Do not love the world

INTRO

Good morning, you can open your Bible to 1 John chapter 2 starting at verse 15. To start off this morning want to start off confessing I really struggled with this text this week. And I share that because I think most of you are like me in that we live in a consumerist world. A world were we are constantly being sold things, wanting things. I would be lying if I didn’t have a small list in my phone about things I’, wanting to get from Cabellas. I would be lying if I havn’t thought about how it would be nice to have a truck or a different house with a little land. Like those are real desires in me, and while they are not inherently bad, what we are going to see today is that they can keep us from something impotant. And so my concern today, as it has been all week, is that we would hear this message today and just be so calloused from consumerism that we don’t actually hear the words that God is inviting us into.

Now I know that is somewhat heavy and somber way to start a sermon but I wanted to prepare you before we read the Word so that as we pray before hearing the word, that you wouldn’t just listen to my prayer. But that you would engage your heart and mind today and ask the Holy Spirit to truly hear beyond what we keep being sold every day in our western society.

So let’s pray and ask for grace to do that.

BODY

Okay, it has been said 100 times already, but gnosticism, which was prevalent while John wrote this letter, is the belief that all matter is bad and that everything spiritual is good. This creates a whole lot of problems in Christianity, specifically with Jesus but we have already talked about that. What it can also do is create a mindset that everything evil is outside of us. An so we don’t take responsibility for our sin and we think it is either the devil or something else that is evil rather than the fact that even though we are new creations, we have to put the flesh into submission. So with this is mind, John says these words that I would like for the people of God to read together this morning.

English Standard Version Chapter 2

15 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. 16 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. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

John is not creating a new message here that believers in the churches would not know about. This is a message that Jesus already preached in Matthew 6 during his sermon the mount. He said,

English Standard Version Chapter 6

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

But in both of these messages there is a consistant command. They both say “Do not.” Everyone say do not. It doesn’t say try not to love the world. It doesn’t say do your best. It says do not love the world. Well is John just a prude and doesn’t want us to have fun? Has he bought into gnosticims and thinks that the world and everything physical is bad? No, because as we he tells us that the things that are in the world are not out there (physical) but in here (our souls and desires). So in order for us to understand what John is saying we need to understand two words that he is saying here in the way he meant for them to be heard. First is the word, world

World definition: John is not talking about the physical cosmos world, but the world under demonic and sinful influence.

So before you think this is some kind of Lord of the rings craziness, let me hopefully help paint a picture for you of what is going on. The kingdom (or world) of God is here and coming. Meaning His reign is happening right now but the fulness of it will not be until Jesus returns. He has won, we are not struggling and wondering if light is going to win, not Jesus has won. However, the power of darkness, the enemy, has influence here on this earth. There is a kingdom of darkness that is seen here today. Jesus talked about this in John 12 where he tells us the world is under the power of the evil one. What power is this that he is talking about? Tempting the lust that every person has in them. John lists what this world looks like, it is the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes and the pride of life. And John tells us to not love these things.

But what does he mean by love?

Love definition:To welcome, to entertain, to be fond of, to love dearly. Of things to be well pleased, to be contented at or with a thing.

So another way to read this is “Do not be well pleased with the desires of your flesh.” The desires of the flesh are evident we know, from Galatians 5. They are:

English Standard Version Chapter 5

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.

What is John telling us here? To be poor and to have nothing? Are we supposed to sell everything and all go live on Blue mound? No, I think he is getting deeper here. And this is where I’m praying the Holy Spirit helps me to communicate this well because we need to see this. He is showing us that there is something that can actually brings contentment and be pleasing more than the things our flesh runs after, more than what our eyes think we need and our pocessions of life. It is the love of the father. But we need to get unhooked and untangled with these things first so that we can truly find satisfaction in the Father. This is what we were praying for on Monday night, to find true satisfaction and delight in God more than all the idols that our heart desires. Idols are created when we worship them and believe they will bring us contentment. We are called to worship the creator not the creation.

So should we not want things Josh? What are we called to do here? Should we not want that new car? That new iphone? Are those things evil? Not fully, remember John is pointing at our desires for these things.

The desire of the eyes should spark your Biblical hyperlink going back to the garden of Eden. Eve looks at the fruit and it was good for food (satisfaction) a delight to the eyes (looks good) and could make her wise (god likeness. The same temptation is there for all of us. Every day and in the western culture that we live in it will not be slowing down at any moment here. So how do we fight against the love of the world that continues to rage in us from day to day?

How to not love the world

I believe John gives us a couple things to help us get good perspective on what actually matters. He gives us an eternality view and what matters most so that our appetite for things that don’t last will fade.

Remember the world is passing away along with its desires.

You know the saying that one man’s trash is the other man’s treasure. Until that man is dead too. Right? So this is the tension we need to talk about this morning that is hard to hear with our western, consumeristic ears. Like, let’s just do this visually for a moment. I want to take you down a journey of memory lane.

89’ Caravan

99’ Van

xbox

Now before you think that I am getting gnostic on you by saying all material things are bad, these are not bad things. These vans got me to a lot of soccer and basketball games. That Xbox had a ton of fun times with friends playing Halo late into the night. However, all the cars in the parking lot right now will be in the junkyard someday. So if your car is more important that eternity, you are in danger. If there is anything that is more important to you than eternity, it’s possible you are in trouble of of worshiping the creation more than the creator. You are storing up treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy. But if we are grateful for what we have, and don’t hold onto things like they are eternal, we actually will focus on eternal things. And that is important because the other truth to help us not love the world is this.

We will live forever

Has anyone figured out that this world is not perfect? Has anyone cried in distress this week? Has anyone suffered? Has anyone else seen pain and death in their life. What we live in right now is a broken world with broken people. But one day we will live in a new heaven and a new earth with resurrected bodies forever. Perfect. No pain. No suffering. No disappointment. No destruction. If this is your view, I promise you that you will not have a love for this world. Will you appreciate things? Absolutley, but this is a difference in appreciating and adoring. This is a difference in worshipping the creation rather than the creator. This is again having an eternal perspective of what matters most. That the way that you live, steward your heart and mind are more important that knowing the latest fashion or trend. You and I will live forever with God or not with God by either trusting Jesus and seeking first His kingdom or by trusting ourselves and the Babylon of today and seeking first our own kingdom. I know that may seem heavy but this is having a fear of the Lord, an awareness that he is the only one worthy of worship, that he is the God who deserves our attention and praise. We can enjoy creation, we can enjoy things that we have. But when they take higher priority in our lives than the Lord, our love has become directed not toward him but toward idols.

Stay in the Father’s love

If you don’t get anything else this morning, I hope you hear this. The father’s love is able to help you when these desires arise. Let me read to you from John 15 where the apostle John was reclining at Jesus’ side when he first hear these words and maybe started to understand that he doesn’t have to be a son of thunder but was to be the disciple that Jesus loved.

English Standard Version Chapter 15

9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

So the father loves us as he loves His son. And why did Jesus tell us this? That his joy may be in us and our joy will be full. What is the goal of the world, the desires of our flesh, the desire of the eyes and the pride of life? Joy. This will change your life for the best! If you have this, then you will be happy! Yes, for about 1 day, if that. Then things break, or fall apart, and you find that you are unsatisfied again because you were committing adultery with the world rather than following the Lord.

This is a message of realignment and repentance to find true joy and life. This is the Lord drawing us back in and returning to him if we have slipped away and pursued the love of the world.

Are you giving into the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes and the pride of life? Pride or abide? Abide in him or have pride in things that will perish. Because in the father you will find true joy and satisfaction.

Judas was a disciple but his desires mislead him into complacency and then into betrayal. That is something that we need to be aware of, we can walk with Jesus, talk like Jesus, even serve Jesus but if there is not a love for Jesus that is greater than other things and other desires in us we could be in trouble. So what is the remedy? Abide. Remain dependant. Be desperate for him.