July 15, 2007

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 Scripture KJV

Reverend David S. Huffer

Westwood Baptist Church - 2124 Davis Road
 Waynesboro, VA

God Is Light: The Truth Of The Light

1 John 2:15-17

Vision Statement: God Is Light

Purpose Statement: Let Go and Love God

Story – A rich man bought an island so he could get back to the beauty of nature and solitude.

·              Friends convinced him to build a golf course so he would have something to do

·              Then a hotel to house the guests who came to play golf -Then a shopping mall for the wives of the golfers.

·              Then a hospital to care for emergencies - Then a police station to take care of the crime that developed.

·              Soon – he could no longer see the natural beauty of the Island or the ocean – nor could he hear the sounds of nature or the crashing of the waves.

·              He had put too many “things” in the way!

READ 2:15-17 AGAIN

John, the Elder, wants to talk with us this morning about the “too many things” we put in the way of our fellowship with God.

·              The “Too many things” can be described as “worldliness.”

“Worldly” = relating to, or devoted to the temporal world; material; not spiritual

FRIENDS – Too often the idea of worldliness lends itself only to :

·              Places we go or shouldn’t go

·              Activities we enjoy or shouldn’t enjoy

·              And the Things (stuff) we have or don’t have, -  but want!

Worldliness – though it often exhibits itself in the external – begins in the internal.

·              The heart and the mind issues of the very core of life

John wants us to shine the Light (Light of Jesus) upon this subject of the world and its attraction, in hopes we will see the truth about The Love, The Lust, and The Loss – this world has to offer.

THE TRUTH ABOUT THE LOVE OF THE WORLD – 2:15

world or the things of this world?”

We know that:

1. God in the creation of this world saw it as good (Gen. 1:31)

2. The Psalmist declares the earth and all that is in it is the Lord’s (Ps. 24:1)

3. God loves the world and its inhabitants (John 3:16)

SO WHAT DOES JOHN MEAN?

He means there is a system of belief in the world that is contrary to the truth of the Father of Lights.

A. A World Away From Sin

“do not love the world or the things of this world” refers to:

1.            The “world” is the system of belief that permanently rejects and ignores God and His Word

2.           The “world” chooses its own values and desires above those of God

3.           The “world” places itself under the chaotic power of the evil one – (cosmos means orderly arrangement – our God is a God of order)

John 3:19-20 – “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.”

FRIENDS – In his commentary of 1, 2, and 3 John, Curtis Vaughan says: “To love the world is: is to court the world’s favor, follow its customs, adopt its ideals, covet its prizes, and seek its fellowship. Loving the world in this sense means setting one’s affection on evil.”

B. A World Away From The Father

“If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in Him” makes it plain and simple: The incompatibility of the love for the world and the love for the Father.

·              It is not a “both-and” situation – where I can love both God and the world

·              Its an “either-or” type of love

Throughout the Scriptures we find this “tug-of-war” of love:

·              1^st Commandment – “No other gods before God” (Ex. 20:3)

·              Joshua’s call to choose God or the gods – (Josh. 24:15)

·              Elijah’s call to quit wavering between God and the gods (1 kings 18:21)

·              Matthew 6:24 – “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

FRIENDS – To love the world says there is no love for the Father.

·              John simply and truthfully states that anyone who straddles the fence thinking they can pick and choose to love the world, along with God are deceived and a world away from the truth of the Father!

THE TRUTH ABOUT THE LUST OF THE WORLD – 2:16

If we are not careful with our love or “infatuation” with the world – it can quickly degenerate into a life of lusting after the things of this world.

A. A World of Desire

The lust of the flesh:

·              Preoccupation with gratifying physical desires or appetites

The mind can be powerful in leading us to God or away from Him

·              These lusts or “strong desires” of the heart (mind) are designed to draw us away from the will of God and to serve the flesh.

·              Galatians 5:17 – “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.”

Let’s look at some basic physical urges that we have:

·              Hunger – can lead to gluttony

·              Sex – can lead to promiscuity and infidelity

·              Relationships – can lead to deception and control

HEAR ME CHURCH – These and other physical desires we have are not evil in and of themselves.

·              However – through lust of the flesh Satan will tempt us to move outside the boundary of God’s will in these physical needs.

B. A World Of Entertainment

The “lust of the eyes”

·              Appeals to self-interests – greed, materialism and envy.

William Barclay – “It is the Spirit which believes that happiness is be found in the things which money can buy and the eye can see; it has no value other than material.”

FRIENDS – The lust of the eyes:

·              Entices and draws us away from the Word of God

·              Eats away at our confidence in God

·              It desires the world’s things more than God’s

·              It places greater trust in man’s perspective and means

Ecclesiastes 2:10-11 – “Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure. For my heart rejoiced in all my labor, and this was my reward from all my labor. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done and on the labor in which I had toiled; and indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun.”

The lust of the eyes, like that of the flesh, is a subtle seduction – because most of us this morning are thinking we have a grip on these lusts.

·              Which leads us into the third seduction – the pride of life

B. A World Of Display

The “Pride of Life:”

·              Speaks of man’s ego and self-promotion

·              It is the constant need to be #1 – always on the top

·              It convinces the flesh to be self-sufficient as well as self-reliant

·              Arrogant spirit – Ps.14:1 - “There is no God…”

·              See things in its own light (darkness and blindness) and not in the light of God

·              It is the temptation to direct one’s own destiny – to rule their world – and to be their own god

FRIENDS – It is destructive power!

·              Proverbs 16:18 – “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”

Our family heritage suggests that we will always contend with the flesh – the eyes – and the pride of this life.

·              also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.

For all that is in this world – Speaks about all that the world has to offer or can offer.

·              It is all that is totally opposite and opposing that which “is of the Father.”

THE TRUTH ABOUT THE LOSS OF THE WORLD – 2:17a

John’s closing words to us this morning should cause us to think about what in this world are we doing.

·              To listen and to act to the calls of this life is like buying into a company that is already going belly up!

·              It would be a bad investment with no future!

A. A World Passing Away

The “World Incorporated Company” is a losing matter!

·              Remember a couple of weeks ago I told you that some see John as the “present tense” apostle.

·              Here the present tense – “the world is passing away” suggests it is already dissolving

·              It has no future and those who trust in it has not future.

Matt. 24:35 – “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.”

It is the apostle Paul who reminds us that the things that are seen are temporary, but the things that are not seen are eternal!

The lusts and pride of life in the scope of eternity are nothing more than a passing glance.

·              Quickly gone with no lasting good

·              The world can give no permanent satisfaction.

·              The desires of this life pass away and leave no lasting payoff.

·               Life becomes frustrating and we seek something else to satisfy us

FRIENDS – The world is a power that has been drained of its source – and it will never quench the thirst of man.

CLOSE

I know the message may sound a bit gloomy and pessimistic – and leave us to ask – What’s the alternative?

·              John gives it to us straight up this morning!

“But he who does the will of God abides forever.” V.17b

·              The will of God is – “do not love the world or the things of the world”

·              The will of God is – Not to be enticed  by the world, but to engage the world with the Light.”

HERE ME CHURCH

1.           Engaging the world with Light – is our Responsibility

• Matt. 5:14 – “You are the Light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.”

2.           Engaging the world with Light – is our Assignment.

• John 17:18-19 – “As You have sent Me into this world, I also send them into this world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.”

Do you remember the opening illustration about the rich man who allowed all the things he put in the way of seeing the beauty before him?

WE ARE THAT MAN!

·              It is time this morning to get rid of the “too many things” that blocks our view of the Father, and keeps us from doing His will.

Ephesians 2:1-7 – 1. And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2. in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in all the sons of disobedience, 3.  among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. 4. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5. even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6. and raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7. that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

FRIENDS - BE ABOUT THE TRUTH OF THE LIGHT!

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