Let's read these verses again
in 1 John 2, verses 15 through 17. Love not the world, neither the things that are in
the world. If any man loved the world, the
love of the Father is not in him. For all that's in the world,
the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride
of life, is not of the Father, it is of the world. And the world passeth away, and
the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth
forever. I've entitled this message, Love
Not the World. Now, what in the world does John
mean when he says, love not the world? He says, if I do love
the world, the love of the Father is not in me. James said, keep
yourself unspotted from the world. And he said, whosoever is the
friend of the world is the enemy of God. I think of that scripture
regarding Demas. Demas was a traveling companion
with the Apostle Paul. He was a friend of the Apostle
Paul. And you'd think if anybody would
have discernment, Paul would. But yet he goes on to say about
this man who had traveled with him, Demas, hath forsaken me. That's a strong word. He completely
abandoned me, having loved this present world. What was true
about him all along finally came out. He loved this present world. Now what does John mean by the
world when he says, love not the world? I think it's interesting
he uses that word 23 times in this epistle, and quite often
that same word is used to mean something totally different.
For instance, in 1 John 2, verse 2. And He is the propitiation for
our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the
whole world. You know, whenever you see this
word world, I don't believe there's one time in all the Bible where
it means every man without exception. How many times do people quote
John 3.16 when they hear you preach the gospel? What about
God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life? That scripture is quoted quite
often, but that doesn't say he died for every single individual
without exception. The word world never means that.
Now here, when he's using the word world, love not the world,
it's not an injunction to take no love for the beauty of our
planet, or to have no love for the pleasures involved in life. You know, the scripture says
in 1 Timothy 6, 17, God has given us all things richly to enjoy.
Take that scripture. God has given us all things richly
to enjoy. Oh, there's so much pleasure
in family life. There's so much pleasure in eating
and drinking. There's so much pleasure in relationships. I mean, the Lord intends for
us to enjoy ourselves. He's very ascetic about this. So when he's talking about the
world, he's not simply talking about not enjoying cars, or clothes,
or houses, or entertainment. Somebody says that stuff is worldly.
That's not what he's talking about. I'll assure you that's
not what he's talking about. It can be worldly. It depends
on our attitudes about it. But when he's talking about the
world, he's talking about everything that does not love God. That is what is meant by the
world. this world that we live in. Now we love the planet, we
love the pleasures that we're afforded, that the Lord gives
us, richly all things to enjoy. But this world, this planet,
the men of this world lost humanity as no love for God, no esteem
for God. They do not believe the gospel. The Lord said, the world cannot
hate you. He said this in John chapter
7, verse 7. He said, the world cannot hate
you, but me it hateth, because I testify that the deeds thereof
are evil. That's his testimony concerning
every deed of the world. It's nothing more than evil.
The Lord said, I pray for them. I pray not for the world. But
for them which you have given me, for they are thine. The Lord said, this is the condemnation,
that light is coming to the world and men loved darkness rather
than light because their deeds were evil. Now when he's talking
about the world, he's talking about everything that is anti-God,
anti-Christ, against God, against Christ, against the gospel, everything. And John says not to love it.
Now he gives us what this can be summarized by, the world that
he's speaking of, that he's warning us against loving. Look what
he says in verse 16, for all that is in the world, this world
he's speaking of, this world that hates God, he names three
things. 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 it is of the world. The lust of the flesh. Man's fallen nature craves sinful
pleasure. That's what that's talking about.
I mean, you think about this. God has given this beautiful gift
of intimacy between a man and a woman, and look how men have
debauched it. Look what they've done, the perversions that go
on under the name. That's the lust of the flesh.
And it's not just talking about sexual lust. It's talking about
all kinds of lusts, desires, cravings that men have, the lust
of the flesh. And then he speaks of the lust
of the eyes. I've heard people say, well, that means you see
something and you want it. No, that's still the lust of
the flesh. The lust of the eyes is being concerned about what
other people see, about what other people think. It is the
fear of man. It is keeping up with the Joneses. It's trying to impress the flesh. It's being more concerned about
what men think than what God thinks. Remember that crowd that's
described in John chapter 12? They love the praise of men more
than the praise of God. That is the lust of the eyes.
That's being controlled by what other people think rather than
what God thinks and what God says in his word. And then there's
the pride of life. The boastful pride of life that
makes me want to have power so I can be one up over you or somebody
else. And I've done something. I'm
somebody. I've made something of myself. It's boasting. It's
braggart pride of life. You can really summarize these
three things, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes,
and the pride of life by these three words. Pleasure. popularity, and power. Those three words represent the
lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Now to have some understanding
of this, the evil of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the
eyes, and the pride of life, we're first going to have to
have some kind of understanding of sin. What is sin? Well, the Bible gives a lot of
definitions of sin, but John gives us this definition in chapter
three, verse four. Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth
also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law. Any act, any thought, any motive,
contrary to the law of God, the holy law of God, is sin. I think of the way the Lord summarized
the law. You shall love God with all your
heart, all your soul, and all your strength, and you're going
to love your neighbor as yourself. Anything contrary to that in
any way is sin. I love the Ten Commandments.
I love them. I love to quote them. I love
to think about them. reflection of God's character, God's holiness,
God's requirements. Don't put anything before God.
Thou shalt have no other God before me. And you know, when
I quote the Ten Commandments, I know in Christ I've kept them
because He kept them. But I know I haven't kept one
up one time. The commandment against idolatry.
I mean, well, how often do you put something before God? Every
time you sin, you put something before God. The commandment against
idolatry, making graven images or false concepts of God. The
commandment about not taking His name in vain. That's so glorious. God is so glorious that to even
take His name in vain is seeing what holiness and reverence there
is to His person that you've got to be careful. Anytime I
use His name, I haven't practiced the proper reverence. The commandment regarding the
Sabbath day. Rest. That's the point of the
Sabbath. Have I ever rested? And the rest that's in Christ
Jesus. The commandment regarding honoring
your father and mother and honoring all authority. The commandment
regarding murder. Thou shalt not kill. The commandment
regarding adultery. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
The commandment regarding Stealing, taking what doesn't belong to
you. How often do you do that? How often do you take what doesn't
belong to you? The commandment regarding lying. Always telling the truth. The
commandment regarding covetousness. Sin is the transgression of the
law. Now, why do men sin? Why do men
transgress God's holy law? I want to say some things about
sin. Pray for me that I'll say the right things. Why do men
sin? Well, by one man, sin entered
the world. And death by sin. So death passed
upon all men in that all sinned. When Adam sinned, I sinned, and
you sinned. And you can't say, if I were
there, I wouldn't have done it. You would do. You would do, for
sure. Even if you were in the same
place he was, you would do the same thing. So don't comfort
yourself by saying, well, I wouldn't have done it. You would have,
but you did it. Not only is not simply charging you, you did
it because when he sinned, you sinned as well. That's where
sin came from. By one man, sin entered the world
and death by sin. And that's why David said, I
was shapen in iniquity and in sin. Did my mother conceive me? I was born bad. I was born evil. You don't have to teach a baby
how to lie or be selfish or be angry. It comes natural. Born
bad. Sin is defiling. It makes everything
we do defile. It's willful. You know, If a man was allowed to do what
he wanted to do, he put God off the throne. Everybody would. Sin is willful. Sin is ungrateful. Sin is incurable. Can the leopard
change his spots or the Ethiopian his skin? How then can you do
good who are accustomed to doing evil? And it's deadly. Now, what
are the results of sin? It makes a man's affections evil.
It makes his will evil. It makes his understanding dominated
by evil. That's what sin does. It infects
the whole man. It puts a man under Satan's control,
the prince of this world. It subjects men to the miseries
of this life, and it ends up with hell. That's where sin ends,
death by sin. Now, where did this sin come
from? Some people think, well, the
devil's the one trying to get you to sin. If you're around a charismatic,
they'll always say that. The devil's trying to get me to sin.
He's tempting me. Did sin come from the devil? Well, somebody
said, well, society is where sin comes from. If I could just
get away from society and the social mores and be away from
the society's influences, and if I could get in a monastery
somewhere and just not be exposed to anything, I'd be better. You'd
be just as bad. You'd be just as evil. It wouldn't
do a thing for you. Some people like to blame God.
That's what Adam did. Adam said, the woman that you
gave me, She gave me of the fruit and I did eat. The obvious implication,
if you would have never given me this woman, I would have never
done this. Blaming God for his sin. Well, look what the Lord
says. Would you turn with me to Mark chapter seven. Mark chapter seven. beginning in verse 14. And when he had called all the
people unto him, he said unto them, hearken unto me, every
one of you, and understand there is nothing from without a man
that entering into him can defile him. But the things which come
out of him, those are they that defile the man. If any man have
ears to hear, let him hear. And when he was entered into
the house from the people, his disciples asked him concerning
this parable, and he said unto them, Are you without understanding?
Do you not perceive that whatsoever thing from without entereth into
the man, it can't defile him? Because it enters not into his
heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the drop, purging
all meats. And he said, That which cometh
out of the man, that defileth the man, for from within Out
of the heart of man proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications,
murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness,
an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these things
come from within and they defile the man. Now where does your
sin come from? Well, let's just answer it the
way the Bible answers it. It comes from right here. That's where your sin comes from. What is it that chiefly arouses
sin? You know the answer to that? The
law. You put a man under the law and
it's going to arouse every evil passion. The strength of sin
is the law. Paul said, I was alive without
the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived, it became
alive, and I died. The law does nothing but stir
up sin. It doesn't restrain it, it stirs
it up. Now, it's sin that makes a man
have the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride
of life. The lust of the flesh, unlawful
desire that comes from an evil nature, the lust of the eyes,
totally taken up with what other people think to where you fear
what they think rather than what God says, and the boastful pride
of life, the opposite of who makes you to differ from another
and what do you have that you did not receive. Now, the devil
in the Garden of Eden used these three things. Would you turn
with me to Genesis chapter 3? Genesis chapter 3. There's not
a more important chapter in the Bible than Genesis chapter 3. Now the serpent was more subtle,
more deceitful than any beast of the field which the Lord God
had made. And he said unto the woman, yea, hath God said you
shall not eat of every tree of the garden? Well, did God say
that? You know he didn't. He changed what God said and
he made it sound like God was just being really strict and
trying to keep him from having joy and pleasure. God's prohibited
all these trees that you can't eat from and when it would be
good and why is he doing this to you? Has God said you shall
not eat of every tree of the garden? Verse 2, And the woman said unto
the serpent, We made of the fruit of the trees of the garden, There's only one tree we can't
eat of. 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. Now, God didn't say not
to touch it. I probably wouldn't have wanted
to touch it if I was in that kind of position. I think I probably
wanted to stay away from it, but still, she's the one who
makes this addition. God didn't say this. I remember
hearing somebody once say that this is where touch not, taste
not, handle not religion developed, right here in Genesis chapter
three. Don't touch that, don't taste
that, don't handle that. God never said anything like that. Verse 4, And the serpent said
unto the woman, You shall not surely die, for God doth know
that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened,
and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. Now here's what
God's doing. He's trying to keep you from
being like Him. If you had eaten this fruit, your eyes would be
opened. You'd know the difference between
good and evil. You'd be able to choose the good over the evil,
and that's what will give moral relevance to what you do. You'll
have a free will, and you'll be able to choose the good and
reject the evil, and that's what is going to make you like God.
Sound pretty good. It made sense. You know, it does
seem like it would be better to choose good than just, if it's
just to bang your nature. I mean, where's the moral virtue
in just being what you are? If you make a choice, oh, surely
that would be better. It sounded good to her. Verse
six. And when the woman saw that the
tree was good for food, the lust of the flesh, and that it was
pleasant to the eyes, the lust of the eyes, and a tree to be
desired to make one wise, the pride of life. We see all three of those components,
the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of
life. And remember, Eve had an innocent
nature. She didn't have a sinful nature
like me or you. I mean, we got, it's just our
nature to sin. It wasn't her nature at this
time. She didn't have a holy nature. Holiness cannot sin. Holiness
lacks the ability to sin. The new nature does not sin.
She did not have a holy nature, but she had an innocent nature.
And even with that innocent nature, she fell before this temptation. So what did she do? She took
of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also to her husband
with her, and he did eat. Now, I don't believe the fall
took place when Eve ate. The fall took place when Adam
ate, because he is the representative man. Eve was just simply part
of him. He said to Adam, in the day you
eat thereof, you shall surely die. Now look what verse seven
says. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that
they were naked. Now, they were naked before this.
Look in verse 25 of chapter 2. And they were both naked, the
man and his wife, and were not ashamed. Why? Because they had
innocent natures. They weren't sinful. It wasn't
even an issue with them. In any way, it wasn't an issue.
But as soon as their eyes are opened and they have these fallen
natures, all of a sudden they know they're naked. And the first
thing they do is try to come up with a covering for their
nakedness. Salvation by your cover up. Covering up your naked. Sewing the fig leaves together.
That's the first thing they did. And they no longer wanted to
be in God's presence. What did they do? They ran and
hid from the presence of the Lord. At one time, they relished
being in His presence. It was a joy to be in His presence.
They loved being in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
now, they don't want to be around Him anymore. And they become
spiritually ignorant. They thought they could hide
from Him who is omniscient and omnipresent. They fell before
the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of
life. Now turn with me to Matthew chapter
four. This is where the Lord was tempted
in the wilderness by the devil. And you're gonna find out he
used those same three temptations, the lust of the flesh, the lust
of the eyes, and the pride of life with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse two of Matthew chapter four, or verse one, then was
Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted
of the devil. And when he had fasted 40 days
and 40 nights, He was afterward and hungered. And when the tempter came to
him, he said, if thou be the son of God. Now where's that
coming from? If thou be the son of God. I
don't have any doubt that the tempter was there while the Lord
was being baptized. And he heard those words from
heaven, verse 17, after the Lord came up from the waters of baptism,
chapter three, verse 17, and lo, a voice from heaven saying,
this is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. And now he's
saying, if you are, if you are, he heard those words, if you
are, command that these stones be made bread. Now he had the
ability to do that, didn't he? What would have been wrong with
him doing it? I mean, is that such a bad thing?
If you've gone 40 days and you got the ability to turn stones
into bread, go ahead and do it and eat. What was wrong with
doing it? Well, here's what's wrong with
doing it. I can't. And he's gonna be completely
identified with me. If he's going to be my savior,
He's going to have to be completely identified with me. You know,
he never performed a miracle for himself. It was always for
somebody else. Every single time. You won't
find one time where he performed a miracle for himself. So I can't
turn stones to bread. And if he's going to be my savior,
he's going to have to have the same limitations of the flesh
for himself that I do. And look at the way the Lord
answered. Verse four, but he answered and said, it is written. Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. I love
the way the Lord answered the devil with it is written. He
could have knocked him backwards, tortured him, blotted him out
of existence. There's all kinds of things he
could have done, but look at the honor he puts on the scriptures.
It is written. What honor the Lord puts on the
scriptures. That's the only way we should
answer everything. It is written. It is written, man shall not
live by bread alone, but of every word that proceeds out of the
mouth of God, where there is the lust of the flesh. Just hunger,
lust of the flesh. Now let's go on reading verse
five. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city and setteth
him on a pinnacle of the temple. And I read where that temple,
the pinnacle of the temple at that time was 400 feet high.
And he said unto him, if thou be the son of God, prove it. Let us see. Give us something
that will let us know that you really are the son of God. That's
the lust of the eyes. Prove it to us. Let us see. If
you're the Son of God, now the devil starts using scripture.
He saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself
down, for it's written. You're talking about writing?
Well, it's 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. Now, it's written. Prove
it to us. Let us see. Gratify these eyes
and prove to us that you're the Son of God. Jesus saith unto him, it's written
again, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. If God said Christ
is his son, Christ is his son. You have no reason to question
anything God says. It's never right to put him,
to tempt him. God said, this is my son. I'm
his son. I don't need to prove anything
to you. There's the lust of the eyes. And then look in verse
eight 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 he saith unto him,
all these things will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and
worship me. Then said Jesus unto him, Get
thee hence, Satan, for it is written, Thou shalt worship the
Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. There is the pride
of life. You can have all this power.
You can have all this dominion. You can have all this control.
And he did not succumb to temptation. He could not succumb to temptation
because he's holy. Somebody says, well, what righteousness
is there in Christ if He's impeccable, if He's incapable of sinning?
What goodness is that? It's real good. It's real good. That's who He is. He's incapable
of sinning. He defeated the devil at that
time. Now let's go back to our text in 1 John chapter 2. 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. For all that's
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 it's of the
world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof. But he that doeth the will of
God, abideth forever. Now you know how you don't love
the world? I can tell you how. By doing
the will of God. If you do the will of God, you
do not love the world. You hate it. You hate the lust
of the flesh. You hate it in yourself. You
hate the lust of the eyes. You hate being controlled by
what somebody else thinks. You hate it. You loathe it. You
hate the pride of life. You see it so contrary to grace. You hate. You don't love. You hate. Now, how is it that
someone demonstrates that they do not love the world? Well,
by doing the will of God. Well, what do you mean by doing
the will of God? Turn with me to John chapter
6. While you're turning there, I want to quote Matthew chapter
7, where the Lord said, not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord,
shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of
my Father, which is in heaven. Many shall say to me in that
day, Lord, Lord, have we not preached in your name? In your
name, have we not cast out demons? And in your name, have we not
done many wonderful works? We've done your will. My soul
we've preached. We've cast out demons. We've
done many wonderful works. You know what he's going to say
to them? Depart from me, ye that work iniquity. I never knew you. Never loved you. Never knew you
to worship me. Never knew you to trust me. And
John chapter six. I've got two scriptures I want
us to look at. Verse 26, Jesus answered them
and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, you seek me not because
you saw the miracles, not because of a conviction of who I am,
but because you did eat of the loaves and were filled. Now these
are the people that were fed miraculously by the Lord. He
fed 5,000 people with two small fish and five biscuits. And he
says to these people, labor not for the meat which perishes,
but for that which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son
of Man shall give unto you. For him hath God the Father sealed.
They said unto him, what shall we do? that we might work the
works of God. They heard, labor not for what
perishes, but for what endures. Give us something to do. What
works are you talking about? That's all I could hear, works. Jesus answered and said unto
them, this is the work of God, that you believe on him. whom he hath sent. And what I
love about the end of this verse, there's a period. This is the work of God, that
you believe on him whom he hath sent. You know what? I believe
on him whom he hath sent. I believe God sent him, I believe
he did what he was sent to do, and I believe he's in heaven
right now as my great intercessor representing me. That's it. This
is God's work that you believe on him whom he has sent. Turn to Galatians chapter 6. The only way a man will not love
the world is if he sees, if he rejoices in, if he glories in
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the only way it will happen.
You're going to be enamored with the world until you're enamored
with someone else more. Look in Galatians chapter 6, Let's begin reading in verse
12. As many as desire to make a fair
show in the flesh. And that's a pretty accurate
description of man's religion. A fair show in the flesh. I want
you to see how holy I am, how righteous I am, how obedient
I am, how blessed I am. A fair show in the flesh, this
religious competition. They constrain you to be circumcised
only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of
Christ. They know if they say if they say preach grace, they'll
be persecuted. He says for neither they themselves
who are circumcised keep the law, but they desire to have
you circumcised that they may glory in your flesh. Look how
I've influenced this man for good. Look out what an effect
I've had on his life. Why, look how I've helped him. I've changed him. He's got a
changed life because of me. I've got him to do this. That's
all that is. I heard a song on the radio once.
I don't know if you've ever heard it. I turned it off. It was a
religious song. It was saying, thank you for
giving to the Lord. I'm a life that's been changed.
All these different people coming up to these people in heaven
and saying, I'm here because of what you did. That is so blasphemous. Look what Paul says in verse
14. God forbid that I should glory. That I should have any confidence,
any resting, any rejoicing. God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now the only thing
I glory in is the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. I don't have any other hope. I'm not looking anywhere else.
The cross of the Lord Jesus, my only hope of God accepting
me right now is because of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't look anywhere else. I'm
not looking to my thoughts. I'm not looking to my religious
experience. I'm not looking to my understanding. I'm not looking
to my faithfulness. I'm not looking to my lack of
faithfulness. I'm not looking to myself in any way by His grace. I'm looking to Christ only. I'm looking for God to look to
Him for everything He requires of me. Are you doing that? It's called glory in the cross. Now what happens when someone
glories in the cross? By who? The world is crucified unto me. This world's religion, this world's
maxims, this world's values this world's philosophy. The world
by wisdom knew not God. I see this world as a crucified
dead thing. He's not saying I don't enjoy
the beauties and pleasures of life. He did. I enjoy the Pleasures that are given to us
richly to enjoy all things that God gave us. He's not just talking
about, well, I'm trying to stay away from worldliness. I'm trying
to dress a certain way and act a certain way. I can't stand
to see a man in a religious uniform, with the collar on, and you just
look at him, and what are they trying to say by something like
that? I despise that. That's worldly. They're trying
to act like, well, I'm not worldly. No, you're the biggest worldly
person in the room if you do something like that to try to
appear to be religious. But that's not what Paul is talking
about. He's talking about the religion,
the way of salvation by works, the values, the materialism,
the desires of this world. I see him in light of the cross.
I see him as a crucified thing. You know what? The world doesn't
have any love for me either. The world sees me as a crucified
thing. That guy's off his rocker. He's
crazy. It's okay. That's okay. Would to God that
me and you could say with Paul, God forbid that I should go save
in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. And you know what you're
gonna do when you glory in the cross? You're gonna see the world
as a crucified thing. You're not gonna love it. You're
gonna hate it. And it's not gonna be too fond
of you either, but that's okay, isn't it? Love not the world. Let's pray together. Lord, we ask in Christ's name.
A name that's above every name. That you would enable us by your
spirit. To rejoice. In Christ Jesus. God forbid that we should glory.
Anywhere. But in my blessed son and his
sacrifice. Or teach us to rest in him and
Lord in doing that. We won't love the world. Enable us all to do your will
and believe your gospel and to believe on thy son. In his name
we pray, amen.