Who Do You Love
Text: 1 Jn. 2:15-17
Introduction
1. Illustration:
2. Beloved we cannot love the world and still love Christ. It has to be one or the other, because like oil and water they do not mix.
3. 2 Corinthians 6:17 (NKJV)
17 Therefore "Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you."
4. John tells us that we cannot love the world and love Christ because...
A. The World Squeezes Out The Father's Love
B. The World Is Self-Centered
C. The World Is Fading Away
5. Stand with me this morning as we read 1 John 2:15-17.
Proposition: Our love of God has to be more important than anything in the world.
Transition: The first reason we are to not love the world is because...
I. The World Squeezes Out The Father's Love (15).
A. Do Not Love The World
1. The world system is committed to at least four major objectives, which I can summarize in four words: fortune, fame, power, pleasure. First and foremost: Fortune, money. The world system is driven by money; it feeds on materialism. Second: Fame. That is another word for popularity. Fame is the longing to be known, to be somebody in someone else's eyes. Third: Power. This is having influence, maintaining control over individuals or groups or companies or whatever. It is the desire to manipulate and maneuver others to do something for one's own benefit. Fourth: Pleasure. At its basic level, pleasure has to do with fulfilling one's sensual desires. It's the same mindset that's behind the slogan: "If it feels good, do it." (Charles Swindoll, Living Above the Level of Mediocrity, p.219).
2. The main point that John is making in our text this morning is that everything in the "world system," love of money, fame, power and lust, are contrary to the Gospel, and therefore, should be shunned by all disciples of Jesus!
3. The beloved Apostle begins our text this morning with, "Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you."
A. John begins this verse by issuing the command that the believer is not to love the world or anything in the world.
B. Initially this command sounds strange given the fact that John 3:16 says clearly and beautifully that God loves the world and the fact that 1 John 2:2 says the Son made atonement for the sins of the world. What is the difference?
C. The difference is found in the way John uses the term kosmos in each instance. Contextual considerations are crucial (context, context, context).
D. In this letter and his Gospel, John employs this term in three distinct and basic ways: (1) the created universe ; (2) the world of human persons; and (3) an evil organized earthly system controlled by the power of Satan that has aligned itself against God and his kingdom.
E. In these verses John uses the third meaning.
F. The verb agapao, used in this context to describe both the love of the world and the love of the Father could carry a different meaning in each usage.
G. It is argued that when the word is used in its "Christian" sense it should be translated "love," but when it is used in a negative way it should be translated "take a fancy to" or "to place a higher value on."
H. When an individual believer fulfills the love command by showing compassion to a brother or sister (2:10), this love is properly motivated and properly directed.
I. When people love the world, they are misapplying this human emotion in a way that will lead to their demise.
J. In a sense love is neutral. The object of one’s love or affection is decisive.
K. One must be careful that this love is going in the right direction and that it acts in a manner consistent with Christian confession.
L. John charges us to love neither the world in general nor the things of the world in particular. The command is comprehensive. Our allegiance must not be divided. Our affection must be focused and specific.
4. The correct application of love springs from the fact that the believer has a singular loyalty and commitment to the Father.
A. This verse states clearly that one cannot love the world and love God at the same time.
B. The absolute nature of this statement is striking and compels careful and serious reflection.
C. The stakes are high. Because the Father’s kingdom is at war with the kingdom of this world, the two will never coexist peacefully. To pledge allegiance to one side is to declare opposition to the other (Akin, New American Commentary – Volume 38: 1, 2, 3 John, 107-108).
5. Therefore, when you love the world, you show that you do not have the love of the Father in you.
A. These words do not mean that believers are to remove themselves from all contact with the sinful world (that would be virtually impossible), nor are they to stoically refrain from anything pleasurable.
B. They do mean that when contact with the sinful world and its worldly pleasures specifically disagrees with God’s word, then Christians are to turn away from "the world" in order to obey God (Barton, Life Application New Testament Commentary, 1155).
B. Love The Lord
1. Illustration: J. C. Ryle: "Knowledge, orthodoxy, correct forms in worship, a respectable and moral life – these do not make a true Christian" (497). Do we love Jesus? That is the issue; it is the question Jesus asks Peter in John 21; we must also answer it.
2. We CANNOT love the world and also love God!
A. Matthew 22:37-38 (NLT2)
37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’
38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
B. You cannot love God and be obsessed with the love of money.
C. You cannot love God and be obsessed with the love of fame.
D. You cannot love God and be obsessed with the love of power.
E. You cannot love God and be obsessed with the love of lust.
F. If you love any of those things, which are all contrary to the Gospel, you do not love God.
G. In fact, if you love any of those things, not only do you not love God, the one you love is Satan!
H. All of these things will begin to squeeze out the love of the Father and you will find your love for God begin to mean less and less to you, until it is gone altogether.
I. Jesus is asking you the same question today that he asked Peter, "Do you love me more than these?"
Transition: The reason the world does this to you is because...
II. The World Is Self-Centered (16).
A. The World Offers Only
1. Someone in our day who has a prideful self-centeredness we say has the disease of Narcissism. The name comes from Greek mythology and refers to a handsome young man name Narcissus who fell in love with himself. Whenever he would come along a pool of clear water, he would look at his reflection for hours admiring the view. One day he said to himself, "You are handsome, Narcissus! There’s nobody so handsome in the whole world!" He stooped down to kiss his reflection, fell into the water, and drowned.
2. This is the epitome of sin; it's all about me. It's my will be done rather than thy will be done.
3. That's John's point in v. 16 where he says, "For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world."
A. This verse clarifies in vivid terms those things that come from the evil world and attempt to lead astray those who have believed in Jesus Christ.
B. Again it must be emphasized that this condemnation of everything that is in the world is not a declaration that the world created by God is evil.
C. John fully embraced the doctrine of the goodness of creation as taught in Genesis 1–2. Rather, it is a proclamation that humanity in its sinfulness has followed evil rather than good and has worshiped the created things rather than the Creator (Rom 1:20).
D. The problem is not that God created the material things of the world. The problem is that people have made these things into idols.
E. The three things listed in this verse—"cravings for physical pleasure, the craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions"—should not be seen as a comprehensive list of vices.
F. These are avenues by which sinful humanity is especially prone to pervert the goodness of God’s creation (Akin, 108).
4. The lust for physical pleasure. Jesus spoke of how adultery begins not with the act, but with the desire (Matthew 5:28).
A. These words picture any kind of desire but especially the craze for sex. No doubt the people of ancient Ephesus understood this—the pagan religions of their city glorified sex.
B. The world today has many similarities. Sex in all of its immoral and grotesque forms is splashed throughout movies, television, magazines, and computer screens. This appeals to the sinful nature.
C. While this category seems to refer mostly to sexual lust, it could include any sort of selfish or greedy cravings simply to satisfy one’s physical desires in rebellion against God (Barton, Life Application New Testament Commentary,1156).
5. The lust for everything we see. Sins of craving and accumulating possessions (bowing to the god of materialism) could be placed in this category.
A. While sex may also be included here, people’s "eyes" can lust after many things. Believers must not become obsessed with what they see (Barton 1156).
B. The Bible is full of stories where people sinned because they craved things that were pleasing to the eye.
C. Eve ate the forbidden fruit because it looked good.
D. Genesis 3:6 (NLT2)
6 The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too.
E. Achan took the forbidden plunder because it looked good to him.
F. Joshua 7:21 (NLT2)
21 Among the plunder I saw a beautiful robe from Babylon, 200 silver coins, and a bar of gold weighing more than a pound. I wanted them so much that I took them. They are hidden in the ground beneath my tent, with the silver buried deeper than the rest.”
G. David lusted after Bathsheba, another man’s wife, because she looked good to him as she bathed on the roof.
H. 2 Samuel 11:2 (NLT2)
2 Late one afternoon, after his midday rest, David got out of bed and was walking on the roof of the palace. As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath.
B. Don't Be Selfish
1. Illustration: True biblical worship so satisfies our total personality that we don’t have to shop around for man-made substitutes. William Temple made this clear in his masterful definition of worship: For worship is the submission of all our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by His holiness; the nourishment of mind with His truth; the purifying of imagination by His beauty; the opening of the heart to His love; the surrender of will to His purpose -- and all of this gathered up in adoration, the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable and therefore the chief remedy for that self-centeredness which is our original sin and the source of all actual sin (Wiersbe, The Integrity Crisis, 119).
2. At the root of all sin is the idol of self.
A. Philippians 2:3-4 (NLT2)
3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.
4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.
B. At the heart of all sin is the problem of selfishness.
C. It's what caused Satan to rebel against God.
D. It's what caused Adam and Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit.
E. It's what caused Cain to kill his brother Abel.
F. It's what caused David to sin with Bathsheba and then have her husband murdered in an attempt to cover it up.
G. It's what causea murder, robbery, rape, fornication and abortion.
H. There is only one solution to this problem, and that is the cross.
I. The cross is the anti-thesis to selfishness, because in the cross Jesus did the most unselfish thing in the history of the world by giving himself for the sins of others.
J. It is by laying our selfishness at the foot of the cross and placing our sins under the blood of Christ!
Transition: The biggest reason that we should not love the world is it's finiteness.
III. The World Is Fading Away (17).
A. Fading Away
1. The heart of John’s argument is now given. This final verse of the section "contrasts the outcomes of these two loves, two lives, and two orientations toward Life."
A. When compared with a life lived in the will of God, the things this life has to offer are really empty imitations of God’s best.
B. The things of the world seem to be of great value, but they are worthless when compared to the eternal blessings that come from doing the will of God.
C. Jesus Christ in his death and resurrection has defeated the world that is opposed to God and has secured life eternal for those who believe (Akin, 110).
2. In v. 17 John says, "And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever."
A. This passage has a clear last things focus that emphasizes that the things of the world, even the Earth itself, will one day pass from the scene, just as the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining (2:8).
B. The kingdom of God on earth was inaugurated in the death and resurrection of our Lord, and it will be established forever with his return (Akin, 110).
C. The people who live in rebellion to God with their transient, unfulfilling desires are focusing on a world that is already fading away.
D. The workaholic will die unfulfilled. The greedy politician will die in despair. The pleasure-mad partygoers will find their lives ruined by drugs or alcohol. Indulgence never satisfies; it only whets the appetite for more.
E. Christians, however, understand that the world will not last forever and that no one lives on this planet forever. Because they are believers who do the will of God, however, they will live forever.
F. To turn away from the sinful world and hold on to God means to hold on to the eternal. Those who trust in God have already begun a life everlasting (Barton 1156).
3. John links the believer’s confession of faith to his conduct by using the phrase "anyone who does what pleases God will live forever" to describe who will be a part of God’s eternal kingdom.
A. This idea of doing the will of God is closely linked to Jesus’ mission in the Gospel, for there are several occasions where Jesus explains that he only takes action in accordance with the will of the Father.
B. It is likely that John is again exhorting the readers to live as Jesus lived while he was on this earth, that is, solely focused on doing the will of the Father (Akin, 110).
B. Will Pass Away
1. Illustration: "Everything in this world has two aspects - how it looks at the moment, and how it will look in the time to come. The easy way may look inviting at the moment, and the hard way daunting.
The only way to get our values right is to see, not the beginning, but the end of the way, to see things, not in light of time, but in the light of eternity." (William Barclay).
2. Jesus will come again, and when He does He will put an end to the world.
A. 2 Peter 3:10 (NLT2)
10 But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.
B. Jesus will come again to deal with the world and it's architect, Satan.
C. He will throw Satan where he belongs, in the Lake of Fire.
D. He will judge those who chose to love the world rather than the Father.
E. He will put an end to the cravings for physical pleasure, cravings for everything we see, and pride in our acheivements and possessions.
F. He will put an end to all selfishness and pride.
G. But to those who chose to follow Christ, and choose to love the Father, rather than the world, He will bring us to that heavenly city, where there is no more night, no more pain, and no more sadness.
H. There will be no middle ground. You can choose to love the Father or to love the world. Who will you choose?
Conclusion
1. John tells us that we cannot love the world and love Christ because...
A. The World Squeezes Out The Father's Love
B. The World Is Self-Centered
C. The World Is Fading Away
2. THREE THINGS TO REMEMBER...
A. YOU CAN LOVE THE WORLD OR YOU CAN LOVE THE FATHER, BUT NOT BOTH!
B. THE WORLD SAYS IT'S ALL ABOUT ME, AND WHAT I WANT, JESUS SAYS IT'S ALL ABOUT WHAT THE FATHER WANTS.
C. THE WORLD TELLS US TO LIVE FOR THE MOMENT, JESUS TELLS US TO LIVE FOR ETERNITY.
