“Love for This World”
Text: 1 John 2:12-17
Last weeks message the writer John, focused on those that said they loved God but hated their brother. We looked three reasons why Christians should love one another:
1. God has commanded us to love 1 John 2:7-11
2. We have been born of God and God’s love lives in us. 1 John 3:10-24
3. God first revealed His love to us. 1 John 4:7-21
In this section of Scripture, John points us to the main idea that as Christians, we should not love this world.
First, Christians should not love this world…
I. Because of What The World Is
· The New Testament word world has at least 3 different meanings:
1. It refers to the physical world as in Acts 17:24; “God, who made the world and everything in it,…”
2. It also means the human words as in John 3:16; “For God so loved the world…”
3. This word that is used here is used to name our enemy; an invisible spiritual system that is opposed to God and Christ.
· We often use the word “world” in the sense of this system. A news anchor may say; “We bring you the latest in the world of sports.” The world of sports is not some separate planet; it is an organized system, made up of a set of ideas, people, activities and purposes.
· I like how Warren Wiersbe explains this world; “Behind the world of sports, politics and even finance is an invisible system we cannot see; and it is the system that keeps things going.”
· This world in this passage of Scripture is referring to Satan’s system for opposing the work of Christ here on earth.
· In John 12:31 Jesus called Satan “the prince of this world,” and he has an organization of evil spirits working with him to influence the affairs of this world.
· Unsaved people, those outside a personal relationship with Christ, belong to this world. In Luke 16:8 Jesus calls them “children of this world.”
· A Christian is a member of the human world and lives on this physical world but a Christian does not belong to the spiritual world that is Satan’s system and opposition to God.
· My dear Christian friend, when you placed your faith in Jesus Christ, when you received forgiveness for your sins, you got a new home outside of this world.
· As the old hymn said; “This world is not my home, I’m only passing through…”
· And if it were not for the presence of the Holy Spirit living within us, we could not make it through this journey.
Second, Christians should not love this world…
II. Because of What The World Does To Us
1 John 2:15-16; “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world-the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life-is not of the Father but is of the world.”
· Last message I closed by giving some of the results of showing Christian love. Doing the will of God is a joy for those living in the love of God.
1. We will be living in the light...living in fellowship with God and with others.
2. We will not stumble nor become a stumbling block to others.
3. We will grow spiritually and progress towards Christ likeness.
4. Love produces joy.
· Doing the will of God is a joy for those living in the love of God.
· But hear me, when a believer loses his enjoyment of the Father’s love, they find it difficult to obey the Father’s will.
· Now, here in this passage of Scripture John identifies 3 traps that the world system uses toward Christians.
1. Lusts of the flesh
2. Lust of the eyes
3. The Pride of life
· When the Bible speaks of “flesh” it is not just referring to our physical body; it is referring to the sin nature of man.
· Flesh is the nature we receive in our physical birth; spirit is the nature we receive when we are born again.
· 2 Peter 1:4 tells us that when we trust Christ as Savior, we become “partakers of the divine nature.”
· God has given each of us certain desires, and these desires are a good thing. Hunger, thirst, weariness, and sex are not evil within themselves.
· There is nothing wrong with eating, drinking, sleeping, or having children but when the flesh takes over they become sinful desires.
· Hunger is not evil, but gluttony is; thirst is not sinful but drunkenness is; Sleep, praise God, is not sinful but laziness is; sex is God’s precious gift, when used correctly within the bonds of marriage; but when used wrong, it becomes immorality.
· The second trap is the “lust of the eyes.”
· Now I will not stay on this long but let me say, for the believer, when we get our eyes off Jesus and His kingdom and His righteousness that is when we fall into dangerous areas.
· When Satan temped Eve in the Garden it was with something that pleased her sight, but the result was spiritual death.
· Remember the story of Peter walking on the water? He began to sink when he got his eyes off Jesus…
· The third trap is the “pride of life.” The Greek word for pride is used to describe someone that brags trying to impress people with their importance.
· For the Christian we must always remember outside of Christ we are nothing and nobody’s.
· We must continually deny ourselves and as John the Baptist put it when referring to Jesus “I must decrease and He must increase.”
· MORE OF HIM AND LESS OF ME!!!
Next, Christians should not love this world…
III. Because of What a Christian Is
1 John 2:12-14; “I write to little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake. I write to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one. I write to you, little children, because you have known the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one.”
· Notice there seems to be a progression…
· These seem to be very clear distinctions that identify 3 stages of spiritual growth.
· John first uses the term “Little children” in verse 12. It can also be translated “born ones.”
· All Christians have been born into the family of God.
· We begin as little children, born ones, but something happens; this progression again.
· Then he speaks to “fathers.” He is referring to those family members that have matured. They have “known” God by personal intimate knowledge; they have experience. Because they know God, they know the dangers of this world.
· Then he also refers to the young men.” These are conquerors; they have overcome the wicked one because they have the Word of God abiding in them.
· Then John speaks to the little children again, but this is not the “born ones from verse 12.
· In the original Greek this speaks of those that have not yet grown up; those that are still under the authority of their parents and teachers.
· Let me ask this question; if you have a child and it for some reason was not growing, wouldn’t you worry that something was wrong.
· Another instance; what would happen if you withheld, nourishment and love and intimacy from this child
· Let me repeat myself; in this Christian life, from our spiritual birth there must be a process of growth. If we are not growing, SOMETHING IS WRONG>…
Finally, Christians should not love this world…
IV. Because of Where the World Is Going
1 John 2:17; “And the world is passing away, and the lust of it, but he who does the will of God abides forever.”
· You may be like some that say the only sure thing is death and taxes, but something else is certain; this world is not permanent.
· John is contrasting two ways of life here; a life lived for eternity and a life lived for this world.
· A worldly person lives for the pleasures of the flesh, but a dedicated Christian lives for the joys of obeying God.
· A worldly person lives for what he can see, but a Christian lives by faith for the unseen realities of God.
· A worldly minded person lives for the pride of life, but a Christian that does the will of God seeks God’s approval.
Some years ago, musicians noticed that errand boys in a certain part of London all whistled out of tune as they went about their work. It was talked about and someone suggested that it was because the bells of Westminster were slightly out of tune. Something had gone wrong with the chimes and they were discordant. The boys did not know there was anything wrong with the peals, and quite unconsciously they had copied their pitch.
Some has said; “When we are in love with the things of this world, our lives are out of tune with the things of God. God has given us His Word that is the absolute pitch of life and living. If we learn to sing by it, we will easily detect the false in all of the tunes of the world.”
