Charles Spurgeon, writing over 150 years ago, made the following comment: “I believe that one reason why the church of God at this present moment has so little influence over the world is because the world has so much has so much influence over the church.” If he said that then, I wonder what he would say to the church in America today? As Christian, we seem to be people who share the same passions and pursuits as the unbelieving world.
In 1 John 2:15-17, John charges Christians not to love this fallen world system, and His words are just as applicable today as they were in the first century. Those who call themselves Christians are commanded not to love this present world system and what it values. We are called rather to be SET APART from the world, living in the world, but not being of the world.
Now let me be honest with you: we need God in this area like no other. This passage is not hard, and most of you agree with everything that I have just said, and yet nearly all of us in this room treat the world like “the one that got away.” We know we need a clean break with it. We know that it is not good for us. Yet we just can’t seem to get over it. How many high school students can say that there is a marked difference between them and the other students at their school who don’t know Christ? How many adults could answer that same question concerning their context? So the question is: How do we avoid loving the world? How do we stop?
I. We Must Understand What Loving the World is and What it Implies
What “the world” is: (15-16)
When John says, “Do not love the world or the things in the world,” he is not talking about the physical “world,” but the fallen system of evil that stands in opposition to God. He’s talking about the world that began in Genesis 3:1-6. It is the “created order in rebellion against its Maker,” the kingdom of darkness (Col. 1:13) over which Satan rules (2 Cor. 4:4). Colossians 2:8 warns us against the “elementary principles of the world” that exist to take us captive. So there are principles by which “the world” operates; it has a set of values.
What it means to “love the world” and “the things in the world”:
As I said, the “world” that John speaking of begins in Genesis 3:1-6, and the essence of loving the world (worldliness) is what we see there: created beings rebelling against their Creator by trying to “be God” rather than submit to Him. Loving the world is this mentality of wanting to live and prosper and pursue happiness apart from God.
Loving the world is also when we begin to live and operate by the world’s values. It’s when those values become our own. John here gives us three values that the world has: (1) “the desires of the flesh,” (2) “the desires of the eyes,” and (3) “the pride of life,” which is pride in what one is, has, and does.
Worldly thinking wants to take the good desires that God gave us and exploit them. It wants us to be driven by them and to subject them to our own rule and not to God’s. Let’s consider them one by one.
What are the “desires of the flesh”? The flesh desires sex, sleep, food, etc. Do we not live in culture that celebrates over indulgence in these areas? We live in a culture that makes fun of people who are virgins (40 Year Old Virgin). Did you know that six out of ten high school students lose their virginity by the time they graduate high school? Did you know that 25% of those will have sex with multiple partners? The world wants us to be driven by these desires in ways that are contrary to God’s design.
What about the “desires of the eyes”? I think we all can identify with this one as well. We receive a certain amount of gratification from what we see with our eyes. Our eyes are windows into our souls, and I think what John is getting at here is the covetousness that begins with our eyes. It is when we see things that we do not have and desire them in a way that is unhealthy. This is why the porn industry is a multi-billion dollar industry. This is why modesty is not in fashion. Scripture calls men of God to make a covenant with their eyes as Job did (Job 31:1) and calls women of God to dress in ways that do not cause their brother to stumble.
And finally, let’s consider the “pride of life.” Again, this is pride in what one is, has, and does. Students, think about the clothes you wear. Why are only certain brands of clothing acceptable? It is because you love status. You want to be that guy that all the girls want. You want to be that girl that all the guys want. We adults are not immune to this either. The only thing that changes for us is what we need to keep our status. It is needing a certain vehicle, a certain career & salary, a certain house, etc.
What “loving the world” implies:
It implies that the love of the Father is not in us. It is important to understand why John is writing and in order to feel the weight of this. John putting forth three tests for genuine Christianity (Theological, Moral, Relational). Don’t miss this (15b). He is saying that people who are characterized by love for the world do not belong to God. James 4:4, says, “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
It implies that we’ve been deceived. John says, “the world is passing away, along with its desires.” When we have set our affections on this world and what it values, we’ve bought into empty promises. Is this not the message of Ecclesiastes? I want you to feel cheated by the empty promises this world has made you.
It implies that we’ve been robbed. “Worldliness is so serious because Christ is so glorious.”[1] When we love the world, we miss out on the joy and the reward of knowing and loving God forever. So many people cling to this world for dear life, afraid of what they might miss if they were to surrender all to God. It is those who love the world who have truly missed out. Those who do the will of God abide forever (17).
II. We Must Replace a Love for the World with a Love for God
The Heart Only has Room for One Treasure
There is an obvious contrast in the passage between the folly of loving the world and the wisdom of loving God. We need to see the black and white in this passage: you cannot love both. As Matthew 6:24 says, no one can serve two masters; no one can ultimately have two treasures. For some reason, we want to ignore this reality and think we can have God and the world at the same time. We cannot. It is impossible.
God is the Greater Treasure because He is the Greatest Treasure
Now here is where we have trouble. Our hearts are so rooted into the soil of this world that we have trouble seeing God as the greatest treasure in the universe. We do not believe that God is more attractive that what the world has to offer. How do I know this? I know this because I see the apathy on your face when you sing of Jesus. I know this because God’s Word sits neglected day after day in your lives. I know this because you never share your faith with anyone. You have no idea what it means to be taken with and treasure God.
Here is the bottom line: this is a truth that must be tasted by faith and that is something only God can open your heart to. I can call God the greatest treasure of all and tell you that knowing Him and loving Him is more satisfying than anything this world has to offer, but unless you have tasted this reality, you will not understand what I’m talking about.
Oh, but once you have tasted by faith, God proves to be better than anything this world has to offer. And if you ever have, you know what I’m talking about. Something in your heart and soul believes HE IS BETTER! Have you ever tasted the joy of that moment? I know that some of you haven’t, or at least that it has been a while since you have.
One of the things that has been on my heart for sometime is the apathy among our young people. Some of you have been far more in love with Jesus than you are right now. And if I’m being honest, there are some people in the church that I see Sunday after Sunday and I can't say I've ever really seen them in love with Jesus. How about some of you adults? Are you treasuring God in your life right now or have you begun to be seduced by this world? Do you remember a time when you were taken with God, but now that seems a distant memory? May God cause our hearts to remember today that He is truly is better than anything the world has to offer, that He is the greatest treasure.
God becomes our Greatest Treasure and love for the world is put to death by the cross of Jesus Christ
Paul said this in Galatians 6:14:“But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” Love for the world needs to be put to death (Col. 3:1-5), and it dies at the cross. Also, treasuring and loving God starts by you seeing the beauty of God’s glory displayed on the cross. This might mean salvation, or this might mean you coming back from season of worldliness and resolving by faith to be His. The cross is the place we begin either way.
In a sermon entitled, “Lovers of Jesus,” Spurgeon also said that we must “dwell where the cries of Calvary can be heard.” Sit under preaching where the cries of Calvary can be heard. Feast upon God’s word, for there the cries of Calvary can be heard. Listen to music that the cries of Calvary can be heard in. Surround yourselves with friends who will remind you of the cries of Calvary, because it is the cries of your crucified Savior that will put worldliness in you to death and awaken a love for God. You will only fall out of love with this world by tasting by faith all that God has to offer in Christ. Will you today?
“In the end, the sum of all beauty is Christ, and the sin of all worldliness is to diminish our capacity to see him and be satisfied in him and show him compellingly to a perishing world.”[2]
1 comment:
Great message Charlie. I've missed being at Dry Creek.
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