Warnings Against Worldliness

Title: “A Warning Against Worldliness” Script: I John 2:15-17

Type: Expository Series Where: GNBC 6-23-24

Intro: “A man bought a new hunting dog. Eager to see how he would perform, he took him out to track a bear. No sooner had they gotten into the woods than the dog picked up the trail. Suddenly he stopped, sniffed the ground, and headed in a new direction. He had caught the scent of a deer that had crossed the bear’s path. A few moments later he halted again, this time smelling a rabbit that had crossed the path of the deer. And so, on and on it went until finally the breathless hunter caught up with his dog, only to find him barking triumphantly down the hole of a field mouse. Sometimes Christians are like that. We start out with high resolve, keeping Christ first in our lives. But soon our attention is diverted to things of lesser importance. One pursuit leads to another until we’ve strayed far from our original purpose. (Illust Bobby Scobey) Worldliness is horizontal life. Worldliness has nothing of the vertical in it. It has ambition; it has no aspirations. Its motto is success, not holiness. It is always saying, Onward, never Upward. A worldly man or woman is a man or woman who never says, I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills…”

Prop: I Jn. 2:15-17 we’ll better understand the assault, evidence and folly of worldliness.

BG: 1. What is worldliness and why was John writing? Wasn’t early church perfect? No problems? People are the same regardless of place or time. Struggles are same.

2. Most likely John wrote these letters to circle of Asiatic churches in and around Ephesus.

3. Written near end of the 1st century. Believers then as today being pressured to conform.

Prop: Follow w/ me in I Jn. 2:15-17 as we see the assault, evidence, and folly of worldliness.

I. The Assault of Worldliness v. 15

A. John Admonishes his readers with a Stern Warning: “Do not love the world.”

1. 1st Question we should ask: “What in the world does John mean by the word world?”

a. World – kosmos – can mean a variety of different things in Johannine writing. 1st rule of Hermeneutics – “Context is king.” So in order to make an accurate interpretation, let alone application, we need to attempt to understand the context of the passage.

b. Illust: I love a lot of things about this world. I love God’s creation. I love my family and friends. I have a lot of hobbies and interests. Is John saying this is wrong? I don’t necessarily think so. Does God hate this world? No! We know that “In the beginning God created the heavens and earth.” (Gen. 1:1) We know He deemed the world “good”. We know that this was done thru the beloved agency of “His Word” (Jn. 1:10). We know that this world was loved by God and is the object of His saving purposes. (Jn. 3:16-17), We know that Christ is the Light of this world. (Jn. 1:9 etc.), We know that Christ is the Savior of the World (Jn. 4:42). We know that He is the propitiation for the whole world (I Jn. 2:2). We Agree with John the Baptist’s proclamation that Jesus is the LOG Who takes away the sins of the world (Jn. 1:29).

2. There is an assault of worldliness against both the Christian and the Church.

a. If we closely examine the context and remember the reason for the writing of the letter in the first place we remember that the Church was at this time undergoing a two-fold attack. The one attack was from without. There was persecution from the outside. There was also attack from within: false teachers – the more potentially damaging. Gnostics being the leading problem John was addressing. These Gnostic teachers believed that one could become so spiritual, by the influence of special knowledge, and spiritual experience that was separated from the body. They argued that God could not therefore come in the flesh. The believed this true spiritual knowledge allowed one to feed the desires of the flesh.

b. I think what we see here is John’s warning is an admonition of concern against the godless of this world and their orientation against God. This lies in worldliness. Worldliness does not reside so much in what one does or the places one goes (Although that can be telling.) but rather it resides squarely in the human heart and its affections and its attitude of pride and opposition towards God.

c. Illust – May I suggest that one of the 1st great examples of worldliness in human history took place at Babel in Gen. 11. (The world and worldly church wants to attach 1st 11 chapters of Genesis!) I would say the historical example of Babel’s rebellion towards God sets an example of a pattern throughout history of the “world’s” war against God. Babel had an anti-God leader of humanity (Nimrod). There are a lot of Nimrods today. There was an organized rebellion against the commands of God. (Disobey command to spread over whole earth.) There was a direct distrust of God’s Word and promises. (Attempt to build a future flood safe tower for the future as well as an attempt to share in God’s glory.) The whole story demonstrates a fundamental fact about the world system. The world’s progress, tech, govt., commerce, etc. can in some instances make us better off, but it can NEVER make us better! But because we all like the idea of “better off” its easy to fall in love w/the world.