“Love Not the World”
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If anything looks like it could withstand time, it's Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills of South Dakota. But up close, maintenance crews have found something disturbing -- cracks running through the granite faces of Washington, Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Lincoln. The monument isn't in immediate danger, but experts say that without a facelift the world's largest sculpture could begin crumbling. Water runs into the cracks and freezes in winter, pushing on the rock with a force of 2,000 pounds per square inch.
What in the World! This world, this system, this philosophy, this pattern. This is and has been a difficult institution for Christians throughout all of church history and it continues to be today. We get trapped in its devices. Addicted to its fleeting pleasures. Deceived by its promises. How so? We get trapped in ungodly relationships, trapped in financial hardships because of society pressures, addicted to pharmaceuticals, illegals, gambling, shopping, TV, video games. Deceived by all the promises for a better life, take this pill and get the girl, buy this outfit and get the guy. Join our club and all of your problems will go away. Get lots of money and all your hardships will vanish.
We become interested. We become distracted. We become enamored. We become a part. And we fall in love with the world. And sometimes when we look for love in all the wrong places, we find it. And now we got trouble. Oh so much trouble. Yet we still love it. Why is that?
What if You declared your love and asked her to be your wife. Suppose she responded like this: “Yes, I will marry you, live with you, work beside you, but you need to know from the outset that I love somebody else. You must allow me to continue my love for him.” Would you still marry her?
What if you have an apple computer and you went to the store to buy the latest and greatest organizational program and when you checked out the employee told you that this program was not mac compatible. Would you buy it anyway?
Allen, D. L. (2013). 1–3 John: Fellowship in God’s Family. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 98). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.
What if you were gonna buy a house and everything about it was great and looked good and you love it to pieces. You hire an inspector and he says that everything looks good, but the foundation is really bad, it is unstable and the house will come crashing down killing everyone inside at any moment. Would you still love it?
According to the Apostle, all of this is the same when it comes to loving the world. Infidelity, Incompatibility, and instability are all characteristics of the world. Do not love the world he says… but its so hard… We still buy into it. Can we be free of it, yes we can and we will find out how today.
Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.
1 John 2
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever.
Infidelity
Incompatibility
Instability
The Will of God
The first thing we will look at is the infidelity of loving the world and how it shows that there is no love for the Father. Second we will explore the three categories of incompatibly of the world’s system and the Lords. Finally, we will see how unstable and fleeting is the world that is already passing away and how those who desire the will of God will live forever.
Thesis: Though our sin nature tends to crave what is offered by the world and the things of the world, it is the love of the Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit that will empower us to dispossess the old love of the world with the expulsive power of a new love we find in Christ in the beauty of the Gospel.
I. Infidelity
- We cannot love the World and Christ at the same time.
A. The first thing we need to clarify in this verse is how we are to understand the word world.
Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you.
B. How do we understand May Agape ton Kosmon. Cosmos in the greek can mean various things. The earth. The known world. People. But in this case, the word “world” is used to refer to the organized evil system with its principles and its practices, all under the authority of Satan, which includes all teachings, ideas, culture, attitudes, activities, etc., that are opposed to God. A fixation on the material over the spiritual, promotion of self over others, pleasure over principle—these are just a few descriptors of the world system John is talking about. All that opposes Christ.
Sometimes the word “world” is used to refer to the organized evil system with its principles and its practices, all under the authority of Satan, which includes all teachings, ideas, culture, attitudes, activities, etc., that are opposed to God. A fixation on the material over the spiritual, promotion of self over others, pleasure over principle—these are just a few descriptors of the world system John is talking about.
Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.
Allen, D. L. (2013). 1–3 John: Fellowship in God’s Family. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 96). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.
C. John commands…and imperative. Do not Agape this world. Love, cherish, adore, have great affection for, highly value, or loyalty. Lets look at it this way… love requires a commitment of time and resources. This should help us today… what are we spending our time and resources like money on?
D. Again do not love the world or the things it gives you. Are we too cozy with the evil system of the world? How much have we compromised? How much ground have we given up to the worlds way of thinking and acting? Do the things of this world look a lot more gratifying than what God gives? Are we spending most of our time and resources on it?
E. How much compromise today Christian? The last time I checked lying is still a sin. The last time I checked murder is still a sin. The love of money is still the root of all evil. The last time I checked dishonoring mother and father is still a sin. Homosexuality is still a sin. Hatred for others is still a sin. The last time I checked selfishness is still a sin. Loving the world is the sin of allowing your appetites, ambitions, and conduct to be fashioned according to earthly values. Are we spending most of our time and resources on it?
Loving the world is the sin of allowing your appetites, ambitions, and conduct to be fashioned according to earthly values.
F. One of the ways I find worldly patterns in us. Do we feel strongly about certain things especially morals and spirituality that do not come from the Bible. You might be loving the world. Do the things of this world consume our thoughts excluding serious reflection on the Gospel? Is the world our defender? Do we find safety there? Do the things of the world consume our conversations? Are there things of this world that we are unwilling to part with? Do we secretly grieve because we are not blessed with every earthly convenience or delight that others possess? Do we we seek to acquire or retain its objects in a wrong manner or by unwarrantable means, we are loving the world. Do we pursue the world with greater zeal and enjoy it with higher relish than we do serving God and enjoying his favor, we are loving the world. This is a huge issue… why?
If we secretly grieve because we are not blessed with every earthly convenience or delight that others possess,
Allen, D. L. (2013). 1–3 John: Fellowship in God’s Family. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 97). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.
we seek to acquire or retain its objects in a wrong manner or by unwarrantable means, we are loving the world.
G. Because if you love the world the love of the father is not in you. In other words he cannot love the Father or there can be no love between the Father and you. So, what the whole conditional sentence conveys, then, is that if people love the ‘world’, they do not love the Father.
Do we pursue the world with greater zeal and enjoy it with higher relish than we do serving God and enjoying his favor, we are loving the world.
Allen, D. L. (2013). 1–3 John: Fellowship in God’s Family. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 97). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.
II. Incompatibility
What the whole conditional sentence conveys, then, is that if people love the ‘world’, they do not love the Father.
Allen, D. L. (2013). 1–3 John: Fellowship in God’s Family. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 97). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.
Allen, D. L. (2013). 1–3 John: Fellowship in God’s Family. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 98). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.
- Love for the world is incompatible with love for Christ.
Kruse, C. G. (2000). The letters of John (p. 95). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans Pub.; Apollos.
A. Why can we not love the world and love God? Right here John shows us that those things which make up the world (as he will define them) are antithetical to God. They are incompatible.
For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.
The author does this by showing that those things which make up the world (as he will define them) are antithetical to God.
B. John summarizes what the world offers to us. We see three things. Craving pleasures. Lust for what we see. And Boasting.
Kruse, C. G. (2000). The letters of John (p. 95). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans Pub.; Apollos.
C. The first thing. More literally the “desire of the flesh.” Epithemia… here includes sexual pleasures and coveting. Think about what we see with advertising. Commercials and ads have to appeal to viewers to get them to buy. What do we see? Sex and coveting. It is said that sex sells… internet porn sites are billion dollar businesses. Carls jr. commercial. They appeal to our sinful desire to covet. We want stuff. We gotta keep up with the Joneses. We want to buy things we don’t need with money we don’t have. More more and when we got more we want even more. Its never enough. When it come to the things of the world we cant get no satisfaction. In fact, the more we are gratified, the less we are satisfied.
D. The second thing is the lust of the eyes. It is truly connected to the first category. Lots of the cravings of the flesh are activated by the eyes. We tend to be captivated by what we see and how it makes us feel. Eve saw the fruit as pleasing to the eyes. Achan coveted the sight of the beautiful robe of Babylon. David of course was moved by the sight of the bathing Bathsheba.
“Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!
E. This why in the scriptures we are encouraged to guard our eyes.
“I made a covenant with my eyes
not to look with lust at a young woman.
Sensible people keep their eyes glued on wisdom,
but a fool’s eyes wander to the ends of the earth.
F. But many times before we swell up with I gotta have it, it was because we saw it.
- William Hendrickson writes, “the eyes are the channels to man’s soul. When man is enticed by lust, his eyes serve as instruments that cause him to transgress and sin.”
The eyes are the channels to man’s soul. When man is enticed by lust, his eyes serve as instruments that cause him to transgress and sin.
G. Third is the arrogance of self sufficiency. It expresses the desire for recognition, applause, status, and advantage in life. The phrase describes the pride in what life can offer you. The more we have, the more we are, the better we look, the more we are known, the bigger and better we are. What is it that the world provides that make us thing we are superior to others? The one up man. You tell him about your new Ford f-150 he comes back to tell you of his new ford f-250. I got an iphone 10 yeah well I got a iphone 11. You tell of a trip across Colorado, he tells you of his trip across Europe. My house is 1900 square feet, he says his is 2900 square feet. This is the person who brags about his deeds and goods expresses “lust for advantage and status.”
The person who brags about his deeds and goods expresses “lust for advantage and status.”
Kistemaker, S. J., & Hendriksen, W. (1953–2001). Exposition of James and the Epistles of John (Vol. 14, p. 272). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.
H. All of this boasting in life is not in the heart of God. All of this boasting does not show affection for Christ the Lord. If we are to boast, let us boast in the Lord. All other boasting is folly… for it is incompatible with the Lord.
It expresses the desire for recognition, applause, status, and advantage in life. The phrase describes the pride in what life can offer you. The
Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil.
James
III. Instability
- There is no future in worldliness.
A. We do not love the world because it is infidelity to the Lord. It is incompatible with the Lord. And finally, the world system has a built-in design flaw—it is unstable and it is already on the way out. The tense and voice of parago in Greek shows that the world system is in the process right now of passing away. There is no future in worldliness.
The tense and voice of this word in Greek is expressive of the fact that the world system is in the process right now of passing away in and of itself.
The world system has a built-in design flaw—it is temporary. It is already on the way out.
B. What if an investor came to you and said, “Have I got a deal for you! If you make an investment you might have a small chance of getting a small return for the first year, but after that, you will lose your shirt and go bankrupt.” No one in their right mind would invest in something that they knew would go belly-up. Family… Loving the world is a bad investment. There is no future in worldliness.
Allen, D. L. (2013). 1–3 John: Fellowship in God’s Family. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 103). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.
Allen, D. L. (2013). 1–3 John: Fellowship in God’s Family. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 103). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.
What if an investor came to you and said, “Have I got a deal for you! If you make an investment I will guarantee you a return for the first two or three years, but after that, you will lose your shirt and go bankrupt.” No one in their right mind would invest in something that they knew would go belly-up. Loving the world is a bad investment. The world is passing away.
C. We know this. We spent a whole year going through the book of Ecclesiastes. Even when we get everything the world has to offer, it does not fulfil. And not only that, it does not last. Vanity vanity all is vanity. There is no future in worldliness.
Those who use the things of the world should not become attached to them. For this world as we know it will soon pass away.
Allen, D. L. (2013). 1–3 John: Fellowship in God’s Family. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 103). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.
D. We do not love the world because it is infidelity to the Lord. It is incompatible with the Lord. And finally, the world system has a built-in design flaw—it is unstable and it is already on the way out. All things that are opposed to the Lord is unfaithful, incompatible, and unstable. Why would you marry someone who is telling you they will be unfaith? Why would you buy a computer program that you know is incompatible with your computer system. Why would you buy a house that was unstable and would come crashing down at any moment? Why do we love the world?
E. But there is something beautiful here about the one who is not in opposition to the Lord and the one who desire to do the will of God. Those who desire will live forever. Not just life forever, but life more abundant forever. Truly satisfied. This is the beauty of Christianity. And it is truly opposed to the world in so many many ways. This is why we cannot help the church by becoming more like the world to reach the world. When we become more like the world to reach the world, we become the world. They are diametrically opposed. That is why the scripture...
You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.
F. Cant get much clearer than that. So how can we be free of this? Watch this… Love may be thought of in two different conditions: 1) when its object remains unattained, it becomes a love of desire; or 2) when its object is possessed, it becomes a love of indulgence. This is why is is difficult to get rid of love for the world. So hear this...
Love may be thought of in two different conditions: 1) when its object remains unattained, it becomes a love of desire; or 2) when its object is possessed, it becomes a love of indulgence. The human heart will never relinquish its love affair with the world unless it finds something greater to love than the world. The only way to dispossess the heart of an old love is by the expulsive power of a new one.
- The human heart will never relinquish its love affair with the world unless it finds something greater to love than the world. The only way to dispossess the heart of an old love is by the expulsive power of a new one.
G. Though we are rebellious and unfaithful to the Lord, God so loved the world that he gave… This is why Jesus came… to seek and save that which was lost. Though we have all greatly sinned against him, Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures … Though we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, The saying is trust worthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came...
H. The promises also continue… if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart… All who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Allen, D. L. (2013). 1–3 John: Fellowship in God’s Family. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 101). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.