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We'll read those three verses
that's been the theme of our studies in this topic of sinning
saints. 1 John chapter 2, commencing the
reading of the Lord's Word in verse 15. Let's all hear the
inspired, infallible Word of God. 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. 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. And the
world passeth away, and the lust thereof But he that doeth the
will of God abideth forever. Amen. God bless the reading,
brief though it be, from His precious Word. We return one
final time to look at this passage in I John chapter 2 where the
Holy Spirit reveals what our heart's attitudes should be toward
this world. In dealing with this subject,
of sending saints, how they assist the Holy Spirit in their own
transformation into the image of Christ, we are compelled to
consider the ways in which Satan tries to stop us from giving
the Holy Ghost any aid, but actually help Satan and his plans to ruin
us. I've been maintaining that the
one method that the serpent uses above all others is what John
describes as the world and the lusts. thereof. Remember that in John's epistle
this term world usually refers to fallen mankind organized in
its rebellion against God the Creator. It is this world that
is under the control of the wicked one, the prince of this world,
and this world is that which lies in spiritual darkness and
therefore it is this world that is under divine judgment. The
world is basically fallen human nature, depraved human nature
that is consistently acting out itself in the humanity of mankind. We see it all around us. That's
just fallen nature working itself out in society, humanity. It is the place where the carnal
mind reigns. That mindset, that law of the
flesh that is opposed to God, that is opposed to God's law
and therefore opposed to anything that is holy and spiritual. It's not just a matter that it's
not interested in those things that are godly and spiritual.
The world is opposed to it completely. It's an antagonist of anything
righteous. It's a friend of Satan and not
of God. It is this world, this world
that John says we are not to love. He indicates that love
for God and love for the world are incompatible. For if any
man loved the world, Matter of fact is the love of the Father
is not in him. Why then would John write this
warning to Christians whom he clearly holds as the children
of God, who he views as not being of the world, yet he is led by
the Spirit of God to warn them. Children, love not the world. Well, in the first place, he
gives this warning because every child of God lives in a situation
that is one of tension. You and I, as the Lord's people,
live in a state of tension. On the one hand, The child of
God is, as Christ puts it plainly in John 17, not of the world. Not of the world. Doesn't belong
to the world. He has passed from death into
life. He has been translated from the kingdom of darkness
into the kingdom of God's dear Son. And the darkness has passed,
John says, and the true light now shineth. When that individual
has been born again, he has been regenerated, he's been saved
by grace from the condemnation of sin. It's been deliverance
from the world so that he will not be condemned with the world.
And I must stop here and speak to any who may be in this meeting
tonight who have never Never in your life have you been regenerated. You've never been saved by the
grace of God. You still love the world. You're
pursuing the world and everything that's within it. You lie under
that condemnation. And if you do not come to Christ
and pray that He would deliver you from the condemnation of
the world, You'll be at the left hand of the judge of all the
earth on that day. You'll be there with the goats.
And you will hear those chilling words of Christ Himself when
He tells His angels, bind them hand and foot and cast them into
the lake of fire. And there'll be nothing you have
to say. Your mouth will be silenced. I think you just might remember
this night when there was a preacher who warned you about this very
time when time is no more. And you will say then, why? Why
did I not listen? Why did I not flee the world? Why did I believe that this world
was worth pursuing and all of its pleasures? Why? But then
of course it's too late. Here's where the tension comes
in for the child of God and one of the reasons why John must
warn them about loving the world. While the child of the Lord is
not of the world, he still lives in the world. He lives in this
perverse and crooked generation. And because there is a world
that is still in his heart, we saw that on Saturday night, A
world still in his heart, he is not only exposed to Satan's
attempts to use the world on the outside to entice him to
sin, he actually has something that is within him, something
that is in his heart that will, if not checked, if not mortified,
if not killed continually, he will pay heed to that allurement. He will be tempted and give way
to the suggestions of Satan. And then the progress, the transformation
into the image of Christ is stymied. I tell you again, I have to keep
reminding you that this transformation is going to take place no matter
how much Satan gums up the works. No matter what devices he uses
and at times is successful in tripping us up and we fall. We can say boldly, rejoice not
against me, O mine enemy, for when I fall, I shall arise. That's bottom line truth. Not
because of any determination on our part. but because God
has said He will subdue our iniquities. He will drive them out. It just has a lot to do with
whether or not we're going to pay heed to this warning of loving
not the world. And to the degree that we heed
the warning and all that's suggested by the warning, we will make
great strides in Christlikeness. But there is another reason that
John gives this warning to true believers. And that reason introduces
the message this evening. John not only says love not the
world, he adds this, neither the things that are in the world. Now why did he write that? You
ever stop to think? He didn't stop with saying love
not the world and expect everyone to get it. The Holy Ghost said,
love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. A Christian understands, believes,
convinced that the world out there, we think, the world out
there is our enemy, not our friend. We know that it is a system of
evil, a habit of life, a world that
is characterized by rebellion against God. So far, so good. But when you
begin to look separately and in detail at the things of the
world, you will find that although the saints know right well that
there should be, I don't know if you have this expression over
here, that there should be no truck with the things of the
world. The reality is that those things
of the world still have this power to seduce us. Perhaps you were seduced today.
The temptation, before you ever walk through those doors tonight,
Satan came with some one of those things of the world and tempted
you and you gave way to it before you ever came to the house of
God. And yet, you will sit there and tell me and agree with me,
the world is a wicked place. It's evil. It's my enemy. It's
the things of the world that got you. So what are these things? What
are these things of the world that Satan uses to tempt us to
behave in a way that is so contrary to the Word of God and so antithetical
to one who says, claims, I want to be like Jesus, who would sing,
May the mind of Christ my Savior live in me in everything. What is it that makes for real
worldliness in a Christian's life and makes him behave in
ways that grieve the Spirit of God, that quenches work and make
him look so unlovely? That causes the child of God,
instead of giving off the aroma of the Lord Jesus Christ, the
sweetness of Christ, there's the stench of the world. Because
it does stink. What are those things that we
all know right well, not only from theory, but we know from
experience? From verse 16 where John writes,
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. That's the things of the world. From that verse I want to speak
for a little bit tonight on overcoming the lusts of the
world. There are three simple thoughts
I want to leave with you in this little bit of time. I smile as
I say a little bit because I don't know when I'll finish. But I know one thing compared
to eternity. If I, like the old Puritans, preach for two hours,
what is it? Hourglass, turn it over, another
hour. Aren't you glad there's no hourglass
up here? overcoming the lusts of the world.
The first thing I want us to consider together is the lusts
of the world exemplified. The lusts of the world exemplified. Note, please, the different names
John gives for the one thing. The things that are in the world,
verse 15, is the same thing as all that is in the world, verse
16, which is the same thing as the world and its lust. So you
have 15, 16, 17, three different ways to talk about the same thing,
the lusts of the world. And what John says in our text
in verse 16 is the Holy Spirit's commentary on what He means by
these things, these all, these lusts. Here are the lusts of
the world exemplified. They fall under three heads and
under these three heads you will find the epitome of the lusts
of the world that need to be, that must be overcome. I rejoice
to tell you that the Holy Ghost is there. God makes at our disposal
all of His power to overcome the lusts of the world. No matter
how many they are, no matter how strong they are, not a one
of us who are a child of God because we have the Holy Ghost. We have the third person of the
Trinity who dwells in us and He is omnipotent. I admit we
are a massive weakness, but we're not talking tonight about our
weakness. We're talking about the Holy
Ghost and what He does in us, and even what we do to assist
Him, we do by His grace. Dismiss from your mind the notion
that you cannot do something. You can. through the power of
the Spirit of God. You have to believe that and
go over that again and again in your mind because the one
thing that Satan wants you not to believe and not to lay hold
of, that you are not subservient to this sin, you can kill it. You can overcome it. You can
get the best of the lusts. And then your smell becomes so
much sweeter. You smell more like the Savior. And your influences, like Mary,
when she broke that box, that alabaster box, and the ointment
was poured forth, the savor of that ointment just filled the
house. Everyone smelled it. And you won't have to try to
be something that you're not. You will be a sweet-smelling
savor unto God. And that will be done by the
Holy Ghost. And I know that for a fact because the Word of God
teaches. God has promised His people,
has He not, in the covenant of grace that He will write His
law upon our hearts? It's there because the Spirit
of God is there. and enable us to fulfill that
law. All of that blessing, what I'm talking about tonight, and
this overcoming this lusts of the world has been secured for
every one of you who belong to Christ by the blood atonement. It's sealed. It's secure. You have no right whatsoever
to doubt that it's the will of God for you, because this is
the will of God. Even your sanctification, even
your victory, you're overcoming the loss of the world that perhaps
you came into this meeting tonight and you thought that you could
not overcome. Maybe you're here as a visitor
tonight, Maybe it's the first time, but the very title of the
meetings attracted you. Maybe it wasn't so much the title,
but it was that little paragraph that talked about saints, and
yet how many of us have not felt we act more like the devil than
we do a saint. Maybe that's what drew you here
tonight, because you say, you know, that's really a description
of me, and maybe, maybe there'll be some help for me. I'm here
to tell you there's all the help you need. It's right here in
this book. The lusts of the world exemplified. You know them well. I fear I
come to that broken record syndrome fear that I have. You've heard
it so often it's going to sound, no, I might just check out. Please don't check out because
you do need to hear this again. The lust of the flesh, let's
define our terms as we did with world and worldliness and being
worldly. We've got to get our terms right.
If we're going to know what they really are, let's define our
terms. Lust, we saw last night that
the word used here, lust, denotes a desiring, a craving, a longing
for something. You want it. There's nothing wrong with craving. Nothing wrong with having deep
desires. Wanting something badly. God is the one who has given
us certain appetites, certain desires. He's also the very one
who has provided us means by which those desires He's given
us can be satisfied. God gave us an appetite. He's the one, I mean, you know,
He didn't have to make us this way. He could have made us as
human beings that don't need to eat. He could have done that, but
He didn't. There's a lesson in that, you know. He created us
with hunger, and we get hunger, and God's the one that's provided
the things out there for us to eat to satisfy that craving,
that hunger. When you're really hungry, you
know what it's like. I'm ravished. I can't wait to
have breakfast or lunch or dinner, whatever it might be. God put
that in you. It's good. There's nothing wrong
with it. God is the one who gave man and
woman physical desires. And He provided them for each
other to satisfy those physical desires as long as it's in the
bonds of marriage. There's nothing wrong with having
the desires. God made us that way. But God
also said, here's the only place you are to satisfy those desires
in the bonds of marriage. You shouldn't feel, should never
ever feel guilty about having them. God did not mean us to
go through life and somehow think that being spiritual, being holy
is being miserable. That's not God. I think there's some Christians
that actually think that. Paul told Timothy, God giveth
us richly all things to enjoy, all things legitimate, all things
legal to enjoy. God is not some old scrooge who
doesn't want to see his people rejoicing and happy and satisfying
the desires that he's put within us, as long as they're legitimate.
As long as they're lawful. That word richly means abundantly. All things to enjoy. I think
some Christians actually feel guilty if they enjoy themselves. You know, they think that if
I have a bad time, that's holiness. And I've got to go around with
a sad and sorrowful countenance What a load of nonsense. But while none of those things
are to be equated with the lusts of the flesh, every one of them
can become a lust of the flesh and a temptation to the child
of God, one that Satan uses to just trip us up. It's the nature of the desire
that makes it a sinful lust. And its nature is described by
that word flesh. It's not just lust, it's the
lust of the flesh. This word flesh speaks of the sensuous
nature of fallen man, the animal creature, whose cravings, the
cravings that incite us to sin, to break the boundaries, to step
over what God's forbidden. It's these lusts of the flesh
that are of the world and therefore opposed to God. It is the world,
now mind you, it is the world that takes these desires and
the prince of the world who takes these desires and perverts them
and uses them to pander to that corrupt, fallen nature that still
resides in every child of God. As Paul said, again, the sin
that dwells within me for those that haven't been here throughout
the week. That which he fights against. As I said, God put within man
physical desires that are perfectly legitimate as long as those desires
are satisfied within the bounds of marriage. But it becomes a
lust of the flesh when it looks for satisfaction for those desires
outside of marriage. Whether that outside of marriage
means fornication, it means adultery, it means homosexuality, or it
means self-gratification. Any one of them. Any one of them. It's crossing over the bounds. Whether or not you're married,
it makes no difference. You cross the bounds. It's the
lust of the flesh. You give in to it, it hurts you. It hampers the influences of
the Spirit of God. You're not going to advance like
you want. You're going to have that smitten conscience, and
if you keep on giving in to desires, it just becomes more and more
regular, and you've got a real problem on your hands. When God's people in any way
attempt to fulfill these natural desires in any other way than
through the legitimacy of a husband and wife, they have been seduced
by the devil's temptation through the lusts of the flesh. Then there's the lust of the
eyes. The eye delights, delights to look upon that which is beautiful
in God's creation. Whether it's a glorious sunrise, and I imagine you folks over
here really, really like it when you see a glorious sunrise. I'd love to look at a glorious
sunset. a dam, an earthen dam that I cross every time I go
to church. If you've been to my church, you know what I'm
talking about. There's an earthen dam, and there's a lake just
right on that side, a large lake, and oftentimes it's just hitting
one church. We go across in the evening,
the sun is setting, and it is just beautiful. Someone has said there's nothing
like the sunsets of South Carolina. And it's just a beautiful sunset.
And I could just stop and just look and watch that sunset. God's
handiwork in creation. Why is that? Because God has
put within us that desire to look at that which is beautiful
and admire it. We love to look at snow-capped
ranges. I remember the first time I went
out west, western Canada and saw the Rockies. I had been,
you know, in the Virginia mountains, Appalachian, but man, when you
get to the Rockies, those things are foothills compared to those
are just beautiful. The same goes for a beautiful
woman or a beautiful man. Didn't the scripture say that?
Didn't the scripture point that out? The Holy Spirit himself said
of Isaac's wife, Rebecca, that she was fair to look upon. She was good looking. And didn't
say, don't have that thought. She's beautiful. He made her
that way. You ever wondered what Adam and
Eve look like? Perfect human beings right from the hand of
God. Perfect. No flaws. It'll be interesting when we see them
one day. He said of David and of one of
his wives, Abigail, that they both were of beautiful countenance. There's nothing wrong with admiring
human beauty. It's when our eyes are used to
look upon that beauty and lust after that person in our heart,
that sin has been committed. It's looking and looking and
looking and looking and looking and looking. It's when we use
our eyes to look upon that which God forbids, that we sin against
God, that we grieve the Holy Spirit, and that we hinder His
work. And there are no exceptions to this. No one gets a pass. Putting in your time at church
will not give you a pass. being faithful and tithing and
church attendance and prayer meeting, it doesn't somehow even
out the balance and you get a pass and you can get away with it
and not really affect you. The porn industry, that's part
of the world, that's part of all of humanity working out itself
in society. The porn industry has made billions
by perverting a good and natural desire into one of the largest
sources for Satan to use for temptations and the lust of the
eyes. Ever since God covered the nakedness
of Adam and Eve, Satan has been trying to uncover it. As much as he can. That's why the hemlines get higher
and higher. The necklines get lower and lower. It's a disgrace. It's a shame. Sometimes I see women in the
church of the living God. I see how they're dressed and
I wonder why in the world did their husband let them out of
the house dressed like that? Because you are begging for men's
eyes to be upon you if you dress like that. You're begging for
it. You wear that which is skin tight,
which accentuates, what's accentuating is the skin beneath. You're asking,
you're asking for men to look at you. I've asked my wife about
this. Why? Women like to show off. If they have a good figure, they
like to show off. But I said, do they not realize
what they're doing? Why are there women in this world
who are surprised that they're victims of rape when they've
been begging for it because of how they're dressed? Why? You know, the next time you read
of nakedness in the Old Testament after the fall of Adam and Eve
is when Moses came down from the mountain after being with
God and giving the law, and they were all dancing around that
image, that golden image that Aaron had made, and they were
dancing in nakedness. and supposedly saying, this is
the worship of Jehovah. The devil was mighty in working
that day. You see, in the word of God,
nakedness has always been associated with shame, disgrace. And you wonder where in the world
has shame-facedness gotten to? You feel like asking, have you
no shame? Have you no sense of decorum? What's happened? Now it's just accepted and no
one says anything. Let me just have a word with
you moms and dads. Don't let your children go out
looking like harlots from the house. I am not suggesting that
you do. I don't live in Balamina. Most
of you folks, I wouldn't even know who your children are, but
I know I have it in my country. Christian parents letting their
girls go out dressed like tramps. I've heard about Christian women
who say, when something like this is brought up, when the minister speaks about
modesty of dress, that he's got the problem. Not them. He's just got a dirty mind. No, it's not that he has a dirty
mind. It's that every Christian still
has the world within him. And he can be enticed by the
lust of the world. When your children get upset
with you because you won't let them go somewhere or go with
certain people because, well, you know it's just dangerous
territory. And they say, well, don't you
trust me? Instead of saying, well, of course
I trust you. The reply is, no, I don't trust
you, and I don't trust me, and I never, ever trust the flesh. The flesh is wicked. The flesh
gives way very easily, so no, we don't trust. I am afraid for women who dress
after the fashion of this world and reveal as much skin as they
do. They make themselves ready instruments
in the hands of the devil. The devil will take that up and
use it to trip up a child of God. This phrase, however, lust of
the eyes, ranges well beyond looking at porn or scantily clad
women. It was more to do with the eye
looking upon something and being greedy for it and coveting it. You do a little search on this
in Scripture and you'll find the Word of God speaks often
of an evil eye in connection with greed for things, for wealth,
for treasures of this world. the evil eye. In Deuteronomy chapter 15, the
man who would not be generous to his servant in the year of
release when he was commanded to let the servant go and goods
and all that, if he was not generous, he was accused by God of having
an evil eye. He wanted to hold on to his stuff.
In Proverbs 28 verse 22, He that hasteth to be rich, He that hasteth to be rich hath
an evil eye. Matthew 20, of course, that's
the parable of the vineyard and those that worked all day long
complained about those that got the same pay as those that just
worked for an hour. Jesus asked this question, is
thine eye evil because I am good? An evil eye is a lustful eye,
an evil eye is a greedy eye, an evil eye is a covetous eye.
Asaph, Asaph, one of the contributors of the Word of God had to struggle
with this lust in Psalm 73. I was envious at the foolish
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. I was envious. You may care nothing for the
riches of this world, for its wealth, for its prosperity, until
you find yourself in a place where your back is against the
wall financially. And then that lust becomes very
real to you. You become dissatisfied with
where God has placed you financially. You're discontent with the situation
He's put you into. You may even begin to gripe and
complain and act out in unbelief. And the lust of the eye begins
to long for, I wish I had that man's wealth. At least I had
a little bit of his money. I have served God all these years
and look where I am now. Is this what I get for it? Listen, that's exactly what Job's
wife said to him when he lost it all. Curse God and die. Is this how God treats you? You've
been so faithful to Him? You've served Him? Just go ahead
and curse Him and die. Job said, you speak as one of
the women of the world, one of the foolish women talk. I've
received good from the hand of God. Shall I not receive evil?
Shall I not receive the affliction and the infirmities and the trials
and the fire? Job could do that because his
eye was not evil. Wasn't the lust of the eyes? Do not think for a moment that
you're beyond it. The moment you do, I dare say
you've been seduced by the devil already and you're blinded. Did
he not come to the Lord of glory in the wilderness and try to
seduce him with the riches of the world? If he came to Christ,
is he not going to come to you? I've got to get ahead. I've got
to make more and more and more. Why? Why? Because, and I want you to fill
in the blank, because why? An old Bible teacher now with
the Lord said to me in one of the classes, Apollonian Epistles
it was called. It sort of surprised me when
at first he said part of what he was going to say and stopped.
We give to God in order to get. He just stopped. I'm not fresh out of the world. That sounded strange to me. We
give in order to get. And then he went on to say, in
order to give. in order to get, in order to
give, in order to get, in order to give. The whole point was
we want to get so we can give, not so we can keep as misers
for ourselves. Thirdly, the pride of life. In one word, we could call this
lust, the desire, the craving, the longing for self-gratification. It includes two things basically,
ambition and the contempt of others. The pride of life describes
a boastful pride in yourself, usually at the expense of someone
else. It can take the form of pride
of your birth, your lineage, pride in your family, pride in
your talents, pride that you have a particular name, there's
a particular bloodline, pride in your status in society, pride
in your education, pride in your looks, pride in your wealth,
pride in your influence, the people you know. And this just
goes on. All of these things is what the
world craves. They're anxious, you know, the
world is to get into certain cliques. Certain circles anxious to belong
to a certain club where there is a spirit of superiority. and
a despising of others who are not in the club, in the inner
circle. They are usually people who love
to drop names about the people they know, big names, just so
you will know that they rub shoulders with important people. My, how
grieving that is to the Spirit of God. It's obvious from this passage
here In 1 John, but the people of God are not immune to the
pride of life more than any other of the lusts of the world. To speak condescendingly to someone,
talk down your nose at them as if they're inferior or if they're
an idiot and they don't see something they should see it so clearly
because you're so better than they are, you're so smarter than
they are. And you can do it ever so deftly.
That is the pride of life. The pride of life. To look down
on others as inferior because they don't have your knowledge,
they don't have your ability, they don't have your savvy. They
don't even have your understanding of the Bible. They don't have
the doctrinal background that you have. They can't pray like you do. It's nothing more than hellish
pride. Pride blinds us to the fact that
what God esteems, what He values so highly is humility. It is
self-deprecation. It is taking the lowly place. That's what He loves. The proud,
the Scripture says, He knoweth afar off, but He gives grace. To what? To whom? The humble. Guess who makes strides in Christlikeness? The ones God gives grace to. Who does he give grace to? He gives grace to the humble,
the lowly, the ones who honestly mean it
when they say, brother, as far as I'm concerned, I am less than
least of all the saints. And it's not said with any mock
humility. You really believe it. Because you know about yourself
and you know your sins. You know what no one else knows
about you. And it is pride that would love
to walk among people and have them think so highly of you. But you know what you are. You know your failings. You know
what you struggle with. And where in the world, therefore,
do you or I ever get off with arrogance, with talking down
to someone? If you have any, you have good
looks. You've got a great mind. You've got great abilities or
talents. How can you boast when everything
was given to you as a gift? As Paul said, why do you act
like it wasn't given to you? Why are you so critical? Why are you so fault-finding? Proud people can point out what's
wrong with everybody and everything except themselves. Why? Because there's nothing, there
is nothing like pride that blinds you. You don't even realize what
you're doing. You want to grieve the Holy Ghost? You just walk around with a critical
spirit condemning, putting everybody and everything else down. You know what you're saying in
essence? I'm better. Self-glorification. It is self-glorification. It is the pride of life that
is the source of many an argument in the marriage. Somebody, husband or wife or
both, I want my way. I'm the important one. What I
want is more important than you want. And if you don't see it, there's something really wrong
with you. And I am better than you are. Is that not right, brothers and
sisters? I want to tell you, I am not
talking theory. I've been there and done that. That's why there's many an argument,
only by pride cometh contention. It's two eyes that are heading
heads. It's been the cause for many
a church split. Somebody wasn't willing to back
down and just say it's not worth it. It's not worth the damage it's
causing. They won't take the humble road.
No, they've got to assert themselves. After all, they're the brilliant
one. They've got to be right. They
can't be wrong. They can't be wrong. Would never
even cross their mind because they've got the superior mind
after all. And they know better, they think. Whether or not you know they
might know better, they're never given an excuse
to walk over people, to treat them as if they're dirt. I believe there is no form of
pride more reprehensible to God than spiritual pride. Because pride at the end of the
day is man saying, I am God. You strip it down. That's exactly
what it is. I'm God. Glorify me. I'm the best. You see, our chief end is to
glorify him and not ourselves. And when we do that, we enjoy
him. When we glorify ourselves, all we're doing is spelling misery
for ourselves, misery for those around us. Do you actually like being around
cocky people? You actually enjoy that? Now, if you're cocky, you like
being around yourself. Do you realize, as God's people,
how detrimental pride is to our own transformation? to our own
usefulness in this world. I have heard ungodly law centers
describe Christians and their pride, and they've been dead
on right, and that completely turns them off. They look down at me. I'm a sinner. They don't have time for me. We can condemn them, the lost,
and forget what we are to condemn is the sin. But they need to be loved. They need to be loved. You know, someone said, talking to parents, Christian
parents, who had children who were homosexuals, You better love them, because they will find a love
from their own community, and it's strong. Yeah, I know it's
not the real love, but they will find it from their own community.
And your love better be real, and it better be stronger. Not despise them. Pride. Humility. Hands the other way
around. Wonder how much the Spirit of
God is grieved. Much of a hindrance there is
in our progress, our growth in grace and Christ-likeness, whether
as individuals or as congregations in this world, because of this
thing of pride. At the end of the message last
night, I was quoting a well-known text from 2 Chronicles chapter
7. First thing on the list if my people who are called by my
name shall humble themselves. First thing on the list, child
of God, humble the pride. Secondly, briefly, the lusts
of the world recognized The devil is subtle. He's a serpent.
Remember, he tempted Eve in all three of these areas and she
didn't know what hit her. Now, how can you and I recognize
if we have fallen prey to these lusts of the world? Ask yourself
these questions. Number one, am I more concerned
about the things of the world than I am about heaven and spiritual
things? Am I more concerned about the
things of the world than I am about heaven, about spiritual
things? Because when you're… Men of the
world are concerned about the things of the world and they
make it very, very clear about their behavior through what they
do, what they don't do, what's important to them, where their
priorities are. They're very diligent about the
things of the world. and they will take great pains
and they will make great sacrifices. They will gladly work sometimes
80 hours a week because they are so set, they have a craving
for, a longing for the things of the world. So am I like that? Do I take
more time make greater effort to advance my life in temporal
things than I do in things that affect my soul, in spiritual
things? Am I simply a Sunday-go-to-meeting
Christian? Do I belong to the Sunday morning
only crowd? Do I just go to church on Sunday
morning? Or do I just go to church on Sunday night? Or do I go to
church on Sunday morning and Sunday night, but I really don't
have time for the midweek prayer meeting? Because why? Because why? Well, because there's
my favorite TV show that comes on on that night. Or because I'm tired from a long
day at work. I understand there are always
legitimate reasons. I get that. But to be honest, folks, I don't
think that most of the reasons are legitimate. We just convince ourselves that
they are. The devil has duped us. When
you hear, How many times the prayer life is the powerhouse
of the church? Do I give all diligence to make
my calling and election sure? Or is really my diligence spent
on getting my station in life secure? You say, what I'm saying is simply
praying, Lord, have mercy on me. That's the prayer we must
make as sinners and asking God for salvation. But merely reciting
that will not bring assurance to your soul that you're one
of His. There must be praying and struggling. If there's life
within you, there's gotta be a struggle. And there must be
crying and wrestling with God and you have to, remember, go
into the classroom where you get the knowledge of the Scriptures
and the Word of God and prayer. That's got to be there. So, what
am I concerned more about? The things of the world? Lusts
of the world? Does the world push aside and
cut out the things that are of God? Is that what I have to describe
my life like that, my family like that? The world just shoves
those things into a corner. And I only have a little bit
of time for those things because I'm just so busy. Am I content
with having just a little bit when it comes to matters of the
soul? I'm just content with a little
bit. Am I content with a little bit
of grace, with a little bit of knowledge of God, with a little
bit of communion with God, with a little bit of heavenly mindedness? Yet, I am not content with a
little bit of those things of the world. I want a lot of it. If that's the case, then you
can recognize That's the lust of the world. Am I more grieved over the loss
of outward worldly things than I am over the loss of spiritual
things? Is that what really troubles
me? I can get so overwrought about
losing my wealth, losing my home, losing my car, I don't think a whole lot about
losing out with God, losing any progress I've made in my spiritual
life, losing out in the place of prayer, losing out in the
knowledge of God's Word, losing out in church. I'm so concerned with losing
out these temporal things. Recognize it. That is a lust
of the world, your craving. Don't call it please, I beg you,
don't call it anything else. Don't give any excuse for it
because you will never have done with it, you will never kill
it unless you see it as your enemy. If you keep treating it as your
friend, you will never kill it. Thirdly, finally. The lust of the world mortified. I read this morning that verse
in Jeremiah 31 verse 14. My people shall be satisfied
with my goodness, saith the Lord. Big statement. My people shall
be satisfied with my goodness, saith It is when you are satisfied
with the Lord's goodness that you don't lust after, crave the
world. It kills the lust of the world
when you're satisfied with the goodness of God. What's that
goodness look like? What's this man talking about?
the goodness of God that so satisfies the soul that the lust of the
world just don't have their attraction to you. Well, it's all summed
up in this one thing, this one statement. None but Christ can
satisfy. None. That is the ultimate expression
of the goodness of God. None but Jesus Christ can satisfy
your soul. None but Jesus Christ can deal
with the lusts of the world, whether that's the lust of the
flesh, the lust of the eyes, or the pride of life. You've
heard it all before, but you're going to hear it again. What
does that mean, none but Christ can satisfy? Does it not mean
that God's people are satisfied with God's goodness and they
will make progress in their transformation into Christ's image when they
are satisfied with the perfections of Christ? His perfections, satisfied, content
with His obedience, with His righteousness. with His goodness, with His love,
with His mercy. And you're satisfied. God's people are satisfied with
God's goodness when they are satisfied with the purposes of
Christ. The purposes. I said, you know, you get these
temptations. This world comes and allures
you with its riches and its power and its ambitions and its pleasures.
And you know, I want to climb the ladder. I want to be important. I want
to have a position of power. I want people to think highly
of me. So therefore, you really grind against
and buck against the providences of God that have left you in
a very lowly spot in life. Wait a minute, wait a minute.
When you're satisfied with the purposes of God that are in Christ
Jesus, you're satisfied with exactly where He has you in your
life. It took me a good long while. I say it took me years to reach
a place in my ministry where I was satisfied with a little
congregation. I'm just being honest with you. I preached to about 30 people
on a good Sunday if all are there. I'm not used to preaching to
crowds this size. And I would plead and wrestle
with God and Lord, why are there not more? How come you haven't
built it up? And usually come back to this
thinking that what's wrong with me? What's wrong with me? What's
wrong with me? Until the Lord graciously brought
me to the place This is what I have for you. This is my purpose. You be satisfied and content
with that purpose. I have my reasons. And so while it's still sometimes
difficult to come to a Sunday night and you've got family sick
and someone's out of town and you have more empty seats than
you do full seats, I can just go away and preach
my heart out to the 15 or 20 people who are there. That's how it works, brothers
and sisters. When you're satisfied with the purposes of God and
Christ Jesus, you're satisfied. You're not trying to get more.
You're not trying to climb a ladder. You're happy in Jesus. You know, folks, we need to learn
this now because there's persecution coming and it's all going to
be taken from us. We better learn it now. to be without. God's people are satisfied with
God's goodness when they're satisfied with the promises of Christ. Promises. The world promises you. Satan
promises you so much and never, never delivers. The only thing
he delivers is more misery, more grief, more unchristlikeness. And you thought you were going
to gain by believing what he said he was going to get you.
Satisfaction. And it doesn't work. But not the promises of Christ. He's always good for His promises.
I can stand here and I can tell you what, you're a child of God
that's walked with God, you can tell me the exact same thing.
He's always been good for His promises. They haven't always
come to pass when I would have wanted them to come to pass,
but He's always been what He's promised to be to you and to
me. Matter of fact, He's been much
more than that, has He not? He's given us so much more than
He's even promised us. I can live with that. That makes life in this world
great. I've got the promises of God. They're mine, made out to me.
So do you. God's people are satisfied with
God's goodness when they are satisfied with the passion of
Christ. Will you come with me just for
a little bit again tonight? We'll walk through the Via Dolorosa,
the way of sorrow, the street that Christ was taken down with
that beam upon his back that was bloody, open wounds, Our
Lord was weak, extremely weak. He hadn't had sleep for hours,
been beaten and beaten and beaten again. He hadn't been fed. He could only walk for a little
bit before he stumbled because of the weakness. Someone else
had to bear the cross. They take him out. They lay the
cross down. They lay him on it. They drive
the nails through his hands, through his feet. They drop the
cross into the socket, just shaking his body. I just like to sit down now and
then and imagine that scene. In my own heart, it does me good. Try to hear the groans that he
must have had when they dropped it into the hole. They just shook
his body. As they hammer, he says, Father,
forgive them for they know not what they do. The Son of God cries out in thirst. Who made all the water in the
world, he cries out, I thirst. then the darkness descends. And I, you, will never ever be
able to enter into nor understand what it meant when the Father
at that hour shut out heaven to His Son. It's a mystery. But mine was sorrow that sorrow we can't imagine. I won't bother to cry out with
a loud voice, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? But God forsook him. not for crimes that he had done,
he groaned upon the tree. Why? For those lusts of the flesh
that you're succumbing to right now. For those lusts of the eyes that
you're indulging. For the pride the arrogance,
the condescension, the critical spirit, the fault-finding that
plagues your life. You're causing that pain, and in that suffering, your Lord
delivered you from sin. He delivered you. He took it
away. He was punished for the dirty thoughts, the harsh
words, the mean-spiritedness. He was punished in your stead. In that suffering, we find satisfaction. God is satisfied with Christ and therefore God is satisfied
with me. Even with all my sins, my shame, my failures, my worldly
mindedness, God is satisfied with me because
He's satisfied with Christ and I am in Him forever. Brothers and sisters, I cannot
give you any better way to overcome the lusts, these things of the
world. I have no better answer. There's
no book I will send you to but the book of the gospel. Here's what I want to know. I'm sad there's only one other
meeting. That's not an invitation, brother, to stay another week. Wouldn't it be nice if God just
came down? There's a sadness. You see, I guess you and I are
like Peter up on the Mount of Transfiguration. We see a little
glimpse of the glory of the Lord, and we say, Lord, let's just
build some tents here. We can just stay here. I appreciate that. I get it. You see down below in the valley
at the foot of that mountain, there were the Pharisees who
were making a heyday with those other disciples about the boy
who was demon possessed and they didn't have the power to cast
him out. And there was a work that had to be done. And the
whole point, the whole point of the time on the mount was
so that they could go down and minister to those that were in need. Now here's what I want to know.
Are you going to be hearers of the Word only? As James says. You see, it occurred to me that
what the Lord has been doing throughout this conference is
bringing us to the mirror of His Word. And James describes
those who come to the mirror of the word as a natural man
looking at his natural face in a glass. And he looks at it. And he sees himself. God shows
him what's there in his life. And it's one of two things. He
sees it. God's put his finger upon it.
And he walks away. forgetting what he saw, forgetting
what manner of man he was, and he does nothing about it. There are no changes in his life. But James says, the one who not
only hears, but the doer of the word is blessed in his deed. That's the blessing. So I ask you, what kind of hearer? I wonder when I'm all done tomorrow
night, when the work here goes on, what
will happen in Balaamina Freeh? Because you've testified it's
been good to be here. You've testified the Lord has
spoken to you. So many have come to the line and said the Lord
is speaking. What's going to change? What is going to change? Do you mean to tell me you want
to go back to the same old, same old? I don't want you to go back. I know I don't want to go back. Will you be a hearer only or
a doer of His Word? Depends on whether or not you
want to be transformed more than ever into the image of Jesus
Christ. God write His Word on our hearts
for His name's sake. Let's bow our heads for a moment
in prayer.
Magnificent Transformation of Sinning Saints: Overcoming The Lusts of the World
Series Bible Conference 2015
| Sermon ID | 11121515169 |
| Duration | 1:42:43 |
| Date | |
| Category | Conference |
| Bible Text | 1 John 2:15-17 |
| Language | English |
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