1 John 2:15-17

You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

12-14 - God’s Abundance

Sins Forgiven, Know the One from the Beginning, Strength and Victory

15-17 - The World’s Emptiness

1 John 2:15-17.

1 John 2:15–17 ESV

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

Doesn’t mean don’t love God’s good creation, don’t love waterfalls, don’t love rivers, forests. You feel a cool breeze and smile and Joe Christian says, HEY, DON’T YOU LOVE THE WORLD!

Genesis 1:31 (ESV)

And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.

Also doesn’t mean don’t love people or outsiders (Jn 3:16) - uses same Greek word earlier

John 3:16 (ESV)

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son

1 John 2:2 ESV

He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

So what DOES he mean?

1 John 2:15–17 (ESV)

For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.

Talking about the part of the world that is NOT FROM THE FATHER - not creation, not people, all those ARE from the Father, we are talking about sinful desire.

He tells you what he means, “All that is in the world” - the DESIRES of the flesh, the DESIRES of the eyes, the PRIDE of Life. Epithumia is the word - Lust . . Craving for worldly things.

This is the WORLDLINESS that he is talking about - think about those 3 categories!

Now think about our age filled with advertising, pop stars, instagram models, social media lives, selfies, influencers, celebrity worship, sports achievement worship . . . in a culture of “Just be yourself, and Do You, and Follow Your Heart, and Be Your Authentic Self,” where the ultimate sin is suggesting that you or someone else should change, or go against your heart - one quote on this passage said, “it is not an overstatement to say that if wordliness means living to please our flesh and pursue what our eyes desire - so that we can boast about our conquests and accomplishments - then worldliness is a synonym for the current America.”

THIS IS OUR CULTURE -

Craving of the Flesh and Eyes? This is what we hear affirmed every day. DO WHATEVER YOU WANT, GET WHATEVER YOU DESIRE, as long as there is consent, as long as it doesn’t physically harm another, do you! get yours! IF there is a God, he would want you to do what makes you happy! So do whatever makes You happy! Don’t worry about doing what is RIGHT, what does that even mean? Don’t worry about being GOOD, you just define GOOD for yourself and then be that. Don’t worry about gleaning wisdom from the previous generation or finding your place in something larger than you, you decide what life is about for yourself.

Pride of Life? Come on! That’s everything! All everyone in this country seems to be doing all the time is stroking the pride of life. Post so you can get likes, post so everyone knows how busy you are, post so people know how successful or attractive you are.

I’m old enough to remember a time when it was considered shameful and improper to boast. . . , now you’re just “empowering yourself and practicing self-love.”

A few years ago if you wanted to brag about yourself or your kid you just had to say “Humbled to receive ___” and then you could brag about your scholarship offer or promotion or award or whatever your kid did, (I never knew what that means, I sure am humbled to have a kid thats so much better than your kid, I sure am humbled that all these schools want me, I sure am humbled to be so awesome) - - - or just put hashtag blessed after your boasting, now you don’t even have to do that. Just boast! Just go fishing for someone to stroke your pride, the thing that you’re supposed to be trying to murder daily.

Just when I was in college, just 15 yrs ago, if you posted a picture of just yourself, you got mocked and shamed for being self-focused and prideful. Go back and look at profile pictures on Facebook from 2011 (only real social media back then) - everyones profile picture was a picture of them and other people and they’d just cut out the other people, because there were no pictures of just them, because that was considered prideful.

Pride and boasting used to be shameful because of our Christian worldview, because we believed not only that pride was evil, but because it was dangerous - we have left that far behind.

PRIDE OF LIFE IS CLIMBING AT UNBELIEVABLE SPEEDS - Pride of Life IS Life.

2 Warnings and 2 Promises

Your Lusts will Poison you to Death

By Lusts here, epithumia, I don’t JUST mean sexual lust, all wordly desire, coveting, jealousy, craving for money, for power, wanting what God hasn’t given you, but obviously sexual lust is included, and is often chief - so let me take a moment and speak directly to that as the topic is here in our text:

There are very few, maybe zero, aspects of our current culture that are more cancerous and destructive and evil and poisonous than pornography.

Before you ladies tune out, World renowned psychologist Jordan Peterson points out that the studies have been done, both men and women use pornography, men use images and women use stories, books, literature.

The biggest weapon the devil has currently against the church, imo, primarily because of how it is making little boys out of would-be men.

Because it has so many men chained, and those men have gotten really good at listening to the culture and convincing themselves that it isn’t that big of a deal, and so you keep your pet sin hidden, petting it in the cobwebbed corner, away from the light that might kill it.

There are very few men in this room who haven’t been enslaved by lust at some point, my teenage self included, it is powerful, and men are so susceptible to this particular drug, and the internet has perfected the drawing of you in, pornography is what built the internet, the devil dragging us to depression and hell with that chain —> sin does not have that kind of power over you, to drag you. If you don’t cut that chain, turn from your lusts, it will poison you.

Romans 8:13 ESV

For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Heed the Warning.

PLEASE stop lying to yourself. I don’t have to convince you that it is vile, I don’t have to convince you that it is evil, I don’t have to convince you that it is against the Holy God, that it is not Holy, that it is not God-glorifying, that there is nothing manly about it, it is small, it is weak, it is the opposite of strength, it is just giving in to your basest urges, its cheap, its fake, its false, it is darkness, the only place it can exist, YOU KNOW ALL THAT!

Be strong in the Lord Eph 6:10 - you say I’m just not strong enough, who cares if you are strong enough, is God in you strong enough? or not?

1 Corinthians 16:13 ESV

Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.

Your marriage, your home, your community, your culture, your church depend on it.

Do whatever it takes. Admit your weakness, bring it into the light so it may die, and stop watching any show or movie that has nudity, stop listening to the music that takes your mind there, sign up for Accountable2You app and ask friends to hold you accountable, gouge out your eye, cut off your hand. . .

1 Peter 2:11 ESV

Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.

This take us to our next warning here in the text

Your Pride is Your Most Dangerous Enemy

Your pride is what will work to convince you that what you’re doing isn’t all that bad, when humility and strength walk repeatedly into the light, pride and weakness hide in the corner.

Your pride works like a translator in your mind, you hear someone say something, you see someone do something, or you’re convicted of sin, and your pride takes that in and then puts its warped and self-absorbed spin on it and then sends it to your heart.

Your pride is the Least Christ-Like thing about You

Jesus, THE CREATOR, ALPHA AND OMEGA, Jesus was some carpenter’s son, born into a poor family without prestige, he was homeless throughout his ministry with no place to lay his head, he was from Nazareth a place of which was said, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth,” He hung around with tax collectors and sinners, he credited the Father with his wisdom and intellect, and he faces his climactic challenge with Luke 22:42

Luke 22:42 ESV

saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”

He could have called 10,000 angels and yet . . .

When Paul is urging us in Philippians 2 to follow Christ’s humble example, he says

Philippians 2:3 ESV

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

There is nothing less Christ-like about you than your pride.

Has anyone ever had more reason for pride than Jesus? And yet if he would have yielded to that pride, you would still be in your sins and under the wrath of God.

James 4:6 (ESV)

“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

1 Peter 5:6 (ESV)

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,

1 John 2:16 ESV

For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.

Notice all 3 of the things described in this verse, the definition of worldliness, where do they exist, where do they live?

In you. Your Desires. Your Pride.

Stop fooling yourself into thinking your primary problems and primary enemies are anywhere but in your own heart.

The World is Empty to Give you what You Want Most

1 John 2:15 ESV

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

These desires will leave you empty. Ask anyone who has achieved what we consider the tops of them all and who is crying out that there must be more than this, there’s videos of different ones on social media constantly.

This highest of achievement levels is also where we find the highest suicide rates.

The world is impotent to give you what you desire most.

Your joy is not found in your pride, it is found in your real humility. Your joy is not found in the fulfilling of your lusts, lusts of the world, it is found in the love of God, which your lusts and pride are unable to give you.

The Love of the Father is what you long for ultimately, and truly. That’s what you were made for. That’s what you need. That’s what you are looking for as you turn over every rock the world has to offer.

The World is Empty to Give You Anything that Lasts

1 John 2:17 ESV

And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

You know how quickly the world loses its luster don’t you.

The last time you bought a new car (new or used, (Dave Ramsey power) new to you) - how long did that initial excitement last? How long until it was just a car, just your way from A to B? Not to mention how long until that car was dirty, or broke.

That happens with everything doesn’t it, the house becomes just a house, the clothes become just clothes, the new job becomes just work, the puppy becomes just a dog, nothing lasts - it’s why we just keep buying more, everything loses its shine and luster after you’ve had it a bit, it becomes less exciting, less fulfilling, or it breaks or gets dirty. Nothing lasts.

Jacob and Molly - Charger

Desire is not inherently bad, you have been created to desire, but your desires aren’t strong enough in the truest sense, you are settling for so much less.

“It would seem that our Lord finds out desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

God offers that which you actually are longing for, and that which will never fade - Himself.

One of the sadder stories in the Bible is a man named Demas. We first hear of him in Col 4 where he is working hard for the gospel alongside Paul and Luke.

Colossians 4:14 ESV

Luke the beloved physician greets you, as does Demas.

He is mentioned again at the end of Philemon as one of the one working with Paul as he is in prison

Philemon 23–24 ESV

Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.

He was following the Lord, advancing the gospel, a man Paul found worthy of his praise.

We don’t hear from him again until Paul is writing in 1 Timothy and anticipating that he is about to be killed, and Paul says

2 Timothy 4:10 (ESV)

For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me

You can almost hear the heartbreak in Paul’s pen

1 John 2:15–17 ESV

If you choose your earthly desires, those same desires will strangle you

If you choose your earthly desires, your pride will become the only thing you listen to

If you choose your earthly desires, you will never have what you actually want most

If you choose your earthly desires, you will never get what you need

If you choose your earthly desires, you are choosing the temporary over the permanent, the shadow over the reality, the taste over the feast

If you choose your earthly desires, the love of the Father is not in you.

If you choose God, you get EVERYTHING