The Dichotomy of Love: God vs. the World

The central theme of this podcast episode revolves around the profound significance of fostering a genuine relationship with God as articulated in the epistle of First John. We elucidate the complexities of maintaining fellowship with the divine while navigating the pervasive influences of worldliness, which manifest through the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Our discourse emphasizes the importance of recognizing that, although salvation in Christ is secure, unrepentant sin can indeed disrupt our communion with God. Furthermore, we explore the necessity of love and unity among believers as a reflection of our love for God, asserting that discord among brethren can hinder our spiritual walk. Ultimately, we advocate for an intentional investment in eternal values over transient worldly desires, underscoring the call to embody a life that aligns with God's will and purpose.
Takeaways:
- The podcast emphasizes the importance of maintaining a personal relationship with God, as discussed in the book of First John.
- Listeners are encouraged to understand that while salvation is secure, fellowship with God can be hindered by sin or worldly influences.
- The concept of propitiation is explained, highlighting that Jesus Christ is our advocate who provides forgiveness and reconciliation.
- Hatred or discord among believers can disrupt our fellowship with God, necessitating love and unity within the church community.
- The episode stresses the dangers of worldliness, urging believers to reject love for the world and instead focus on eternal investments in their faith.
- Finally, the speakers conclude by reminding us that true success is defined by obedience to God's will rather than the fleeting standards of the world.
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This podcast is produced by Ralph Estep, Jr., host of Financially Confident Christian, a daily podcast on Christian Finance you can find it at https://www.financiallyconfidentchristian.com
00:00 - Untitled
00:00 - Introduction to the Podcast
05:36 - The Dangers of Worldliness
15:07 - The Folly of Worldliness
20:21 - Understanding the Family of God
27:59 - The Impact of Materialism and Idolatry
Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast, where we are proclaiming the truth to the world.
Speaker AMy name is Pastor Josh, and I want to thank you for listening to this podcast.
Speaker AI hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen you in the word of God.
Speaker ANow, come along, let's look into the Bible and see what God has for us here today.
Speaker BIf you have your Bibles, open up with me to First John.
Speaker BJohn.
Speaker BFirst John, chapter number two.
Speaker BOne John, Chapter two.
Speaker BAnd it's been a couple weeks.
Speaker BWe were off at camp last week, and so I want to thank Pastor John for covering our Wednesday evening service.
Speaker BAnd I know that he was a blessing to all those that were there and here this evening, we're going to continue on in First John, chapter two.
Speaker BAnd really, the whole book of First John is speaking about fellowship with God, a relationship with God, knowing him and knowing him in a personal way.
Speaker BAnd that's one of the beautiful things that we have in our faith is knowing that we have a relationship with God, knowing that we have salvation.
Speaker BAnd we're going to talk more about that when we get to chapter five.
Speaker BBut all of First John is talking specifically about having that relationship with God and what that looks like.
Speaker BAnd so he.
Speaker BHe talks about it from the perspective of, if you are in Christ, this is what it will look like.
Speaker BAnd these are some of the things that try to steal that fellowship with Christ.
Speaker BAnd we know that in First John chapter one, it tells us that if we find ourselves in a place of sin, there is a remedy for that, where we can find reconciliation, and that is repentance.
Speaker BIf we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Speaker BAnd so what the Bible speaks of is this concept of, yes, though our salvation is secure in Christ, there are times and situations in our life that might cause us to have our fellowship broken with the Father.
Speaker BWe don't lose our sonship or we don't lose our relationship with Christ.
Speaker BBut what we do know is that sometimes, whether it be through unrepentant sin or through different struggles in our life, we can lose that fellowship with Him.
Speaker BAnd that's what First John, chapter two starts with.
Speaker BIt's this, my little children, these things write I unto you that ye sin not.
Speaker BSo he says, hey, don't sin.
Speaker BDon't have a desire to sin.
Speaker BBut then he goes, and if any man sin.
Speaker BSo the reality is, is that as much as we want to keep that fellowship with God, there's gonna be times in our life where that fellowship is broken and we fall into a sin.
Speaker BAnd then it says we have an advocate with the Father.
Speaker BSo we don't find forgiveness through just being a better person.
Speaker BWe don't find forgiveness from just trying harder to not sin.
Speaker BWe find forgiveness in our advocate, someone who is appealing for us.
Speaker BAnd the Bible says, that's Jesus Christ.
Speaker BAnd so that's amazing there in verse one.
Speaker BJesus Christ, the righteous.
Speaker BIt's his righteousness, not our own.
Speaker BAnd it tells us how we can have that righteousness through the fact that Jesus is our propitiation.
Speaker BAnd if some of you were here, you remember what that word propitiation means.
Speaker BWe were at junior camp, and the speaker there, his name was Adam Morgan.
Speaker BHe's an awesome speaker.
Speaker BHe's.
Speaker BHe's awesome guy.
Speaker BHe actually taught the junior campers what this word means.
Speaker BHe's like, propitiation.
Speaker BHe started going through that, and I was like, wow, that's a pretty, pretty awesome endeavor to try to teach junior campers.
Speaker BBecause I, you know, teaching adults, that's difficult, difficult word propitiation.
Speaker BBut all propitiation really means is a satisfaction of wrath, a payment, a sacrifice.
Speaker BJesus is the satisfaction of God's wrath.
Speaker BGod's wrath must be poured out upon sin.
Speaker BWe know that Jesus Christ paid that payment.
Speaker BAnd so he's explaining the.
Speaker BThat relationship that we have with God through Jesus Christ.
Speaker BAnd he says, if you have that type of love, if you know that type of love from Jesus extended to you by the Father, then what will you do?
Speaker BWhat will it look like?
Speaker BYou will love one another.
Speaker BHe says, if you love God and you understand his love, how is that going to be manifested?
Speaker BBy loving one another?
Speaker BYou can't say that you love God.
Speaker BYou.
Speaker BYou can't say that you're walking with him and then have a problem with a relationship.
Speaker BIn our life now, there can be problems, but if we're not displaying love and we're not displaying righteousness and reconciliation and repentance, then we get to a place in our life where we can't say that we're.
Speaker BWe're loving the Lord.
Speaker BVerse 10.
Speaker BHe that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling him.
Speaker BBut he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whether he goeth, because the darkness hath blinded his eyes.
Speaker BAnd.
Speaker BAnd so one of the things that fights against our fellowship with God would be hatred against the brother, bitterness against the brother, discord among the believers.
Speaker BAnd what we can see is that because of that, and sometimes we think that that is unrelated to our walk with Christ.
Speaker BThe Bible says that one of the things that's fighting against our fellowship with him would be fighting amongst ourselves.
Speaker BDivision.
Speaker BAnd we even know that in John, the Gospel of John, John, Chapter 17, one of the things that Jesus prayed for for his followers would be that there would be unity.
Speaker BWe read the book of Acts over and over and over again.
Speaker BWe see that they were in one accord, they were in unity.
Speaker BAnd so it's the heart of God.
Speaker BThat we walk together in love doesn't mean that we're.
Speaker BWe'll agree with everything.
Speaker BIt doesn't mean that we'll all look the same way or we'll all respond the same way.
Speaker BBut what it means is that we're walking with a bigger purpose.
Speaker BSo then we're gonna get to tonight, our main text.
Speaker BThat's verse number 15.
Speaker BAnd we're gonna look at something else that fights against our fellowship with God.
Speaker BSo we already saw that division in.
Speaker BIn the.
Speaker BIn the believers, hatred amongst the brethren causes our relationship with God to be severed.
Speaker BBut we also see here in verse number 15, that another thing attacks our relationship with God, and that is worldliness.
Speaker BWorldliness.
Speaker BWhat is worldliness?
Speaker BSo we're gonna talk about that here this evening.
Speaker BLook at verse number 15 right here.
Speaker BJohn gives us the problem with worldliness.
Speaker BHe says, love not the world.
Speaker BAnd he's not talking about.
Speaker BWhen he.
Speaker BWhen he uses the word world here.
Speaker BHe's not talking about the.
Speaker BThe global earth itself, like the water and the dirt and the trees.
Speaker BHe's not talking about that.
Speaker BHe's talking about the.
Speaker BThe idea of sinful humanity united in rebellion against God.
Speaker BThe world system, so to speak, Satan's system that he enacted in this world.
Speaker BAnd so we see here he says, love not the world.
Speaker BSo he says, love God.
Speaker BLove your brother, Love God's word, but don't love the world.
Speaker BAnd there's a warning here, because the warning is this.
Speaker BIf he's telling us not to love the world, the implication in logic would be that we are inclined to love the world, right?
Speaker BOur natural self wants to love the world.
Speaker BOur natural self and our flesh wants to love ourselves.
Speaker BAnd we're going to talk about that later on here because that's another issue when it comes to our fellowship with God.
Speaker BBut he says, love not the world.
Speaker BAnd then he goes a little bit further here, gets a little bit more specific.
Speaker BNeither the things that are in the world.
Speaker BAnd so the World in, in the sense of, of what John is saying here in context is that sinful rebellion in the ways of the world.
Speaker BAnd he says, don't love the world, nor the things that are in the world.
Speaker BHe's talking here about rejecting the ways of the world, rejecting the world system.
Speaker BThen he goes on to say this.
Speaker BIf any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
Speaker BSo think about that for a second.
Speaker BHe's saying this, he's saying you can't love the world and the Lord at the same time.
Speaker BJust, it's not possible.
Speaker BYou, you can cross reference that with another passage of scripture in the book of Matthew.
Speaker BMatthew chapter 6, verse 24.
Speaker BSome of you are familiar with this passage.
Speaker BYou'll know why I'm going there in a moment.
Speaker BBut what he says here In Matthew chapter 6, this is Jesus's words.
Speaker BHe says, you can't serve two masters.
Speaker BMatthew 6:24.
Speaker BNo man can serve two masters.
Speaker BFor either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other.
Speaker BYe cannot serve God and mammon.
Speaker BSo in the context of what Jesus is talking about, he's talking about you can't love money and God at the same time.
Speaker BThe love of money is the root of all evil.
Speaker BThat's what the Bible says in the New Testament.
Speaker BWhat we can see here this evening is that he's saying, if you are loving the things of the world, the love of God is not in you.
Speaker BYou're not displaying the love of God.
Speaker BYou can't sit here and say, well, I love the world and I love God and I want those both.
Speaker BI want the benefits of both of those.
Speaker BThe book of James has a lot to say about that.
Speaker BThe book of James says a double minded man is unstable in all of his ways.
Speaker BHe's like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed to and fro.
Speaker BSo what we would say is that a person who's trying to love the world and God at the same time, he's a double minded man and he's unstable in all of his ways, can't do both.
Speaker BAnd so that's exactly what he's talking about here in First John, you have to choose your master.
Speaker BIs your master going to be the Lord or is your master going to be the world?
Speaker BGoes on to say this verse 16, for all that is in the world.
Speaker BSo he says, you want to know what the world's all about?
Speaker BYou already know what God's all about.
Speaker BHe's about salvation, love, forgiveness, everlasting life, righteousness, purity, all of that.
Speaker BAnd then he says, here, here's what the world's all about.
Speaker BAnd he's going to describe to us three what we would call categories of sin that we fall into when we go the path of the world, when we go the way of the world.
Speaker BAnd so this would be basically how we would define worldliness for all that is in the world.
Speaker BThe lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.
Speaker BHe says those three things, those three categories.
Speaker BBasically, we can lump all sin into those three categories.
Speaker BLust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life.
Speaker BIt's not of the Father, but is of the world.
Speaker BAnd so he explains here what worldliness really is.
Speaker BIt's love of ourselves, pride of life.
Speaker BIt's, it's, it's the lust of the eyes, what I want, what my eyes desire with the lust of the flesh, what makes me feel good.
Speaker BAnd so if you were to define it in, in our worldly sense today, in our, in our modern sense, it's what makes me feel good, what I like to look at, and what's all about me.
Speaker BThat's the idea.
Speaker BThat's the idea of the world.
Speaker BThat's the way of the world.
Speaker BAnd so enlisting these aspects of the world, John, I believe he even could go back in mine and look at what we would call the original sin back in Genesis chapter three.
Speaker BThat's when we can lump that sin into these categories.
Speaker BLust of the flesh, right?
Speaker BEve and Adam, they desired it.
Speaker BLust, lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.
Speaker BWhat was the pride of life?
Speaker BIt was, you can be like God.
Speaker BIt's the original lies from Satan.
Speaker BAnd they're just repackaged and reproduced and given to our world today.
Speaker BWe, we would look at the very beginning and see that the, the longest running false belief in this world is humanism, right?
Speaker BWhat was Satan's lie?
Speaker BYou can be like God.
Speaker BYou are your own God.
Speaker BAnd that's what humanism really is.
Speaker BHumanism is elevating self above God, pride of life.
Speaker BAnd so he says, you know what?
Speaker BIf you want to be characterized by the world, you can be characterized by these three things.
Speaker BWhat makes you feel good, the lust of your eyes, what you want to see, and the pride of life, your selfishness, you worshiping your own life, worshiping your own self.
Speaker BAnd so God knows that we have eyes and he's given us eyes to use but to look upon the right things.
Speaker BHe's given us our flesh and our bodies to use in the right way.
Speaker BAnd so he says that these are not of the Father.
Speaker BWe rarely appreciate how much the world dominates our thinking.
Speaker BYou ever think about that for a second?
Speaker BLike, why do I think what I think?
Speaker BWhy do I believe what I believe?
Speaker BHopefully, ideally it would be because the word of God tells me this, and this is the way the Holy Spirit's guiding me.
Speaker BBut most of the time, we think and we react and we deal with people and we deal with our own issues in a very worldly, humanistic fashion.
Speaker BAnd so I. I don't think that we even in some ways, intentionally do it.
Speaker BIt's so ingrained into our minds.
Speaker BIt's so ingrained into our cultures.
Speaker BAnd so.
Speaker BSo, for example, think of.
Speaker BThink about just one.
Speaker BOne area, success.
Speaker BThink about how the world defines success.
Speaker BWell, it's not the same way that God defines success.
Speaker BWe could go into that whole category.
Speaker BYou could read the book of Joshua and just read the first chapter of Joshua and see how God defines success.
Speaker BGod defines success by obedience and adherence to the word of God, following the will of God.
Speaker BThat is definitely not what the world decides is successful.
Speaker BThe world decides success is, what do you have?
Speaker BWhat do you look like?
Speaker BWho do you have power over?
Speaker BWho.
Speaker BWho follows you?
Speaker BAnd so we think of.
Speaker BWe think of the standard of success.
Speaker BWe think the standard of beauty.
Speaker BThink about that.
Speaker BThink about the world's standard of beauty.
Speaker BDoes it have really anything to do with what's on the inside, what they believe, how they're standing for righteousness?
Speaker BNo.
Speaker BUsually what people in our world define as beauty is something that's appealing to the eyes, appealing to our flesh.
Speaker BThink about the Spanish.
Speaker BThink about just the standard of morality in the world today.
Speaker BWhat's considered now in the world to be good is what the Bible says is bad.
Speaker BAnd then what the world decides is bad is actually what the Bible says is good.
Speaker BRight?
Speaker BThink about it.
Speaker BThink about how the world defines just in general.
Speaker BNew Christians are judgmental.
Speaker BThe truth is, is that, yeah, some Christians can be judgmental.
Speaker BSome Christians can do a lot of things that are not biblical.
Speaker BBut at the end of the day, what we have to do as Christians is we have to speak the truth.
Speaker BWe have to live the righteousness of God.
Speaker BWe can't define truth as we want it to be defined as the world defines it.
Speaker BAnd this shows us our great need, as Romans chapter 12 says, to not be conformed to this world.
Speaker BThat idea of Romans chapter 12, verse 2, where it says, don't be conformed to this world.
Speaker BIt's the idea of taking, you know, some of you that have kids or have had kids in your house or grandkids, you know, Plato, and they have all different types of putty and stuff now that they have.
Speaker BAnd it's, it's the idea of taking that play doh.
Speaker BAnd jamming it into a mold and forming it to that.
Speaker BSo what the Bible says is don't be formed into that mold that the world defines is good.
Speaker BBe transformed.
Speaker BAnd that word transformed, the Greek word is the word that we get the word metamorphosis from Transformation, change.
Speaker BBe different.
Speaker BEven, you know, Peter says, be different, be distinct, unique.
Speaker BDon't be like the world.
Speaker BDon't follow that path.
Speaker BDon't allow the world to tell you what success is all about.
Speaker BDon't allow the world to tell you what beauty is.
Speaker BDon't allow the world to tell you what morality is.
Speaker BDon't allow the world to say, hey, you know what?
Speaker BHey, that you have to choose this or this.
Speaker BThe truth is, is that the Bible very clearly teaches us that there's one path.
Speaker BAnd, and he says it right here, verse number 17.
Speaker BAnd the world passeth away.
Speaker BHe says, this is why you don't believe the things of the world.
Speaker BThis is why you don't put all of your stock into the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.
Speaker BHe says, the world passeth away.
Speaker BSo some commentators have called verse 17 the folly of worldliness.
Speaker BIt reveals the emptiness of this path.
Speaker BWhat we invest into the world, we invest into something that is going to pass away.
Speaker BAnd we've seen that over and over again in the biblical example and probably our own lives.
Speaker BAnd so he says, the world is passing away, so why invest into the things of this world?
Speaker BIt's gonna go away one day.
Speaker BThen he says, the other side.
Speaker BBut he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.
Speaker BAnd so essentially what he's teaching here is the idea of eternal investments in, in our life.
Speaker BAre we going to invest our thoughts, our actions, our everything into things that will matter for eternity or things that will pass away?
Speaker BJesus, you see so many parallels to what John is teaching about and what Jesus taught about.
Speaker BRemember what Jesus taught about with the treasures of this world.
Speaker BHe says, those are the things that the moth and rust will corrupt.
Speaker BThat's going to be taken away.
Speaker BPeople can steal that from you.
Speaker BI mean, I know that sometimes in my life, the most violated I've ever felt is when I've been Stolen from.
Speaker BWe had our car broken into back in Florida, and I had my golf clubs in there, of all things.
Speaker BOkay, learn my lesson.
Speaker BDon't leave golf clubs in your car.
Speaker BBut they broke into our car and stole my golf clubs and some other stuff.
Speaker BAnd not that I am any good at golf, but they were probably doing me a favor by taking us away.
Speaker BBut at the end of the day, you feel violated when someone steals something from you.
Speaker BLike, think about, like, someone breaks into your house and you have your most valuable material object there.
Speaker BMaybe it's like a trophy that you've won or, you know, a document that someone, you know signed, and it was a famous person that can be taken away in a heartbeat.
Speaker BBut the one thing that can't be taken away from us would be the things that God has for us in our life, our salvation, our.
Speaker BOur spiritual growth, those eternal investments.
Speaker BAnd so that's what he's saying there in verse 17.
Speaker BHe says, why invest into the things of this world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.
Speaker BWhy?
Speaker BBecause that's.
Speaker BIt's going to pass away.
Speaker BIt's not eternal.
Speaker BAnd so.
Speaker BSo this is, I believe, it's a powerful illustration of.
Speaker BOf the worthlessness of the things of this world.
Speaker BAnd the more I love that song.
Speaker BTurn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will go strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.
Speaker BIt's that same principle.
Speaker BLike, it's not so.
Speaker BSo what we try to do sometimes in our Christian walk is we try to just stop doing the bad.
Speaker BAnd Ephesians chapter four tells us that that's really not the.
Speaker BThe best model.
Speaker BThe best model is just not to stop trying to do bad things.
Speaker BIt's to put off the old and put on the new to replace the bad with the good.
Speaker BSo, like, instead of just stop stopping our stealing, okay, like, let's say.
Speaker BLet's say someone has a problem with just stealing things from people.
Speaker BThe Bible doesn't say just stop stealing.
Speaker BIt says stop stealing and then work really, really hard and earn money and then give that to the people in need, right, to restore those things that we've done.
Speaker BSo it's inserting the good there.
Speaker BSo the point I'm trying to make is this.
Speaker BIt's not just stopping from doing something and trying our best to just curb ourselves.
Speaker BNo, it's infusing our lives with the truth of God so the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory.
Speaker BAnd Grace to understand how great God is and how beneficial it is to walk in his truth and understand how great his salvation is and how great the grace of God is, that's when we start to see, hey, I. I lose taste for the things of this world.
Speaker BYou know, if there's a Christian who says, you know what?
Speaker BAll I can think about is sin, all I can think about is, man, I could be doing this and I could be doing that, and if I could get away with it, I would.
Speaker BFolks, that's an unhealthy Christian.
Speaker BOr I would venture to say that's a person who does not understand the grace of God.
Speaker BAnd that's a dangerous place to be.
Speaker BIf all I can think about and lust after is sin in my life, is the old man going to rear his ugly head on occasion?
Speaker BSure.
Speaker BBut if our heart's desire is sin constantly and we're not allowing the Spirit to guide our lives, there's a big issue there.
Speaker BIt's maybe because I'm not resting in the truth of God.
Speaker BMaybe I'm not fellowshipping with him.
Speaker BBecause the more I'm not filled as.
Speaker BAs.
Speaker BWhat Does Romans chapter 12 say?
Speaker BBe renewed in our minds.
Speaker BBe transformed by the renewing of our minds.
Speaker BAnd so it's thinking the right things by intaking the right things, whether it be the word of God or the preaching of the word of God or through Christian fellowship or whatever it might be service to the Lord.
Speaker BAnd so it's not just, hey, you know what?
Speaker BI just don't want to love the world.
Speaker BI just don't want to love the world.
Speaker BIt's like, don't love the world and love God.
Speaker BRight?
Speaker BIsn't that the greatest commandment, to love God with everything?
Speaker BThe reason why he says that is because a lot of our problems in our life would be resolved if we just truly, truly love God more.
Speaker BAnd the way that we love God more is to get to know him more and to spend more time with him, to be around his people to.
Speaker BOne of the things I'm really working on within my own personal study is we say the family of God.
Speaker BYou've heard people say that.
Speaker BLike, there's that song.
Speaker BI'm so glad to be a part of the family of God.
Speaker BAnd we use that in church.
Speaker BAnd this is the church family.
Speaker BBut what does that really mean?
Speaker BWhat does the.
Speaker BWhat does that really mean?
Speaker BWell, the Bible actually talks about that.
Speaker BAnd the Bible actually talks about how important it is to actually see the church as our family.
Speaker BThe Bible doesn't say the Church is like the body of Christ.
Speaker BThe Bible says the church is the body of Christ.
Speaker BAnd so when I am looking at someone in my church family and I'm looking at someone who is in the body of Christ just like me and I say I can't stand that person.
Speaker BI cannot tolerate that person.
Speaker BDo you see the fundamental issue within that now?
Speaker BCan you not stand something that they've done?
Speaker BSure, of course.
Speaker BBut when we cannot work as a body and a unit in the family of God.
Speaker BWe're, we're, we're loving the, we'll go back to that verse, verse 16.
Speaker BLust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and pride of life.
Speaker BI, I would venture to say that most of our problems is pride of life.
Speaker BAnd, and so when we look at these things we think about what does it mean to be the family of God.
Speaker BWhy?
Speaker BI just, I guess I just have to tolerate these people.
Speaker BThe Bible does not say a lot of things we insert in because culturally it makes more sense.
Speaker BTolerate, tolerate other Christians just put up with them?
Speaker BNo, it says to love them.
Speaker BActually it goes a little bit further and says to love our enemies.
Speaker BBut that's another topic for another day we'll get into.
Speaker BBut let's just start with the other brothers and sisters in Christ.
Speaker BAre we willing to say that we love them and do things for them and sacrifice for them?
Speaker BYou know it well when it makes sense for me that's not what it says.
Speaker BAnd so he says love God, reject the world.
Speaker BThe world's way of saying is this.
Speaker BDo good unto others that do good to you.
Speaker BRight, that makes sense in the world system.
Speaker BSacrifice for people who sacrifice for you.
Speaker BScratch the back of those that scratch yours.
Speaker BBut that's not the biblical principle.
Speaker BThe biblical principle is love those that don't love you.
Speaker BSacrifice for those who don't sacrifice for you.
Speaker BServe those who don't serve you.
Speaker BReally what happened throughout history was that as Christians we thought about it from the perspective of not just God.
Speaker BOkay, so Jesus said John 13 to be a servant in every way.
Speaker BHe demonstrated that by washing the disciples feet.
Speaker BBut then there was some place and it wasn't just a one time thing, it was a gradual slip.
Speaker BBut there was some place in line where we started to think that as Christians it was all about who can serve us.
Speaker BWhat does this person bring to me?
Speaker BWhat does this church bring for me?
Speaker BWhat does God bring for me?
Speaker BAnd the reality is, is that God does bring a lot to us.
Speaker BHe brings us eternal life and salvation.
Speaker BBut what we've done is We've flipped the model from service in every way to people to now, who is going to serve me?
Speaker BAnd that's a lie of the enemy.
Speaker BThat's the way of the world.
Speaker BLust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life.
Speaker BAnd so over and over again in scripture, Jesus emphasizes, over and over again in scripture, Paul emphasizes, really, God emphasizes through the inspiration of Scripture that materialism, fleshly passions, sensuality, all lead to destruction.
Speaker BAnd so this, this principle that he says here in verse 17, this is the last verse we're looking at here this evening, he says, but he that doeth the will of the F, the will of God, abideth forever.
Speaker BThis is in strong contrast to what the world system tells us to do.
Speaker BSo we are, as believers, called equipped, challenged to live a life of eternal impact.
Speaker BAnd so what does that mean for us?
Speaker BIt means that we can make a decision.
Speaker BAre we going to serve ourselves?
Speaker BAre we going to look for something that brings immediate gratification?
Speaker BAnd we live in a society today that feeds that.
Speaker BI wouldn't, you know, it might.
Speaker BYou might get down a rabbit trail if you do this, but look into the process in which the smartphones were created.
Speaker BA lot of it appeals to the part of your brain that's addictive and goes down that rabbit trail of.
Speaker BYou know, there were people who did a lot of research to see exactly what they need to put into phones and apps to get people launched into that process.
Speaker BAnd I'm not saying smartphones are bad, inherently bad.
Speaker BThey can be used for good, but they also can be used for bad.
Speaker BAnd we look at every material thing in this world can be used for good, and it can be used for bad.
Speaker BAnd so the.
Speaker BThe idea for us is, are we going to allow the things that God has created to feed the flesh, to feed the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, the ways of the world?
Speaker BAre we going to redeem it for the cause of the truth of the gospel?
Speaker BIt's so easy to fall.
Speaker BI mean, I. I will be transparent with you here this evening.
Speaker BI have been on my electronic device, and Alicia has said, how long, how much longer are you going to be on that?
Speaker BI've been.
Speaker BI've only been on it for like, five, 10 minutes.
Speaker BAnd she's like, it's been an hour.
Speaker BYou've been scrolling on there.
Speaker BIt's like, really, time flies because we get so engrossed into something that is feeding that part of our body, that part of our brain, that part of our flesh that.
Speaker BThat makes us feel good.
Speaker BAnd not everything that makes us feel good is bad.
Speaker BWe know that, right?
Speaker BGod has designed certain things in our life to be pleasurable and to be amazing.
Speaker BBut at the end of the day, what can happen is that we can have an inordinate affection towards those things that God has said that are good, but we can have an unhealthy attachment to them.
Speaker BSo, so that's what happened in the Old Testament with idols, right?
Speaker BWood and silver and gold aren't necessarily bad things.
Speaker BBut when it becomes an inordinate affection and put before God, it's become an idol.
Speaker BAnd so what we can see here in First John chapter two is he's warning us about really idolatry.
Speaker BAre we gonna let our flesh.
Speaker BAnd he's saying, you are your own idol.
Speaker BIn that case, it's humanism, lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and pride of life.
Speaker BAnd so one of the things that we can guard ourselves against when it comes to not having separation in the fellowship with God would be just being worldly, just being, wanting to be like the world.
Speaker BI want to be a husband like the world.
Speaker BWell, if I want to be a husband like the way the world says to be, I mean, just turn on the tv.
Speaker BEvery dad on television today is someone who's like a buffoon that doesn't know what he's talking about and everyone, you know, disrespects him.
Speaker BThat's just the reality.
Speaker BThat's the way the world paints the picture.
Speaker BSo if I want to be a dad like the world, that's how I'll be.
Speaker BWell, whatever, you know, I don't care, you know, just be a goofball.
Speaker BAnd the Bible says that a man of God should be sober minded.
Speaker BDoesn't mean that we have to be serious all the time.
Speaker BBut there's a time to be serious.
Speaker BThere's a time to enact leadership.
Speaker BI can't be, I can't be a, you know, a spouse or I can't be, you know, just in general a good co worker, an employee or employer in the ways of the world.
Speaker BBecause if I do that, I'm not following what God has called me to do.
Speaker BAnd so one of the things that can attack our relationship with God is just the ways of this world.
Speaker BAnd it's a draw, it's a, it's a hard draw for, for us because we're bombarded.
Speaker BWe, we don't even know how much we are bombarded with the ways of the world.
Speaker BSatan has, has many avenues to attack us on this front.
Speaker BThere was A day when it was limited, but now it's almost to the point where it's unlimited access to these three categories of sin.
Speaker BAnd what I could tell you here this evening is that if we are not careful, the church and the Christian can look more like the world than we would like to emit.
Speaker BAnd what's happened, and if you don't believe this, I'd love to have a discussion with you.
Speaker BBut I believe that churches have allowed the ways of the world to come in way more than we expect.
Speaker BAnd instead of the church infiltrating the world and changing the world, as the Bible said in the Old and Old and New Testament, they changed the culture.
Speaker BThe Bible says in the Book of Acts that these men turn the world upside down with their Christianity.
Speaker BSo are we allowing the church to infiltrate the world and change the world, or are we here to say that the world has changed the church so much that we've lost sight of what matters?
Speaker BThe Christian himself, the Christian herself.
Speaker BDo I look more like the world than I do the things of God?
Speaker BAnd it's a tough one.
Speaker BIt's a tough one because many of us fall into that trap.
Speaker BAnd I'm not saying we'll talk about another principle here later on in this study, and I'll end with this.
Speaker BI'm not saying go live on an island or go live in a monastery and avoid all contact with the world.
Speaker BYou just can't be ever involved with anything.
Speaker BThat's not a realistic expectation.
Speaker BIt's never what an expectation that God had for us because he talks about being in the world, but not being of the world.
Speaker BSo the concept would be not just to avoid all people, the concept is to be around people, but be the light, to be the difference.
Speaker BBecause you know what's unique?
Speaker BI, I've read people that have gone out to monasteries and said, if I go out there, I'll never have any more fleshly desires.
Speaker BGuess what?
Speaker BThey, they, they live in a room and eat bread and water, drink water and eat bread for two years, and they have all the struggle and they have the same sin that they had before they left.
Speaker BIt's all up here.
Speaker BIt's in the heart.
Speaker BSo what I would say is that sometimes, and by the way, I'm not saying indulge in sin, avoid sin at all costs.
Speaker BWhat I'm saying is there's certain things that we can't avoid around us.
Speaker BAnd, and so what I would say is don't use the excuse of, well, this person did this.
Speaker BSo I had to do this, No, I. I need to be different.
Speaker BI need to be distinct.
Speaker BAnd that's what John is talking about here.
Speaker BWe're.
Speaker BWe're gonna.
Speaker BNot next week, but we'll continue our study with another attack on our relationship with God.
Speaker BAnd if you peek ahead, it might pique your interest just a little bit because he speaks of false religion and specifically Antichrist.
Speaker BAnd then he says, you've heard that the Antichrist shall come.
Speaker BEven now, are there many Antichrist?
Speaker BMaybe that's different than what you've ever heard before.
Speaker BWhat is he talking about?
Speaker BWell, two weeks, we'll talk about that.
Speaker BBut essentially what he's talking about is like the guise of religion, but it's not Christ.
Speaker BThat's another attack.
Speaker BBecause a lot of people will.
Speaker BThey'll say, well, I'm not in the world.
Speaker BI'm in church.
Speaker BI do everything.
Speaker BI'm a good person.
Speaker BWell, sometimes what we can see is that false religion can be a divide between our relationship and fellowship with Christ as well.
Speaker BAnd false religion is not just in cults and temples.
Speaker BFalse religion can be found within biblical churches today if we're not careful.
Speaker BAnd that's what we have to be aware of as we are studying this.
Speaker BSo come back in a couple weeks.
Speaker BWe'll talk more about another thing that attacks our fellowship with the Lord.
Speaker AThank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast.
Speaker AI hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you.
Speaker AIf you would like to find out more information about our church or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org or find us on Facebook or YouTube.
Speaker AYou can also email me directly at Josh Massaroiddletownbaptistchurch dot com if you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and follow along for future podcast and updates.
Speaker AThank you so much.
Speaker AGod bless.
Speaker AHave a wonderful day.