10. 1 John 2:15-17 Love Not....

1 John chapter 2 verse 15. Here now, the inspired word of God. Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life is not from the Father, but is from the world.

The world is passing away, and also its lusts, but the one who does the will of God lives forever. Let's pray. Father, once again, as we look into your word, our prayer is simple, that you'd be pleased to bless it, that as it goes forth, that it would accomplish every purpose for which you send it, just as you have promised.

We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Please be seated. Anthony the Great. No, not our Pastor Anthony. I knew everybody was going to think that as soon as I said that. Also known as Anthony of Egypt, also known as Anthony the Hermit.

He's often referred to as the father of monasticism. The main idea behind the monastic movement is separating oneself from the world to become more dedicated, more sanctified, to become more holy. They refer people in the monasteries as holy men.

The Encyclopedia Britannica says this, as part of a vocation, the monastic seeks redemption from his or her sins and usually intercedes for others to advance their redemption. This is accomplished through personal sacrifice and may involve forms of self-mortification.

There are many portions of scripture that are used to justify this monastic pursuit. One of them is our text for this morning. Love not the world, nor the things of the world. The monastic reasons that one way of not loving the world is to isolate oneself from the influence of the world, thus living in a monastery up in the mountains or out in some remote place.

And they choose that to accomplish their goal. But that's not what the text says, nor is it what John is implying in his first epistle. And again, the monasticism is not the only misinterpretation of this text.

In fact, some commentators agree that misinterpretation of this text of scripture has been the source of several great errors in church practices. But first, let's look at the context of this epistle once again.

John is writing to a church that has been influenced by heresy, particularly Gnosticism. And some of those professing faith have walked away from the church. Now John will address those individuals later in this chapter, but it seems that these events have shaken the faith of some.

So John is writing to encourage them, to bring them to assurance of faith. Remember, we looked at 1 John 5 .13, it's kind of the theme of this whole letter, where John says, these things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.

Now in chapter 2, we've seen that John gives three tests, if you will tests, for assurance. The first one we looked at was the moral test, which means obedience to the commandments of the Lord. Then we had the social test, that you love one another.

We called it the law of love. And before moving to the third test, which is the doctrinal test, he pauses to give some very practical exhortations to the church. In fact, last week we saw that even though he addresses his exhortations to three groups of people, those exhortations are applicable to all Christians.

John is writing to them as believers, and remember, because of several reasons. And this is why he wrote to them. He says, because you know the Father. Because you know your sins have been forgiven. You have already overcome the evil one.

Remember, we saw that was even past tense. He wrote to them because they were strong in the Lord. And he also wrote to them because the word of God abides in them. Those are very positive, encouraging statements, and they should be apprehended by all believers.

Now that brings us to our text for this morning, which at first blush seems to be a negative. Love not the world, nor the things of the world. In fact, this is one of the few times that we're actually admonished to not love something.

I titled the message this morning, Love Not. I just figured I wanted to maybe put a little burr under your saddle. What? Is the pastor going senile? The pastor got up and told us, Love Not. But look at the context.

Love not the world, nor the things of the world. So for that reason, since we're admonished to not love something, we want to proceed with caution. In fact, some commentators say that this is one of the most often misinterpreted portions of scripture.

So before we examine what John is saying, I believe it's necessary firstly to address what he is not saying. In other words, we're going to address the misinterpretations or the misapplications of this text.

And the first misinterpretation says that John is teaching radical asceticism. The view basically says that the only way to not love the world or its things is to remove oneself completely from the world and the influence of the world as much as possible.

That's why we started with the monastics. They fall into this category. In fact, they continue to take either not only removing themselves from the world, but taking radical vows such as vows of poverty, vows of silence.

They leave their homes to live in these monasteries. It's the most radical approach. But they're not alone. There's varying degrees of this type of thinking. In fact, many religious cults fall into this thinking.

They gather in communes and limit their interaction with the outside world. To them, life is divided into two categories, secular and sacred. And they want to completely do away with anything that is, quote, secular and not sacred.

And the only way to become holy is to remove yourself from the world, at least to some degree. That's one of the results of misapplying this text. Another error is redefining terms. For example, instead of calling it the world and the things of the world, you've heard the term come into evangelical Christianity of worldliness.

And then they proceed, unfortunately, to give their own interpretation of what worldliness is. For example, to some, worldliness is defined as you can't dance, can't go to the movies, can't drink any kind of alcoholic beverage, can't smoke cigars or cigarettes, doesn't matter.

Hold on. I know we have a bunch of cigar smokers here. And that's just a sampling of those things. But there's others. In some of these churches, women are not allowed to wear pants. Men cannot have facial hair.

We see this all categorized as being worldly. And if you engage in any of those activities, you were considered a worldly Christian. Or you may be considered not a believer at all. Or at best, and they come up with another term, you're a carnal Christian.

By the middle of the 20th century, this was a dominant position throughout the evangelical community. But there's another error related to worldliness. They defined worldliness as taking part in the politics of the world, or being active in social causes.

In fact, when I was growing up, if a church was involved in social causes, you were told to shun that church because they've gone liberal, because they care about people. Maybe that was a little harsh.

But they considered politics as being a political thing. They considered politics to be worldly. And even aside from the fact that they considered a dirty business, just the political institutions were to be avoided, even if they weren't corrupt.

And they felt it wasn't the church's business to get involved with the culture. To these people, the Christian in politics was unthinkable. They would question his commitment to faith. So those views are not supported by this text.

What does John mean then when he says, love not the world, nor the things of the world? Well, we've looked at the context. We've looked at some of the hermeneutical or interpretive errors. Let's make sure we understand the meaning of the terms that John uses.

First one is love. Now when we get to Chapter 3, we're going to examine the biblical context of love in much greater detail. But there are a few things that need to be said now if we're going to understand what it means to not love the world.

First, love is a commitment, not merely an emotion. But it is a commitment it is an emotion, there is an emotional side to it. But it's even greater, besides being a commitment and an emotion, it's even greater than that.

It's a bond between two people that transcends logic. That being said, there is an intellectual element to it. One of the reasons love is not easy to define is that the mind, the will, and the emotions are all involved in biblical love.

You can see that even in the greatest commandment. Remember Jesus is asked, what's the greatest commandment? And he goes and he quotes the Old Testament and he says, you shall love the Lord your God. But he doesn't just stop there.

He defines what is this love with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. In other words, the greatest commandment is to love God with your whole being. And that love is then reflected to love one another.

Remember the social test. By this they will know you are my disciples, that you love one another. Now that's just a brief overview. Like I say, we'll examine love a little bit later in our study. But keep that in mind as we expound upon the text.

Because the second word that needs defining is the word world. What does John mean when he says, love not the world? Well, the Greek word used there is one that's used commonly throughout scriptures, the cosmos, which depending upon context and usage has more than one meaning, even as our word world means different things than English.

We must take into consideration the usage of the word even at the time of the epistle and by the particular author. The most obvious meaning is the created world, the universe. But that can't be what John has in mind since God claims ownership over the entire creation.

The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. And Jesus tells us that the created order is still under God's care. Remember not a sparrow, not an insignificant little sparrow falls to the ground without the direct knowledge of God.

He tells the disciples, look to the natural world to see God's splendor. Consider the lilies of the field. Even Solomon in all his splendor wasn't clothed like the lilies of the field. But even so, there have been those who take John's word to mean to avoid the beauty of the natural world.

And while the physical world suffers from the effects of the curse, there is nothing inherently evil about the material elements of this world. Dirt does exactly what dirt is meant to do, be dirty. But not only does Jesus point to the splendor of this natural world, but the book of Proverbs tells us numerous times, look at the natural world and find lessons to live by.

So the beauty of creation is reflected, is the reflection of God's glory and should be enjoyed by his people, not shunned. So it can't be that John is referring to the created world here. Another way John's words have been misapplied is to say the physical realm in general.

Remember, John is refuting Gnostic heresy in this epistle. And they believe that the physical world, the whole physical world was inherently evil. That is everything related to the material or physical realm.

The daily business of humanity, even those things which are not evil actions, were considered evil by the Gnostics. The daily commerce activities, daily family activities, recreational activities, the marriage relationship, all these things were to be forsaken according to the Gnostics and related philosophies.

And they would say, love not these things. Some have even gone as far as saying that John means family ties are to be shunned. Avoid the marriage relationship, they would say. But that can't be either.

Because the Bible calls these things good and tells us how to navigate these areas of life for God's glory. In fact, the Apostle Paul weighs in on this. In fact, he's got the definitive word on it. Remember what Paul said in Colossians chapter 2, in verse 20.

He says, if you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of this world, why as if you were living in the world do you submit yourself to decrees such as, do not handle, do not taste, do not touch, in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men?

These are matters which have to be sure. The appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and our severe treatment of the body. And then Paul weighs in and gives the bottom line. But are of no value against fleshly indulgence.

So that can't be what John had in mind. What does it mean then? What does John mean? Love not the world. I'm going to quote Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones again because as I read through his commentary, he said it so well that I had two choices.

Either cite him or steal it from him. I chose to cite him. It was close though. He says, clearly the very text and the whole teaching of the Bible shows that it must mean the organization and the mind and the outlook of mankind as it ignores God and does not recognize him as it lives a life independent of him.

A life that is based upon this world and this life only. And then he continues. It means the outlook that has rebelled against God and turned its back upon him. It means in other words the typical kind of life that is being lived by the average person today who has no thought of God but thinks only of this world and life.

Who thinks in terms of time and is governed by certain instincts and desires. It is the whole outlook upon life that is exclusive of God. Once again I want to thank the good doctor for his cogent comments.

So we come again to the text. Love not the world nor the things of the world. We now know what love is and we know what John means by the world so let's put it together. Love not the world. Do not be committed to the world that strives to get rid of God and to live independent of him.

If you become a part of that world intellectually and willingly your emotions will follow. In other words you will wind up loving the world. The whole of scripture teaches you can't have one foot in each world.

Scripture is clear. You cannot serve two masters. You will wind up hating one and loving the other. So if you love the world John says the love of the father is not in you. You see John is warning of a great great danger here.

The world apart from God offers many quote nice things. Think of what is constantly being offered by the world which is antagonistic to God. Fortune, fame, power but at what cost. The mantra goes you only go around once in this world so grab all the gusto you can get.

You deserve a break today. You deserve all that all of your dreams will come true. Oh and by the way it doesn't matter who you step on to get ahead. The end justifies the means. You deserve the American dream.

The nice things of this world are dangled in front of you and they entice people by saying this is what is important. Get yours now. Remember the bumper sticker which sums it up. He who dies with the most toys wins.

P .T. Barnum was a great representative of this world and his attitude was never give a sucker and even break. So John gives this strongly worded warning not to be taken in by the world system nor the things that this anti-God system has to offer.

What is the warning again? If you love the world and its things the love of the father is not in you. I hope you understand what John is saying. You can't have both worlds. If you're loving the world you are not the object of God's love.

That's the worst thing that could ever happen. Apart from God's love there is no hope. There is no salvation. He continues in verse 16 following on the same theme he says for all that is in the world the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life is not from the father but is from the world.

John, one of the things I love about John's writing he never leaves you guessing. He describes for us what this world looks like and his first description is the lust of the flesh. Now it's unfortunate that this term is relegated to describe sexual sin.

Now it does include that but it's much, much broader than merely sexual sin. To lust for something is to have an inordinate desire for something. It can even be something that in and of itself is perfectly good but lusting for something means desiring it more than what is normal and healthy.

Men who have lusted for power have been driven to lying. They have been driven to lying, cheating and murder. Those who have lusted for riches have committed many crimes including larceny and homicide.

Some of those who have lusted for excitement have turned to gambling and they find themselves enslaved to unscrupulous people. Many who lust for fame find themselves compromised in various types of immorality and many of those who have lusted for the good life find themselves enslaved to drugs or alcohol.

Remember the world John is speaking about is the world system that is in open rebellion against God. Martin Lloyd-Jones wrote his comments back in the middle of the last century. Look at where we are now.

The good doctor must be rolling over in his grave. Remember the world John is speaking about, the world that is in rebellion against God and lust for these things is a replacement for him. That's the first description.

The second description John says is known by the lust of the eyes. Now again there are several applications for this concept and once again the phrase is usually oversimplified. It's defined as looking at pornography and certainly again that's an application.

Pornography is a scourge and a serious problem in the world opposed to God. But lust of the eyes is much broader than that. The lust of the eyes includes people who look at appearances only. They are concerned with how things look or appear to others.

And again you may see an inordinate concern with clothing and how they dress. Now I'm not saying you shouldn't dress nice and look neat and be concerned. This is an inordinate focus on how you look. The concern, the overly concern on how their homes look.

They may even buy a house that they really can't afford because that has to look good. Why? Because appearance is primary to these people. These are the people who know when and how to smile. These people operate on a superficial level because they are superficial and not looking below the surface issues.

But here's the problem. That is usually masking deeper issues of the heart, which leads us to another application for the phrase lust of the eyes. These are the sins of the heart that Jesus addressed and condemned in the Sermon on the Mount.

That's what we read from Matthew 5. We read this morning. If you're angry with your brother in your heart, you've committed murder. If you've looked at a woman with lust, you've committed adultery. That's because most people have a superficial view of what sin is.

And only looking at and being concerned with appearances masks what is in the heart. And it's what is in the heart that condemns the person. Jesus made this point to the Pharisees. Remember they accused the disciples of violating tradition because they didn't wash their hands before they ate bread.

And Jesus explains to them it's not what goes into your mouth that defiles you, but it's what comes out. Matthew 15, verse 17. Do you not understand, says Jesus, that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is eliminated?

But the things that proceed out of the mouth comes from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.

These are the things which defile the man. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man. The lust of the eyes masks and tries to cover the deeper sins of the heart. And that leads to the third description of this worldview that John gives us.

The pride of life, the boastful pride of life. This phrase often includes the first two descriptions, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh. And I believe it's somewhat of a summary or the natural end of the progression of this godless world system.

You could call it also self-glorification. The pride of life manifests itself in two ways. First is selfish ambition, and it goes hand in hand with contempt of others. Look at the things that people are proud of.

Take, for instance, family or celebrity name. You know, police officers get this all the time. They pull somebody over for a violation, someone that has name recognition, and the first words out of their mouth, do you know who I am?

There's an expectation of preferential treatment based upon their name. And then there's pride in financial status. Besides the obvious flashy lifestyles which we addressed earlier, once again they believe their money entitles them to special treatment.

It's the pride of life. Then there is pride based upon certain employment. Politicians, athletes, other public figures, all assuming we're a step above the rest. We deserve more than that. We deserve preferential treatment.

The rules don't apply to them. We've seen this time and again the over-the-top identification with sports teams. And here's something that I just fail to understand. Fans develop the same attitude as the sports figures themselves.

I want to, you ever heard like, I'm proud to be a blank fan. You fill in the blank with whatever you want. But this really escapes me. I want to talk to a person, wait a minute, you don't play the game.

You're merely a fan. But you're arrogantly proud of that. That's why I'm a Mets fan, because it keeps you humble. Fallen mankind is inherently selfish, self-centered, and concerned with glorifying himself.

Yet modern psychology insists that we need to build up self-love and self-esteem. I love the psychologist did a study on a self-esteem rating exam. Gave it to inmates in Sing Sing Prison and Harvard Law School.

The inmates had greater self-esteem than those in Harvard Law School. We don't need more self-esteem, we need more God-esteem, Christ-esteem. The situation, this world view of even stepping on people, stepping over people, has gotten so bad that the NFL had to enact, a couple years ago, had to enact another unsportsman conduct rule, because the rules on the books weren't enough.

I got a couple of quotes from it, among other things, that were banned. Throwing a punch, or a forearm, or kicking at an opponent, even though contact is not made. You have to tell somebody it's wrong to kick your opponent?

And this conduct isn't relegated to only the players on the field. Fans in the seats have been ejected for throwing projectiles at the opposing team. Cans, bottles, snowballs, just to name a few. Well that brings us to the end of verse 16, the description of this world system.

Notice how John concludes his description. For all that is in the world, lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. All these things are not from the Father, but from this world system.

There is an absolute antithesis between life in God's kingdom, and life in the world system. And then John concludes, he concludes these thoughts with admonitions, with an important reminder. Why is it important to not love the world, nor the things in the world?

Look at verse 17. The world is passing away, and also its lusts, but the one who does the will of God lives forever. Notice what John says. The world is passing away. And contextually, and to be consistent, he's referring to this world system that we've just examined.

He doesn't have the created physical world in mind. The godless world system that has been prevalent since the fall of Adam is passing away along with its lusts, because Jesus Christ secured the victory over evil on the cross.

And that victory was ratified when he rose from the grave, ascended into heaven, and took his seat at the right hand of the Father. And one day, that victory over evil will be complete. It was definitive at the cross, it's happening progressively over time, and one day it will be completely gone.

The world system will be gone. Meanwhile, the ones who obey the will of God, those who pass the moral and social test, will live forever. So, you don't have to go to a monastery to get away from the world.

You don't have to follow some arbitrary list of man-made rules. Do you want to please God? Follow the apostles' admonition to the early church. Love not the world, nor the things of the world. For the world is passing away, but the one who does the will of God will live forever.

And that is far, far better than riches, power, and fame in this world, which will all pass away. If you're here today and you're not a believer, you're part of a world that is passing away. The hope you have is to trust in Jesus Christ, repent of your sin, call upon his name, believe in your heart, and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and you will be saved and live forever in the arms of the Savior.

Let's pray. Father, once again we bow before you, and we are so grateful and so thankful for Jesus Christ. Thank you, Father, that he secured salvation for us, and he will raise us up on the last day.

Thank you for the promise that of all those that he has called and are chosen in him, will come to him, and he will not lose even one. I pray, Father, that if there's somebody here today who doesn't know you, that today would be the day of salvation.

Take away their stony heart, give them a heart of flesh that they might repent and believe. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.