1 John 2:15-17
Notes
Transcript
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 desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
Intro:
Love is a main subject that has been and will continue to be deeply discussed in this book.
And for good reason.
Why? Because God is Love
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
Where does love come from? From God!
How do we verify the fruit of the Spirit in us or in other words how do we know that we’ve been given the Holy Spirit and therefore been saved? We love!
What happens if we do not love? We do not know God.
Why can’t we know God? Because God is Love and if we don’t have His love in us, we don’t know him.
But…as we’ll see in these coming passages, there is a love for the temporal and a love for the eternal.
The type of love from God is the eternal type. The type that is forever, alway has and always will be.
A love that is from God and one that is not.
Let’s back up to a message that was given to us a few weeks ago.
Defining love
These definations were pulled of the inner webs.
an intense feeling of deep affection.
an intense emotion of affection, warmth, fondness, and regard towards a person or thing
a deep feeling of sexual attraction and desire
there is a few problems with these definations in contrast to the study of Scripture and who God is.
First problem…feelings (go back over definations and highlight the feeling side of them)
fickle, always, changing...
High school love
Grandma tells no and now we no longer love but we “I hate you”
What about today’s marriages? Don’t feel in love with you anymore.
Are feelings are like our stone filled heart
The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick;
who can understand it?
Fickle, so changing with the times and season’s we’re in.
Second, these definations are about you!
an intense feeling of deep affection.
an intense emotion of affection, warmth, fondness, and regard towards a person or thing
a deep feeling of sexual attraction and desire
This is a definition of love that promotes selfishness.
A definition of how you feel and what makes you happy in the moment.
Doesn’t nesaccarly mean you care for that person. Just that you have feelings towards them, that can be here one day and gone the next.
It’s a selfish defination of love.
What does scripture define love as?
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
It’s not about us! It’s about others!
Patient, considering their time over ours.
Kind, considering their feelings over ours.
No envy or boasting. Just humble, thankful, gracious with others.
Not arrogant or rude. Thinking over others before self.
Doesn’t insist on it’s own way. Considerate of your thoughts and values them.
Not irritable or resentful. Merciful and graciful with others. Understanding of faults.
Sadened with wrongdoings and want to help.
Rejoices with the truth and wants to share of it with others.
Love conquors all!
Love is more than a feeling, it is a genuine care and concern for others over yourself.
How do we treat.
How do we walk with.
How do we talk with.
How do we act!
Love is selfless not selfish!
Love is an action from within.
Follow someone for a couple weeks and watch their actions and you’ll find what they really love.
Why, because we’ll see their time sacrificed for what they value or love.
Because remember love is an action from within.
When it comes down to it, we sacrifice the one thing we can’t make more of for what we love.
Time…our time is sacrad right? It’s limited, meaning it’ll run out and we can’t make more of it.
What we do with the time given is a reflection of our hearts…and what it loves.
Do we love the world or the Father?
Do we invest in him or...
What about family? I still remember the message given here one type by a guest speaker...
“when good things become God things, that’s bad”
In other words, we are not the love the created over the creator.
Family is important and God calls out it’s importance…but it is not what saves or gives life.
What are we showing to those that we love if our time is never focused on God...
Happiness and life is in our camping, our UTV riding, sports, fun, working in the garage.
Again, what do our little children see? Where our time is spent, is what is important.
And what to children want? To be like my dad or my mom..
What do I mean?
How do we live? For the temporal or the eternal?
The love of God is for the eternal and for what He loves.
Matthew 22:36-40
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
This summarizes our actions we’re called to.
This is the love of God!
Now that we know what love is and what the love of God in us is.
Let’s look at what it’s not.
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.
At first glance this looks contridictory.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
This of course is not the same defination of world.
One is talking about God’s creation, namely us, and the other is what God did not create.
The ways of the world. Namely the ways of Satan.
We are to love one and hate the other.
“Do not love the world or the things in the world.”
What are the ways of the world?
Temporal things.
Things like, succsess, power, fame, pleasure, monetary wealth.
The world teaches it’s all about you and want you want.
A very selfish self centered way of life.
A teaching that is very heavy and never satisfiying. Very burdensom.
What is this in opposition to? Christ and His ways.
The way of the world is anti-christ.
And we are not to love that.
We are not to love the world or the things in the world.
We are not to love the materialistic things of this world…(Tony and automobiles)
We are to love the eternal.
“If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in Him”
John’s character and the way the Holy Spirit gives this writing through John is just very blunt in a loving way. No mixing of words here.
If you do love the world and it’s ways, with it’s materialistic goods, your claimed love of God is not in you.
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
Water and oil
Light and darkness
Can’t have both mixed together.
It’s a very loving way to call us to truth and out of deceit the enemy may be trying to cloth us with.
The first deceit…I go to church for the most part, I help the little old lady across the street, I occosionally give of my resorces. Therefore because of my works and my good ways, I’m good with God.
All the while 90% of your time is spent on the things of this world and it’s ways.
Truthfully ask yourself where your love is? Is it for the things of the world?
succsess, power, fame, pleasure, monetary wealth.
Where is most of your time spent. For his kingdom or yours?
This can be painful but we’re talking about your eternity, let’s not sugar coat things here.
If your not right with God, immedtially stop and repent, change direction.
Ask for the power of the Holy Spirit to come in to your life and take over.
Please don’t pretend and please don’t run away from Him.
The other type of deceit.
Oh, you didn’t do enough. If you really loved Christ you’d of done this and this.
You love Him and others deeply and are forever secure in Him but the enemy whispers thoughts of doubt to you.
Stop! Quit feeling defeated, burdened by this lie of being perfect in this life.
When the Holy Spirit convicts the soul of wrong doing, repent and rejoice in His loving correction, over, “man I suck and God must hate me”. He brought correction and repentance didn’t he. Remember the Lord disciplines those that he loves.
Both calls to eximine our life is good is a good thing!
If we are loving the world isn’t it good for it to be brought up and called to stop doing it over pretendly loving someone to hell?
The same is true by not living in the freedom of Christs love and always questioning His love for us.
For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.
These are things that bring seperation from God!
The pursiut of succsess, wealth, and temporary happiness. Heavy, burdensome, never fullfilling.
These are unloving ways. These ways bring death and destruction.
The desires of the flesh= the selfish ways we’ve been talking about all morning. I like and want and therefore I do in no consideration of others.
What is more anti-christ than that?
This is our Christ.
who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Why did He do this? For the love of the Father. Jesus didn’t do this because it would be comfortable or it’d be a good time. But because of the love of the Father and what the Father loves.
His creation, us.
God is good, giving, selfless, and loving by the truest sense.
He wants what’s best, not what’s worst, not what is kinda good, but all good.
The desires of the eyes...
Eve looked at the apple and saw it was good for food.
David saw Batheshpa bathing across the way and saw it was good for pleasure.
Our lusts and our pleasures don’t care about the eternal just the temporal.
God cares for our eternal and the eternal of others.
Pride of life...
This steals the freedom of thankfullness and gratitude in God’s perfect way.
We think we have because of what or who we are outside of being created the way we are and living where and when we are.
One harbors arrogance and pride. A heart that is unthankful and unforgiving.
The other harbors gratitude, thankfulness, patience, and love.
These, the desire of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, the pride of life. Are not from the Father but from the world.
We are not to love any of these!
Why because the world really doesn’t care about you. It eats you up and spits you out without a care in the world for your well being. How many of these desires have brought ruin, divorce, seperation, death.
God’s love truly cares for your well being. God loves and is love!
The truth!
And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
All of this will be no more…this building, your car, your home, the mountains, all of it is passing.
It doesn’t matter how succsesful we become by the worlds standards, how much money, we acuire, or how many people know our name.
We along with everything in this would is passing away.
One is eternal the other temporal.
One is life the other is death.
“but whoever does the will of God abider forever”
Praise God for life and continue to be forever changed by that love!
