Really Lord, Love Not?

LOVE NOT THE WORLD

I Jn 2:15-17

What do you love? I’m not talking about I love Cookie Dough Ice Cream

What do you love? Spouse Children God Country Job

What do you not Love? You can say if you don’t love something you hate it. And that would be correct and we can get into that another time

I am looking at the phrase Love not

It is in that form 3 times in your bible one of which is actually saying that you should love instead of not loving

1Co 16:22 If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maran-atha.

So there are 2 vrs which tell you not to love something

the first one here, again we are not going to deal with today

Pr 20:13 Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.

Simply put God does not want us to be lazy bums sleeping our life away
Many times in the bible this is called being a sluggard Lazy

But the other of the 2 references is one that 85 to 90% of Christians don’t like

Christians look for any way possible to justify not to obey this command

This is a direct command from the Disciple (Apostle) Jesus loved

Something interesting John is the writer in the bible that speaks more about love than any other

Yet he is the toughest and the most dogmatic of them all in the NT He is rough

He is a hard preacher And he gives you no wiggle room to soften his position

1Jo 2:15-17 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. 16 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. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

I want focus in on the Command itself Love not the world

Another interesting thing Jn wrote more about this world than  any other

What is he saying that we shouldn’t love this planet we live on

Joh 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

In the Earth and the Earth was made by him Earth knew him not?

The last ref is about humanity as a whole which lust after the things we saw in vs 16 lust of the flesh lust of the eyes and pride of life

Who, by spiritual means are guided to be against God and his word

and anyone who follows him

Thus and the world knew him not

But if you realize he is referring to a world system of beliefs and practices

Just hearing those words the flesh begins to find a way around them

He couldn’t mean that, I mean we have to live and function

Why would God through his Spirit have Jn say such a thing? There must be a reason

First let’s look in a basic way what constitutes the world

It is a philosophy about Money Fame Power Influence

This philosophy is adopted by the whole of society and is manifested by what we have read in vs 16

16 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.

So this world’s philosophy is not of the Father, then who is it from?

2Co 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

He controls this world The Kingdoms or his to command

Mt 4:8-10 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

Because of the Lord says of it that it is evil

Ga 1:4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:

This world is against God and Hates him

Joh 7:7 The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.

This world system is relentlessly trying to rid any consciousness of God

This world has been attacking the mere mention or ref to him

Changing BC AD to CE B CE

Christmas Santa Gift giving

Easter Easter Bunny Candy Baskets Butter Lambs

Thanksgiving It has now become by this world to mean Food Football and Oppression

2007 Seattle Schools declared Thanksgiving a time of Mourning and a bitter reminder of 500 years of betrayal and oppression

This new thinking by the world has depicted the Pilgrims as arrogant oppressors who fled persecution only to become persecutors themselves

They didn’t flee England for America But to Holland for freedom

But they fled Holland for fear of seduction of a world system rife with sinful practices and Materialism Fearing their children would be caught up and leave the Lord for the world

When they arrived the village was abandoned

So this world system is rewriting history to remove God from it

So now when you become associated with Jesus Christ, by being Saved or Born Again you are hated by the world
Joh 15:18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

1Jo 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

1Jo 3:13 Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.

You are to this world Strange in your beliefs odd Peculiar a threat to society Classify you as Anti-Social

therefore you must be silenced or eliminated

Thus we have the command against this temptation to give in to this pressure

Ro 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

This world want you to conform to it’s philosophy

to it’s mind set on issues and practices

it is not just a matter of disagreeing with an issue if there is not conformity to their view you must be silenced

By intimidation By law or by force or by death

you see this happening around us today An any number of issues

Free speech Freedom of Religion (you can’t publicly speak out)
Forbidding to pray or carry a bible in schools

This world intimidates with law suit any who would want to allow these freedoms in public settings

manger scenes on government property prayer on a football field after a game

And throughout the last 200+ yrs Christians have been Persecuted and killed by

Governments Romans Communists (Rus China) Fascist

Religionist RC Protestants Islamist

No doubt because the author of this philosophy is against anyone who is a true believer

1Pe 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

There is a real temptation for us as believers to be seduced into conformity

It is appealing Money Power Fame Influence Fun Fit in

2Ti 4:10 For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.

But God’s command is

Tit 2:11-12 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

When a Christian is to close to the world It has a damaging affect
Mr 4:19 And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful

1Jo 2:15-17 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. 16 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. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

Jas 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.