The LOVE God HATES | 1 John 2:15-17

Context and the Review of 1 John

Okay, where are we at? Yeah, but I knew what you were saying. First John chapter two. I felt you, Justin. So where are we at in first John chapter two? Does anybody know where we're at in chapter two?

Nope, that's a whole different letter. You're meaning first John chapter two.

I feel like 15, but it could be wrong.

Yes, we are at verse 15 through 17. What does your caption say there, Delaney?

Do not love the world.

Yes, we're gonna get into that. But what do we talk about before we dive into our current text? Context, right, JD? What's context mean?

Shows the surrounding words to get.

Why is that funny?

Because I just said the surrounding clues.

Yeah, context clues. What were you saying, JD?

I'm sorry.

Okay, so the surrounding words around a word to find out what the word means.

Yeah, context is just talking about the surrounding verses, words, to help inform us what we're looking at. I recall Delaney saying we gotta have the whole picture in mind in order to understand a part of the whole.

And I think that's so true, right? So that's why we always look at everything in context, or at least we try to, that's the goal. So what are some things that first John has been talking about all the way from chapter one into chapter two?

Let's get our review on. Love, what about love?

You need to love.

Right, because remember a couple weeks ago we talked about an old commandment that's also a new commandment. It has to do with love. Do you remember what exactly it was? What's the old commandment?

The old commandment is love your neighbor as yourself.

Which, can we do that?

Yes and no.

Yes and no. No in the sense that we're not gonna do it perfectly. We desire to on the yes sign. But Jesus fulfilled that perfectly. So how does that relate to a new commandment?

Lauren?

Usually love the saints, love the brethren.

Yeah, so remember Jesus washed the disciples' feet and he says this is how people will know that you're my disciples, your love for one another. Well two saints had the indwelling Holy Spirit and we are walking in the light.

We are walking with Christ. So we are able to love in a new way. Something that before the Holy Spirit, back when they were just under the old law, they couldn't do it, right? Even though we're supposed to love everyone, everyone that bears the image of God, we fall short of that standard because it's law, right?

But this new commandment is one that's energized by the Holy Spirit within love for the saints. Okay, so we talked about that. What's something else that we talked about before? Delaney?

Talked about, which means that he's holy, set apart, perfect.

Can't sin, can't be tempted. Oh, Liberty, I didn't see you over here. What's something we've talked about in verse, John? Oh, I'm exposed now that the shades are set. We've talked about how he says my little children.

Mm, okay. Yes, so John is referring to his audience as the little children. So that tells us that we're a family. He perceives himself as being a father in the faith, which is such a good principle because we need other people to look up to in the faith.

We need mentors. Titus chapter two talks about older women in the faith need to teach younger women in the faith, and older men need to teach younger men. So raise your hand, who are some mentors that you have in your life that disciples you?

Delaney?

Miss Brenda and my parents.

Yeah.

The apologetic dog. But I'm an elder, 12 -5, I'm a pastor. And it's funny, y 'all probably get a kick out of this, but I'll talk with people out in town, they're like, oh, so you're a youth pastor. I'm like, oh yeah, I disciple the youth.

But they don't have it in their mind that pastor is overseer of the whole church body. So we have a plurality of pastors, elders, which oversees the whole body. So yeah, this is definitely discipleship.

And that's how it should be, to be like, hey, I have a question about something in life or about the word, who do you need to go to? Your mentor, your pastor, right? I don't know if anybody's ever had experience where they've been a part of a church and to ask a theological question to the pastor and just nothing.

That's actually really common. I know we don't really have that so much here at 12 -5, but that's been my experience in the past. Being very confused, I'm supposed to be able to go to an overseer and a leader in the church about a question I have in scripture and for them to be like, we don't really talk about that kind of stuff.

It's shocking, can you believe it? That's not what John is modeling for us here in 1 John. He's talking to little children, those in the faith, and he's giving them doctrine, teaching about who Jesus is, how he came in the flesh, and to say, you need to be able to test these things to be able to detect false teachers that are gonna deny fundamental things about who Jesus is, right?

So what else in 1 John? What do you think here?

False teachers out there that are a part of the world.

Yeah, false teachers. So in 1 John, probably the number one false teaching is from the Gnostics. The Gnostics in 1 John chapter four, if y 'all can look over there with me, I know we're kind of building up to this later, but John says, beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world, and by this you know the spirit of God.

Every spirit or person that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God, and they have the spirit of Antichrist, which you have heard was coming and is now in the world already.

So one particular form of Antichrist teaching, a person, false teacher, that's not speaking the truth denies that Jesus came in the flesh, and listen to me here, and denies that Jesus is not also the God-man in the flesh now.

The only reason why I bring that up, y 'all remember that one heresy we've talked about in the past called full preterism? Remember they deny that Jesus is coming in the future to return in the flesh to judge the living and the dead and to restore all things?

Well, they also think that Jesus, where he's at now, he's not the God-man. There's no more human nature. He doesn't have a human body, and when it says that Jesus has come in the flesh, this is in a particular Greek tense that says that he is now in the flesh, and John wrote this after he ascended.

So I'm just saying false teaching comes out in so many different ways, and how do we test the spirits to know if they're from God or not? Always go back to the word, right? So good point. We're always to be aware about false teachers, and Aaron can't answer this, but what does fellowship mean?

That's another big key theme that we've been talking about in 1 John. What do you think, Josiah?

Quinenia.

Quinenia, which means? Means joint participation. As Aaron has rightly said, it's a togetherness that's different than how people in the world get together and hang out. We get together in truth. We get together in spirit, and so yeah, we enjoy this sweet time, but it's rooted in eternal matters, right?

Isn't that cool? So last time, we talked about spiritual maturity. What does that mean? If you wanna look back at verses 12 to 14 to jog your memory, does anybody remember a little about spiritual maturity, Delaney?

That's what we kinda touched on, so meaning they've been through a lot of things in life, being tested.

Yes, so think about this progression. Remember we read about I write to you children because you know the Father, and then like you're talking about, Delaney, I'm writing to you young men because you have overcome the evil one, and I am writing to you fathers because you know Him who is from the beginning.

So y 'all see that kinda progression, right, talking about spiritual children in the faith, but you're supposed to grow. How do we grow? You take in milk, the pure spiritual milk of the Word, and then you're able to digest meat, you know, more food so you can grow, right?

We understand that physically, but it's very true spiritually as well. So Delaney's right. We spent a long time talking about the young person, right, who is graduated from just the bare truths of the Christian faith, right?

We never graduate and say, oh, that gospel stuff was for when I got saved. No, we always carry the gospel with us, but we understand it in a fuller sense. We understand it a little bit more about who God is and who we are and how He saved us by His grace.

But when you're a child in the faith, you know that my sins are forgiven, right? I'm saved by the blood, and He forgave me of all my sin. But then as you begin to grow in the faith, man, you can put on that whole body armor of God and war against who?

Other people?

No?

Who is our spiritual battle against ultimately? The flesh. Yes, because all those kind of go together. The world is ultimately ruled by Satan. God is still sovereign in it all over His creation, but God has given authority to Satan to have dominion in this fallen world, right?

But that goes hand in hand with our flesh that's so easily enticed by the temptations of Satan. And so, yeah, that's the spiritual warfare is not against people, flesh and blood, but against the kingdom of darkness, right?

And the false teaching that's ultimately fueled by Satan. And I recall Psalm 119 poses the question, how can a young person keep their way pure? Not just a child in the faith, but a young person. Does anybody remember what the psalmist said?

Lauren?

Oh, sorry, I thought that was a, pick me. How can a young person keep their way pure? King David said, by hiding your word in my heart so I may not sin against you. But if you recall, part of the context, slight review here also in 1 John chapter two, John says, my little children, like Liberty pointed out, I'm writing these things to you so that you may not sin.

Remember we spent time talking about what's gonna happen every day, you're gonna fall into temptation that leads to what?

Sin.

And so in those moments of temptation, when we need to be able to renew our heart and mind with God's truth, be able to call up somebody in the faith and say, hey, I need to talk. My mind's not in a good place.

We need to hold each other accountable, right? We need to be a part of the fellowship. And we're also reminded this truth, John tells us, but if anyone does sin, because it's gonna happen, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous.

So what does advocate mean?

Kind of like the middleman.

Kind of like the middleman? Explain it to me in a courtroom setting. Who's the middleman on your behalf in a courtroom? Does anybody remember? Jesus absolutely is our defense attorney, pleading our case.

Do y 'all remember. In Romans eight, it says who can bring a charge against God's elect?

Nobody.

Because if you're saved by Christ, if you're in Him by faith, if your heart's been transformed by the grace of God, then you can't sin enough to fall out of the grace of God. Does that make sense? Your heart's been changed.

And so when your heart condemns you and says, Jeremiah, you've done this sin over here, you're not worthy. You know, I can say to myself, of course I'm not worthy, but I'm in the one who is perfectly righteous.

So even when my own heart condemns, God's word reminds me of what is truth. Jesus intercedes on my behalf. And so what happens when the prosecuting attorney, Satan, accuses us before God the Father and says, not worthy?

Jesus comes on our behalf, argues perfectly on our behalf. And so it's just beautiful to know that, you know what? I need to renew my heart and mind with God's truth so I can avoid sinning. When I do fall into sin, I need to not only confess that, repent, but be assured that Christ is always interceding on my behalf.

You know, we talked about the body armor of God. Remember the breastplate of righteousness? It's almost like putting on the righteousness of Christ, that'll guard your heart, right? Putting on the helmet of salvation and securing it, knowing that I'm rest assured in who Christ is and that can't be lost.

That's one of the main thrust of 1 John. He's writing to us little children so that you can know that you have eternal life, right? And think about this. If you could kind of step in and out of eternal life, that's not eternal life, right?

It's eternal. Jesus said this is eternal life, that you know the true God and Jesus Christ whom you've sent. So eternal life is here and now, knowing God, but we will also have eternal life in the fullness in the life to come because we'll no longer walk by faith, right?

But by sight. And so that's beautiful. Those are the things that we wanna grow into, right? Because we're talking about spiritual maturity. That's what we talked about last time. So I also think in the context, remember earlier he was talking about if you hate one another, then basically you're walking in darkness and you're not saved.

I think John's audience may be thinking, oh no, am I doing this new commandment that I'm supposed to do? Am I walking in darkness? And perhaps John's audience, some people can be a little sensitive to that.

Have you ever thought that? Like when Pastor Nathan preaches about sin and the law, hopefully it's convicting on one hand to remind us that we need a savior, but we also need to be reminded of grace, right?

In light of, yes, we are sinners, but it doesn't mean that all hope is lost. And so it sounds like when he was talking about spiritual maturity, he was trying to encourage them of saying, hey, you're a child of God because your sins are forgiven.

Let me renew your heart and mind with this truth and what it looks like to be a young person in the faith and what it means to be more mature in the faith. And so then verses 15, 16, and 17, we immediately see something of the love that God hates.

The Love God Hates: Loving the World

Okay, I want you to think about that. There is a love that God hates. What do you think that is, Aaron?

The love for the world.

The love for the world. God hates the world because the ruler of the world is Satan and opposes God at every point and turn. And ultimately, the world is invested in sin, right? The whole world system is fueled by Satan and ultimately is detached from loving God, right?

And so someone remind me, what does sin mean? What's the root of sin? The heart. It's definitely a heart issue, right? It's the heart that what?

It's lawlessness and it's going against God's law.

That's so true because that's kind of like 1 John 3, 4, everyone who makes a practice of sinning practices lawlessness, sin is lawlessness. And that's the whole world, okay? Look with me at 1 John 5, 19 because I'm wanting you to see two things.

I'm wanting you to see the world from a human perspective, other people that we interact with, Hollywood, all of these industries that we see on TV, we see on the internet, we see the world system from a human vantage point, but then there's also a spiritual reality that's going on.

And so 1 John 5, 19 says, we know that we are from God and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one, okay? And so look with me at 1 John 2, 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. For all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes and the pride of life is not from the father, but is from the world.

And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. So y 'all help me out with something. Doesn't John 3, 16 say for God so loves the world, right? And so what does this mean that says do not love the world or the things in the world?

That's kind of confusing. Can someone clear that up for me?

Lauren, you said the context word.

Because John 3, 16 is talking about the world of humanity, right? Jews and Gentiles, they have a savior. God is demonstrating his love so much that he sent the second person of the Trinity, right? So God loves people, okay?

Now this is a different kind of world. What kind of world is John getting at here in verse 15?

Donnie?

It's like the sin and traps that's all set for Christians.

Yes, it's the world system of sin, the traps. Who's setting those traps?

Satan.

Satan.

So this is talking about the ruler of this world, right? We know we're from God, but the whole world lies in the power of who? The wicked one, okay? So this is not talking about people, but this is talking about the world system that is satanic, okay?

Now we also read, do not love the world or the things in the world. I think it's everything we've been talking about. When your heart is invested in the things here and now and not of eternal value, well, that's vain.

And it's sinful because it's idolatry of the highest kind. If you're living your life devoid of giving God worship that he's due, okay? So I want us to think about two points here. John is giving us a command.

What's that command here? Do not, what? Do not love the world. And then he's about to give us multiple reasons of why we should not love the world, okay? So that's kind of we're gonna get into, Josiah.

Do things, do not be, we are to be in the world, but not of the world. And it's not a physical and mental problem on a person. It's their spiritual. It's all three. It can affect their physical and can affect their mental.

Now you said love the world, but don't be in the world.

We are to be in the world, but not of the world.

Right, so what does that mean? You're like, it sounded good.

Pretty sure. What he's trying to say is that we are to preach the gospel and let it be known to every person, but do not be involved in like what the person does with the private life.

Yeah, we're gonna, God has a purpose of Christians being in the world. We're gonna be salt and light like Josiah's getting here. We're gonna preach the gospel. And our character, which is filled by the Holy Spirit, it's preserving God's goodness in this fallen and broken world.

But we're not gonna give ourselves over to the things of the world. Does that make sense? That's what Josiah is getting at. And that's what John's getting at too. He says, 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. Y 'all know the secular song, What a Wonderful World?

Yes.

I think about that a lot because that is the world's mantra. Look how awesome everything is, right? Try to get as much influence over people through social media. Try to accumulate as much wealth as you possibly can and live your best life now.

I mean, is that not essentially what the world's saying? Like eat, drink, be merry because you're not guaranteed another day. Live it up now. And can you see that that's totally the opposite of the Christian?

Our best life is not now. Our best life is to come. But as we're here on earth, we're gonna live as Christ. We're gonna gather together with the saints, get that foretaste of glory that's to come. And we're gonna preach the gospel like Josiah said.

And we're gonna grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior. That's our marching orders. That's the great commission to go out into the world and make disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, and to observe all that Christ has commanded us.

And you know what he said? In lo, I will be with you even to the end of the age. He's always with us, right? So I think the first reason why John is giving us this command to not love the world or the things in the world is because believers are altogether something different.

We're not like the world. We've been forgiven. We have been reconciled with our Creator. And notice what he says. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Isn't that incredible?

Because if your ultimate heart desire loves the things of the world, then that's evidence that you're not saved. And that's the dichotomy that we have to have in our mind. To love the world is to hate God.

Now, to love the things of the Lord means that we ultimately, we hate the satanic teaching, the satanic push agenda that Satan is pushing in this world.

Okay?

And so if you would, turn with me a couple pages over to James chapter four. James chapter four. I have a volunteer that would like to read the first four verses in James chapter four.

Aaron?

Starting in verse one.

Yes.

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but not do have skill, or have. So you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want.

So you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive. But because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God?

Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

Thanks, sir. Did y 'all catch that last part? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of who? So you see how, remember Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, JD, said you can't serve two masters, right?

It's either gonna be God or wealth, the things of the world. You can't have both, why? Because your heart can only trust in one. You're gonna be all in. Now you may say, oh yeah, I'm just gonna add Jesus into my life.

Well, you've already given up that you really don't wanna let go of the things.

Of the world.

And so back in 1 John, I want you to stay in James 4 there, but he kind of says, or he says the word love. Do not love the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

Right, Christianity is one of love and relationship because God is love. God is light. God is everything that is pure, righteous, and good. And so we reflect that image. We are created to love. But what is the love that God hates?

Someone help me. The love of the world. She beats you to it. And so in James 4, I think this is a really good cross-reference to what we're learning in 1 John 2. Listen to these three bullet points and I want us to bring this out more in James 4.

John says, for all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life is not from the Father, but is from the world. So in James 4, he kind of brings out some of the quarreling, some of the problems that the world has, right?

What causes quarrels? And what causes fights among you? Is it not this? That your passions are at war within you. You desire and do not have. You murder. You covet and cannot obtain. So you fight and quarrel.

And you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly and spend it on your own passions. And then he says, look, you are thinking about the things of the world.

That's ultimately where your heart's at. You want to be a friend with the world? That just proves that you are at war with your creator. Josiah.

You're doing good.

What does that mean? When Jesus says, you cannot serve two masters? JD, you want to hop in there? What does it mean we cannot serve two masters?

So if you, you're gonna favor one over the other. So you can't have, it's like oil. It's not gonna mix.

Right, right.

Oil and water. Oil and water is just not gonna mix.

Right.

You're either gonna be on one side or the other. You can't stay on both.

Yes, that's good. Your heart can only love one or the other. It's a heart issue, ultimately. So let's talk about those categories. Turn back with me to 1 John chapter two. So verse 15 again says, 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.

Okay.

So we've already talked about one reason why John has given us the command to love not the world, because we're all together different. We've had our sins forgiven. We have a changed heart. We love the things above, not the things below.

Okay.

And so all that's in the world is sin. Okay, that's kind of the thrust here. And it's fueled by Satan. And so we kind of get three overarching categories of what sin kind of falls into. You have the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life.

And we're reminded that this doesn't come from the Father, but it's of the world. So let's talk about that first one, the desires of the flesh. Any idea of what that's talking about, Aaron?

Sin.

Okay. Yes.

What kind of sin was being talked about here?

The desire to do sin or a certain...

The desires of the flesh. Do y 'all remember in Galatians 5 where we talk about the fruit of the Spirit? Does anybody know what the fruit of the Spirit's being contrasted with?

Every other sin.

Yes.

And it's called the works of the flesh. Okay, so it's like y 'all are getting it. It's anything that you do that's sinful. But it's those things that are totally in opposition to God. It's literally anything that can be abused and done for selfish gain.

Not to give God glory. And so there's another list that Paul gives us in Romans chapter one. And he mentions this word desire and lust because does anybody have a different translation where it says the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life?

Many translations say that. To lust, a deep desire, not for the things of God, but for the things of the world. And so I want you to listen to this. In Romans chapter one, starting in verse 24. Therefore God gave man up to the lust of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies amongst themselves because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever, amen.

For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged the natural relations of those which are contrary to nature. And men likewise gave up the natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another.

Men committing shameful acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty of their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to debased minds to do what ought not to be done.

They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice, were full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.

Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, and listen to this part. They not only who do them, but those who give approval of those who practice them. Now that was a pretty comprehensive list, right?

Anything that can be done devoid of worshiping God is a part of the lust of the flesh, right? Whether that be something as food is good, but it can be abuse, not honoring God with your body and committing gluttony, right?

That can be a fleshly desire. Oh, that food looks good. Let me eat way more than I actually need, right? And that can be anything, right? That can be sexual perversion, right? Because those types of relationships are meant for a marriage, right, before God, right?

Lust of the flesh, and you notice, you saw that word lust happen a whole lot. God gave them up these desires to do things that are just unnatural, right?

It's sin.

It's just sin at every point and turn, okay? And so this is not just a totally comprehensive list, but it's just saying anything imaginable that is perverted and wicked, lust of the flesh, right? So let's go back.

So you got the lust of the flesh or the desires of the flesh. What's the next one in 1 John 2, 16?

Avery?

Lust of the eyes.

Lust of the eyes.

What do you think that's getting at? Ha, I tricked you.

Yeah. Yeah.

So like what you do in situations, or?

This goes hand-in-hand with the first one, right? When something looks desirable to the eye, well, then what's the next step? Well, then you're gonna engage with the lust of the flesh. And this reminded me of something that Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, where you kind of see both of these at play, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes.

So Jesus said that you have heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

And what's interesting is because we're talking about love, not the world, right? We could talk about the lust of the eyes and the lust of the flesh, but there's already a fundamental problem with man, and it's a heart that does not love God.

That's at war with God.

Aaron?

I think I found a similar verse saying.

That if you hate a brother,.

You've basically murdered him in your heart or something like that.

Yeah. Jesus says that in the passage above this in the Sermon on the Mount. He says, you have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder, and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.

Then Jesus says, but I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother is liable to judgment. And so basically he's saying, look, murder begins at the heart. Just because you haven't committed the action, if you've hated your brother, then you're not loving your neighbor as yourself, right?

But the problem is man has a heart issue. He desires to be God himself, which kind of gets into the third category here in a second. But his heart is bent on serving the flesh, looking at things that he wants that he doesn't have.

Does that make sense? So the lusts of the eyes are basically, is it the 10th commandment? Thou shalt not covet, right? Which sees something else that someone has and you wanna take it from them and have it for yourself.

It begins with what looks attractive to the eye, right? And then we sit on it, temptation happens, and then the sin continues to stir in our heart and our mind. And so this is ultimately getting at the core of where sin comes from within man.