15Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶For everything in the world— the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does— comes not from the Father but from the world. ¹⁷The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2:15-17 –NIV)

Don’t love the world or anything in the world. It’s easy to talk about these things and to believe that they are right and reasonable and that they make perfect sense, but it seems much harder to put them into practice. We have our formal theology and our practical theology. Nevertheless, this is God’s command, “Do not love the world or anything in the world,” and I have to preach and teach according to the word of God and believe and know that he teaches us and he enables us to put it into practice.

What does it mean to “love the world?” What does it mean to love? The first greatest commandment given by God it this: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your strength and with all your soul.” The second commandment is just as important: ”Love your neighbor as yourself.” What does it mean to love? ”This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.” (1 John 3:16)

I did a search for the verb “to love” with my Bible program. Most of you know the word that’s translated “love”. It’s agape. It’s used 116 times in the New Testament. I also did a search for the verb form of the word “agape” which is “agapao.” There’s another word that’s translated “love” in the New Testament, but John used the word “agapao” in this passage. I found that agapao, to love is used 167 times in the New Testament. In all but five of the places where it is used, it’s used in a positive sense. I’ve already quoted some of them: ”Love the Lord your God.” ”Love your neighbor as yourself.”  “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.” And there’s also the familiar John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Also, “Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,” and “Love your enemies.” It’s obvious that “agape” involves sacrifice on behalf of the object of your love.

Now here are the five places in the New Testament where the verb form of agape, is used in a negative way, in a way that tells you what you shouldn’t love or sacrifice anything for. The first one is Luke 11:43: ”Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and greetings in the market places.”

The second place that love is used in a negative sense is in John 3:19, just two verses after John 3:16. Here it is: “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.”

The third place is John 12:42 and 43: “Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him (Jesus). But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.” —they loved praise from men more than praise from God. (When do we fail to openly acknowledge Jesus because we are afraid we might be rejected by people?)

The fourth place where agapao is used negatively is 2 Timothy 4:9 and 10, where Paul is telling Timothy to come to him in prison. Here’s what he says: “Do your best to come to me quickly, for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica.” —because he loved this world.

The last place where the verb “to love,” “agapao” is used in the negative sense is in today’s passage: “Do not love the world or anything in the world.”

All of us pretty much know by now, that to love anything is not just to have a positive feeling toward that thing, but to take action. That’s what God did when he sent his Son to us. He took action to save us.

Now the Holy Spirit, speaking through John, says, “Do not love the world or anything in the world.” We can ask the question, “What is the world?” (question for kids) What do you think the world is? The word world is used many, many times in the Bible, but it is usually not used to refer to the planet earth. It generally refers to people, and society, to the things people think are important, to human institutions. Here are some examples of the use of the word “world:”

Matt. 4:8 and 9 (This is the temptation of Jesus): “Again, the devil took him (Jesus) to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ’All this I will give you,’ he said, ‘if you will bow down and worship me.’“

And Mark 8:36: “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?”

Also, we have already seen John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

And we have already seen John 3:19: “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.”

Also, we have one other verse that I quoted earlier,~2 Timothy 4:9 and 10: “Do your best to come to me quickly, for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica.” This last example doesn’t actually use the word “world.” It actually says, “this present age.” It’s obvious that what we have in “this present age” is a mess. Evil seems to abound and prevail. The NIV translators chose to translate “this present age” as, simply, “this world” because they thought it fit the context very well.

We also have some examples of “the things in the world” in today’s passage: “the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does.” I’ll say more about them later.

In summary, we can say that the word world is used to refer to people, on the one hand, as in the case of “God so loved the world” and, on the other hand, to the things that fallen man thinks are important.

To go on, verse 15 in today’s passage says, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. If the love of the Father is not in you, it simply means that you don’t love God. That’s a very shocking thing to think about. You simply don’t love God. But Jesus said, in the Sermon on the Mount, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.” (Matt. 6:24) If you love and serve the things of the world, you will hate and despise God. Either the world is your master, or God is your master. You will either love the world or you will love God. (And remember, we are talking about who or what you serve.)

John goes on, in verse 16, to make it clear that the things in the world are not from God, but from the world: “For everything in the world— the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does— comes not from the Father but from the world.” It is the things, every thing, not the people, that are not from God but from the world.

Before I go on to talk more about this verse, I’m going to quote something that John Bunyan wrote several hundred years ago. It’s from “The Pilgrim’s Progress,” which, in case you haven’t read it, is an allegory which represents living the Christian life as a journey. (question for kids: What’s an allegory? Answer: An allegory is an imaginary story that is used to describe a real situation and to make a moral point.) In “The Pilgrims Progress”, the main character, Christian, starts on his journey from his home in the world and travels to his destination, which is the “Celestial City,” heaven. On the way he runs into many troubles and temptations but also receives rest, comfort and encouragement. He and his friend, Faithful, on the way to the Celestial City, travel through the town of Vanity where there is a fair going on contiually in which all sorts of the things of this world are sold. (You all know what fairs are like. We have one down at the end of the street accross the railroad tracks every summer.) Here’s the excerpt from The Pilgrim’s Progress. In the passage, the narrator is describing the fair in the town of Vanity:

“This fair is no new-erected business, but a thing of ancient standing; I will show you the original of it.

“Almost five thousand years agone, there were pilgrims walking to the Celestial City, as these two honest persons are; and Beelzebub, Apollyon, and Legion, with their companions, perceiving by the path that the pilgrims made, that their way to the city lay through this town of Vanity, (kids: Does anyone know what vanity is?) they contrived here to set up a fair, a fair wherein should be sold all sorts of vanity, and that it should last all the year long. Therefore, at this fair are all such merchandise sold, as houses, lands, trades, places, honours, preferments, titles, countries, kingdoms, lusts, pleasures and delights of all sorts, as whores, bawds, wives, husbands, children, masters, servants, lives, blood, bodies, souls, silver, gold, pearls, precious stones, and what not.

“And moreover, at this fair there is at all times to be seen jugglings, cheats, games, plays, fools, apes, knaves, and rouges, and that of every kind.

“Here are to be seen too, and that for nothing, thefts, murders, adulteries, false swearers, and that of a blood red colour.”

In this passage from “The Pilgrims Progress,” John Bunyan lists all kinds of things that belong to this world, some that we know are evil, other that seem to be neutral and some that we consider good. We know that murder is evil, but what about husbands, wives and children? Here are some passages to consider. The first one is from Luke chapter 14 verses 25 and 26: ”Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: ‘If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters— yes, even his own life— he cannot be my disciple.’” Also, in Mark chapter 10 verses 29 and 30: “‘I tell you the truth,’ Jesus replied, ‘no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields— and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.’“

But also, the apostle Paul speaking in Ephesians chapter 5 verse 25 says: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her...” And also, in 1 Timothy chapter 5 verse 8: “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

How can Jesus, who is God come in the flesh, tell us to leave our families and possessions to follow him and Paul, speaking by the Holy Spirit of God, say that we should love our wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her and that if anyone doesn’t provide for his relatives and for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever?

The answer is not complicated. It’s not just a matter of which is more important, your family or the work God has for you to do. It’s a matter of what’s in your heart. Do you think that your “ministry” (in quotes) is a disruption or a hindrance to your taking care of your family? (This is for people with families.) Do you think that taking care of your family is not part of the work that God has for you to do? Or do you think that if he calls you to go to a foreign mission field, or anywhere else to follow him, that he won’t provide for your family first. Examine your heart. Are you thinking in terms of “either God or my family,” or are you thinking in terms of that “If God commands me to do one thing, it won’t be something that requires me to disobey some other command.” Are you thinking in terms of serving your family because you are serving God or instead of serving God? Are you really trusting God? I can ask you these same question about any other activity that belongs to “this age.” Think about your motives.

Now let’s get back to the three examples of “things in the world” that John has given us, the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does. The meanings of these three phrases, the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does, overlap to some extent. The word lust and the word cravings are the same word in Greek as is the word desires in the next verse, “The world and it’s desires pass away...”

The phrase, the cravings of sinful man, is literally the lust of the flesh. It refers, first of all, to physical desires and pleasures, and then in a broader sense, to pride and self-centeredness and all the things that come from pride and self-centeredness—anger, strife, envy, unforgiveness, back-stabbing, revenge—all the things that are contrary to the fruit of the Spirit. If you are wondering why anyone would love these things, anger, strife, revenge, etc., you are wondering because you love God. You don’t love these things because you do love God. People who don’t love God, do love these things!

The lust of the eyes refers, I think, primarily to covetousness. It has to do with the tenth commandment: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, (or his car or his job or his ability or talent) or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” (Exodus 20:17 with a few words added)

The last phrase, “the boasting of what he has and does”, is pretty much self-explanatory. The more literal translations say the pride of life, but the NIV does a good job of getting the sense of the phrase with the translation, “the boasting of what he has and does.” The word life in the phrase pride of life used by most of the translators refers generally to your career and material possessions. Boasting about what you have or do really means that you want to make other people envious of you. Now, some of you may be saying that you really don’t have much to boast about. If so, are you striving to gain more with the motive of being able to make other people envious? Or is it true that you are discouraged because you think that you are unable to cause others to envy you? If any of these things are true, the love of the Father is not in you! I’ve seen people for whom God has provided adequately, but they felt that their job was not “high-classed” enough and continually thought about what they might do about it. All these things are from the world and not from God.

By the way, for you kids, when I asked you some questions about what different words meant a few minutes ago, did you really want to be the first one to answer. If you did, why? Was it so that you could show off? Don’t do that. And I don’t mean that you shouldn’t listen and answer. Listen carefully and be ready to answer. But don’t do it to show off.

When I was a kid, as a future electrical engineer, I wanted to have all kinds of electronic goodies—radio parts, so that I could build radios with them. I got money from relatives from time to time for my birthday and for other occasions and put it in a cloth bag with drawstrings—a money bag. I counted it regularly and looked forward to the time when I would have enough to go out and buy some things. I had over seventeen dollars saved, which in today’s money would be worth way over a hundred dollars. Then for a while I forgot about the money and stopped counting. But finally, I decided the time had come to spend it. I went to get it out of my drawer, anticipating the things that I could buy. When I got the bag out, there was 65 cents in it. I told my mom about it and she said, “Oh, I’ve been giving some of it to you each week to take to school and buy war stamps. During World War II, you would buy war stamps and paste them into a book. After you had enough, you would trade them in for a war bond. Later, war bonds became U. S. Government savings bonds. My mom told me that I would appreciate having the money when I grew up and got married.

When I was older—a teenager, I did think about getting married. I looked forward to having a wife and family of my own. That was my hope. And I did get married while I was still a student at O.S.U. After that, I began to hope to have success as a scientist. I wanted to become famous and receive praise from men. Then, as I approached middle age, the dread four zero, I watched as my friends began to start their own businesses and to get rich. I had somewhat of a feeling of panic that if I didn’t become successful in business quickly, I’d soon be too old and never be rich. Fortunately, or by God’s grace, starting a business wasn’t one of my talents. Finally, I got to the stage where I wanted to have a successful ministry. I’m not sure what that involves, but in my mind it was kind of in the same category as being successful in business. (In reality though, spiritual success isn’t anything at all like worldly success, it simply means “trust and obey.” That’s spiritual success.)

The last verse in today’s passage says: “The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.” The world and its desires pass away. Even our marriages and families belong to the present age. It’s not that we won’t be with our families in the age to come and our family members won’t be important. God’s blessing to Abraham was that his descendants would be like the sand of the sea and the stars of the sky. He didn’t live to see most of his descendants, but he was looking forward to God’s “Celestial City.” His descendants were important. We will be with the members of our earthly families, but we will all be together in one family, God’s family. We are actually in God’s family now, though we may have a hard time recognizing it.

All the other things that we put our hope in in this present life, the things of this world, are passing away, but the apostle Peter says that we have an inheritance that can never perish spoil or fade—kept in heaven for us (1 Peter 1:4). And the apostle Paul says that all things are ours. In 1 Corinthians chapter 3 he says: “So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future— all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.” (1 Cor. 3:21-23) (Without the context of this verse, it may not be clear why it would be important for Paul and Apollos and Cephas or any other people to be ours, but I can tell you that it is clear that Paul is saying that everything is ours.) Isn’t that amazing. All things are ours. And Paul says it in the present tense too. It’s already an accomplished fact. We already belong to Christ (“you are of Christ”) because he already has bought us with his blood which he shed on the cross. And already, all things are ours.

I think we have a hard time understanding how everything can belong to each of us because of our worldly concept of ownership. If one person owns everything, then nobody else can own anything. If there is joint ownership, then you don’t have complete control over the thing that is owned, but can only use it when someone else is not using it. In the age to come, God will still own everything. But we will own it also. We will have free access to all that is his. Do you believe that, when we are all praying different prayers at the same time, God hears all of our prayers? Do you believe that God hears the prayers of millions, or even possibly billions of people that are all praying at the same time? Then why shouldn’t you believe everything that God owns is yours and that you do have free access to it at any time just as you have free access to him at any time?

“The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.” The man that does the will of God lives forever. What is the will of God? Are we doing it? It sounds like, to use an expression, there are eternal consequences. The man who does the will of God lives forever. The implication is that the man who doesn’t do the will of God doesn’t live forever—at least not in God’s presence. (By the way, so that you women don’t feel left out, verse 16 really says, “The one who does the will of God,” as the NASB translates it, rather than, “The man who does the will of God.”)

Now I’ve got something else to add. I have based this message on 1 John 2:15-17: “Do not love the world or anything in the world.” and “The man who does the will of God lives forever.” But there are three verses that come immediately before it that really need to be included. I’ll read verses 12 through 14 now: