in 1 John. Book of 1 John, the second chapter. We're going to be looking at
some passages that address this section of verses 15 through
17, give or take. and we call this time we're looking
at this word, love not the world. Love not the world. 1 John chapter
2, reading from verse 15. It says, 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 forever. We're going to look at several
passages that deal, I think, with the thoughts here and with how that has to deal with us. One of the commentaries that
I looked at Had about four sentences and it said this is very obvious
what it's talking about and need not cover it any further and
one of the other commentaries will get had six pages on the
thoughts of it and and I I enjoyed both of those and a couple others
I read besides but we're gonna look at this and This is This is written to God's
people that, in the first verse of chapter
two of 1 John, it says, my little children, these things write
I unto you that you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And it
goes on a couple of verses speaking about that who we stand in, that
we have. The Lord himself is an advocate
with the Father, it says for us. And I think that we have
to keep some of the things that John said prior to where we're
at now in mind and thought. And as we look at this, it's
not a standalone without what he has said before and after,
but we're gonna look at it as these verses today, and that, There's in verse six of the first
chapter of 1 John, it also says, if we say that we have fellowship
with him, speaking of the Lord and the light that he is to his
people, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth.
So there's a lot of the book of John, the gospel of John,
and the books of 1, 2, and 3 John that have to do with the love
to God and the love to the brethren and the love to mankind and man
in general. But these few verses speak to
some things that it says love not. And we're gonna just look
at some passages on this. What I think is the part that
might have been looked at as being plain is when it says love
not the world, Verse 16, 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 I think that oftentimes these things are looked at as the worst
possible things that you could think of. And we can have, and
there is, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and
the pride of life. These can be very bad things,
but we can have an inordinate attraction and time spent with
things that are not of the bad categories as we would consider
of sin. Anything that takes us from our
mind from where we are citizens, and we're passing through here,
and anything that grabs us and keeps us grounded here, is not
a good thing, and the love of those things. Norm and I were
speaking earlier, and Marilyn and I also, that there are many
things that God gives his people that are enjoyable, things that
we enjoy that he gives us. Pleasures of life, pleasures
with other people that we enjoy their company, together and doing
things. These of themselves are not sinful
that we enjoy these things. And yet some say that if we have
a good income, a comfortable house, and able to do things,
maybe that's a little bit beyond the, you've gone over the edge,
you're a little bit too worldly. I think God intends for us as
he gives to us, those things that for our comfort, for enjoyment,
as long as they're not taking away from keeping our eyes off
of who he is and who we are and who we stand in. Nebuchadnezzar
was pretty proud of himself. Look what I've accomplished.
I've got so much, I'm going to tear down barns and build bigger
barns. That's the pride of life of having an accomplishment that
is beyond what is proper and should be in people's
pride of themselves. By our nature, we love to accomplish. We love to have accomplished
things, finished projects, and have people acknowledge who we
are and that we've done some good things, as people would
say. And there's nothing wrong with
that. But when that is what is sought, it gets to be beyond
that. As far as who we associate with,
there are those that feel if they're not believers, we shouldn't
associate with. You try it. That's pretty tough.
It's pretty tough not to associate with other people, with the people
in the world that are unbelievers. A couple of things that come
to mind from that, that we interact with other people. We don't know
who those other people are. And Norm one time said that people
that are with us that are not believers, or we don't understand
maybe that they are or not, we don't know who God's sheep are. And that's like people say, well,
if they're predestinated, just preach to the sheep. Well, we
don't know that. We don't know who the sheep are,
and we don't know how God will cause us to interact with others,
that we may view them as unbelievers, but they make, the door may be
open to the sheep, open the scriptures to them.
We don't know that. But again, our affections are
not here. Our permanent affections are
not here. We don't look to those things for our comfort or our
peace, that only God can give us the peace in a true sense
of the word. And so we're gonna look at some
passages here that speak to that and speak to believers. God's
people, and we know that this is not just given here as
boilerplate in the book of 1 John. This was an issue with those
believers that he was writing a letter to. It's a common issue,
common things of all believers are in the flesh, and there's
things that we tend to, as humans, as mortals, that God alone deals
with, and God alone can deal with things. It's not the pointing fingers
at other people and how we view them, this is what the scripture
says to us, where it says, love not the world. We can enjoy where we are. And
I think that Paul said he's learned to be content with whatever he's
had, good, bad, or otherwise, as far as we view it. And I think
that's part of the key, is we're content with, if it's lean times,
if he is our peace and our foundation. Lean times, we may not enjoy
them, but but we're there. And if he gives us fatter times
and times that we can do other things that we enjoy, I think
we still realize that that's from his hand and not where we're
headed or where we're going. We're aliens, as it says, we're
aliens here on earth. We're passing through, but I
don't think God necessarily means that we're gonna be miserable
here in our life. We're looking for where we're
going and who he is. We're going to look at several
passages that speak towards this, and I think that we can gain
some thoughts about this. Turn with me to the book of Ephesians,
the first chapter. Ephesians chapter one. And this letter is written, it
says, to the faithful in Christ Jesus. These are God's people
that he's writing to. But starting with verse 17, chapter
one of Ephesians, it says, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom
and revelation and the knowledge of him, the eyes of your understanding
being enlightened that you may know what is the hope of his
calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance
in the saints and what is the exceeding greatness of his glory. of his power to usward who believe
according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought
in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him at
his own right hand in the heavenly places. In here, give unto us
the spirit of wisdom and revelation, the knowledge of him says in
verse 18, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened that you may
know what is the hope of his calling and what the riches of
the glory of his inheritance in the saints. And being aware
of where we are, what we have gained in him, and I think this
is never something that we can have in a few sentences and say
we gained this and there we are. I think this is something that
we never come to the end of or to the extent of understanding
and knowing exactly what we have, what riches we have, spiritual
riches that we have in him. He prays that this take place,
and I think this is part, speaks to what 1 John, what John is
speaking about in 1 John there, about not loving the world, but
realizing what we have in Christ as comparison. All we have in
the world is not bad in the world, but it pales by comparison to
what we have gained and will gain in Him. And then Ephesians
chapter two, starting with the first verse. reading through
a familiar passage here, but it speaks to this also. Ephesians
chapter two, starting with verse one. It says, and you hath he
quickened, who were dead and trespassed in sins, where in
time past ye walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit
that now worketh in the children of disobedience. Among whom also
we all had our conversation 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
God, who is rich in mercy for his great love, wherewith he
loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together
in Christ. By grace are you saved, and hath
raised us up together, and made us to sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. that in the ages to come he might
show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward
us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them. Wherefore, remember that ye being
in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision
by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that
at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise,
having no hope and without God in the world. Verse 13, but now
in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by
the blood of Christ. And here, it covers quite a bit
of ground, but it speaks about, it says you who were quickened
have these things, these attributes of his that we veil ourselves
of. And it says we, in time past,
walked as the world walked. And it doesn't say walked as
the worst of the world as far as what was possible to do or
to be. But God's people, when he reveals
to us that we are sinners, we see that as the worst of sinners,
and not in what we have done, but who we are by nature. That
is the issue and the problem that needs to be fixed. And walking
as the world walks, as that an end to itself, and what we can
gain or what we can be and can do, and seeing those as an end
to themselves and not as a life that He has given to us, that
we are saved by His grace and the faith He gives us and the
faith of Jesus Christ. In the book of Colossians, turn
over a couple of books, books of Colossians in the first chapter, Again, this is written, it says,
to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ. These things that
are spoken of are written to us, written to the church, written
to the believers in Christ. In Colossians chapter one, starting
with verse 12, it says, giving thanks unto the
Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in line. who hath delivered us from the
power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear
son, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness
of sins. who is the image of the invisible
God, the firstborn of every creature. For by him were all things created
that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones or dominions, principalities or powers, all
things were created by him and for him. And he is before all
things and by him all things consist. He is the head of the
body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from
the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence.
For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell.
And having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him
to reconcile all things unto himself, by him I say whether
they be things in earth or things in heaven, and you that were
sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works,
now hath he reconciled. in the body of his flesh through
death to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable
in his sight, if ye continue in the faith grounded and settled
and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye
have heard and which was preached to every creature which is under
heaven, whereof I, Paul, am made a minister. And here's speaking
to us on how and by whose power and whose standing we have in
righteousness, we have been delivered. And it says that you that were
sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works
now hath he reconciled. Our minds were on their worldly. There was no spiritual thought
in them. barring God changing in, putting
that in us. And it said, taking the stony
heart out and putting the real heart of flesh in there. We could
not consider anything of any spiritual value at all or thoughts. It says, alienated and enemies
in your mind by wicked works, which he hath reconciled. It doesn't say worst of all people
on the earth as far as outwardly goes. There are some people that
I've known that are ungodly people that live pretty good lives as
far as we would measure that. But they're still, if they are
not regenerated, they are alien and enemies in your mind. Contrary
to what what God has to say, and we've looked at several times
recently what repentance is, and that's from going this way
to going this way. Completely contrary to what God
is and says, stands for, and has to say about it, he's turned
us about, and we have a a completely different take on things. And
that's where we were without him. We were, as it says, without
hope and without God in this world. And barring his activity and his action, his
changing us. And then it says that in the
body of his flesh through death present you wholly unblameable
and unreprovable in his sight. We've talked before and said
that spiritual life and that redeeming his people, we are
still in the flesh. We still have that. Paul speaks
to that pretty plainly, and we're going to look at that passage
that we know about. But we were enemies. We were going 180 degrees. opposite and God turns us about
and he has to turn us about it or it doesn't happen. And then
it also in Colossians, turn to the third chapter if you would, and it's speaked in here. A little earlier about buried
with Christ in baptism, picture there, risen with him through
faith and operation of God, it says. There's nowhere that in
dealing with salvation or being born again or being born from
above that we have any part in that operation. As it said, the
operation of God that does that. But in chapter three, speaking
to his people, Colossians chapter three, verse one, It says, if he then be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. Set your affection on things
above, not on things on the earth, for ye are dead and your life
is hid with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life shall
appear, then shall we also appear with him in glory. Mortify therefore
your members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness,
inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness which is idolatry,
for which things sake the wrath of God cometh on the children
of disobedience. in the which ye also walked some
time when ye lived in them. But now ye also put off all these,
anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your
mouth. Lie not to one another, seeing that ye have put off the
old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man, which is
renewed in the knowledge after the image of him that created
him. Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision,
barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free, but Christ is all and in
all." And here where it says, mortify your members which are
upon the earth and it has several things here. And we are admonished
to do this. And we approach to do this, If
our first thought is not God do this, it's not gonna get done.
And it's not saying, again, as we live in the world and of the
world, God's restraining hand keeps us from being as evil or
as bad as possible. I mean, and we may not have,
we can look through and say, well, I haven't done this, that,
and the other thing of this. This is not a complete list of
all the things that could be in the list. And it's not speaking
to all the things that could have been the worst possible
things we could do. This is speaking to people that
God has redeemed from all these things. We may have been in all
these things, but may not, I mean, there's no room to classify or
categorize where we stand. We're either in him or not in
him. And we are either regenerate or not regenerate. And either
have life from above, born from above, or not born from above.
And that's the only two options. There's no in between riding
the fence on these things. And I think God's people read
these things and don't not justifying themselves, not saying, but thank
God he's brought us from these things and about, and as Paul
says, he's the only one that can, and we're still in the flesh,
and we're gonna be in the flesh. Turn to the book of James. Turn
to the book of James with me, please, if you would, in the
third chapter. There's a lot here in the book of James, speaking
again to God's people, the brethren, and he says that in the first
chapter, every good and perfect gift is from above, from the
father of lights, and of his own will begat he us with the
word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of
his creatures." He's speaking to God's people that have been
delivered from who they are by nature, and the
nature's been changed, given a life from above. And then in chapter three, A lot of this I have in past
kind of skipped over because it hit pretty close to home,
and so I figured some other day I would get a little into some
of that, but it deals with the tongue and different things that
everybody has an issue with, at least I know that I do or
have had in the past. But verse chapter three of James,
starting with verse 13, it says, Who is a wise man and endued
with knowledge among you? Let him show out of a good conversation
his works with meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envying
and strife in your hearts, glory not and lie not against the truth.
This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual,
devilish. For where envying and strife
is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that
from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to
be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits without partiality
and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness
is sown in peace of them that make peace. Here speaking about
that wisdom and that change of heart that only God can put in
us. And we look at these attributes and there's only one that had
these attributes. We strive and it says we should
strive to emulate these and and live this way, but we know that
only in him can we say that we have done this. Like any of the
rest of the demands of righteousness, that we could
not produce any of that, it all is in him. And it all has to
be from him. It has to be his doing and the
fruit of righteousness that he produce and puts in us and attributes
to us. And then in chapter four of James, chapter four of James, starting
with the first verse. It says, from whence come wars
and fighting among you? Come they not hence even of your
lusts that war in your members? Ye lust and have not, ye kill
and desire to have and cannot obtain. Ye fight and war, yet
ye have not because ye ask not. Ye ask and receive not because
ye ask amiss. that ye may consume it upon your
lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses,
know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a
friend of the world is the enemy of God. Verse five, do you think that
the scripture saith in vain? the spirit that dwelleth in us
lusted to envy, but he giveth more grace. Wherefore, he saith,
God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. Submit
yourselves, therefore, to God. Resist the devil, and he will
flee from you. Dry nigh unto God, and he will
dry nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners,
and purify your hearts, ye double-minded. But up here, when he says, You
think that, in verse five, that the scripture saith in vain the
spirit that dwell in us lusteth to envy, but he giveth more grace,
where he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to
the humble. And this is, and it speaks down
here, drawing nigh to God, and we know that it has to be the
other way around. Actually, it says, draw nigh
unto God, and he'll draw nigh unto you. He has to draw us nigh
unto him. That's the only way by our nature
and by who we are, that's action also has to be of Him. He has
to be the one that draws us to Him. So whenever it's saying
that, we know by whose operation we have been given faith, by
operation of God. This deals with living in the
world as it speaks to. It's the mind, it's not just
the physical doing of this, it's the mind that has to be changed in us by God. And that's
an ongoing everyday type of thing, I think, that God has to deal
with his people in this. And as long as we're in the flesh,
those things are part of us. By His grace alone that we do
not live to the world and love the things of the world. And
then, in Romans chapter six, you know,
I'm going, I'm sure, Paul deals with this Paul deals with this and as he's
dealing with it with himself, and we know that obviously it
applies to God's people, say amen to these things because
we know what he's saying and where we have come from. In Romans
chapter six, starting with verse six, it says, Knowing this, that
our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might
be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For
he that is dead is freed from sin. There's no claim on us by
sin. Now, if we be dead with Christ,
we believe that we shall also live with him. Knowing that Christ,
being raised from the dead, dieth no more, death hath no more dominion
over him. For in that he died, he died
unto sin once, but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise
reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive
unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore
reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lust
thereof. Neither yield ye your members
as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves
unto God as those that are alive from the dead, and your members
as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have
dominion over you. Ye are not under the law, but
under grace. Then he goes on and says, well,
then if we're under grace, shall we sin more because to bring
more grace? He says, God forbid, that's not
the mindset of God's people. But here that we are new in him
and our affections are changed. Our affections are changed. Nature,
we still have our sinful nature with us, but our affections are
changed and by His doing, He upholds us and will bring us
to the end. And then in chapter seven, and I have
to read this portion to us again. We can very well relate to what
he's saying here. In Romans chapter seven, starting
with verse 14, it says, we know that the law is spiritual, but
I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do, I allow
not. For what I would, that I do not. But what I hate, that I
do. If then I do that which I would
not, I consent unto the law that it's good. Now then, it is no
more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that
in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. For to will is
present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not.
For the good that I would, I do not, but the evil which I would
not, that I do. Now if I do that what I would
not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in
me. I find then a law that when I
would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the
law of God after the inward man. And I gotta stop here for just
a second. And it's not a cop out, it's not a, well, the devil
made me do it type of thing. It is knowing by what nature
we have that God has delivered us from that, but we still have
the effects of that. We still have that body that
we're dealing with and not just the decaying of it in the flesh
as far as getting old and broken down and aging and those type
of things. But we still, as Paul says, we
still have those issues and to one degree or another, those
same issues. And I'd like to read just the
next few verses. It says, but I see another law
in my members, warring against the law of my mind and bringing
me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members.
Oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body
of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ,
our Lord. So then with the mind, I myself
serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin. There
is therefore now no condemnation, verse one of chapter eight, to
them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh,
but after the spirit. For the law of the spirit of
life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
death. And it goes on and speaks that
the law couldn't do it, but here again, acknowledging what we
are like by nature and what we have with us, but not as a, it's
not an excuse to sin. It's not a, well, that's what
I'm like, I'm just in that. It's a burden to God's people
that it says that and he alone can deliver us. And then, Jude 24, oh, actually, Jude 24,
and as you go there, stop by Hebrews chapter 12. Okay, let me get past third John here. Okay, chapter 12 of Hebrews,
and I think it's the first couple of verses here. It says, wherefore seeing we
are compassed about by so great a crowd of witnesses, let's subside
every weight, and the sin which so idly doth beset us, let's
run with patience the race that is set before us. And verse two,
look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for
the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising
the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne
of God. looking to him, the author and
finisher of faith. And then in the book of Jude, the last
two verses, and we've read these a lot. Now unto him that is able
to keep you from falling and present you faultless before
the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. To the only wise
God, our savior be glory, majesty, dominion, and power, both now
and ever. Amen. With that, we will