1 John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16: For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17: And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

Introduction

Today, we come to 1 John chapter 2 and verses 15-17. It is one of the most familiar passages in 1 John. It’s about the world, its nature, its danger, and its destiny. By way of introduction let me read Dr. D. W. Ekstrand’s perspective on this topic, “The world obviously has a different view of how we should live. The postmodern culture in which we live, believes that all ideas are equally valid, and that we are all free to believe and practice whatever we desire, in the name of diversity and tolerance. Thus, in our broadminded world, more and more people have gravitated toward a “hedonistic view” of life — “Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die.” It is easy for the Christian, in this environment, to embrace a humanistic view of the world rather than a biblical view. To love and enjoy the society of the world is to have a heart “destitute of grace” – be aware of it; the world is a bitter foe to grace; it is an enemy to God, and if you befriend it, you make yourself an enemy of God (James 4:4). Conversely, being a friend to the world is to help it along in some sense, to encourage its spirit, to add to its credibility in the world, and to abet [support] it in some way.”

We all know how powerful attraction to the world can be and how strong the grip of the world is on the hearts of men. And even we Christians, if we are not careful, we too can be entangled with the world and render us ineffective witnesses. So, this morning, I want us to consider verses 15 to 17 in three headings, namely, the Caution Against Loving the World, the Corruption of the World, and the Culmination of the World.

I - The Caution Against Loving the World

Our text begins with a warning.

1 John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

In this passage the apostle John gives a warning to all believers against loving the world. Today, the greatest threat, the greatest danger to Christians is not persecution from the world, but seduction by the world. The greatest hindrance in our Christian walk and witness is a love for the world. There is a great danger to love the things of the world because the world has a trap for every one of us, even for all of us who are Christians.

To understand this warning, let’s first define what the world is. What is this world that we should not love? Some are confused as to the meaning of “world.” The term “world” is used in at least three different ways in Scripture. It sometimes refers to the physical world that God made. In Acts 17:24, we read, “God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands.” In this verse the “world” refers to the earth that God made. But in our text, John is not the talking about the earth or the world of nature. There is nothing wrong about loving and appreciating the beauty of God’s creation. There is nothing sinful about using the things that God has made. Actually in 1 Timothy 6:17, we are told that God gives us richly all things to enjoy. God abundantly provides everything for us to use and to enjoy.

Other times the term “world” refers to the people of the world. But again, John is not saying that we should not love the people of the world, since we read in John 3:16 these very familiar words, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” If God so loved the people of the world, we Christians ought to love them as well. The Bible clearly teaches that we are to love our neighbors and to love one another. We are also told to love even our enemies, to love even those who persecute us and despitefully use us.

So, what is the world that we should not love? It is the world system. The world that we are not to love is the world system that is opposed to God, opposed to Christ and His people. It is that world system that leaves God out and draws man away from God. We are not to love the wisdom of the world, the way of the world, and the philosophy of the world. This world system belongs to and controlled by Satan. Our Lord spoke about this in John 14:30, “Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.” There is a world system that is in operation today and our Lord describes Satan as the prince of this world system. He has this world system under his power and control. This is the world that we are warned against loving.

John goes on to say in 1 John 2:15b “If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” John warns the believers not to love the world or the things that are in the world, for the simple reason that love for the world is not compatible with love for the Father. Love for the world and love for the Father cannot reside at the same time in the same heart. You and I cannot love the world and God at the same time. Love for the world pushes out love for the Father, and love for the Father pushes out love for the world. If you love the Father, you cannot set your heart on things that are not of the Father! Jesus taught the same principle in Matthew 6:24, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” You and I cannot love the world and the Father at the same time. Love for the world will pull you away from God. It will draw you in the opposite direction. It will draw you away from God.

II - The Corruption of the World

After John warns his readers against loving the world, he now in verse 16, gives them the support and explanation for his warning. 1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. The reason love for the world draws us away from the Father is because of the corruption of the world. The world that we are not to love is the world that is characterized by three things: “lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.” The problem is not the world itself, but the temptation and enticement that the world provides. We live in a world that is ruined and polluted by sin. All of us face temptation daily, for in the world, there is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. And every sin we commit against God can be placed in one of these three categories. These are the areas Satan tempted Jesus with, in the wilderness and you can be assured that these are the same areas that Satan will tempt you with as well.

Let’s look at them individually. But before we proceed, I just want you know that I don’t enjoy talking about sin, but if I am going to be a faithful preacher, I must. As we talk about sin, understand that my purpose is not to condemn, but to help and to warn us from the danger of the world and its temptation and to deliver us from falling into its trap.

1. Lust of the Flesh

This is the first temptation that John identifies in our text. The word “lust” is the term we usually use to describe an undisciplined and uncontrolled desire. It is the unlawful use and excessive expression of basic and legitimate desires such as hunger, thirst, and affection. Eating is not sin, but gluttony is. Drinking water and beverages is not sin, but drunkenness is. Rest and sleep are gifts of God, but laziness is disgraceful. Marriage bed is a precious gift from God but when used outside of bonds of marriage it becomes defiled and immoral.

In Galatians 5:19-21, the apostle Paul gives a list of the deeds of the flesh and you will notice that everything God said about the flesh is negative. “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness [sensuality], lasciviousness [promiscuity], Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance [contentions], emulations [jealousy], wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” Here is a list of sinful behavior that characterizes the world. The lust of the flesh includes anything that appeals to man’s fallen nature. It refers to the basic nature of unregenerate man that makes him blind to spiritual truth.

Lust of the flesh is the first area that Satan tempted our Lord in the wilderness.

Matthew 4:3-4, “And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

Our Lord Jesus declares unto Satan that there is more to life than satisfying the lusts of the flesh. We are to live by the Word of God rather than according to the lusts and desires of the flesh.

2. Lust of the Eyes

The second temptation that John identifies in our text is the lust of the eyes. We must realize that our eyes have desires as well. Be careful what you looked at because your eyes can get you into trouble. Many times, this is how temptation begins and a simple look will lead to the lusts of the flesh. The eyes are the gateway into the mind and what enters the mind can affect our will and decision. The media and companies know this. So much of the advertisement and entertainment appeals to our eyes. Advertisement appeals many times are made by things that are immoral and materialistic. This leads to covetousness.

Just look at the Super Bowl games where 100 million people are watching, the cost of a 30-second ad is $5.6 million and that is just the airtime. Companies are willing to spend big money for a 30-second commercial, why? These companies are not throwing away money. They know the power and effectiveness of having their product displayed before your eyes. What you look with your eyes has a great influence on your mind and choices. They know that all that is needed is a little or short exposure to their product for you to buy their product.

We all have heard the nursery rhyme,

O be careful little eyes what you see

O be careful little eyes what you see

For the Father up above

Is looking down in love

So, be careful little eyes what you see

How many in our day have fallen to temptation and sin because their eyes were looking in the wrong place. David knew this by experience, so he prayed in Psalm 119:37, “Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.”

In the wilderness, Satan tried to tempt Jesus by appealing to His eye.

Matthew 4:8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9: And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

Satan took our Lord to a high mountain for the Lord to see with His eyes all the kingdoms of the world. It was there that Satan offered Jesus all of that, if He would only worship Him. Satan tried to appeal to Jesus through the lust of the eye.

But our Lord responded in verse 10, “Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” Our Lord did not allow what He saw to influence Him and distract His resolve to do the will of the Father.

3. Pride of Life

The third temptation that John identifies in our text is the pride of life. The pride of life speaks of boastful pride or vainglory. The boasting of who we are, what we have,  what we can accomplish and what we have accomplished. It is the desire to be better than others so that you can glory in yourself and your accomplishments. There is nothing wrong in doing your best in school, or being diligent at work in order to be a good steward of God’s gifts and to bring Him glory. But we should never forget that if we accomplish anything or possess anything, it is God who enabled us, and it is God who gave us everything that we have. We must beware of boasting in our achievements and possessions as if we attained these things by our own intelligence or hard work.

1 Corinthians 4:7 For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it.

Boastful pride motivates much of what people do today. A survey was taken on British schoolchildren, asking them to name the best things in the world. The very first item on the top of the list was being a celebrity or popular. The second was good looks. The third was being rich. This is the pride of life that has corrupted the world so much that we see it even in the little children.

The Bible is filled with accounts of people becoming consumed with pride. Satan is the ultimate example of this. The sin of pride was the sin that caused the Lord to cast him out of heaven. Isaiah 14:12-15 “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.”

Pride was at the heart of Satan’s fall. He was filled with pride since before creation and he desires that all of mankind embrace sinful pride.

We all battle this temptation daily, even our Lord Jesus was not exempt from this temptation when He walked on earth. He faced and responded to this temptation in ...

Matthew 4:5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, 6:  And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 7: Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

Here, Satan was tempting Jesus with pride. in effect Satan was saying, “Since You are the Son of God, the only begotten of the Father, why not cast Yourself down before the world to prove Your deity and power over the angels?” Satan knew that Jesus had power that none of us possess and he wanted Him to display that power in a boastful and  prideful way. However, Jesus was not seduced or overcome with this temptation either.

By the way, these are also the three classes of temptations in which Satan deceived Eve.

Genesis 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food [lust of the flesh], and that it was pleasant to the eyes [lust of the eyes], and a tree to be desired to make one wise [pride of life], she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life. These are also the three classes of temptations in which Satan deceived Eve and these are the very temptation that Satan will tempt you and me.

III - The Culmination (Destiny) of the World

1 John 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

John knows the danger and corruption of the world, so he warns his readers and us not to love the world. I know that this warning is simple and easy to understand but it’s not so easy to live it. Why? Because the Father we cannot see , but the world we can see. We tend to be drawn toward things we can see. Also one of the strongest reasons we tend to love the world is that we think the world will continue to exist the way they are forever. But in 2 Corinthians 4:18, Paul reminds us to “look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

And so, John after giving the simple but needful warning, he gives another reason why we are not to love the world. It’s because of where the world is heading—the world passeth away, and the lust thereof. The world and its desires are passing away. The world in its present state will not last forever. The present evil system that leaves God out and opposes God is passing away. It is foolish to love the world system both because it is opposed to God and because it will not last forever.

No wise investor would buy stock in a company that is sure to go bankrupt. No experienced builder would build a house on a shaky and unstable ground. But there are multitude who spend all their lives, time, and energy in investing and chasing things that are temporal and passing away. The world is passing away! To set your heart on the world that is not of God and is passing away would be unwise. Just as it would be foolish to invest in a company that is sure to go bankrupt, it would be foolish to invest all your life in a world that is passing away. It will only end in heartache, disappointment, and eternal misery.

Mark 8:36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? 37: Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

In contrast, John goes on to say, “he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” The one who does the will of God will abide forever. Again, the word “doeth” is in present tense, which means one’s habit of life is obedience to the will of God. While not perfect, the general direction of their life is to pursue and practice the will of God. Keep in mind that obedience to the will of God does not earn salvation or eternal life. But it does prove that one has been born again. The habitual pursuit and practice of God’s will is the evidence that one has been born again.

As Benfield has said, “We all need to understand this powerful truth. Our lives will culminate in one of two places. All who ever lived will be judged of the Lord, just as He will judge the world, or be accepted of Him because of a relationship with Christ, with the guarantee of eternal life. We cannot have it both ways. All fall into one of two categories, saved or lost. Each category has eternal implications with vastly different surroundings.”

Closing Thoughts

“Love not the world, neither the things of the world.” Please do not misunderstand what John is saying. He is not saying you cannot own a car or own a house or get a college education or desire a good paying and stable job or take a nice vacation. No, what he is simply saying is do not set your affection on the things of the world—its way, its wisdom, its philosophy and its system. Notice what the world wants from you—the world wants your love and affection. And this love and affection are expressed in the way we spend our time, money, and energy. The world  say tells you to give your time, money, and energy to the things of this world instead of the things of God. It is true that we live in a physical world. We are in the world, but we are not to let the world tell us how to live our lives. We Christians are called to be in the world but not of the world. God wants us to live our lives and live it more abundantly under the lordship of Jesus Christ.

We are also called to go into the world with the gospel. We do not withdraw ourselves from the world or from the society. Our Lord Jesus Christ has sent us into the world to bear witness of Him

John 17:15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. 16: They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17: Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. 18: As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.

Why has He sent us into the world? He sent us into the world not to condemn the world, not to conform to the world, not to condone the world. No, He sent us into the world to confront the world with the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

Now, let me speak to those who are still of this world, living for this world. The apostle John is contrasting two ways of life in this section: a life lived for eternity and a life lived for the now. Remember this world and its desires are passing away. If you care about your soul and your soul’s destiny, I pray that you would consider Jesus Christ who “came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” (1 Timothy 1:15)

The world will try to satisfy 

That longing in your soul,

You may search the wide world over 

But you’ll be just as before.

You’ll never find true satisfaction 

Until you’ve found the Lord,

For only Jesus can satisfy your soul.

If you could have the fame and fortune 

All the wealth you could obtain,

Yet you have not Christ within 

Your living here would be in vain;

There’ll come a time when death shall call you, 

Riches cannot help you then,

So come to Jesus for He can satisfy.

CHORUS

Only Jesus can satisfy your soul

And only He can change your heart

And make you whole;

He'll give you peace you never knew

Sweet love and joy and Heaven too,

For only Jesus can satisfy your soul.

Come to Jesus. He is the Bread of Life and only Jesus Christ that satisfies our innermost needs and our greatest need!

AMEN!