Make your choice
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God doesn’t play
God doesn’t play
Good morning
Thank you all for coming out
So happy that you’re here today
Anyone looking forward to Thanksgiving?
I know I am,
Not because of the Turkey
But because its another 4 day
Gotta love that time off!
Now before I get started how many of you all know I’m somewhat of a meme Lord?
Well I found one that I think fits this passage perfectly
Ok ok
Down to business
So I entitled this message, Make your choice, God isn’t a punk
And the reason I did this
Is because I see so many of us
To include myself
Going back and forth in our faith
In our walk
In our devotion to God
The world or God
Sin or righteousness
And we all know its true
I mean deep down we all know we are all struggling
I mean if I was to take an inventory of my life
Take an inventory of your life
How many of us would pass the test
How many of us would be willing to say what the psalmist says
Put me on trial, Lord, and cross-examine me.
Test my motives and my heart.
How many of us could say
Our hearts and minds are so pure
We aren’t scared or concerned about what God would find?
Tough question isn’t it
As you’re gonna see today,
To be a Christian
To be a true follower of Christ
There is no back and forth
I mean there is a struggle with sin
But
There is no question of loyalty
There is no question of who or what you love the most
Don’t get me wrong,
Like I said
There can be a struggle with sin
But sin cannot be the dominate thing in your life
Sin cannot be the overarching theme of your life
And as you’re going to see today,
To allow sin to dominate you
Is to test that loyalty with God
To be a Christian is
To be devoted to God
not to sin
There is no back and forth when it comes to loyalty.
When it comes to what you love
What you desire most
But lets come back to that in just a moment
You know one of the greatest things
About Being a parent
You get to watch this passage play out in real life
I mean right before your very eyes
From the moment they’re born
You can see this dualistic nature within your kids
On one side they want hugs and they want to feel loved
On the other side you’re the reason they can’t play video games 24/7
So suddenly you’re the enemy
You’ve become Joseph Stalin himself
On one side they love you
On the other side you’re what stand in their way of eating all the Oreos
My own daughter tested this loyalty this week as I was TDY
I said Sydney don’t you eat all the Oreos while I’m gone
10 Seconds later I get this picture
So you can see this struggle of this passage we are going to go over today
You can witness it
You can watch it
And at times it funny
At times its a pain
And I am sure
100% sure every one in here that is a parent
Has a niece or nephew
Can all agree
Because theres a loyalty to ourselves
To our desires
To our wants
To our pleasures
That is literally at war
With our loyalty to those we love
To those that want the best for us
But then there comes the more serious test
As we get older
Our bodies change
Desires change
Motivations change
And our loyalty get challenged even more
and against more serious topics
Things that can have a lasting impact
Even direct where we go in life
But now that loyalty is not only tested against our parents
But now maybe its towards our spouse
Maybe its towards our sense or morality
Dare I say maybe this loyalty is tested more specifically in our walk with God
Matthew chapter 6 verse 24
In Jesus’s response towards our loyalty to him or money
says this
“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.
If that doesn't relate to you
Just replace money
With whatever issue it is in your own life
Drinking
sex
Anger
You name it
No one can serve two masters
Where do your loyalties lie
And that’s what we are really going to hit on today
And I want you to ask yourself the question
Who or what do you serve
What do you desire the most
So if you would please open your Bibles to
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.
Prayer
You know this is one of those sermons
That I have to be honest
Hard to preach
You ever read a passage and just think
I am the very definition of this passage
I know as I was studying and preparing for this one
I began to think
Am I even worthy to teach this one?
I mean I gotta be honest this one hits home
This one calls to me.
And I know at the surface this passage appears
To be a simple one
One that says
Just resist temptation
Just stick to your morals
Stick to your values
Maybe even if I was sound cliche
Live by the Army values
But this passage is more than that
This passage is about battle line being drawn
It’s a question of Good vs. Evil
God vs. Satan
The World vs. godliness
How many in here realize this is a command
This isn’t a maybe
This isn’t call to purity
This is a command
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.
Let me ask you question
Anyone ever find it hard to follow Christ?
I know at times I do.
I mean the world is so attractive
I mean think about it,
It’s almost as if everything in this world
Is designed to pull you away from God
Designed to pull you away from that deep personal relationship with God
That brings so many of us so much joy
So much fulfilment
So much purpose
That’s what makes this passage so hard to truly comprehend
Because This passage here
Is a call to something different
Something contrary to what we are used to.
The more you think on this instruction
The more you look at what John is telling us here,
The more difficult it becomes
Because If we broke this verse down
If we looked at it honestly
Without bias
Without personal motivation
John is literally pitting the world against God
Don’t get me confused here
He’s not telling us to hate our own existence
To hate Gods creation
But John telling us to hate everything that opposes God?
Everything that goes against His idea of morality
His idea of purity
His idea success
Because what John is saying here
you cannot be in relationship God
While being dominated by your sin
Verse 15 makes that abundantly clear
let me read it one more time
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.
You cannot call yourself a Christian
While living like the world
You cannot call yourself a Christian
While living without rules
Without a conscience
You cannot call yourself a Christian
Without repentance
And really think on this
Is your life
Is your daily routine
Is your weekend behavior
Your Friday or Saturday night behavior
In direct opposition to God?
Be honest with yourself
No need to call anyone out today
You know if this message was meant for you
You know if your conscience is screaming you need to change some things
Because if it is
John is telling you here
The love of the Father is not in you
That your salvation may be in jeopardy
In all reality it becomes a loyalty issue
He’s calling you out
He’s Asking you
what… do… you... truly... worship?
Is it the world
Or
Is it God
Is it the desires of the flesh and the eyes?
Or
Is the ways of God?
One commentator puts it like this
“The object of one’s love or affection is decisive. One must be careful that this love is going in the right direction and that it acts in a manner consistent with Christian confession,” (In other words that love is going to guide the very direction of our lives)
if your more in love with sin, then your life will reflect that
If your more in love with God then your life will reflect that
But then the same author goes on to say
Something a bit more extreme
and Listen up to, cause this hit me hard
I had honestly never thought of it like this
He says
“Our allegiance must not be divided. Our affection must be focused and specific.”
“The correct application of love springs from the fact that the believer has a singular loyalty and commitment to the Father. This verse states clearly that one cannot love the world and love God at the same time.”
Who’s side are you on?
Are you trying to play both parts?
Are you trying to be that carnal Christian?
Are you fooling yourself?
Because this passage is calling some of us out
It goes counter to what we’ve been taught
That i can be this 50/50 Christian
Its counter
To how we think
Its telling us
If you continue in sin
If you continue in the deviant behavior
This author in fact is saying
You’re a traitor
Thats a powerful way to put it
But I got to be honest it’s not
The only time the Bible makes this claim
James 4:4 (NLT)
....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.
But then look at this
Same author expands on this
Say this so powerfully
I almost didn’t add this in
Thought it might be too harsh
And wow I had never thought of it like this
“The stakes are high. Because the Father’s kingdom is at war with the kingdom of this world, the two will never coexist peacefully. To pledge allegiance to one side is to declare opposition to the other.”
That’s what makes this passage so important to our understanding
Where do your loyalties lie
It makes sin a bigger issue than we originally thought
Think of this as being a soldier
Which country do you belong to
With God or with the World?
I love what John does here
Because he pulls no punches about what this looks like
He breaks it down so easily for us
1 John 2:16(NLT)
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.
It basically boils down to Three points
Physical pleasure
A desire for material things
A love for the recognition we get from the previous two
John piper put it like this
Its a direct violation of the 1st and 10th commandments
Though shall not covet
Though shall not have any other Gods before me
But the reality is
We live in a world that
Is the very definition of what John is preaching against
Look at how we measure success
I mean look guys like Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos
Richest men on the planet
We consider them to be
The very definition of what we consider success
Of achievement
Then we have those idols that so many us literally worship
Movie stars
Pop stars
Rappers
Country music
Whatever your flavor is doesn't really matter
We see those people and some of us would give anything to be where they are
To have what they have
To be looked up to
To have all the money
Cars
Houses
To be adored by millions of people
Really think about this
Our definition of success
and
God’s definition of success
Two entirely different things
When was the last time you asked
Even wondered
Are those people that we idolize even saved?
I mean if I was to bring up a CEO or a three star general
Put them on stage with someone with only a high school diploma and no career
Who would you look up to?
None of us
And I mean none of us
Would judge them by spiritual success
No one would judge them by their relationship to Christ
only by what the world measures as successful
That’s the catch here in verse 17
John says, This world is fading away along with everything people crave.
And this is where I want to do a flip,
Because I think so many of us lose focus
On the actual promises of God
So many of us are focused
On this life
On that momentary satisfaction
That
We forget to focus on the benefits of whats to come
The happiness
The joy
The answer to all of our pain
The answer to why we cry at night
Why we feel so alone
Look what John says here in this final verse
1 John 2:17 (NLT)
... But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.
I think this is honestly
where so many of get lost
That promise of Eternal life
Being in Heaven
Being in perfection
Unconditional love
All those wonderful things
To some of us these are so foreign
We can’t even imagine them coming true
So we never see the value in that relationship with God
We never see a point to it all
So we turn to the very thing that hurts us
The very thing the world tells us
will provide comfort
We self medicate
We seek acceptance through our sexual appetite
Through substance abuse
Through all those behaviors that deep down
We know are slowly destroying us
In reality, we are hurtin inside
We are trying to desperately gain
Any type of satisfaction
Anything that will bring a relief from the pain
I get it,
I really do
Many of us grew up in environments
That caused us to question everything
Question love
Question humanity
Some of us have even been brought to the point
Wanting to end it all
To the point of suicide
We don’t see a way out
We don’t see how it could any better
But I’m telling you,
What the Bible promises here
Is so much better than you could possibly imagine
Think about it,
This was the motivation behind every author of the New Testament
This is the reason they gave their lives
This is why they felt this message is worth dying for
I don’t know about you
But I look forward
To that day when I meet Jesus
I look forward to that day
When I’m no longer struggling with sin
With my own depression
My own anxiety
When I don’t have to question love
Compassion
When I can look to something lasting
eternal
Guys theres a promise in here,
A promise of heaven
A promise of something so much better than what this world offers
And I get it,
Its so easy to lose that focus
Everyone does
No one lives for eternity down here,
No one is thinking about the millions and millions of years coming up
Everyone is living for the moment
But
When you live like that
You are at war with God
You’re missing out on all the benefits
You’re missing out on all the happiness
That comes with a solid relationship with Christ
Lets face it,
When that’s your outlook
You don’t see the benefit in living right
Your entire focus in life
Is turned to momentary pleasures
Momentary desires
That usually lead to destruction
But
When you put your focus on Christ
On what He promises to bring to the table,
There truly is no replacement.
Illustration.........
Before I let you go
I wanted to read to you a passage of Scripture
Something that I truly feel shows what we have to look forward to
We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you. All of this is for your benefit. And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.
That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.
For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands.
Guys take your walk seriously
Its more of an issue than most of us like to admit
God is drawing a line here
He is saying make your choice
Seriously I’m not a punk
I won’t be made to look like a fool
His only son died on that cross for you
So that your sins can be forgiven
Don’t make a mockery of His sacrifice
Treat it with everything bit of respect and reverence it deserves
Lets close in prayer.