|
2/24/02 — L2 INI I John 2:12-17 In the Name of Jesus, Dear Fellow Redeemed, He had only been a fisherman in his youth. But for three years he had been in the company of the greatest Teacher who ever lived. And in his long life at Ephesus one of the world’s greatest and richest cities, the Apostle John had good opportunity to see what the world can do for a man. Picture him now, sitting in some upper room of his home in Ephesus. In the distance rise the great columns of the world’s grandest temple — The Temple of Diana. Outside his room, the multitudes are walking along, admiring the great marble statues of the Roman emperors and the gods of Ephesus. John is dictating to his secretary the first of his three letters to the Christian churches. As he speaks by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, perhaps he hears the cheers of the multitude gathered in the amphitheater to enjoy its bloody bouts of man against man and man against beast. Perhaps John pauses for a moment as he listens, and then, filled with the Spirit of God, he says: I. To speak these words — “love not the world, nor the things of the world” — in a barroom, a brothel, or a public college classroom, or to some of our neighbors, would be like trying to rake leaves into a pile on a windy day. So, John doesn’t bother to speak this message on the streets of Ephesus. He writes to Christians. Why? Because you and I “have known the love of the Father.” John writes to “you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for His name’s sake.” “Little children” is the term John uses for all Christians. We are the dear children of our heavenly Father because He has adopted us through faith in the forgiveness of sins, which He showers upon us on account of His beloved Son, Whom He delivered to death for us all. Next, John addresses the more mature Christians among us. He says, “I am writing to you ‘fathers because you have known Him Who is from the beginning.’” To know Christ not only as a Man, but as the eternal Son of God from heaven, is to know and understand the office and work of Christ. As “the backbone” of the Christian congregation you “fathers” have known for a long time where “The Way, the Truth, and the Life” are to be found You have faced many trials of that faith and made firm confessions concerning Your Savior from eternity. Then too, John speaks to the “young men” — the younger Christians who are in many ways more susceptible to the temptations of the world. To these young Christians John writes: “I am writing to you because you have overcome the wicked one.” When we were converted and baptized “into Christ, we were made to share the same death which Jesus suffered” (Rom. 6:11ff.) for our sins on the cross. By that death we became conquerors of Satan with Jesus. You who are young adults need to be reminded that in Christ you have been given the power to resist the devil as he tempts you with the things and pleasures of this world. Now to be reminded of the Father’s love for us is so very important in view of what follows, that John repeats: “I have written to you children because you KNOW the Father.” God is no stranger to us as Christians. We know that He does not make any harsh or unreasonable demands of us as we live in this world. We are convinced by the gospel of forgiveness in Christ that God loves us far more than anyone else could love us. “I have written to you fathers, because you KNOW Him Who has been from the beginning. And to you young men, because you are strong — the Word of God abides in you.” None of us has the strength in himself to resist the many temptations of this world. “Let him who thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall,” as did David, and Peter. But our strength is in the Word of our God. That word of power is ours to use against the devil as Jesus Himself did when He was tempted in the wilderness to receive all things of this world. (Matt. 4) So, before the Apostle exhorts us not to love the world nor the things in the world, he reminds us who we are — that we know the love of the Father, which has brought us the forgiveness of our sins through His eternal Son. We used to be in fellowship with the Prince of this World. Now we have been called into the fellowship and family of God! He has uprooted the world from our hearts and planted His Word there instead! But the love of the world can still replace love for the Father. “Do not love the world,” John says in v. 15. He is speaking of all those who by their words and deeds take pride in their worldliness. He speaks of those who indulge in sin and mock God by their lives. Such worldlings are a contradiction to everything we confess and hold dear as children of God. We are to love them, but despise their companionship. We are to be kind and merciful to them, without embracing them. When they plead for us to accept them as they are, we must reply, “Never! For Christ is my friend and brother, and God is my Father!” Neither are we to love “the things” of this world. By this John means those things which the unbelieving worldling delights in and devotes himself to gathering for himself — money and pleasure, honor and power over others. John does not say we are not to make use of the things of this world. But we are not to love them; we are not to set our hearts on these things. The lottery player and the gambler can’t get enough money. Those devoted to pornographic reading materials, television and movies, can’t get enough sex! How many of us have watched “America’s Castles” or other television shows that feature the life-styles of the “rich and famous” and not found ourselves a little envious? Let us all heed John’s warning with repentant hearts. For where love for the world and its things begins, there begins hatred for God! . . . No, not really! You mean that if we love the things of this world and try to get them for ourselves, we hate God? That’s what the inspired Apostle says: “If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” Jesus says in Matt. 6: “Where your heart is, there is your treasure.” If one wants to love the world, he makes love for God impossible. Our hearts are too narrow for both. Are we teaching our children about spiritual capacity and displacement? Do they see in us people who talk about God’s love for sinners and service to Him, while taking every opportunity to fill our lives with pleasure? The material view of life and the spiritual view of life are as incompatible as oil and water, darkness and light, flesh and spirit! “For all that is in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life — is not from the Father, but is from the world.” The sinful flesh lusts after the pleasures and goods of this world to get as much as the world has to offer. When we deny our flesh its pleasures, it whines and complains against our God! Assisting the lust of the flesh is the lust of the eyes. There is so much that is filthy, obscene and excites sin in us. Then there is “the pride of life” temptation to show off what a person possesses in order to gain honor in the eyes of others. All of this — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life — comes from the world, not from God the Father. These corrupt desires have sprung up from the corrupt soil of the human heart — full of darkness and sin. Because WE KNOW God Who loves us, we are to “flee from the lusts of our youth,” and flee the world which would deceive us,” lest it once again possess our hearts and we lose our life and eternal inheritance in Christ. Only He who does the will of God abides forever. Which of us wants to chase after the example of the ungodly and the worldling? “For the world is passing away, and the lusts of it,” John says in v. 17. The sentence has already been spoken! John says, “The world is passing away.” At this very moment all the lusts of the worldling are leading him to death, not to life. Yet our fleshly nature always suggests a compromise: “Live it up while you can. So what if God has made you ‘the salt of the earth,’ and ‘the light of the world.’ Add a little pepper to your life-style, you know -- a little of that ‘black’ stuff which others seem to enjoy. You can always do God’s will here and there when it is convenient for you and there is no fun to be had.” This sort of compromising with the world leads to ever greater love for the world and hatred for God! But the “world is passing away along with its lusts!” Life eternal with the eternal Christ belongs only to those who demonstrate in their lives that they have faith’s knowledge and fellowship with God, their Savior. Those who will abide forever are those ONLY who put-off the flesh’s love for the world by a living faith in Christ. Paul put it simply to the Roman Christians: “If you keep on living according to the flesh, you shall die: But if you through the Spirit keep on putting to death the deeds of the body, you shall live.” (Rom. 8:13) My fellow Christians, love not the world, but God, Who loves you, so that when the world passes away finally, you may remain with God forever in heaven! Amen. |