"Living a Life that Lasts"
1 John 2:17 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 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.
17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.
INTRODUCTION: To set the stage for this message I want to share some personal observations with you that I hope you can relate to. First, the Bible teaches us that God has placed something inside of every human being that tells us that there is more to life that just what we can experience with our five senses; that there is something beyond this life, that life is more than just birth and death. Yet, there are so many, even many who profess to be Christians who seem to be living for the moment, just for this life. Second, I don't think that I can remember a time in my life when it was any more difficult to live the Christian life, not that we are being persecuted or anything like, but the lines between what it means to be a Christian or not have become so blurred that there is seemingly little difference between the two, and therein lies the difficulty. How can we know that we are on the right track? How can we know that when we come to end of life here on earth that we can be assured that we will have a home in heaven? The Apostle John gives us several admonitions and declares several truths so based on that I want to ask three questions. First, what is:
I. The Focus on Our Affections
Colossians 3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
a. The prohibition
If we want to have a life that lasts we cannot "...love the world, neither the things that are in the world..."
(Prohibition with mē and the present active imperative of agapaō, either stop doing it or do not have the habit of doing it.)
ILL - A recent survey of Discipleship Journal readers ranked areas of greatest spiritual challenge to them. These are listed in this order. 1. Materialism. 2. Pride. 3. Self-centeredness. 4. Laziness. 5. Tied were: Anger/Bitterness/Sexual lust. 6. Envy. 7. Gluttony. 8. Lying. (3)
There's little difference in ethical behavior between the churched and the unchurched. Religion, for most people, isn't really a life changing experience. People cite it as important, for instance, in overcoming depression, getting through a problem at home, work, or school but it doesn't seem to have first place in determining personal behavior.
b. The problem
The Apostles point is "if any keep on loving the world," that is, there is the possibility that a man might profess to be a Christian but still love the world. This individual still has an attachment to the world and the "...things..." of the world (Greek kosmos) which for those of John's day would have been a distinctly Roman world and its system.
c. The paradox
The love of the world and the love of the Father are so opposed that we cannot do both at once. John says that is impossible for "...the love of the Father..." to dwell in such a person.
II. The Focus on Our Attitudes
Someone called this, the world's awful anti-trinity, the "lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life,"
a. Impure desires -- "...the lust of the flesh..."
This is the lust which has its seat and source in our lower animal nature. This is David's sin and Achan's. Lust brought wreck and ruin, death and destruction to both of these men.
Matthew 5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
ILL -- Joshua Harris- Lust is always a desire for the forbidden. Though lust longs for an object or a person, ultimately this object is not its prize; its goal is the very act of desiring. The result is that lust can never be quenched. As soon as the object of lust is attained, lust wants something more.
2 Samuel 13:15 Then Amnon hated her exceedingly; so that the hatred wherewith he hated her was greater than the love wherewith he had loved her. And Amnon said unto her, Arise, be gone.
ILL - Nothing disciplines the inordinate desires of the flesh like service, and nothing transforms the desires of the flesh like serving in hiddenness. The flesh whines against service but screams against hidden service. It strains and pulls for honor and recognition. It will devise subtle, religiously acceptable means to call attention to the service rendered. If we stoutly refuse to give in to this lust of the flesh, we crucify it. Every time we crucify the flesh, we crucify our pride and arrogance.
Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline: The Path of Spiritual Growth, p.130
b. Inordinate desires -- "...the lust of the eyes..."
Luke 12:15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
2 Peter 2:14 Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:
Ecclesiastes 1:8 All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
Proverbs 27:20 Hell and destruction are never
full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.
Ecclesiastes 5:10 He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.
c. Inglorious desires -- "...the pride of life..."
A wise man who knew a great deal about pride wrote these words:
Proverbs 11:2 When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.
Proverbs 13:10 Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.
Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
ILL - If a man is filled with anger, than anger controls his life.
If a man is filled with greed, then greed dominates his life.
If a man is filled with lust, then lust governs his life.
If a man is filled with love, then love influences all he does.
And if a man is filled with the Holy Spirit, he is controlled by the Spirit - it is, if you will, "control by consent."
III. The Focus on Our Actions
a. The Word of God
1 John 2:3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
John 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
b. The walk with God
1 John 2:6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
ARE YOU TIED TO THIS WORLD?
ILL -- Moody said that some people are trying to live by faith as though they are paddling hard in a row boat, while all along their tie-down is still fastened securely to the dock. He declared, "They are tied to this world. Cut the cord! Set yourself free from the clogging weight of earthly things, and you will soon go on."
Are you tied to the weight of earthly things, and lack the freedom to follow where God tells you to go? Can you feel the weight of the world's bondage? The Lord wants you to live as free, not tethered to anything of this world (Mt 11:28, 30)
(From a sermon by Damian Phillips, Settling in Egypt, 8/24/2011)
c. The will of God
1 John 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
THE DESTINY OF MATERIALISM
ILL -- The lure of wealth, or what we might call the magnetism of materialism.
"Finns [people from Finland] who can't get enough of winter swarmed to the northern town of Kemi for the opening of a sprawling ice castle that features a theatre, a playground, an art gallery, and a chapel.
"Thirty workers took three months to build a castle with 13-foot walls stretching for 1650 feet.
"An Orthodox Church chapel, hewn from ice, has been booked for weddings and christenings. The theater has a capacity of 3000 and features rock and pop concerts, musicals, modern dance, opera recitals, and popular operas.
[Here's the kicker.]
"Construction and upkeep costs are estimated to be $1.1 million, yet the castle always melts sometime in mid-April.
"The melting ice serves as a reminder that all the material things in this world will one day pass away."
(1001 Quotes, Illustrations & Humorous Stories for Preachers, Teachers & Writers, 329). From a sermon by Eric Lenhart, Seeds Among Thorns, 8/13/2010
Conclusion: When we think of the will of God we need to think of three things:
1. There must be a decision to do God's will. One of my favorite songs is "I have decided to follow Jesus."
2. There must be a devotion to doing the will of God. That devotion to do the will of God can be expressed in three words; wherever, whatever, whenever! That same song says, "...no turning back, no turning back..."
3. There must be diligence to finish the will of God.
