Things Worth Knowing
Goodbye World, Goodbye
I John 2:15-17
Soon after you become a Christian you discover that the Christian life is not a bed of roses. You know that God intends you to grow and mature in your Christian life, but you discover all around you that there are obstacles and hindrances. There are things that would keep you from becoming all God wants you to be and keep you from enjoying the Christian life as it is intended to be enjoyed.
There are three great enemies of the Christian life -- the world; the flesh and the devil.
The enemy of the world is presented to us, probably clearer in the verses we are considering this morning than any other place. This world is not a friend to lead us on to God. This world is our enemy and it will seek to keep us from being everything God wants us to be as believers.
I'm going to talk with you a little while this even bout the subject of worldliness. The church of the Lord Jesus Christ is rushing headlong into worldliness. Worldliness plagues believers. Worldliness saps us of spiritual strength. It hinders our effectiveness and it robs us of our Christian testimony.
There are many believers today whose lives are inconsistent with the teachings of the Bible and they are referred to as a worldly Christian. I'm not sure that's really a good way to designate them.
Billy Sunday said one time to talk about a worldly Christian makes about as much sense as talking about a heavenly devil. But for lack of a better term, we'll use the term - worldly Christian. We'll talk a little bit about what the Bible says concerning this matter of worldliness in the life of a believer.
I'm convinced that there are many people referred to as worldly Christians that have never become Christians at all. I think there are some people whose lives are so contrary to the Christian faith that though they may claim to be a Christian, the fact of the matter is they have never really had the Christian experience.
When I see a bird that looks like a duck and waddles like a duck and quacks like a duck and it hangs around other ducks, I'm driven to certain conclusions. When I see a person who says he's a
Christian and yet his life gives no evidence of it whatsoever. I am not a judge, but I am a fruit inspector and the evidence is that they have never really had a born-again experience which changes you so that old things pass away and now all things are become new.
That's what we are talking about -- worldliness and the plague of worldliness that hinders believers.
It's very easy to follow the thought in these three verses.
In verse 15 we have given to us an
I. EXHORTATION. v. 15.
verse 15
The first thing we have to do is define what we mean here by the world. What world is he talking about?
It is obvious he is not talking about the world of nature. In Acts 17:24 it says, "God made the world and all things that are therein." That's the world of nature.
Neither is he talking about the world of people. In John 3:16 Jesus said, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son." He's talking about the world of people. God loves the world of
people. The Bible says we are to love people just
like God does. Someone said, if we loved the world
the way God loves it, then we wouldn't love the world the way we shouldn't love it. We are to love the world of people. That's not the world he's talking about here.
In this verse when he says don't love the world, he is really using the word to refer to a system of things, an organization of society. You know this word, it's a familiar word to us. The Greek word behind this word, world, is where we get our word, cosmos.
It means to arrange things. When God created the cosmos, the Bible says He brought it out of Chaos. Chaos means no order. Chaos means no arrangement. Chaos means no decoration.
Cosmos on the other hand means to put together, to arrange, to put things in order. We get another word from this same word - cosmetics. You are familiar with that word, aren't you? It means to arrange things.
You get up in the morning and go to the mirror. You look in the mirror and say, "Mirror, mirror, on the wall, why does my face the traffic stall? "
Then you start making arrangements. You start putting cosmetics on. I've been asked if I thought women ought to wear cosmetics. Yes, I really do. Sisters, be as gentle on us as you can. We have to look at you, so paint up all you can. Cosmetics is to put things together. To arrange things.
The Bible says that there is an arrangement of things. There is an organization that is referred to as the world. Sometimes it is referred to as THIS world. A world system. We use the word in that way in several ways.
We talk about the world of sports. The world of sports is a system of things involving a number of games, a number of people and a variety of purposes.
Sometimes we use the word in terms of politics. It means certain people who are involved in that world. Certain political parties. Certain purposes and plans of those parties. The world of politics, the world of sports.
The Bible uses that same terminology - a system of things. And the Bible says don't love this world system. The Bible says this world system has its own God. The god of this world hath blinded the mind of those who believe not. The Bible says this world has its own children. The children of this world are wiser in their generation. The Bible says this world system has its own knowledge - the wisdom of this world.
The Bible says that believers are not to love this world system. This system that is organized in rebellion to God. This world system that would draw you away from the love of the father, keep you from doing the father's will. This world system which makes sin look normal and righteousness look strange. This world system which is the devil's headquarters and the devil's carrot to lure you away from God. The Bible says don't love that kind of world.
Look at the exhortation. "Don't love the world,
neither the things in the world. If any man love the
world, the love of the father is not in him."
See the contrast? These things are mutually exclusive. You can't have love for the world in your heart and love for the Lord in your heart at the same time. You can't be doing the will of this world and the will of the heavenly father at the same time. They are mutually exclusive. Jesus said one time, "No man can serve two masters. He will either hold to the one and let go of the other or he'll hate the one and love the other." You can't love this world and the Lord at the same time.
When you start talking about the matter of worldliness most of the time people want you to start naming things that are worldly. Some people want to have a neat little list of all the things they are not supposed to do and they feel very comfortable if you will make them out a little list. I'm not going to name some worldly things.
Number one, because if I tried it would take us all night.
Number two, if I did name some things you would want to argue with me about what's on the list or what's not on the list.
Number three, I might miss something and you’d go out deceived.
Worldliness is not so much an activity as it is an attitude of heart. Worldliness is that attitude that would draw us away from the love of the father and pull us into the things that are contrary to the love of the father. He just simply says - don't love this world and if you love the world the love of the father is not in you. That's the exhortation.
In verse 16 he gives an -
II. EXPLANATION.
He goes into some detail and shows you what is involved in the world. He points out here that this world has three land mines that would cause Christians to blow up. This world has three appeals that would seek to get hold of you and keep you from being what you ought to be.
The appeal, first of all, is to the physical - the lust of the flesh. What do we mean when the Bible talks about the lust of the flesh? It doesn't mean your physical body, necessarily.
The flesh as it is used here means that nature you received by virtue of your physical birth. You were born with a fallen nature.
We are all born with a fallen nature and the Bible word for that is flesh. When you are saved, the Bible says you get a new nature and the word for that is spirit.
So, when you are saved, you have your old nature the flesh. You have a new nature, the spirit. The Bible says that these two are doing battle one with another. The lust of the flesh. The word, lust, means the desires of the flesh. The passions of the flesh.
What does it mean when it warns us about the appeal to the physical - the lust of the flesh? How does the world operate in this direction?
The world is the enemy on the outside. That corresponds to the flesh, which is the enemy on the inside. The world knows just exactly how to appeal to the passions and desires and the appetites of this old flesh. That's why you have to be careful with that old fallen nature and not fall for it.
Some of us Christians do some foolish things. We put yourselves in circumstances sometimes where we have confidence in that flesh.
"I can handle this temptation." In your weakest moment you might be shocked what you would yield to. "Put no confidence in the flesh."
In Romans 13:14 it says, "Don't make any provision for the flesh." There are different people who have different problems with different temptations. I've never had any particular problem with alcohol. Never been tempted to take a drink of alcohol.
I suppose I could go in and out of certain situations and not feel temptations others would feel but others have tremendous battles with alcohol.
You know what I do have a problem with? I’m not going to tell you!
But here’s the point: we all have those besetting sins, and Scriptures counsel is:
Don't make any provision then for the flesh. Don't get anywhere where that temptation would be a problem to you. The lust of the flesh. The desires, the appetites of the flesh.
God has given us certain natural appetites. There are certain desire that are normal desires. The desire for food is a natural appetite. A God-given appetite. The sex drive is a normal appetite.
But the lust of the flesh seeks to get you to fulfill normal desires in abnormal ways. The lust of the flesh is the attempt of this old world to get you to take the God-given desires and twist them into something ugly and bad.
So first of all: The lust of the flesh, the physical.
Then, the Bible warns us of the appeal of the mental - the lust of the eyes.
Did you know your eyes have an appetite? Have you heard the saying, "feast your eyes on this." The eyes have an appetite. It is through the eyes, for the most part, that our thoughts are formed. What we see determines to a great extend what we think.
This old world does everything it can to appeal to the lust of the eyes to get you focusing on things that ought not be the focus.
The purpose of the world is to get you to think exactly like it wants you to think. If you are a Christian and you are feeding your mind on the Word of God then your thoughts and your mental patterns are formed according to the teachings of the Bible.
But if you allow television and magazines and movies and these kinds of things to control your thoughts then no wonder people get into the problems they get into. The pictures of this old world are filthy pictures. They are designed to brainwash the minds of people.
Lust of the flesh, the physical, lust of the eyes, the mental, then there is the appeal of the spiritual - the pride of life.
That word, pride, is translated other places - boasting of life.
The first two appeals have to do with the things that we do not have. A desire for the things we do not have. An unholy desire for things we don't have.
But this third one is an unholy pride in the things we do have. The pride of life, the accumulation of things. Cars. Houses. Clothes. Material things. Getting attached to these things and think that your worth is based on what you have - the pride of life.
The appeal of the spiritual. That's why people get in financial messes. People buy things they don't need, with money they don't have, in order to impress people they don't like.
If you aren't careful you will begin to get real proud about your money or your position or your power or your strength or your material things.
Mohammed Ali was quite a boxer. But he was never noted for his humility. The story is that one time he was on an airplane at the height of his career. The plane got into some turbulence. The pilot radioed in and told people they were going through some turbulence and said, "You might ought to buckle your seatbelts."
Everybody complied but Ali. The flight attendant went over to Ali and said, "Champ, the pilot has said we all ought to buckle our seatbelts." Ali said,
"Superman don't need no seatbelt." She didn't miss a beat but replied, "Superman don't need no airplane either."
If we aren't very careful the pride of life will get us. We'll think we're bigger than we are. Think of how that is illustrated in the original sin of Adam and Eve.
The Bible says they saw that it was a tree that was good for food.
the appeal to the physical - the lust of the flesh.
It was a tree that was pleasant to the eyes - the appeal of the mental - the lust of the eyes.
It was a tree to make one wise - the appeal of the spiritual - the pride of life.
The devil approached Jesus the same way. When the devil approached Jesus in the wilderness temptation he said to Jesus, "Take these stones and turn them into bread." The appeal of the physical. The lust of the flesh. Then he took the Lord Jesus Christ and said, "I'll give you all of the kingdoms of this world." The lust of the eyes. Then he said, "Throw yourself down, become a spectacular hero." The pride of life.
Every time you and I as born again believers are tempted to fall for the philosophy and the mental attitudes of this old world it is always in one of those three ways.
No wonder he says, "Don't love the world." The exhortation.
No wonder he says, "These three things are not of the father, but of the world." The explanation.
Now look at verse 17 -
III. EXCLAMATION.
It's as if he shouts to us the victory that you and I can have over this old world. How do you win over the world?
Verse 17 is the key. (a)
First thing you have to understand is the passing nature of this old world. This verse says this world is passing away. It's a present tense. It's present passive, really. It is in the process of being caused to pass away. This world is on the way out.
Have you ever heard the statement, "As sure as the world." If it's that sure, it's not very sure because this old world is not very sure. The Bible says it's on the way out.
Someone said to Mark Twain one time, "I hear the world is coming to an end." He said, "Don't worry about it, we can do without it." He was right. The
Bible says this old world is on the way out.
II Peter 3:10, "But the day of the lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. The earth and also the works that are therein shall be burned up."
One of these days this old world is a goner -- going to pass away.
Now: If this world is temporary, if this world is passing, if it's not going to last, it's foolish for a person to tie his life to something like that. Why bury your life and sell your life to something that's not going to last. It's on the way out. That's why this old world will never really satisfy.
The human soul is going to be somewhere forever. The soul is eternal. This world is temporary.
Therefore, nothing temporary can satisfy that which is eternal. The only thing that can really satisfy the human soul is God. Was it not Augustine who said, "A round world cannot satisfy a triangle heart; only the triune God can."
Notice the contrast in these verses:
On the one hand, the world is passing away, on the other hand, 17b, HE WHO. . . ABIDES FOREVER.
We must understand the permanent nature of doing the will of God.
That's why it is so important for you at the beginning of your Christian life to understand that the thing that really matters in life is what God wants you to do. Find the will of God for your life and get in on it and start living according to the directions of God. Make up your mind that Christ shall be first in your life.
D.L. Moody has always been one of my heroes. He was a layman, never ordained pastor as such; although he pastored the Moody church.
He founded that great church in Chicago. There is a network of Moody radio stations. There is a Moody Bible institute. There is all of the literature put out by Moody Press. He was a shoe salesman whose Sunday School teacher brought him to Christ. He had very little education. They said D. L. Moody was the only man who ever lived who could pronounce
Mesopotamia in one syllable.
A lady came up to him after one of his services one time and said, "Mr. Moody, you made 17 grammatical errors in your message tonight." He said, "I know I have a limited education and limited vocabulary, but I'm just using everything I have to the honor and glory of God. What are you doing with what you have?"
When they buried D. L. Moody they put an inscription on his tombstone: "He who does the will of God abides forever."
You hook up with God. You get in partnership with God. You make up your mind to follow Christ and to live the cross life, and you will attach yourself to something that will be going on forever and forever.
One of these days the malls are going to crumble and fall. One of these days the buildings are coming down. One of these day everything you see is going to crumble around you but there will be one thing that will last forever and that is the will of God.
That's why we sing, the world behind me, the cross before me. We have come to discover that what really matters in life is to do the will of God.
Have you ever accepted Jesus as Savior? If you are lost I understand why you are living for the things of this old world. If you are lost this world is the only world you have. If you stay lost and don't come to Christ this world is the only world you'll ever know.
One of these days it'll all pass away, all be over and that it'll be the end of the matter in terms of this world. But I have good news for you. The Bible says, "here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come." I have a better world to offer you. The Bible says it is a city eternal in the heavens which God has prepared for you. Come to Jesus and hook your life up with the eternal God. Ten thousand years from now you'll still be alive, you'll still have a purpose. You'll still be hooked up to something that will eternally satisfy. The pleasures of sin are for a season. "At thy right hand, there are pleasures forevermore."
