2.15.17 Love Has Boundaries

Date: January 21st, 2018 Text: 1 John 2:15-17 Title: Love Has Boundaries Series: How Can I Know My Faith is Real? Introduction: • In just a couple of weeks the “holiday of love” will be upon us…Feb.14th – Valentines’ Day…that is a day set aside to show that one special person in your life how deep your affection goes. ◦ How do you know when somebody is in love? ◦ Some kids were asked that question and it is always amusing to hear what kids think. ▪ Lovers will just be staring at each other and their food will get cold. Other people care more about the food." -- Brad, age 8 ▪ "All of a sudden, the people get movies fever so they can sit together in the dark." -- Sherm, age 8 ▪ "It's love if they order one of those desserts that are on fire. They like to order those because it's just like how their hearts are -- on fire." -- Christine, age 9 ▪ "See if the man picks up the check. That's how you can tell if he's in love." -- John, age 9 • The way to tell when someone is in love is to observe their behavior. ◦ You soon will come to know who or what a person loves by watching what they do, listening to what they say, and examining the patterns of their choices. ◦ It’s easy to see when there is a complete, loving devotion to one person or one particular thing by simply observing behavior…single devoted love can be a beautiful thing. • However, there are other times when it appears that love has become divided and it becomes ugly. ◦ Not talking about the love that is shared in a family dynamic…we’re talking about the man who wants to love Suzy at the same time and in the same way he wants to love Sally, (or being fair to the men)…the woman who wants to love Johnny at the same time and in the same way she wants to love Jimmy. ▪ Divided love is ugly and its very dangerous…just ask Solomon. ◦ I think we could all agree that this kind of love, divided love, is a very dangerous way to live…there ought to be some alarm that goes off in our brain that says stop, you can’t do that…there needs to be recognition that LOVE NEEDS BOUNDARIES. • So, if we all agree that divided love is a very dangerous way to live physically, why then are we willing to live with a divided love spiritually? ◦ We say we want to grow in our faith and love God more, but at the same time we accept worldly philosophies and pursue earthly treasures with the same or even greater passion. ◦ If divided love is not acceptable physically, why is it acceptable spiritually…LOVE MUST HAVE BOUNDARIES. • That is where we find ourselves in 1 John 2:15-17 this morning. ◦ Divided love…love without boundaries…trying to love God at the same time of loving the world…is it possible to love both equally? • We’ve been looking at 1 John seeking to gain the assurance he promises in 5:13…How Can I Know My Faith Is Real?...John gives us a series of tests…John gave us the test of loving the word that leads to a guarded life…then he talked about the test of loving your brothers…now he moves into the test of loving God…so he gives us a command in verse 15 and then explains why that command is true…the command serves as the Main Point of the text…read 2:15-17 Main Point: The genuine believer cannot love God and the world at the same time. • Three reasons we cannot have a divided love for God. 1. We cannot love the world because of what it is. A. It is Satan’s system for opposing the work of Christ on earth. ◦ NT word for world has at least three different meanings. i. Physical world, earth – Acts 17:24 ii. Human world, mankind – John 3:16 iii. Spiritual system opposed to God and Christ. 1. This is not an uncommon way to think. 2. “world of sports”, World of finance or World of politics 3. These are not planets or continents…they are each an organized system made up of a set of ideas, people, activities, purposes, etc. ◦ That is how John uses it here…Satan’s system of opposition to God. i. It is opposite of what is holy and spiritual – 1 Jn 2:16 ii. It is a system that is highly organized with evil spirits working for him to influence the world – Eph. 6:11-12 iii. It is a system that infects the whole world– 1 Jn. 5:19 iv. Jesus calls him the prince of this world – Jn. 12:31 B. It is not our home, so don’t get comfortable with it. ◦ Every human is born into this system and is equally impacted by its influence. i. Eph. 2:1-2 – sons of disobedience ◦ We live in the physical world but we do not BELONG to the spiritual world that is Satan’s. – John 15:19 ◦ This world should not be considered our natural habitat. i. Our citizenship is in heaven – Phil. 3:20 ii. Our Father provides sufficient resources for us to live in this world and escape its corruption…2 Peter 1:3-4 Illustration: Consider your life here as believer somewhat like being a scuba diver…the water is not our natural habitat…we are not equipped to live in it or under it. When a scuba diver goes under, he has to take special equipment with him so he can breathe. Without the Holy Spirit living within us, without the spiritual resources of prayer, Christian fellowship, the Word of God would we could never “make it” here on earth. You often hear people complain about the pollution to the physical atmosphere, but where are the conversations that speak of the pollution to the spiritual atmosphere? 2. We cannot love the world because of what it does to us (2:15-16) A. Worldliness pushes out love for the Father. ◦ If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. i. You can’t love the world and love God at the same time. ii. Jesus says in Matt. 6:24 you cannot serve two masters… ◦ To the extent you love the world system and the things in it, to that extent you hate God. i. Remember what we said last week about the words in the Bible for love…phileo and agape…one is a friendly connection…the other is a self-sacrificing affection…which one do you think John uses here…agape. ii. Do you see what John is getting at? 1. you cannot love either God or the world without sacrificing for one of them. 2. Love for the world and love for God cannot co-exist. B. Worldliness causes you to lose joy in doing God’s will. ◦ Look at the end of verse 17. ◦ John equates loving God with obedience…which is not hard to believe… “if you love me keep my commandments.” ◦ But when your love for God has been replaced with a love for the world, you no longer enjoy the love of God. ◦ Has the joy of faithfully serving God in all the avenues of life been pushed aside for the pursuit of worldly pleasure? ◦ Has the sacrifice been worth it? C. Worldliness attacks you at every level. ▪ This is nothing new…look back to the garden and you see a full-blown attack on all fronts…Gen. 3:6 i. It attacks you on the feeling level – lust of the flesh • Everyone has desires…things that appeal to the basic desires of life. • Flesh does not refer to the physical body…it refers to the basic nature of our sinful nature…the rebellious self, dominated by sin and rebellion towards God. • Satan appealed to Eve’s desire for food to tempt her to disobey God…he appealed to the emptiness of her belly and convinced her the solution for her emptiness was this one forbidden fruit…Loving the world appeals to that sinful nature to pursue that which fills the emptiness we experience from being born separated from God. ◦ Often to fill that void, the world says you don’t need God to fill that void…you need drugs…you need sex…you need alcohol…you need everything under the sun except God. ◦ Even after coming to God, Satan still appeals to the emptiness of the various alleys of life to get us to fill that void with something other than our relationship with God. • Satan uses the allurements of this world to appeal to your emptiness and entices you to find satisfaction in everything except God. ii. It attacks you on the thinking level…Lust of the eyes • The eyes (senses) are a gateway to the mind and often what we see can have an impact on what we think…remember what Jesus said about adultery…if a man looks upon a woman to lust for her as already committed adultery in his heart…o be careful little eyes what you see… • Satan appealed to Eve’s reasoning by convincing her that God was holding back from her…He told her God doesn’t want you to eat this because He knows that when you eat it you will be like him…that doesn’t sound fair does it?...C’mon Eve, God’s not being reasonable. ◦ We look at the unbelieving world and see all the ways they appear to be experiencing the “good life” and we begin to think that God is cheating us somehow. • Satan appeals to our human reasoning through the traditions of men, humanistic philosophies and empty deception to move us away from listening to and walking in obedience to the Word of God as absolute truth…Colossians 2:8 • Satan wants us to relegate God to the background so he tells us all kinds of lies that sound reasonable and looks good to the eyes wanting us to conclude that God is not good…that God is holding back…that is why God says to take every thought captive – 2 Cor. 10:5 iii. It attacks you on the heart level…Pride of life (heart level) • The Greek word for pride was used to describe a braggart who was trying to impress people with his importance. • Satan appeals to our sense of pride to be like others, or in being accepted by others or to be better than others…just like he appealed to Eve when he told her she would be like God. • Pride makes us our own god…we make the decisions…who does God think he is anyway to tell you no. • Pride of life causes teenagers to give in to the peer pressure in all its forms out of fear of being rejected. • Pride of life causes individuals to pursue whatever it takes for them to experience the “good life” so they compromise their convictions on multiple levels believing they deserve something better. • Pride of life causes all of us to be approval junkies…pursuing the approval of man instead of the approval of God…all of that happens at the heart level…I want to be god…I want, I want, I want. Illustration • The differences between one who loves the world and one who loves God cannot be any clearer. Love for the World Love for the Father Focus on me Focus on God Make as much money as possible Give away as much as possible, spend even yourself on others Make a name for yourself Make my name great Do whatever makes you happiest Do whatever makes God happiest Stay married as long as your spouse meets your needs Serve your spouse like Christ served and choose to love them Only serve others when it is convenient or comfortable Serve others even when it is uncomfortable or inconvenient 3. We cannot love the world because of where it is going (2:17) • He who loves the world will pass away with it. ◦ “And the world passes away, and the lust of it.” ◦ No intelligent person is going to buy stock in a company that is on the road to bankruptcy…No reasonable person will attempt to build a house on quicksand…No security seeking person will find peace by storing treasures in a cardboard box ◦ So why are we quick to love a world that is on the road to destruction…why would we love a world that is built on a false belief system…why would we love a world that is as secure as a cardboard box, especially when we know that box is in a place that is on fire. ▪ Setting your heart on a world that WILL PASS AWAY is only asking for misery. ▪ If you share the desires of the world, you will pass away…You will not only lose your treasure. You will lose your life. ▪ If you love the world, it will pass away and take you with it. • But if you do the will of the Father, you will live forever. ◦ “But he who does the will of God abides forever.” ▪ The opposite of loving the world is not only loving the Father (verse 15), but also doing the will of the Father (verse 17). • Remember what Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). • John said in 1 John 5:3, “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.” ▪ So loving the Father in verse 15 and doing the will of God in verse 17 are not separate things. ◦ If you love God, you will love what he wills. ▪ It is foolish and empty talk to say that you love God but you don’t love doing what He wants you to do. Implications • The issue in this text is very clear…are you going to love God or love the world…you can’t do both. ◦ You will either perish with the world or live eternally with God. ◦ It is a matter of eternal life or eternal death. ◦ The only way you are going to solve that problem is by faith…{Gospel} ▪ Your eternal life depends upon what you do with Jesus…1 John 5:13 ▪ Jesus told us that where there is no love for God there is not saving faith…(John 3:18-19 • Believer have you have let your love for God grow cold? ◦ Your time alone with Him is more forced instead of desired…Your service is out of obligation instead of love…Your giving comes from available funds instead of cheerfully planned and proportionate…Your prayers are more like a wish list instead of a dependence upon the Father…the list could go on. ◦ Have you allowed the allurements of the world to creep into your life and now you find God has been pushed to the background?... Illustration • One of the saddest stories in the Bible is that of Demas. He is not a well-known individual, but his life serves as an important and tragic lesson. ◦ We first hear of him in Colossians 4:14 where he is working hard for the gospel alongside Luke…he is listed with 10 others for their faithful service. (4:7-18) ◦ We don’t hear about him again until Paul writes the last letter of his life to Timothy. Paul is anticipating his own execution and martyrdom for Christ…2 Timothy 4:10 – Demas has deserted me, because he loved this present world…can you imagine how Paul must have felt writing that? Lesson for Life – Be in the world, but don’t let the world be in you. • Surrender to the Spirit…Immerse yourself in the Scripture…Cry out to your Savior ◦ The same Spirit that brings life is also the Spirit that nourishes life…The same word that ignites the fire of love also rekindles love…The same Christ who brings us out of darkness into his marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9) can take away the long dark night of your soul. • Guard your heart ◦ Don’t let the world rob you of your enjoyment of God’s love…Don’t let it replace your desire to do his will…Don’t allow the allurements of this world to push God to the back. ◦ Sacrificing your relationship with God is not worth the pursuit of worldly pleasures. • Remember the more you love the world, the more you communicate you hate God. ◦ You are buying into the philosophy that God is stingy and is keeping something from you. ◦ Don’t fall in love with the world's way of interpreting life. Don't adopt its values as your own. ◦ ◦