This message was given at Grace Community Church in Minden, Nevada. At the end, we will give information about how to contact us to receive a copy of this or other messages. Let's pray together. Father, we come into your presence once again this afternoon and we cannot help but to think of the things that we've heard Father, in so many ways, our souls are filled from a weekend of being so well-fed. And yet, Lord, we also know that we've been pierced by Your Word. Father, we know that there have been things from 1 John that have been brought to us that have brought conviction and have called for repentance and real change. And yet father, we know that we so desperately need your grace to be doers of the word. And so father, although it's been a joy this weekend to be hearers of the word, We now pray for the grace of your Holy Spirit to be doers of the Word. We pray, Father, that you would help us to hate the darkness that we easily gravitate to. Father, whether that is personal sins, besetting sins, attitudes of ill will and even hatred, Father, we pray that you would come with power and conform us to the image of your son. Lord, we long to be holy. We pray for your help. We pray for your servant and ask that you would give him the power of your Holy Spirit one more time today. We pray that you'd open our ears and our hearts. Lord, after much food and Much fellowship, we can get weary, so help us. Help us to give ourselves fully to the ministry of thy word. In Jesus' name, amen. Brother, would you come on up, please? I don't know about you, but I am absolutely delighted this weekend. This has been a real treat. God has over the years brought to us many of His choice servants, hasn't He? We've had a lot of wonderful preachers over the years, and it's just been a great treat to have this dear brother. And so, brother, one last time. Thank you. Thank you very much. Well, brethren, Two quick words before we turn to 1 John chapter two and verse 15. First of all, it's an opportunity for me to thank you for the wonderful time that I have had here since my arrival. I've been well taken care of in every sense. I've enjoyed the fellowship, with a number of you across the last few days. I've even been taught how to hold a gun. That shows how far the fellowship has gone. So it's been wonderful. And thank you also for the overwhelming feedback that I've received to the preaching of the word of God. I'm grateful that there's been a kingship of spirit that we have sensed as we have been together. And then secondly, it is to thank you too for sending your pastor every so often over to Zambia. You would have noticed I mentioned at least two things in my presentation on the state of the church in Africa that were real needs. One of them was pastoral training, and that's what your pastor's been coming to do among us, and please continue to support not only his coming, but the ongoing work of pastor training because ultimately a church never rises higher than its pulpit. And if the pulpit is not delivering God's truth, you don't expect the lives in the pews. to be any richer. So definitely thank you and continue to do that. And then while I've been here, I've also been made aware of another need that I mentioned, which is being met, and that is the provision of books. I was a little ignorant to some extent of what has been shared with me. And again, really on behalf of the church back home in Zambia, I would like to thank you for that extra effort. because one advantage with a printed page is that when somebody has it, they can refer to it and even other people can inherit it and consequently read it and so you're really passing on the truth of God's word in an ongoing way as it is made available in the printed page. We're grateful to God that in his providence he made English the official language in our part of the world and consequently there's hardly any need for translations and anything to that effect as it is. Once it crosses the Atlantic Ocean, it's already in a form that can be utilized. So I'm grateful to God for that as well. I will be taking back home warm, greetings from a like-minded church, from like-minded brethren, and I trust that that will unite our churches even further over the years to come. Let's turn then to the last passage that we are looking at together. And it is 1 John chapter two, verse 15 to verse 17. 1 John 2 verse 15 to verse 17. The Bible says there, 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 the 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. There are many other passages that I could have dealt with in the second chapter, is the passage that I have just crossed, rather skipped, where John has three different messages that he is giving, one to little children, the other to fathers, and the other to young men, and he seems to repeat that twice over. I could have also skipped all that and went on to looking at the warnings that he gives against the Antichrist, against false teachers, against false teaching. All these are important. Remember, we're talking about God being light and us walking in the light. And as we were doing so, we've seen that one aspect of light is truth. and we ought to jealously guard the truth. We ought to love the truth because truth is from God. The God that is there has revealed himself and he is light. So we could have done that and I know we live in a world where we try to be so, to one another that we don't want to talk about things that are truthful if we are with somebody who's holding on to an untruth. And so the idea is that we are all just Christians, let's embrace one another. And yet that's not really the biblical position. We are to speak the truth in love. We're to speak the truth nonetheless. So we could have handled that. However, I want instead to deal with the love for the world, the love for the world. And I do so not because I think that there is a greater tendency of loving the world on the western end of the Atlantic compared to the eastern end, but it is a danger that all of us will easily find ourselves in and consequently it needs to be addressed. Our Lord Jesus Christ, when he was on earth, addressed it in one of his, the very first lengthy sermon that is recorded of him, that we refer to as the Sermon on the Mount. He reaches a point where he deals with it and talks about this difficulty of loving the world instead of loving God and also deals with anxiety and worry as being yet another way in which we lose out in our Christian faith. He also talks about the love of ostentation, pride. Again, another way in which we end up being losers. And all these are related to our connection with the world. His disciple John here decides to park in this area in order to unpack what is in this, in these three verses that are before us. So even way back then, it was still a very real danger. And if you as a Christian are not mindful of this, you will find yourself in love with the darkness while at the same time claiming to be walking with a God who is in the light. Very well then, I think it behoves us that we begin with trying to define what is being referred to here as the world because that's what we're being told not to love. We're being told not to love the world. Now many times the word world simply means physical things that are there around us. But clearly in this passage, the phrase refers to that sphere of human existence that is under the control of the devil. that is outside what would call the realm that shows something of the love of God and the nature of God. In chapter five, for instance, and verse 19, chapter five and verse 19, this is the way it is put, right towards the end of this entire epistle. We know that we are from God and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. And that's the contrast we're having here. The people of God belonging to God and the whole world being under the control of the evil one. And in that sense, therefore, the devil is often referred to as the prince or the ruler of this world. And so when John here is telling us not to love the world, he is talking about those things that serve this agenda. That serve the agenda that the evil one has as he is fighting God. And that's the reason why when John proceeds to speak about what are those things that are in the world, notice the way he describes them. He refers to them as the desires of the flesh. The desires of the eyes, or as some visions would put it, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Clearly, that's not God's agenda. That's not what is enhancing godliness. It is not what is making you more Christ-like. It is in fact what causes us to sin against God. And so it is that which John is seeking to address here and is warning us we must not love. Because Christians are referred to as those who are in the world but not of the world. They are a complete contrast in the sense that they are a people with a different agenda altogether. from the agenda of the world that is serving the evil one. So let's be careful that we are not simply thinking that loving the world is simply equal to the fact that I have bought a second car or a third one or I've bought a better car than the one that I was driving previously. Let's realize that it's primarily referring to this opposite agenda instead of an agenda that has God in it. His honor and His glory as being the primary object of my life, my thoughts, my desires, rather I have that which is the agenda of the evil one through this world. And I'm allowing myself to be sucked into that. John is saying, as Christians, we must not find ourselves there. We are being exhorted not to love the world. We are being exhorted not to love the things of the world. Now, brethren, that's not easy. It's not easy because we belong to this world. We've been brought up in this world. We've been educated with the agenda of the world in mind. Our thoughts are corrupted. Our hearts are corrupted. And invariably, therefore, our wills are corrupted. Instead of beginning with God, Remember, God is light, therefore, this is the way we should be. We instead begin with ourselves, and then we say, well, because this is the way we are, therefore, that's how God should now also be. And so we often reduce God to a powerful servant of ours. to help us enjoy the world instead of seeing it differently. And that's the reason why this is such an important exhortation. It's in the category where John is not his usual self. Normally, John would begin with those statements of endearment. My little children. In fact, even soon after that, verse 18 begins with children. It is the last hour. But notice the way he begins here. The way in which I mentioned it in one of my sermons. Remember, stop it. That's the way he begins. It's just straight, don't do it. Because it's ruining you, it's damaging you, it's destroying the cause for which you ought to be living. It's literally military approach here, warfare approach. Don't love the world. and don't love the things of the world. We'll talk about the reasons later, but first of all, don't do it. And if you know John, a disciple of love, your first reaction is, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait, wait, wait, wait. What's this? But that's because of how serious this matter is. John deals with a number of reasons why and we'll be spending our time in this message looking at those reasons. The first reason is that your heart is unable to maintain two loves at the same time. It's not possible and don't let yourself be cheated. Look at the way he puts it in the 15th verse. 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. I remember a number of years ago being called in to deal with a marriage situation. The marriage was falling apart. The gentleman had been guilty of adultery, and it wasn't just once, it was a number of times, and in the process it was discovered it was a number of women, and so of course the wife was just saying, look, forget it, I'm out of here. And so when I was called in and trying to help again, because it was really the first time, the gentleman, as he's pleading with his wife to forgive him, says, I love you. I've never forgotten the lady's answer. She says, Pastor, that's the problem. This guy doesn't know what love is. How on earth can you be using those words on me when you've been sleeping around? Does this guy know love in the first place? And what he obviously meant was, look, I'd still like to be with you. But the point is, you cannot have more than one love in your heart. You either love your wife and consequently don't love these other women, or you love these other women and consequently you don't love your wife. Clearly, the point that is being made by John is similar. The world is on one side, God is on the other. The agenda of the world is going one way. The agenda of God is going the other way. You cannot have both in your heart at the same time. And it wasn't just John speaking like this. Remember what I mentioned from the Lord Jesus Christ? in Matthew and chapter six. I'll just quickly quote it because, again, basically that's what Jesus is saying. He's saying there, verse 24, Matthew six, no one can save two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. And here's the statement. You cannot serve both God and money. You're not able to. It's not possible. Your heart can only love one. And basically that's all that John is saying here. If anyone loves the world, guess what has happened? The love of the Father has gone out through the window. You are no longer walking in the light. You are no longer affectionately committed to God. The love of the Father is not in him. Imagine somebody watching a baseball game. Okay, goes to show that I'm still trying to please Brian. Yeah, Jason, when you start coming to Zambia, I will try and change things. Imagine the two major baseball teams play. And as one manages to overtake the other with respect to the scores, and this guy is, hey, come on, do it, do it, do it, with all the energy in him. And when the scores turn, come on, do it, do it, do it, You start thinking now, this guy must be mad. You cannot with equal energy be supporting two warring teams, it's not possible. If I was to speak about soccer, which makes a lot more sense to me. When one team scores, you can know which team this guy supports. Because they literally jump into the air, they can even kick the person sitting in front of them. Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry. Because it's their team. When it's the other group that wins or at least scores, that's no more. A guy is abnormal. If this team scores, he jumps into the air. The other team scores, he jumps again into the air. You say, no, no, no, no, no. There's a problem here. That doesn't happen. He must have a psychiatric problem. Friends, that's the truth about this matter. Your heart is in love with the world. I'll tell you what happens when you come to church. You are as good as a piece of wood sitting in that pew. Your heart isn't here. It has disturbed your life. It has disturbed your agenda. It is when you are out there chasing the world and fulfilling its agenda that you are alive. Alive. And God is saying no. That's why his very first commandment is you shall have no other gods beside me. That's number one. I must reign supreme in your life. There must not be a number two, a number three, or number four. I must be one from one up to 10. Your heart must be in love with me. So that's the first reason that is being given here. And as I said, we shouldn't cheat ourselves about it. That's why we must come to terms with this issue. That is an opportunity cost. As I'm being carried away with this, I'm taking my heart away from the only one who deserves my love because he created me, he recreated me, he paid a dear price for my soul, I ought to give him my all. and I'm wrongly giving my heart to others. There's a second reason that John gives. And basically it is the source from where this inspiration comes when you are loving the world. The source is not God. It is the fallen world. Look at the way he puts it in 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 God, but is from the world. Remember what we said in chapter one. True Christianity begins with God. That's where it begins. You always begin with, Who is this divine being? What kind of being is he? And then you work backwards and say, therefore, what kind of person ought I to be? That's Christianity. When you are beginning with everything else and then trying to fit in God, you're ending up with an idol of your own making. That's what you're ending up with. And that's the issue here. John is saying, look, the basic problem with loving the world is that you reverse the order completely. Because the inspiration, that which is driving you in that agenda is not beginning with God. It's beginning with that same fallen agenda that is under the captivity of the evil one. He breaks down these sources in three. The first he calls it the desire of the flesh. And it's clearly using flesh in terms of the fallen nature. the corrupted nature. That's where he's coming from. And clearly, you don't get something good out of something bad. You don't get health out of corruption. You don't do that. If the root is sick, then invariably the result of it will also be sick. And clearly the flesh, the fallen nature produces that which is evil. The apostle Paul in writing to the Galatians speaks about the fruit of the spirit. But prior to that, he also speaks about, rather, before that, yes, he speaks about the fruit of the flesh in chapter five and verse 16. Look at the way he puts it. He says, but I say, walk by the spirit, that's Galatians five and verse 16. Walk by the spirit and you will not gratify, you will not fulfill, you will not give way to the desires of the flesh. And what are these desires of the flesh? Well, the war against the spirit and the desires of the spirit against the flesh. They're opposed to each other. So clearly you are going to the wrong place, the opposite place for inspiration instead of going to the spirit of God and God himself to inspire you. And then he says, In verse 19, now the works of the flesh are evident. Sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalry, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and all things like these. I warn you as I warned you before that those who touch such things do not inherit the kingdom of God. So there we have a source that you don't want to encourage because it's a sewer that produces filth. Another source that he mentions here, he calls it the desires of the eyes. The desires of the eyes, or the lust of the eyes. And basically the eyes are the gates through which the flesh says, even that I want. And even that I must get. And even that And as a result, you end up spending your life chasing after things that will not satisfy your soul. It's the eye gate. And you know what? Spiritual things, the eye gate doesn't see. Try it. Try and use your I get to see the benefit of Bible reading. To see the benefit of fellowship. So that you can now say, I want fellowship, I want fellowship, because I get. That's by faith. It's the I of faith. that sees that if I can drink in this book, what a world it will be. If I can maximize on fellowship with believers, what an enriching benefit there will be for me and for God's kingdom. It's the eye of faith that sees that. But with respect to the world's agenda, I want to assure you, it's I get. And I get is never satisfied. So your responsibility is to learn to say no to what I get is saying I want. You need to be able to say, how does this fit into what the eye of faith is seeing? How does this fit into the grand agenda of God? When I'm standing before the judgment seat of God on the final day, and this issue is brought forth, is it something that will be for God's glory and for my eternal good? or will I bow down in shame at the fact that my heart went after what my eyes saw? The lust of the eye, the lust of the eye. And then the last is the pride of life, pride of life. And again, this is, a source, an inspiration. Pride of life motivates you to do things. It motivates you into action. Because you want to be like a peacock, as it were. People admiring you. You want people to praise you, to be patting you on the back. And you know what the problem is there? It steals from God's glory. It steals from God's glory. And that again is the agenda of the world, the agenda of the evil one. Isn't that what he said to Eve? You know Eve, the reason why you are being stopped from eating of this tree is because God is afraid that if you eat of it, you will be like him. He wants to be the sole owner of this glory. But guess what, you can share in it. And Eve began to look and look and look through eye gate. And finally, I think, let me also have a share in it. And yes, they did become like God, knowing good and evil, but it was with disastrous consequences. Disastrous consequences. And that's the point that is being brought out here. It's a wrong inspiration. Because the agenda of the evil one is to steal God's glory. The agenda of God is to bring glory to himself and rightly so. He is the sole creator of the entire universe. Surely the praise ought to go to him. So it is only right that he should receive praise. So it matters what is inspiring you. It matters. It matters why you go to church. It's possible to come to church with the world's agenda in mind, it does. It's possible for me to preach loving the world, it is. So that I can gain either financially or I can gain a name for myself that's still loving the world. So it's not the upward activity alone, it is what inspires you, what's motivating you. Is it love for God? Seeking his honor and his glory. Did you come to church this morning and you sing, Lord, make me like you? that you may be glorified in my life, Lord. Or was it, this is a good opportunity to meet Mary, so that we can talk about that agenda we have this week, and the other agenda, and I hope she will be there, or John will be there, so that program that we... And so you come here, And we are singing songs like forever on the screen. And man, when is this service finishing? We need to chat with my friends. John is saying beware. It's possible for you to be in a place where angels are envying you. And you are completely blinded by the world. Completely blinded. Here are people rejoicing in the overwhelming immense grace of God towards fallen sinners through Calvary. And others are overwhelmed by these thoughts and these realities as they sing them. And your heart is stone cold. because you are being motivated by something else and this is but a distraction to you. John is saying, don't love the world. It will eat away your spirituality, it will. But there's one final reason that he gives and it is the fact that this world is a sinking ship. It's passing away. It says in verse 17, and the world is passing away along with its desires. But whoever does the will of God abides forever. Abides forever. Back home, in Zambia, and I suppose it's probably true in much of Africa, the moment you see an item and you turn and at the back it's written made in China, you normally don't buy it. And it's not because we've got a quarrel with Chinese, it's simply that they send a lot of the cheap stuff into Africa. I can buy exactly the same item here in America and it's written made in China and I tell you it will last as long as I will last. But I buy that item in Zambia and it's cheap. Next week I'll be needing to replace it because the cheap stuff that will not pass quality tests is sent in our direction. So we've just learned that if you want something that's only going to last a day, maybe it's for the purposes of photographs. So you buy the umbrellas because they've got beautiful colors, you know, they know how to do their colors and so on, and it's for the wedding day, you pull them out and take pictures, wonderful! But when it rains, It's just one shower and the things are damaged. So any thinking person wants something that lasts. That's what they want. You want to get into a marriage that lasts. You want to buy a house that lasts. You want to buy a car that lasts. You want to buy clothes that last. Well, you see, the problem with this world is that you are pouring your investment into a sinking ship. It won't be long before this world and everything that is in it is destroyed. In fact, more than that, you yourself are only in this world in a temporal way. We will soon all be gone, all of us. If the Lord tarries in a few years time, there will be totally different people filling these pews. And we'll all be history. So why invest into something that's so temporal that will perish with you, why? Don't you have a brain? Can't you think? That's all John is saying here. That surely you don't want to go this way because it will leave you for all eternity a beggar burning in hell. That's all it will do. And you don't want to waste your life that way. The world is passing away along with its desires. So clearly, you want to use your time and to use your money and to use your abilities in something that will last beyond the grave. so that when you are on your dying bed and you are looking at the world that you are now leaving behind, you will say, Lord, thank you. Thank you that I'm now going to my reward. As Paul did, In 2 Timothy, I'm sure you know the passage. When he said, the time for my departure has come. And there's no sense of regret in him. I fought the good fight. I finished the race. And now there is a crown awaiting me. Not only me, but all those that have had a similar priority in life. There's a crown of righteousness awaiting me. It's only for those who do the will of God. Because that defies the grave. That lasts forever. That's the point he's making here. And brethren, this is a very practical subject because it's talking about your use of your time Your use of your abilities, whether it's mental abilities, artistic abilities, academic abilities, whatever abilities God has given you, the use of your opportunities that God has brought your way through providence, and all the other things. If you are an individual who does not take this seriously, It's you who's going to be the laughing stock in the end. It's you. You will reach the end of life's journey, which is inevitable, we will all reach there, and there will be nothing, absolutely nothing to show for the fact that you lived, nothing. If you are truly saved, As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3, you'll be saved as though through fire. You yourself getting across to the other side. But all the, that which you had done, which was nothing but hair and stubble, bent up altogether. Because it was all done with the wrong agenda. Satan's agenda. self-gratification agenda and not the glory of God. So I want to end my visit with you by a real appeal. And it is this. God is light. And as moths get attracted to the light of the the candle, may God open your eyes to see the beauty, the grandeur, the majesty, the glory of God. And may your heart be so moved to love him to honor Him, to glorify Him. And as that chorus goes, turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of this world will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. It's not about formulas and tricks to squeeze commitment out of you. It is you with the eye of faith beholding him who is light with no darkness at all. And that glory wins your heart. May that prevail over you. so that when you look at the world and its agenda, instead of it being attractive to you, it's disgusting. You're seeing it as a robber wanting to steal not only from you, but to steal from God, from God, and your heart is jealous for your God. Consequently, you want to live for him. Love not the world. Let's pray. Lord, it only makes sense that we should love you. You have made us. It only makes sense that we should love you. You've paid a dear price for us. The price of your own son. The darling of heaven. Forsaken by you. The point of crying, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? For us. For us. What a price. Lord, it's only right that we should love you. You have recreated us in Christ. Made us a new people. Something this world would have never done for us. It's only right that we should love you. You have prepared a world beyond the grave that will satisfy us, fulfill us to our deepest levels that nothing else can ever do. But above all, Lord, it's only right that we should love you. because you are altogether lovely, immensely glorious, with a light that radiates from your throne, with a beauty indescribable. Oh God of heaven, help us to love you. In Jesus name, Amen. We hope you've enjoyed this message from Grace Community Church in Minden, Nevada. To receive a copy of this or other messages, call us at area code 775-782-6516 or visit our website gracenevada.com.