1 JOHN 2: 15-17 [LIFE, LIGHT & LOVE SERIES]
SIN'S FOUNTAINS
[Matthew 6:19-24]
A group of first-graders had just completed a TOUR OF A HOSPITAL, and the nurse who had directed them was asking for questions. Immediately a hand went up.
“How come the people who work here are always washing their hands?" a little fellow asked.
After the laughter had subsided, the nurse gave a wise answer:
"They are ‘always washing their hands’ for two reasons. First, they love health; and second, they hate germs."
In more than one area of life, love and hate go hand in hand. A husband who loves his wife is certainly going to exercise a hatred for what would harm her (Ps. 97:10, Rm. 12:9). God wants those who love Him to hate sin.
In this concluding section concerning light and love, God has an important warning. We are warned that there is no place for both God and the world in our lives (Mt. 6:24). You cannot love God and love the world. One reason we are not to love the world is because of what the world does to us through sin's fountains.
One of the most difficult duties for a Christian is to live in the world without the world living in him. How can this be accomplish? How can you have a vital relationship with Christ and continue living in the pressures of the work-a-day world? It's not easy. The world has its system of values and ideas about success and its enticing temptations that are in sharp contrast to the Christian life. To defend yourself you need to be aware of how the world is getting into you, robbing you of your vital spiritual energies. For if these access points, these fountains are left unchecked and unguarded they pour a sin into a believer’s lifestyle.
What are sin's fountains? From where do your temptations come? In what way has the world entered your thoughts, plans, and goals? In what ways have your desires to triumph in the world opened the door for the world to triumph in you? To what degree are you faithful to Christ in the world? We each need to evaluate our relationship with the world because Jesus said we are to be in the world but not of the world, for the world is passing away.
The three points of the message are:
I. FAITHFUL TO THE FATHER, 2:15.
II. FOUL FOUNTAINS, 2:16.
III. THE FUTURE FINISH, 2:17.
Christians are to love God and love one another, but verse 15 commands us not to love the world or its things. “Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
The New Testament word world (cosmos) has at least three different meanings. It can stand for the physical world, the earth (Acts 17:24). It can mean the human world, or humanity (Jn. 3:16). Or it can mean as it does here the world system controlled by Satan. It is the invisible spiritual system opposed to God and Christ. This world system is Satan’s domain (1 John 5:19).
[The world in our text is Satan's system for opposing the work of Christ on earth. It is opposite to what is godly, holy and spiritual. 1 John 5:19 says, "We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one." Jesus called Satan "the prince of this world" (John 12:31). The devil has an organization of evil spirits (Eph. 6:11-12) working with him and influencing the affairs of "this world."
Just as the Holy Spirit uses people to accomplish God's will on earth, so Satan uses people to fulfill his evil purposes. Unsaved people, whether they realize it or not, are energized by "the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience" (Eph. 2:1-2)
Unsaved people belong to "this world." Jesus calls them "the children of this world" (Luke 16:8). When Jesus was here on earth, the people of "this world" did not understand Him, nor do they now understand those of us who trust Him (1 John 3:1).] A Christian is a member of the human world, and he lives in the physical world, but he does not belong to the spiritual world that is Satan's system for opposing God. "If ye were of the world, the world would love his own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you" (John 15:18).]
Anything that tends to draw us away from God would be included in its worldly system. Many Christians think that if they do not commit gross sins or engage in certain legalistic taboos, they are not of the world. But it's possible to avoid such practices entirely and yet be worldly. Believers can become so preoccupied with making money, gaining a reputation, or participating in sports or recreational activities that these pursuits become all-consuming. When we get attached to the transient things of this life, we are bound to this world, and we make no progress in our Christian growth.
Let me illustrate what I mean by being BOUND TO THIS WORLD. Late one night two men under the influence of alcohol went down to the dock where their boat was tied. Wanting to cross the bay to return homes, they got in the boat and started rowing. After they had pulled hard for some time, they began to wonder why they didn't reach the other side. They threw out the anchor and went to sleep. When the gray dawn of morning broke, they saw to their dismay that they had failed to loosen the mooring line. That's the way it is with many believers. They get nowhere because they're so attached to material things that they’re living for the rewards of this life.
Do you love something in this present world so much that it is keeping you from being all God wants you to be? Maybe it's a legitimate pleasure, but it now means more to you than Christ. Consider your priorities. Remember, if you are bound to this world, you are fettered and will get nowhere spiritually.
The ungodly world-system stands as an enemy of the soul. WORLDLINESS has been defined as "what any particular culture does to make sin look normal and righteousness look strange."
Followers of Jesus live in a darken world where sin looks attractive and righteousness looks drab. Yet we are called to be people of the light. We must be on guard that we do not become so accustomed to the darkness of our society that we think it is normal. Instead, we need to keep our eyes on bright and right as God defines it.
As Christians, we are in the world, but we must be on guard against its influence. We make our living in the world of business. We gain learning in the world of education. We are amused by the world of entertainment. We cheer for teams in the world of sports. We participate in the world’s discussions of religion. Like the air we breathe, the world is everywhere.
On a bright sunny day when you first walk into a dark auditorium or theater you are blinded by the darkness. After a few moments the darkness seems to lighten and you can see again. Before long, you can see normally. Normally, that is, until the lights are turned up or you stroll out into the sunlight again and the brightness forces you to shield your eyes. Christians too can stay in the darkness and enjoy the dark world or they can come into the light and enjoy Jesus Christ.
To love God means that we are not to “love the world or the things of the world.” I remember when our science class was introduced to the MAGNETIC FIELD. We were given two metal bars. Each had a plus mark on one end and a minus on the other.
First, the teacher asked us to match an end with a plus to the minus end of the other magnet, then bring them slowly together. We discovered that they reached a point when we could not hold them apart. They jumped together in spite of our best efforts to stop them.
Then the teacher instructed us to turn one around so that the minus end of one matched the minus end of the other. We repeated the process of slowly bringing the magnets together. This time we discovered that there was a point beyond which we could not push them together. An invisible force held them apart.
Some things are mutually exclusive. They don't belong together. They cannot successfully be forced together. Two such things are love for the world and love for God. We are not strong enough to bring the two together in the same life.
Sometimes we may think we have succeeded in putting both loves together in our lives. We are only fooling ourselves. The one love pushes away the other.
The world we are not to love alienates men from God and prevents them from loving Him in return. The world which we are not to love is God's rival. The world's opposition to the purposes of God is so serious we are told that if we love this world system, the love of the Father is not in us.
No man can serve two masters. Either you will love one and hate the other. No man can love God and mammon, or the things of the world. Thus we have arrived at another pair of opposites. Light and darkness, love and hate, truth and lie, and now love of the Father and love of the world. The world which operates in darkness must exclude God who is light. Do not love your Father's enemies. And do not support what is opposed to the love of God.
One of the most famous lines of the 19th century naturalist Henry David Thoreau is this: "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears A DIFFERENT DRUMMER." Commenting on Thoreau's defense of his personal oddities, Bible teacher H. A. Ironside said, "The Christian may well say this. If our inner ears have been attuned to the music of the heavens, we hear the drumbeat of the skies. Therefore, we must of very necessity seem to the world to be out of step with what goes on down here which is contrary to the Holy Spirit who dwells within us."
Sad to say, it is sometimes impossible to distinguish those who call themselves Christians from those who don't. They think, speak, and act like the average non-Christian. On the other hand, believers who are filled with the Spirit will not feel at home with the world's philosophies and practices. They will resist conformity to its unholy standards, even though such a position is unpopular and may cause people to express animosity toward them. They realize that as citizens of heaven, they are in the world but not of the world. They show by their conduct and attitudes the truth of that beloved old spiritual, "This world is not my home, I'm just a-passin' through." They march to a different drummer.
Christian, we are told to walk just as Christ walked (2:6). If we are walking "in step" with the world, we're "out of step" with heaven.
II. FOUL FOUNTAINS, 16.
How does the world get such a grasp on our life? Worldliness does not always reside in things but in our concentration on or attitude toward things. Verse 16 indicates three foul fountains of sin. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.”
Some people think that worldliness is limited to external behavior--the people we associate with, the places we go, the activities we enjoy. Worldliness is also internal because it begins in the heart and is characterized by attitudes.
These worldly attitudes are the devises that the world system uses to trap the Christians. They are listed here as: (1) The are the cravings of fallen flesh--preoccupation with gratifying physical desires; (2) the lust of his eyes--craving and accumulating things, bowing to the god of materialism; and (3) boasting of what he has and does--obsession with one's status or importance. These same devices trapped Eve back in the Garden. "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), she took of the fruit" (Gen. 3:6). [When the devil tempted Jesus in the desert, these also were his areas of attack (Mt. 4:1-11).]
“The lust of the flesh” is the first trap. The word lust could also be translated desires. Lusts are the amplified up basic nature and natural desires of man. These natural [bodily] desires such as eating, drinking, sleeping, physical intimacy are good. God gave us these good and natural desires. What Satan tries to do is get us to express and satisfy our natural appetites in an evil way, and push normal inclinations [desires] to become lust (Mt. 5:28). Indulging in theses appetites inflame the flesh, but don’t satisfy the soul.
When lust or the fleshy nature takes over eating turns to gluttony, sleeping to laziness, sexual intimacy to adultery, a refreshing cool drink to alcohol and drunkenness. This is how the world operates. It appeals to your normal natural appetites and tempts us to satisfy them in forbidden ways. In today’s world we are surrounded by all kinds of allurements to our lower nature. If a Christian yields he will get involved in the works of the flesh (see Gal. 5:19-21).
The second device the world uses to trap the Christian is called the lust of the eyes. Eyes are a tremendous blessing. They let in the outside world and give us the ability to appreciate life. They are the gateway to the mind. Let us see the beauty and wonder of God’s creation. When lust drives the eyes though they look on the things of life and begin coveting them. Greed and envy for houses, cars, lands and position enter through the lust of the eyes. Intellectual corruption of books or TV enter through the port-hole of the eyes. The lusts of the eyes can combine with the lust of the flesh. Pornography in magazines, TV, movies, internet, provocative dress, and beaconing houses of pleasure come in through the eyes. Once you see, and wrongfully desire, Satan traps your thoughts, and you then begin losing your desire for and enjoyment of godliness.
There is an interesting method used by tribes in North Africa TO CATCH MONKEYS. The hunter hollows out a gourd and makes a hole in its side just large enough for a monkey to insert his open hand. Then he fills the gourd with nuts and ties it to a tree. Attracted by the smell of its appealing contents, the monkey reaches inside and grasps the nuts. The hole in the gourd is too small, however, for the animal to withdraw his fist as long as it remains clenched tightly around the cherished delicacies. Refusing to release his prize, the monkey falls easy prey to his captor. If he would only relax his grasp on the desired treasure, he could avoid being caught. But because he is unwilling to do let go, he is captured by the hunter.
Satan uses a similar method to trap many Christians as well as non-Christians. He tempts them to grasp after more and more things of this world, which they think will bring security. As long as they tenaciously hold them and refuse to let go, they are enslaved by these temporal, material possessions. We refuse to let go of the temporary for eternal. No wonder the apostle John admonished, "Do not love the world or the things in the world. We can have the things of the world, but the things of the world must not have us. Remember what happened to the monkeys. Don't be fooled by the devil's baited trap!
The third device or attitude the devil employs is the boastful pride of life. Life is good and it is natural to enjoy it and enjoy our God-given abilities that allow us to enjoy it and make our way through it. But many people chose to glorify themselves rather than God with their life. The Greek word for pride was used to describe a braggart or one who tried to impress people with his importance.
People have always tried to out do others in their spending and their getting or in their exhibition of their abilities. The boastful pride of life motivates much of what such people do and say.
Why is it that so many folks buy houses, cars, appliances, or wardrobes that they really cannot afford? Why do they succumb to the "travel now, pay later" advertising and get themselves into hopeless debt taking vacations far beyond their means? Largely because they want to impress other people--because of their "pride of life." They may want folks to notice how affluent or successful they are. They boast about their possessions, but their possessions really own them.
Most of us do not go that far, but it is amazing what stupid things people do just to make an impression. We even sacrifice honesty and integrity in return for notoriety and a feeling of importance.
Yes, the world appeals to a Christian through the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. And once the world takes over in one of these areas, it will soon have its effect in a Christian’s life. He will lose his enjoyment of the Father's love and his desire to do the Father's will. The Bible will become boring and prayer a difficult chore. Even Christian fellowship may seem empty and disappointing. It is not that there is something wrong with God, the Word, the church or others, however, what's wrong is the Christian's worldly heart.
Are you losing the enjoyment of doing Father's will? Of Bible reading? Is prayer boring? Is fellowship empty?
III. THE FINAL FINISH, 17.
Verse 17 reminds us of the final finish concerning the world’s enticing lusts and God’s blessed will. “And the world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God abides forever.”
“The world is passing away!” One day this world system will be gone and the pleasant attractions within it will be gone. What is going to last? Only what is part of the will of God will last. John is contrasting two ways of life. You can live your life for eternity or you can live your life for this world.
A worldly person lives for the pleasures of the flesh, but a dedicated Christian lives for the joys of the Spirit. A worldly believer lives for what he can see, the lust of the eyes. A spiritual believer lives for the unseen realities of God (2 Cor. 4:8-18). A worldly minded person lives for the pride of life, the vainglory that appeals to men. A Christian who does the will of God lives for God's approval. He does the will of God and abides forever.
The Word of God reveals the will of God and the Word and will of God are unchangeable and eternal.
Our deliverance from this world system begins not with our giving up this or that but with our eyes of faith seeing that this world is under the sentence of death. It has no long term future. Suppose a government decides to FORECLOSE a certain business. Would you run over and invest a large sum of money in it? No, because you would lose it when it collapses. Once you hear that it has no future you don’t invest in it. The world is under a decree of closure and whatever we invest in it will one day be completely lost. God has decreed that there is no future for this world system and everything place into it is under the sentence of destruction (Rev. 17:14). There is no future for the world. Now we still go on living in the world using the things of the world, but you can build no long term future with them. They are destined for destruction.
Nineteen world civilizations have come and gone. Slowly but inevitably and perhaps sooner than you think, the world will pass away, but the person who does the will of God, he and his work will last forever (Mt. 7:24-27, 1 Cor. 3:11-19).
True love of the Father requires obedience, constant consistent obedience. [To abide is meno and means to dwell in, as in a home.] Failure to abide in obedience and perseverance in the Christian life are caused by the spirit and life of the world robbing the soul of its real strength. When the world, the flesh and the devil rob us of our spiritual strength, we can not do, or can no longer do, the will of God. Only what we do in the strength of God for the glory of God abides forever.
He who does the will of God abides forever. As a man does the will of God, and in doing appropriates it--feeds on and makes it his own- it changes him and makes him more like Christ. We become a partaker of His eternal strength and character.
So God challenges us to live for eternal values in the midst of a world that is rapidly passing away. Abraham Lincoln in an address to the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society in 1859, illustrated the fact of how things pass on. He told of an Eastern monarch who asked his counselors to formulate a truth that would apply to all times and situations. After careful consideration, they returned with this sentence: "And this too shall pass away." Said Lincoln, "How much it expresses! How chastening in the hour of pride! How consoling in the hour of affliction!"
I have thought of those words, "And this too shall pass away," in both my happiest and my saddest moments. They have not only quieted my heart in times of trial, but they have also aroused me from my lethargy. They have made me realize the importance of using wisely the fleeting days God has allotted to me.
It is always true that over all we attempt and accomplish apart from God and doing His has written over it, “this too shall pass away.”
When our attachment the possessions of this world is strong it's hard to believe that all we have and want will one day pass away. It may be even harder to believe that the person who does the will of God will live forever. But based on the facts of Jesus' life, death, resurrection, and God promises that those who do His will, will live forever. Knowing that this evil world and its pleasures will end can give us courage to control our greedy, self-indulgent behavior and to continue doing God's will.
CONCLUSION
Many people are tempted to live for the moment, to conform to their way of life to the way of this material world. It is a natural tendency to make our self at home or comfortable here in the present world rather than to deny our self and follow the word and will of God. The believer thus lets the world in and it decimates our spiritual strength.
The world gets into a Christian through the foundations that have access to his heart. Therefore God warns, “Love not the world nor the things of the world!” Anything that robs a Christian of his enjoyment of the Father's love, or of his desire to do the Father's will, is worldly and must be avoided. Every believer, on the basis of God's Word, must identify those things for himself.
Missionary Martyr Jim Elliot said “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” A Christian must decide, "Will I live for the present only, or will I live for the will of God and that which abides forever?"
A man was visiting friends in a distant city. When he was taken on a tour and shown one of the city's most IMPRESSIVE BUILDINGS, he made no comment. His friends were disappointed at his silence because they expected their guest to be much impressed by the edifice. "Don't you think it's beautiful?" they finally asked him. "No, not really," he responded. "You see, I've been to Rome.”
Now the man was not being rude or boastful. He was simply being honest. Because he had seen the magnificent structures of Rome's glory days, the building his friends were showing him did not impress him. It suffered tragically by comparison.
Friend, if the world tempts you with its rare sights and tantalizing prospects, you can scorn them, if you have contemplated heaven, and by faith have seen the infinitely better eternal delights.
Believers who through faith in God's Word have had a foretaste of heaven and have considered their glorious spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus are not attracted by the enchantments of this world. They're not impressed by its empty baubles. They're not enamored with its allurements. Recognizing that which has genuine worth and lasting value, their response to the earthly and temporal is, “You can take all this world, but give me Jesus.”
