Soon after a person becomes a Christian he discovers that being a Christian is not a bed of roses. Just because he is saved, does not mean he has left his struggles behind. As a wise man once said, "A school bus driver is probably the only person who can honestly say he has all his troubles behind him." The fact is, the Christian life is a struggle against the pressures of this world. Here we find John discussing the Christian's struggle with worldliness. (READ TEXT)
John warns us that we are not to love the world; if we love the world, the love of the Father isn't in us. He says that it's impossible to love two exact opposites at the same time. Jesus put it like this, "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other." (Matthew 6:24a). A Christian isn't to love the world.
"It makes no more sense to talk of a worldly Christian than to talk of a heavenly devil." - Billy Sunday
Many "worldly Christians," are, in reality, non-Christians. If I see a bird that looks like a duck; waddles like a duck; swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's safe to assume it's a duck! Likewise, if a person acts like the world; thinks like the world; lives like the world and loves the world, it leads one to some inevitable conclusions.
It's clear, however, that the truly saved individual will have struggles with the lure of the world, and occasionally lapse into worldliness. However, they will not want to live in worldliness for long, for the Spirit within them will cause them to loath their worldly circumstance! A truly saved person, therefore, will seek to make sure he minimizes the effects of the world on his life, so he may live like the One who died for Him! Because this is the case, John shares truths with us that are intended to help us avoid worldly living as a Child of God.
1. Understanding Worldliness - v. 15
A. What worldliness is not -
1) John is not referring to the world of creation.
"God . . . made the world and everything in it" - Acts 17:24 (NIV)
2) John is not referring to the world of humanity - (John 3:16)
B. What worldliness is - The word for "world" here is "kosmos," from which we get the words, "cosmopolitan" and "cosmic."
The word means, "to order," or "to arrange." We use the word in this way many times. We talk about the world of sports, meaning a
system of ideas and activities of people involved in athletics. We talk about the world of politics, meaning the attitudes and activities of
people who are involved in politics. When the Bible speaks of "the world," it is referring to an order, a system, that is arranged in
opposition to God. The Bible tells us several things about "the world."
1) This world has a temporary ruler - Satan is "the god of this world" (2 Corinthian 4:4) and "ruler of this world" (John 12:31).
2) This world is a wicked world - 1 John 5:19
3) This world has its "children" - Luke 16:8
4) This world has its own wisdom - 1 Corinthians 2:6
5) This world is corrupt - 2 Peter 1:4
6) This world put Jesus on the cross - 1 Corinthians 2:8
With this understanding of what the Bible is referring to when it speaks of "the world," what is "worldliness?" Worldliness is anything that keeps you from loving God, learning about God, or living for God.
2. Identifying Worldliness - v. 16
John lists three ways the world tries to exert influence on the Christian:
A. "the cravings of sinful man" - The world attacks us physically.
B. "the lust of his eyes" - The world attacks us psychologically.
C. "the boasting of what he has or does" - The world attacks us spiritually. The world calls us to idolatry.
The Bible says man exists on three levels -
"May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." - 1 Thessalonians 5:23 (NIV)
God's desire is to sanctify us through and through. Satan's desire is to corrupt us through and through. Through the allurements of the world, Satan attacks us in the area of our body, soul and spirit.
Satan tempts us spiritually, to keep us from loving God as we ought to love Him; he tempts us psychologically, to keep us from learning from God as we ought to learn from Him, and he tempts us physically, to keep us from living for God as we ought live for Him.
In Genesis 3:6, used all 3 allurements to draw Eve and Adam into sin.
"When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it." - Genesis 3:6 (NIV)
1) She "saw that the fruit was . . . pleasing to the eye" - Satan sought to keep them from loving God. He got Adam and Eve to look
elsewhere than to their love relationship with God for fulfillment. He tempted them spiritually.
2) She "saw that the fruit was . . . desirable for gaining wisdom" - Satan sought to keep them from learning from God. He got Adam and Eve to look elsewhere, rather than to God for wisdom to know how to live life to the fullest. He tempted them psychologically.
3) She "saw the fruit of the tree was good for food" - Satan sought to keep them from living for God. He got Adam and Eve to look to other provision rather than being content with God's provision. He tempted them physically.
Satan still uses the same strategies! That's why we must be vigilant.
"Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." - 1 Peter 5:8 (NIV)
3. Overcoming Worldliness - v. 17
There are two things to understand in overcoming worldliness.
A. Methods For Overcoming Worldliness -
1) The proper response to physical temptation - flight!
"Stay away from every kind of evil. " - 1 Thessalonians 5:22 (NLT)
"Autobiography in Five Short Chapters" - Portia Nelson
Chapter 1 - I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I fall in. I am lost . . . I am helpless. It isn't my fault. It takes forever to find a way out.
Chapter 2 - I walk down the same street. There's a deep hole in the sidewalk. I pretend I don't see it. I fall in again. I can't believe I am in the same place, but it isn't my fault. It still takes a long time to get out.
Chapter 3 - I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I see it is there. I still fall in . . . it's a habit. My eyes are open. I know where I am. It is my fault. I get out immediately.
Chapter 4 - I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I walk around it.
Chapter 5 - I walk down another street.
Let a desire to live for God direct your activities!
2) The proper response to psychological temptation - faith!
"The conquering power that brings the world to its knees is our faith." - 1 John 5:4b (The Message)
"If we hold on to God's truth, we won't be trapped by Satan's lies."
Discipleship Journal asked readers this question - "When are you most likely to face temptation?" 81% said they were most likely to face temptation when they hadn't spent much time with God!
Let a desire to learn from God develop your attitude!
3) The proper response to spiritual temptation - fight!
"Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." - James 4:7 (NIV)
Let a desire to love God supremely direct your affections!
B. Motivation For Overcoming Worldliness -
1) The passing nature of this world - v. 17a
2) The permanent nature of the will of God - v. 17b
One day a boy was playing marbles. He loved to play marbles. His ambition was to be the world's champion marble player, He was playing marbles one day and some big boys came by who said, "Hey, kid. Can you hit a baseball?" He answered, "Why of course I can hit a baseball!" They said, "Well, we need one more player! Come on!" The boy emptied his pockets of marbles, left to play baseball with the big boys, and never went back to play marbles again. Why? He had found something better! Walking in the will of God is better than walking according to the way of the world!
"Flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith." - 1 Timothy 6:11-12 (NIV)
