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“[15] 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. [16] 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. [17] And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.“ — 1 John 2:15-17
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
What are some things in your life that might be pulling your heart away from God?
How can you tell if something you desire is from God or from “the world”?
How do the things you watch, listen to, or spend time on influence your love for God?
What practical steps can you take to set your heart more on eternal things rather than temporary things?
What would it look like for you to choose God’s will over the world’s temptations in your daily life?
How does knowing that the world is passing away change the way you make decisions?
SERMON MANUSCRIPT
Over the past few weeks, we have learned that nearness to God leads to a life of godliness, a life of imitating God. Those who claim Christ with their words will begin to reflect Christ with their actions.
How we live is a tangible way to know that we know God. Those who know the God of light will begin to walk in the light, while those who do not know him will continue walking in darkness. So, as we saw last week, if you do not have love toward your brother, you are not walking in the light as God is in the light. One of the key marks of a true believer is your willingness to love. Those who know God love like God.
But in our passage today, John adds color to the black-and-white picture of Godly love. To love like God is not to hate your brother. To love God is not to seek to cause your brother to stumble. And to love like God is to no longer love the world or the things of this world. Godly love isn’t universal in that we don’t love all things. Those who walk in the light will begin to hate the works of darkness.
Our passage today calls us to examine our love. These verses call us to evaluate our affections to ensure they align with God’s will. So, what has your heart? What has your affections? What has your attention?
Let’s dive in.
“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. 16 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. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”
At the start of these verses, John says, “Do not love the world or the things in the world.”
Here, we see that we are to resist the temptation to love both the world and the things in the world. The Greek word for “world” here is “cosmos.” It can mean the giant ball that we live on; it can also refer to the corrupt, sinful men and women who live on this giant ball; and it can refer to the corrupt world system that is opposed to God.
Given the context, I think he’s referring to the corrupt way of life found throughout our corrupt world. We come to that conclusion because of verse 16, “For all that is in the world— the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and the pride of life— is not from the Father but is from the world.” So, in John 3:16, Jesus is talking about people— “whoever believes in me shall not perish but have eternal life.” And here in 1 John 2:15-16, he’s referring to the sinful ways of those people— “desires of the flesh, desires of the eyes, pride of life.”
In John 12:31, Jesus tells us that Satan is the ruler of this world. He is the prince of the power of the air. Before we came to know Jesus, we were “dead in our trespasses and sins, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.” So, the world in this context is the sinful world system that is opposed to God that is summarized by sinful living.
God loved (the world) sinful humanity so much that he sent his one and only Son to bear the punishment that they rightfully deserve. He loved the world enough to provide a way for them to no longer walk in opposition to him. To love the lifestyle that drove Jesus to the cross is to hate the Father.
So, do not love the world or the things it offers because if we do, then the love of the Father is not in us. Our disdain for sinful living is a tangible way to know that the love of God is in us. If I love God, I will hate sin. We will hate the sins of those around us, sure. We will hate the ways of this world and the temptations of the evil one. But, more so, we will hate the sin within us. The purpose of these verses is not to cause us to turn our noses up at others but to guide us away from our sinful tendencies.
God created us to love Him above all things. Loving Him supremely is how we glorify Him. So, if we want to love and honor him, we must guard our hearts against a love for the world and the things in this world.
DESIRES OF THE FLESH
John summarizes the world's ways into three categories: desires of the flesh, desires of the eyes, and the pride of life. Let’s take some time and unpack each of these.
The word “desire” in Greek is a neutral term. It’s not necessarily bad, nor is it good. It means craving and longing. Jesus, the one who never sinned, earnestly desired to eat Passover with his disciples before he suffered (Lk 22:15). So, the object that we long for determines whether or not the desire is good or bad. Given the context, this word is used negatively. The desire of our flesh is a phrase of appetite. It is a craving for what is forbidden. These are not good desires.
The lust of our flesh is when we choose to listen to what our body wants instead of what God wants. It’s the racing of our hearts to do what God has called us not to do. And this is what Satan tempts us with. Satan seeks to tempt us by luring and enticing us with our own desires, and desire, when conceived, brings forth death.
In Galatians 5:19-21, Paul says that “the works of the flesh are evident,” meaning they are clear, apparent, and plainly recognizable. In a world that seeks to blur the lines surrounding what is sin and what is not, God’s word says it is clear. The works of the flesh are evident. They are plainly recognizable. There should be no confusion when you see them creep up into other people's lives, and there should be no confusion when you see them creep up into your own life.
Paul then begins to describe the works of the flesh by giving us a long list of 15 vices, and these 15 vices could be divided into four categories: sexual sins. (sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality), religious sins. (idolatry, sorcery), relational sins (enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy), and drunken sins. (drunkenness, orgies)
When it comes to the sexual sins described here, all three of these actions are a distortion of (or an act of defiance against) God's original design of sex: sexual immorality, impurity, and sensuality. When you look at Scripture, you will see that God designed sex to be a selfless act of worship that a husband and a wife get to privately enjoy throughout their whole life together. This means that all sexual sins would be man's attempt to use God's good gift of sex in a way that it was not originally intended to be used. Instead of waiting to enjoy the good gift of sex with the spouse God gave us, we are tempted to awaken love before its appointed time. Instead of enjoying the gift of sex with the spouse God gave us, we are tempted to drink from a well that doesn’t belong to us. Instead of selflessly serving the spouse God gave us as an act of worship, we seek to use sex as a tool to serve our own desires selfishly. And that's precisely what we see being described here in Galatians 5. The desire of our flesh is to use the good gift of sex in ways God has not designed it to be used.
When it comes to religious sins, our flesh is tempted to worship anything and everything other than God. In commenting on idolatry and sorcery, Timothy Keller says, "The first (idolatry) is providing an inadequate substitute for God, and the second (sorcery) is faking the work of the Spirit."
We find a long list of fleshly desires and actions regarding relational sins.
Enmity (echthra) can be understood as hatred of another. It's you not even being able to stand the sight of a person, which is the opposite of brotherly love.
Strife (eris) can be understood as discord or conflict inspired by a contentious temper. It's the desire to put yourself forward. It's you constantly having to have the last word. It's you continually having to be right. It's you preferring being right over being at peace.
Jealousy (zēlos) is the act of envy. It's the act of resentfully wanting something that does not rightfully belong to you. It's looking at something someone else has and wanting and resenting that person because of it.
Fits of anger (thymos) could be understood as a passionate outburst of rage or hostile feelings. It's anger boiling up and then soon subsiding. It's you being short-tempered or short fused. It's you being triggered by just the smallest things. It's you lashing out in rage whenever you are inconvenienced or threatened.
Rivalries (eritheia) is a competitiveness that's motivated by self-seeking desires. Now, don't think of rivalries like Alabama and Auburn. Think of a politician trying to climb the ladder of success by manipulating the process for personal gain. It's you constantly living in competition with those around you. It's you making calculated decisions on how you can out-gain or out-profit your neighbor.
Dissension (dichostasia) is disunion or division. It's the act of putting obstacles in the way of another to cause division. Peace and harmony don't work for you, so you have to stir the pot. You thrive whenever division is present.
Similarly, divisions (hairesis) would be factions. It's the act of choosing to take and capture someone or something. Within the context of the church at this time, it's the deliberate choice to choose false doctrine and then pursue after others to capture them with their new doctrine. Instead of creating unity over truth, you are creating division over falsehood. You would rather gain over a lie than lose over truth.
Envy (phthonos) would be very similar to jealousy. It's the act of desiring what other people have. It's you not being content with where the Lord has you with what the Lord has given you. It's you shaking your fist at God, saying, "I want what they have."
All of the actions listed here wage war against the life God has called us to live in him. They are all the opposite of brotherly love. They all manifest themselves out of a heart consumed with selfish gain.
Paul then describes the sin of excess by describing drunkenness and orgies. Drunkenness (methē) is an apparent reference to intoxication, the overconsumption of alcohol. Orgies (kōmos) refer to large drinking parties that would last late into the night. So, these two "works of the flesh" mentioned here are directly tied to the abuse of alcohol. Although alcohol can be enjoyed in moderation, it is extremely dangerous. We are not to be drunk with wine. Instead, we are to be filled with the Spirit. God has called us to be careful and controlled in our dealings with alcohol. So, the enemy pushes us to act according to our flesh, which is contrary to the Spirit. And the works of our flesh can be summarized by the list above.
The way of the word can be summarized by a blind pursuit of giving our flesh what we want. The lust of our flesh is when we choose to listen to what our body wants instead of what God wants.
DESIRES OF THE EYES
Second, John summarizes the world's ways into the category of the desires of the eyes. Believe it or not, the topic of eyes is one Jesus preached on fairly often.
In Matthew 5:27-29, Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said, Do not commit adultery. But I tell you, everyone who looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.” Many of us are tempted to believe that if we haven't carried out the action, we’re not guilty of that action. But Jesus here is saying the opposite. Jesus is saying that it’s possible to sin with just our eyes and our hearts.
In Matthew 6:22, he says, “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” Similarly, in Matthew 18:9, he says, “And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.” So, the eyes are the window to the mind through which sinful desires enter (Akin). If your eyes are healthy, your body will be healthy. To guard our hearts, we must guard our eyes. Control what you look at if you want to walk in the light.
This is a tale as old as time. Think about David. It was his eyes that led him to lie, commit adultery, and murder. Think about Eve. It was her looking at the forbidden tree that led her to sin. So, to guard your heart, you mustguard your eyes. The moment our eyes linger is the moment we let go and surrender to the current of sin.
PRIDE OF LIFE
John summarizes the world's ways into the third category of pride of life.
The Greek word for pride means arrogance or boastfulness. It’s an intention to impress or attract notice. It’s a person who dominates conversations with the words “I,” “me,” and “my.”
Life is the Greek word for possessions, livelihood, or manner of life. It includes the everyday activities needed to obtain the resources needed to sustain life. Later in this letter in chapter 3, John encourages those in the church that has “the world’s goods” (same word) to be generous and give to those who are without. So, this phrase could be summarized as the pride of possessions.
Pride hoards; humility gives. Pride is boastful; humility is modest. Pride wants the limelight on themselves; humility is content with the limelight on someone else. No one demonstrated this better than Jesus. Daniel Akin said, “Concerning pride in birth and rank, He was a carpenter’s son (Matt 13:55), a poor family’s child (Luke 2:24; see Lev 12:8). Concerning pride in possessions, He said, “The Son of Man has no place to lay His head” (Matt 8:20). Concerning pride in pedigree, it was said of Him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46). Concerning pride in people, it was said of Him, “[He is] a friend of tax collectors and sinners” (Matt 11:19). Concerning pride in intellect, He said, “As the Father taught Me, I say these things” (John 8:28). Concerning pride in self-will, He said, “If You are willing, take this cup away from Me—nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42).”
These three things are the same three weapons that knocked down Adam and Eve in the Garden. And they’re the same three things conquered by Jesus in the wilderness. Genesis 3:6 says, “Then the woman saw that the tree was good for food [lust of the flesh] and delightful to look at [lust of the eyes], and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom [the pride of life].” In the same way, the Devil beckoned Jesus to “tell this stone to become bread” (Luke 4:3), which is the lust of the flesh. Then he “showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world” (Luke 4:5), tempting Jesus with the lust of the eyes. Then, from the top of the temple, the Devil challenged him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. For it is written: He will give His angels orders concerning you, to protect you, and they will support you with their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone” (Luke 4:9–10).
So, although these three things run our world, they should no longer be present within the church. Gone are the days when we submitted to the lust and pride of our hearts. By the power of the Holy Spirit, we can resist and put to death the temptation to live in a worldly way.
GUARD YOUR HEART
None of us is exempt from falling in love with the world. Therefore, we must guard our hearts against these three things. If your response to these verses is, “I would never do that,” you’ve grossly overestimated your own strength and grossly underestimated the luring power of this world.
At the end of Paul’s letter to the church of Colossae in Colossians 4, we see a man named Demas. Demas was part of Paul’s inner circle and the trusted group that brought the letter to the church in Colossae. I cannot imagine all the things this man saw! Well, later in 2 Timothy 4:10, we see Paul say this about Paul, “For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica.”
We must be careful not to fall into the same trap as Demas, where a love of the world pulls us away from a love for God. As a pastor, I want to preach to your heart just as much as I preach to your mind. But, at the end of the day, I cannot change your affections. No one can. The affections of your heart are between you and God. So, allow God to speak to you today. Allow him to convict you. Allow him to comfort you. Allow him to woo you.
Those who are members of the kingdom of God will no longer continue to live as if they were members of the kingdom of this world. Children of light will not continue living as children of darkness. Repentance is a crucial element of the Christian life. There is sin in our lives that we are called to turn from and put to death by the power of the Holy Spirit. Those whose faith resides in Jesus have God dwelling within their hearts. And those who have God dwelling within their hearts are called to walk in submission to God daily. And those who submit to God daily will not walk according to the flesh.
These few verses should lead us to work out our faith in fear and trembling. True faith in Jesus should lead us away from the works of this world. So, when you survey your life, what kingdom do your actions suggest you reside in? Where do your affections reside? What has your attention? Who has your love?
WHOEVER DOES THE WILL OF GOD ABIDES FOREVER
Look at what John says next in verse 17, “And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”So, John is saying that loving the world and attaching your heart to the things of this world is like investing in a company that will go bankrupt tomorrow. It’s a vain pursuit. The world is passing away. But, whoever does the will of God abides forever. So, obedience to God’s will is a fruit of an eternal relationship with God. Whoever does his will abides forever. When we talk about God's will, we’re talking about God's overarching purpose for our life and history. When we look at God's will in Scripture, I think it's two-fold: God's general will and his particular will. God's general will is his overarching plan and purpose throughout history, and His particular will is his specific plan and purpose for your life. It would be crazy to assume that God's specific plan for your life is at odds with his overarching plan for history. So, to understand God's particular will for our lives, we must first understand God's general will for history. And for us to walk in God’s specific will for our life, we must first surrender to His general will for our life and history.
So, what is God’s general will? Well, God's general will is bound up in his purpose of saving and sanctifyingsinners through Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. We see this word used three different times in Ephesians 1:3-14 to describe God's plan of redemption. Here, we learn that it was God's will to "adopt us as sons" through Jesus Christ "to the praise of his glorious grace," it was his will to "unite us to Himself in Christ," and his will to extend to us “an inheritance to the praise of his glory." So, God's will for your life is for you to glorify him by intimately and personally knowing Him as your Father. In 1 Thessalonians 4:3, Paul builds on this by saying, "For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that you should abstain from fornication." So, God's will for your life is to save you, but it's also to sanctify you. Put simply, God's will for your life is to make you more like Jesus so that you can make much of Jesus. God's general will is bound up in his purpose of saving and sanctifying sinners through Jesus' life, death, and resurrection.
Now, if God's general will is wrapped up in the redeeming work of Christ, then we must conclude that his particular will for our lives is wrapped up in the redeeming work of Christ, as well. God's will for your life is for you to know, love, and follow Jesus so that you can glorify Jesus. The chief goal of your life is not to make more money. It's not to chase pleasure and happiness. The chief goal of your life is to glorify God by walking in obedience to God. I think that is what John is highlighting here: God’s will for our life is to walk in the light, not darkness, to glorify him above all things.
So, as you wrestle through big decisions in life, seeking clarity on God's particular will for your life, ask God for wisdom. And, as you do, pray that your greatest desire will be the glory of Jesus. If you want to know God’s specific will for your life, you must first be fully surrendered to living a life for the glory of God.