Tonight, we continue our consideration of the book of 1 John, chapter 2, verses 15 through 17. In connection with that, I ask that you turn also to James, chapter 4, as we read together the first ten verses. James, chapter 4, as James gives similar instruction to the instruction we find in 1 John 2, verses 15 to 17. James 4, verses 1-10, as we hear now the Word of God. What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something, but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive 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 is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the Spirit He caused to live in us envies intensely, but He gives us more grace? That is why Scripture says God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Submit yourselves then to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn, and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up. In 1 John 2, verses 15-17, you recall last week that we considered the previous three verses where John speaks to the children and the fathers and the young men talking about the benefits that they enjoy in Christ Jesus. And then he gives this instruction, Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world, the cravings of sinful man, The lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does comes not from the Father, but from the world. The world and its desires pass away. But the man who does the will of God lives forever. Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, the sixth petition of the Lord's Prayer says, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. And with that petition, we are asking that God would give us the strength to do what James says, to resist the devil and stand firm in the face of the devil's temptations. Now, what is a temptation? I think this is a good definition. Any attempt because of our weakness and because of Satan's craftiness, any attempt then to lead God's people away from the path of righteousness and cause us to fall into sin. And the truth is, every temptation is an invitation to live independently of God. And that's Satan's goal. It is to cause us to live independently from God's will, from God's Word, and from God's worship. And based on what we have learned so far in 1 John, that would mean to live in the darkness. That would mean to live the lie. To live in hate. To live independent of God is the exact opposite of enjoying fellowship with God. And now John points out that this is the way of the world. Verse 15, as we can see, includes a straightforward command. Do not love the world or anything in the world. But we have to admit, don't we, that this makes us uneasy. Because there are many, many things that we like down here. Life can't get much better for so many of us. So what is John really saying here? I preach to you this Word of God of the believer's relationship in the world, but not of the world. Considering the prohibition toward the world, the offerings of the world, and the end of the world. Now verse 15 describes the prohibition toward the world. Again, do not love the world or anything in the world, If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. It's no secret that loving the world and the things of the world is incompatible with loving God. But before we go any further, we need to admit that that's the way of natural man. That's what natural man wants. He loves the world and he enjoys the offerings of the world that we will talk about in a moment. But it's no secret that for those who are in Christ Jesus, loving the world and the things of the world is incompatible. It doesn't fit with loving God. The two don't mix. The two cannot mix. Why? Because the world is a system of values and goals that works to exclude or replace God and His rule. God has no part in the world. They don't want Him to have a part. Now, we know that the word world has different meanings in Scripture. It can mean the created world. It can mean the world of mankind. And we know that physically speaking, God created the world good and we are to admire His creation and His work of general revelation. But world here is talking about the world that is hostile toward God. Lost in sin and totally opposed to God. The same world that works to exclude or replace God and His rule. Everything about the world as it is meant here is rooted in and motivated by the principle of sin. And throughout this epistle, John characterizes the world in the following ways. In verse 16, cravings, lust, and boasting. Verse 17, he says, it passes away. Chapter 3, verse 1 tells us that the world is ignorant of God. It hates believers. Chapter 3, verse 13. This world is the dwelling of false prophets, the Antichrist, and unbelievers as chapter 4 makes clear. And as 5, verse 19 says, the whole world is under the control of the evil one. Yes, Scripture calls Satan the prince of this dark world. As well, Christians are called to resist the world because as James 4, verse 4 says, friendship with the world is enmity with God. And Paul says in Romans 12, verse 2, do not be conformed to this world. You see, beloved, the world competes for the love of Christians. And one cannot love it and the Father at the same time. Now the word love here is talking about an attachment with what is loved. It's talking about an intimate fellowship and loyal devotion, having sacrificed everything else for the object of love, and in this case, that is the world. It is to place a high value on the object of love. And John says, don't do it. Don't do it. Loving the world and the things of the world is inconsistent with those whose sins are forgiven, who know the Father, who are strong, who have the Word of God abiding in them, and who have overcome the evil one, as John had just said about the children and the fathers and the young men. In fact, for those who love the world, the very opposite is true. Instead of owning all these blessings as their own, John says the love of the Father is not in him. They do not have the love of God and they do not love God. John says later in this epistle, we love because He first loved us. But for those who love the world, the love of God and love for God is completely foreign to them. Congregation, there is no doubt that we as Christians are in the world. This is our home for the time being and wickedness and temptations of evil surround us. That's no secret. But we are not to be of the world. We are not to become one with the world. We are not to blend in with it or compromise with it. We are not to take its side. Again, all the things that are normal and natural for the one who is apart from Christ. Does that mean that we cannot participate in and use God's good gifts? For example, His gifts of technology and recreation. No, that's not what this means unless we use God's gifts for reasons different than God intended. But then John characterizes the things of the world when he talks about the offerings of the world in verse 16. For everything in the world, the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes, and the boasting of what he has and does come not from the Father but from the world. God's law of love for His people, which we know well, is to love Him above all and our neighbor as ourselves. But Satan's goal for you and me is that our first goal be me, myself, and I. And his worldly temptations that he uses to try to draw our attention away from the honor and glory of God are the cravings of sinful man, the lusts of the eyes, and the boasting of what he has and does. Other translations which may be more familiar to you say it this way, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life. Again, John up until this point has been talking about fellowship with God, and now here he's been talking about how love for the world doesn't mix with fellowship and love for God. In fact, Jesus said, if they hated Me, they will hate you. And the more we resemble Jesus Christ, the more we are hated by the world. Are you hated by the world? If so, how much? You see, we are not to seek the crown of honor from the world when our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ received a crown of thorns for our sins. Yet that's Satan's goal for us. Often Satan will take the good things in life, the things that God created for us to enjoy, and He will tempt us to push these beyond the boundary of God's will. In his book, Bondage Breaker, Neil Anderson gives some examples, including turning physical rest into laziness. The enjoyment of food becomes gluttony. Self-respect becomes conceit. Communication becomes gossip. Same-sex friendship becomes homosexuality. taking the things that God created to be good and pushing them beyond the boundaries of what God intended. Satan's goal for us who are dependent upon God for all things is to act and live independent of God. And his tools of temptations are the things listed in verse 16. Notice too there that John makes it clear that these things do not come from God. These are the offerings of the world. And the first tool is the cravings of sinful man, otherwise known as the lust of the flesh. You see, the target of sinful man's cravings is our physical appetites and satisfying these appetites. And Paul tells us in Galatians 5, verse 17 that fulfilling the lusts of the flesh again is contrary to walking in the Spirit. And some of the works of the flesh that he talks about include adultery, fornication, uncleanness, idolatry, hatred, jealousy, selfish ambitions, envy, and many other things. Again, these push one outside of the boundary of God's will for us. Satan looks for soft spots in our physical appetites where we are vulnerable and weak. Soft spots, for example, such as for food and rest and comfort and even sexual enjoyment. And his goal, beloved, is to draw us away from the will of God to serve the flesh. To indulge in instant gratification. If we think about Satan's temptations of Eve and our Lord Jesus Christ, we can see this. Satan tickled Eve's appetite for the forbidden fruit by twisting the Word of God. Did God really say that you may not eat of any of the fruit of any of the trees in the garden? Oh, yes, we may eat of the fruit except for the one tree. Oh, you will not die? You'll be like God. Of course, how wonderful that would be. And Eve gave in to the cravings. We know that Jesus didn't give in to Satan's similar temptation. If you are the Son of God, prove it, command that these stones become bread. You see, with both of these temptations, it wasn't the eating itself that was sinful, but the will of God was at stake. Jesus demonstrated total dependence upon the will of God, whereas Adam and Eve stepped outside of the boundaries of God's will to satisfy the cravings of sinful man. Beloved, the cravings of sinful man point to a life that is dominated by our wants. And this is characterized by wanting what we want, when we want it, and how we want it, without consideration for anyone or anything else, and especially without regard for the will of God. And this tool of temptation attacks our dependence upon the will of God and what He has determined for us. And it's no secret that the world does so much more than to simply encourage the lust of the flesh. The world parades the lust of the flesh. It packages the lust of the flesh. And it provides for the lust of the flesh. It's right there. And this is true whether the craving is for food or clothes or status or sex or possessions or whatever else the world has to offer. Unfortunately, all we need to do is look around in magazines or advertisements, in the movie theater, on billboards, on the shelf in the department store. The world's message is clear. Gratify yourself. Pamper yourself. Why? Because you deserve it. A second tool of temptation offered by the world, John calls the lust of the eyes. So much we know enters our hearts and our minds and our thoughts through the eyes. You may be familiar with that song. I don't know if they still sing it, but when I was a boy we did. Oh, be careful little eyes what you see. For the Father up above is looking down in love. Oh, be careful little eyes what you see. And the lust of the eyes is talking about wanting for ourselves whatever it is that we see. We might normally think of this being true with a small child, boys and girls. If your mom or dad takes you to Toys R Us, how often don't you say, Oh, I'd like to have that. Mom, can you buy me that? Oh, can we get that over there? It's normal with kids, right? A small child, but it's true of big kids too. But with bigger things, cars, homes, adult toys, status, reputation, position. And this involves a constant scheming and dealing to get in our hands what we see and to hang on to it as if it's a matter of life or death. But the lust of the eyes includes more than this. It also includes seeing things from our own perspectives and giving our own definition to things and situations instead of seeing things through God's perspective defined by His Word. I think one of the most familiar illustrations we could give is when two people fall in love and one is a believer and one is not a believer. We know what the Word of God says. Yeah, but maybe God will use me to bring this other one to Christ. Yeah, maybe He will. But maybe He won't. As well, when it comes to homosexual activity. Again, you know that there are those who say, well, you know, having a homosexual tendency is it wrong? It's acting on it. That's the sin. Or, if two people want to be married, if they want to be married in a homosexual relationship, as long as it is till death to do us part, then what can we say about it? You see, through the lust of the eyes, Satan attacks our confidence in the Word of God so that we begin to see the world through our own sin-tainted glasses and we decide what's right or wrong from our own perspective. The lust of the eyes causes one to see what the world has to offer and to desire that more than a right relationship with God governed by His Word. Again, that's what happened with Eve. God warned of death for disobedience. Satan called God a liar. Eve, look at the beautiful fruit. Just look at it. It's beautiful. How can something so beautiful be so bad for you? Couldn't God be wrong? Eve, you can see for yourself. You decide. You can trust your own judgment. Adam and Eve ignored God to do what they thought would be in their own interest. But when Jesus was tempted to jump off the peak of the temple to test the Word of God, to see if the angels really would protect Him, He defended against Satan with the Word of God. You shall not put the Lord your God to the test. We are not to challenge the Word of God. We are not to test God to prove His Word. We are called to take Him at His Word, to trust Him. Our God is the one who knows the end from the beginning. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. His ways are higher than our ways. Only in Him can we have the confidence that indeed all things work together for our good. And practically speaking, beloved, this means that as Christians, as those born again who have new lives in Christ so that we now think differently than we did before, we make decisions in this life based on the protection of our souls. How many of you have ever thought of it that way? That we are to make decisions based on what's good for our soul. And this is true with regard to what we put in our body or on our body, what we fill our mind with, what we do with our time. Our whole life is to be dedicated to God and His service, including what we do with what He has given to us. We are not to put ourselves in temptation's way. And young people, this means that the friends you choose, And the activities you participate in, the movies you see, and even the college you choose, all of these and all of life's decisions must be made with regard to the protection of your soul. Jesus said, for what profit, what good is it to a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? And of course, his point is that there is no profit, there is no good in this. Because, as John says in verse 17 of our text, the world and its desires pass away. But, of course, this is true for all of us, isn't it? How we spend our time. The activities we participate in. Even the things we are tempted to participate in on the Lord's Day. Or the occupations that we choose all must depend upon the protection of our souls. I'm reminded of a humorous little story that I think many of you have probably heard. It's about a teenager that wanted to see a particular movie. Was talking to his parents about seeing this movie. Well, what's it about and what's in it? Well, it's a really, really good movie. You know, there are a couple of bad words in it. Maybe a couple of bad scenes, but just a few. And they don't really mess up the rest of the movie. It's really, really good. Well, we'll think about it. In the meantime, the parents make a pan of brownies. And the child comes back to talk to the parents. Oh, these brownies look good. Can I have one? Sure, you can have one. But first, let me tell you about all the good things that are in these brownies. There's eggs. There's flour. There's chocolate chips. All these good things. Oh, and there's one more special ingredient. I put a little bit of dog doo-doo in there. Just a little bit. Well, of course, I can't eat that brownie. Why not? Because of what you put in there. It ruined the whole thing. We laugh. But the point is clear, isn't it? Even a little bit, take a movie, even a little bit of bad language ruins the whole thing and it's potentially dangerous for our soul. Beloved, we walk by faith and not by sight. And while the world tempts us through our vision and other senses with worldly music and worldly art and many things of carnal beauty, Our standard and our guide is and is to be nothing but the Word of God. We are not to be the judges of what is good or bad, except as led by the Holy Spirit and His Word. But there's a third tool of temptation offered by the world, and that is the boasting of what He has and does. Other Bible versions call it the boastful pride of life. Now, we can say that with the first two offerings, the cravings of sinful man and the lust of the eyes, that there is an unholy desire with those, an unholy desire for the things that one does not have. But with this third tool of boasting, there is unholy pride in the things that one does have. And this is talking about the things of life. It's talking about the ways of life, the means of life, and the manner of this life that is lived. This is talking about boasting or bragging arrogance in this life. And the bottom line is it is talking about exalting oneself and one's possessions and one's abilities over everyone else. And this is the heart of the New Age movement that drives man to be his own God and rule his own world and to steer his own destiny. In reality, you see, this attacks our obedience to the worship of God. This temptation tempts us to commit idolatry, idolizing and worshiping ourselves over God. And again, that's what Satan tempted Eve to go after. You shall be like God. Why in the world would you want to be satisfied with the position God gives you when you can be like Him and you can dictate your own position? You can determine your own destiny. And of course, we know that what really happened was that Adam and Eve gave up the glorious position that God had given to them. Satan tried the same tactic with Christ. I'll give you all that you can see. Just worship me. Christ fulfilled the will of God perfectly and said, you shall worship the Lord your God alone. And He paid in full, beloved, our punishment for the cravings of sinful man, for the lust of the eyes and the boasting of what one has and does. You see, the boasting, the boastful pride of life tempts us to find our identity in the things of this life, like our advanced degrees, like our reputation, or our annual income, or our possessions, or our friends. Instead of finding our identity in Christ alone, the world's offerings, Satan's deadly tools of temptation serve only to take our eyes off of our God and Savior and to focus on ourselves. His goal for us is selfishness and independence from God. But as we sing with Psalm 73 in the Psalter hymnal, to live apart from God is death. And that's the world's ultimate goal for us. That's Satan's ultimate goal for us, isn't it? Ultimate destruction. Oh, the world may be ignorant of that. Because that too will be the end of the world. Verse 17 says, The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. You see, this life must be seen in the shadow of that familiar road sign which says, dead end. Dead end. The things most precious and most desirable to the world in this life is nothing but a fleeting shadow. This world may promise many things, but it only leads to decay because every good gift and every perfect gift comes only from the heavenly father in reality though this is this idea of the world passing away is also somewhat hard for us as believers to understand isn't it you see we build safety into our buildings and into our automobiles and into our ships and into our aircraft our government works to secure our futures scientists look for ways to preserve mother earth and cause us to live longer Yet the truth is that lovers of the world will be left naked, wretched, shattered, and doomed. All of the treasures and pleasures of this life are like water that slips through your fingers or evaporates into thin air. Paul says, the form of this world is passing away. But by the grace of God, we know that the church's one foundation is Jesus Christ, her Lord. John says, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. Remember, as John taught us a little bit earlier, obedience to the commands of God is the true test of knowing Him, of having fellowship with Him, and of walking in the light. You see, the benefits John said that the children and the fathers and the young men have, those are the things that last forever. The forgiveness of sins, strength, Overcoming the evil one. Knowing the Father. Those are the things that last forever. Why would we go after the things that pass away? Those benefits earned for us by Christ are the things then that motivate God's people to forsake the world. Indeed, believers are in the world, but not of the world. We may use and we may enjoy the technology God has given us unless we use them to feed the offerings of the world, the cravings of sinful man, the lust of the eyes, and the boasting of what one has and does. You see, beloved, our motive must always be our heart direction must be, first of all, would God be honored? And then second, will this hurt my neighbor? And will it harm my soul? The believer's new direction in Christ Jesus is to be the promotion and the advancement of God's kingdom. As the saying goes, only one life will soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last. Those who live for this life will die with this life and they will suffer eternal death. But those who embrace the Lord Jesus Christ receive all that He has merited, the entire package of salvation, and that includes living forever. Is that your joy? Are you a citizen of the kingdom of the New Jerusalem which God's people look forward to in which there will be no sin, no sickness, no sorrow, no selfishness, no independence from God, but only never any fellowship with God and His people in the presence of Christ. Beloved, may we not give in to the selfish, instant gratification mentality of this world. May we not let ourselves slip into the devil's clutches. But as Hebrews 12 says, let us lay aside every weight in the sin which so easily ensnares us. And let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. And may we be content in any and every situation of this life in total dependence upon the One who is from everlasting to everlasting. Those who find their source of life only in Jesus Christ by grace through faith place their dependence upon the will of God. They find their confidence in the Word of God. And they receive joy in obedience to the worship of God. The only way to be in the world but not of the world is to be in the Lord Jesus Christ. There you have it. If you love the world, you hate God, you're outside of the kingdom, and that's eternal death. But if you love God, that's separation from the world. You're in the kingdom, and that's eternal life. Beloved, what is your object of love? Amen. Shall we pray? Father, indeed, we confess that every day our eyes wander. Our desires deceive us. We know that Satan continues to tempt us. And Father, we desire to be delivered from his temptation. We pray that You would give us strength to stand firm. That You would give to us godly motives and godly desires so that indeed as we enjoy the good things of this life which you have provided we would do so in a way that glorifies your holy name and advances your kingdom. Father, we are a people who desire to learn but also people who continue to need to be taught. We pray that you would indeed teach us and lead us day by day. In the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior, we pray these things. Amen.