Do Not Love The World – Part 1
1 John 2:15-17 (15)
February 27, 2022
As you know, John has written us here a very direct and bold letter.
It’s not a hard letter to understand, though it can be hard to swallow.
• John writes in clear absolutes.
• John writes with black and white dogmatism.
• John quickly and succinctly gets to the heart of the matter.
And after studying verses 12-14 we know why.
THE CHURCH IS UNDER ATTACK.
The truth is being distorted and the lines of what is Christian and what is not
Are beginning to be blurred.
John writes to bring clarity.
• He wants those who are lost to know they are lost.
• He wants those who are redeemed to know they are saved.
• He wants the new converts to rest in the fact that they know the Father
• He wants believers who are contending for the faith to know they are right
• He wants the spiritually mature to pass on their convictions
In short, John is writing to solidify conviction.
And you don’t do that by being vague.
And by now I think we can clearly say that
• If you are saved you probably love the bold and direct nature of John here.
• If you are lost this is not a pleasant study.
But for both groups it is a necessary one.
Our encouragement is to simply hear what John say,
Believe him, and respond accordingly.
Well, having explained the purpose of his boldness,
THIS MORNING John immediately returns to being bold.
And these 3 verses might be the biggest litmus test yet.
LET’S JUST BE HONEST.
• We live in America
• We enjoy financial prosperity
• Having plenty has become a way of life
While we certainly give thanks to God for all the things we enjoy in life
We must at the same time recognize that
OUR PROSPERITY IS ALSO A GREAT THREAT TO OUR SPIRITUAL LIFE.
YOU HAVE TO SEE THAT.
When you live in a country as affluent as ours
You must maintain a visual image of the Rich Young Ruler
Walking away from Jesus weeping
And you must hear in your ears the explanation of Jesus:
Matthew 19:23-24 “And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. “Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
Certainly NOT every rich man is lost,
NOR is it that no rich man can be saved.
When the disciples recognized the difficulty of what Jesus said there, they asked, “Then who can be saved?”
And Jesus said:
Matthew 19:26 “And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Rich people can be saved.
• Zacchaeus is an example of that.
• Matthew is an example of that.
• Joseph of Arimathea is an example of that.
Rich men can be saved,
But it is important to recognize how difficult it is.
Earthly prosperity is NOT the easiest road to salvation.
And it is therefore important to recognize that
• While God does give us all good things to enjoy,
• Prosperity in this life will always be a threat
• Not only to salvation but also to sanctification and faithfulness.
There’s just no way around that.
That is a truth that you must come to grips with.
We LIVE IN A CULTURE WHERE PROSPERITY IS HIGH ON THE LIST.
• We live in a culture that seeks nothing like it seeks prosperity.
• We live in a culture that will do almost anything to protect its comforts.
• We live in a culture that applauds prosperous and questions the poor.
Now, it’s not your fault that you were born in America.
God determined the days of your life and the boundaries of your habitation.
BUT YOU MUST RECOGNIZE THE THREAT OF THIS PLACE.
In a place like this there is a constant temptation; a constant pull;
For you to SEEK, LOVE, and TRUST in earthly prosperity.
This is blatant idolatry.
We are called to seek, love, and trust God.
And, we also understand that seeking, loving, and trusting God
Is EASIER when you are POOR than when you are rich.
I just want you to be aware of the threat. (and so does John)
In fact, John now approaches perhaps his most convicting test yet.
John has already questioned whether or not we walk in darkness.
• Do you walk in darkness?
• Do you live in a sinful lifestyle?
• How you answer that is an indicator of the genuineness of your salvation.
John has already questioned our humility and repentance.
• Do you sin?
• Do you have sin?
• Do you confess that sin?
• How you answer that is an indicator of the genuineness of your salvation.
John has already questioned our obedience.
• Do you obey Christ?
• How you answer that is an indicator of the genuineness of your salvation.
John has already questioned our love.
• Do you hate your brother?
• How you answer that is an indicator of the genuineness of your salvation.
And now John moves to another test. Perhaps the hardest.
DO YOU LOVE THE WORLD?
In our culture this may be the most important question you or I ask ourselves.
John is about to expose a cancer that none of us can afford to overlook.
And as we begin, I want to remind you of something Jesus said:
John 3:19-21 “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. “But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”
Let that be a verse that guides our study of these very important verses.
• Let us not be people who reject the truth for fear of being exposed,
• But let us be people who run to the light in hopes that God will expose and
show us everything we need to know.
Well, let’s start with John’s simple command.
(15a) “Do not love the world nor the things in the world.”
That is the simple imperative.
It is clear, it is concise, and there really shouldn’t be any confusion.
However, let’s look at it and ponder it for a moment.
Let’s think about the word “world” for a second.
• What does John mean when he tells us not to love “the world”?
The Greek word is KOSMOS
• It can speak of the literal physical created world.
• We talk about the cosmos as the entire universe.
The word also speaks however of “order” as in the order of the universe.
• You are familiar with the word “cosmetology” which speaks of someone putting their face in order or their hair in order with cosmetics.
• Sometimes this word is even translated “adornment”
So is that the command?
• That we are not to love the created order?
• That we are not to love the physical universe?
• Is that what John means?
Well, listen, today there is some reality to this.
We think of ENVIRONMENTALISM
I’m going to tell you today that environmentalism is very much a religion.
I’m NOT saying a Christian should not care for the planet.
• The Levitical Law even prescribed things like providing the land with rest.
• The land was a very important aspect to the covenant God made with Israel.
• We read often of them polluting the land with the shedding of innocent blood.
• And obviously there is the common sense reality that if you make a mess of
your surroundings that those surroundings are going to be far less
pleasing to live in.
• Things like conservation and cleanliness are certainly not bad things.
But there are plenty of ways in which environmentalism
Has turned into a religion for many people.
We even hear of idolatrous and mythical terms like “Mother Nature” or “Mother Earth”
As the source of life.
And certainly we see the misguided mindsets
That regard the salvation of the planet
As the salvation of the human race.
But Scripture promises that
• This created order will one day be totally annihilated by God.
• He will burn up the elements with intense heat.
If you want to talk about ECOLOGICAL DISASTERS
Just go read the book of the Revelation.
No one is going to trash the planet like God will one day trash the planet.
God will destroy this one and create a new heavens and a new earth.
ANYONE who has made it their calling or purpose to “Save The Planet”
Is following a misguided purpose in life.
Certainly anyone who worships the planet is guilt of idolatry.
Romans 1:22-25 “Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”
There’s a sense in which John is saying don’t love the physical world
Though I think we all realize that THERE IS MORE HERE THAN THAT.
For John doesn’t just stop by saying “Do not love the world”.
John goes on to say, “nor the things of the world.”
It’s CLEARLY MORE than a command about the physical created order.
IN ONE SENSE we here have to address the love of physical things or maybe better called “STUFF”.
Earthly treasures.
Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
• We think of the Rich Young Ruler who refused to sell his possessions.
• We think of the disciples who left houses and farms and lands and fishing boats and money tables to follow Jesus.
There is a real aspect here in which John is telling us not to love stuff.
• It is the sin of hoarding.
• It is the sin of storing up treasure.
• It is the sin of putting our trust in retirement as our security instead of God.
• It is the sin of seeing our brother in need and closing our heart.
1 John 3:16-18 “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.”
And this is a REAL PROBLEM and TEMPTATION in our affluent society.
Our society constantly preaches of the importance of financial security
And having enough for me first and things like that.
But we must be ever aware of
• The temptation to trust in our surplus as our security.
• Our propensity to hoard that which we do not need.
• The sin of finding satisfaction in stuff instead of God.
When John tells us not to love the things of the world
There is a very real and timely warning here regarding stuff.
And that may STILL NOT BE THE BEST understanding.
It’s NOT LIKE “things” are only physical things.
There are other worldly things we can love
That aren’t necessarily physical things.
For example we can talk about worldly praise or worldly esteem.
• The WORLD’S ADMIRATION is certainly something people are prone to love.
We live in a culture right now that craves worldly approval.
The current word is “WOKE”
Which oddly enough is supposed to mean “awakened to the truth”
What it actually represents is when a person
Has altered their beliefs to be accepted by the social majority.
• It is to love the approval of men so much that you cave on your convictions and
toss out any conflicting opinion so that you can have the world’s pat on the back.
That is one of the “things” that many have shown to love.
Even in Jesus’ day.
John 12:42-43 “Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.”
Loving the things of this world would include WORLDLY IDEOLOGIES.
Think about the temptation of Jesus.
Matthew 4:8-9 “Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.”
There was both a physical aspect there and a spiritual one.
Satan offered Jesus both thrones and glory.
When Jesus called His disciples to follow Him He was speaking about leaving physical treasures,
BUT ALSO THINGS LIKE THEIR COMFORTS AND REPUTATIONS.
• One man was told he’d be homeless if he followed Jesus.
• Another was told he would have to relinquish his earthly inheritance.
• Another was told he could not be concerned about his reputation.
Those are all “things” that we are told we cannot love
And “things” which we must surrender.
Matthew 16:24-25 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”
There is a wide element here of what John is saying.
• Don’t love the physical planet as your source of security and provision.
• Don’t love the stuff of this world as your satisfaction or security.
• Don’t love the ideologies of this world as your guide for belief or conviction.
ALL OF THAT COULD CERTAINLY BE IN PLAY HERE.
John says, “Do not love the world nor the things in the world.”
Now some would immediately throw their hand up and quote:
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
And I suppose one could ask, “How can John tell us not to love the world when Scripture is clear that God loved the world?”
The obvious difference is that God’s love for the world
Spoke of humanity not things.
Jesus did not come to save the planet.
Jesus did not come to save our stuff.
Jesus came to save humanity.
Jesus came to save sinners.
Certainly John is clear in his letter that we are to love people too.
• We are to love our neighbor.
• We have already been told not to hate our brother.
The distinction is obvious.
John’s command here prohibits us from loving the physical things of the world and the ideologies that the world broadcasts.
That is what John means by “world”
But let’s talk about ANOTHER WORD there.
Let’s talk about the word “love”
We’ve seen the object, but let’s talk about the action.
• John didn’t say, “Don’t store the world”
• John didn’t say, “Don’t admire the world”
• John didn’t say, “Don’t respect the world”
• John said, “Do not love the world”
What does that mean?
“love” there AGAPEO
Which is that familiar word which speaks of “God-like, or unconditional love”
If you look up the definition, especially as it relates to “things” it is defined like this: “to be well-pleased; to be contented at or with a thing.”
But I think there is ANOTHER PASSAGE THAT MIGHT BETTER HELP you understand the gist of what John is saying.
Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”
Certainly you see the word “love” there in the text
Where Jesus said a man will “hate the one and love the other”
There Jesus uses hate and love as OPPOSITES.
But if you notice in the text, Jesus also uses synonyms of the words
To better understand His point.
For Jesus immediately restates the concept by saying,
“he will be devoted to one and despise the other.”
There “devoted” and “despise” are also OPPOSITES,
But they are also synonyms of the previous statement.
In this text to love something is synonymous with being devoted to it.
And hating something is synonymous with despising it.
That is a good way of understanding what the Bible means
When it talks about you loving something.
THE ISSUE IS DEVOTION
What are you devoted to?
• Are you devoted to God or to wealth?
• Are you devoted to God or Mother Earth?
• Are you devoted to God or your stuff?
• Are you devoted to God or your reputation?
• What was the Rich Young Ruler devoted to? (clearly wealth)
Do you understand then what John is talking about?
“Do not love the world nor the things in the world.”
Or
“Do not be devoted to this world or to stuff or to worldly esteem”
THERE IS OUR FIRST REAL POINT OF SELF-EVALUATION.
John very clearly tells us not to love those things.
Now I must ask, “Do I?”
• If Jesus asked me to part with my stuff and follow Him where would my devotion lie?
• If Jesus asked me to part with my reputation or comfort and follow Him, where would my devotion lie?
Now listen, don’t answer that as a herd.
You have to answer that as an individual.
What we like to do with passages like this is look around the room and say, “Well everyone else in here is keeping all their stuff so surely Jesus doesn’t care if I keep mine.”
I know that temptation.
It reminds me of when Jesus told Peter that he was going to be martyred.
John 21:21-22 “So Peter seeing him said to Jesus, “Lord, and what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!”
We don’t evaluate our devotion
By whether or not I appear as devoted as the next guy.
The Rich Young Ruler was told to sell everything and follow Jesus.
Zacchaeus agreed to give away half of his possessions and apparently keep living in Jericho.
I DON’T KNOW WHY.
• But I do know the issue of the heart was devotion.
• Neither of them was allowed to love their money.
In our culture with such a priority set on prosperity and security
Every one of us ought to take a deep inward look
And ask ourselves where our devotion lies.
Is there something you possess that God can’t have?
Is there something you are more devoted to?
The consistent call of God is that men lose this life
And forsake this world in order that they may gain Christ.
And though the extent of that loss may look different in various people
The willingness of that loss is 100% the same.
IN FACT, the willingness to forsake devotion to the world
Is such a central concept to Christianity that John uses it here
As another litmus test by which we evaluate genuine salvation.
John is actually going to show you that loving the world is characteristic of the lost.
• Loving the world is what lost people do.
• Loving the world is what unregenerate people do.
• And thus the command for us to not love the world.
IN THE REMAINDER OF OUR TEXT
John will show us 3 truths about people who love the world.
#1 THE LOVE THEY LACK
1 John 2:15
“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.”
First you see the clear distinction.
A person can either love the world or they can love God
BUT THEY CANNOT DO BOTH.
Jesus made this same statement in the verse we looked at a moment ago.
Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”
James was pretty dogmatic about it as well.
James 4:4 “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
It’s a wonder the church could ever get confused about such an issue.
Few truths in Scripture are spoken about
With more clarity and force than this one.
Genuine believers forsake their love of the world for a love for God.
Genuine believers forsake their devotion to the world for a devotion to God.
Paul said:
Philippians 3:7-9 “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith,”
After the Rich Young Ruler left Peter said:
Matthew 19:27 “Then Peter said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?”
There is simple fact that must be acknowledged:
You cannot love the world and God.
TO FURTHER CLARIFY you should understand
Why the statement “the love of the Father” is a distinguishing statement.
This love is not something that is produced by the person.
While we are commanded to love God, it is a command
Which can only be fulfilled through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 5:5 “and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
Your love for God is not a love that originates with you.
It is a supernatural love for God
Which is given to us when the Holy Spirit moves in.
IN FACT, the love a believer has for God
Is actually the love which Christ has for the Father.
In that famous Romans 8 passage (which is often misunderstood)
Romans 8:38-39 “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
• In that passage Paul is NOT SAYING (as so many claim) that nothing can cause God to quit loving us.
• That is true, for He loved us at our worst, but that is not Paul’s point.
• Paul is talking about tribulation and hardship and peril.
• He IS talking about the types of things that might cause us to quit loving God.
• But Paul says that we overwhelmingly conquer in all those things and that none of those things “will be able to separate us from the love of God”
He is talking about our love for God.
And then Paul defines that love. He says “which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”
The love that the believer is given for God
Is the same love which Christ has for God.
It is a supernatural love which does not originate with ourselves.
This is why love for God is such an accurate indicator of salvation.
It cannot be produced by the human will.
If a person has genuine love for God they are redeemed.
If you’ve ever heard R.C. Sproul talk about ASSURANCE OF SALVATION, he has a favorite analogy.
Someone would come and ask how to know if they are saved.
Sproul would ask them 3 questions.
1) “Do you love God perfectly?” (of course they must answer no)
2) “Do you love God as much as you should?” (well #1 is no then this is no too)
3) “Do you love God at all?”
And if you say “yes” then the next question is “Where did that love come from?”
That is a mark of regeneration.
That is a mark of salvation.
BUT HERE IS WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW.
You cannot lay claim to that mark of salvation if you love the world.
When asked “Do you love God?”
If you love the world you cannot answer “yes”
(at least not honestly)
For John is clear:
“If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
And that is the first point here.
• Those who are devoted to the world cannot claim to be devoted to God.
• And if they do make that claim, then it is a false claim.
I realize that this is somewhat of a painful test,
But it is a necessary one none the less.
The facts are these:
• God’s children do not crave the world, lost people do.
• God’s children do not pursue the world, lost people do.
• God’s children do not trust the world, lost people do.
• God’s children are not devoted to the world, lost people are.
Galatians 6:14 “But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
That is a mark of regeneration.
Galatians 5:19-24 “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”
You see it again.
Those sinful lusts and desires that crave the world
Have been crucified by child of God.
When Peter talks to the redeemed he says:
2 Peter 1:4 “For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”
Believers don’t see the world and its evil system
As something to be loved, they see it as something to be escaped.
The world is anti-Christ and the believer has no desire for it.
They sing, “I’d rather have Jesus than silver and gold. I’d rather be His than have riches untold. I’d rather have Jesus than houses or lands. I’d rather be led by His nail-pierced hand. Than to be a king of a vast domain or be held in sin’s dread sway. I’d rather have Jesus than anything this world affords today.”
They sing, “Take the world, but give me Jesus, all it’s joys are but a name. But His love abides forever, through eternal years the same.”
They sing, “Where the whole realm of nature mine, that were a present far too small. Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.”
But that is a desire that the unredeemed lack.
They may be like the Rich Young Ruler
And understand that Jesus has answers for eternal life,
But they are too devoted to their wealth to receive that life.
Those who love the world demonstrate “The Love They Lack”
And that is that they lack a love for God.
But that’s just the first one, there’s 2 more.
And we’ll have to get to those next time.
