Rejecting the World

Series: Walking in the Light

Text

1 John 2:12–17 NKJV

12 I write to you, little children, Because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake. 13 I write to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, Because you have overcome the wicked one. I write to you, little children, Because you have known the Father. 14 I have written to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, Because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, And you have overcome the wicked one. 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 lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

Intro

Life After Life?

At the height of the Egyptian world in our Bible, they wondered, like every people in history, Is it possible to live forever? How can we do that?

They mummified their dead and cast magic spells over them. Then they filled up the tombs with enough goods to keep the dead alive long after they were not. They lived this life… to live forever in the next.

Many of us learned in school how Ponce de Leon departed Puerto Rico in search of the Foundation of Youth, a fabled spring that promised to give eternal life to anyone who drank from it or bathed in it. Plenty of historians have said that it wasn’t true and he never looked for it. But still, we continue to wonder at how we can live longer, even live forever.

For the cost of a brand-new luxury car, you can have your body cryogenically preserved, to be thawed at a time when medicine and technology have teamed up to discover the cures to terminal and degenerative diseases and can promise longer life.

Some hope medicine and technology can even deliver everlasting life.

People have desired to live longer and even live forever for thousands of years now.

Is it actually possible? According to the Word of God, yes. It is.

John recorded the formula to it in his short letter known as 1 John:

1 John 2:17 NKJV

17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

The key to eternal life does not lie in what stuff has been placed in the casket next to us. And it doesn’t lie in breakthroughs in science and technology.

The key to eternal life is simply doing the will of God. Because whoever does the will of God lives forever.

Contemplating the Topic

There are seven commands in 1 John.

The first appears in 1 John 2:15:

1 John 2:15 NKJV

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.

This negative command is followed by a positive:

1 John 2:24 NKJV

24 Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.

1 John 4:1 contains both a negative and a positive command. First the negative: “Beloved, believe not every spirit,” and then the positive: “but try the spirits whether they are of God.”

And 1 John concludes with a positive command: “Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen” (1 John 5:21).

So you see, God is not all negative in His commands, nor is He all positive. And such is His holiness!

Holiness is not all removal of things from one’s life; it is also adding things to one’s life.

God does not want to just take things away from you; He wants to add some things unto you. “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away - Blessed be the name of the Lord.” - Job

You can’t remove things and it do any good without adding things!!!

And so today, I’m teaching two-part holiness: “Rejecting the World” and “Knowing the Lord”.

Knowing the Lord

The Word of God Abides in You

Overcoming the Wicked One

To Know the Lord Means to Keep His Commandments

Rejecting the World

Love Not the World

The Lust of the World

The World Passes Away

To Reject the World Means to Do God’s Will

Conclusion

Internalizing the Message