Sunday Morning Bible Study

October 7, 2012

Introduction

Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel preached? Does it speak to the broken hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a decision Is the church loved?

This is a book about Real Issues

What’s real? What’s the truth? Questions like:

Who is God? What is He really like?

What is a Christian? What is a Christian really like?

2:15-17 The World

:15 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.

:15 Do not love the world

This is a command (imperative) that carries the idea of:

“Stop loving the world”, or “Do not have the habit of loving the world”

love – agapao – to love, to feel and exhibit esteem and goodwill to a person, to prize and delight in a thing.

It’s putting a value on something, choosing to make something “precious” in your opinion.

First time:  Present active imperative

Second time:  Present active subjunctive

The command is about not making the “world” the thing that you prize, your “Precious”.

Play “My Precious” clip

In Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, the “ring” is a great illustration of the “world”, of the “stuff of the world”.  The ring messes with people’s lives and must be destroyed.

:15 the world – kosmos (“cosmos”, “cosmetics”)

It’s important to understand that this word carries several different meanings

:  the physical earth (or even the universe); the inhabitants of the earth; the “world system”

Lesson

Defining the world

The Greek word is used 152 times in the New Testament, more than half of the time by John alone (79x)

58 times in John’s gospel

18 times in John’s letters

3 times in Revelation

79 times it is used by John alone (Gospel, letters, Revelation)

Sometimes the word is used to describe the planet, the physical geographical place we call “earth”, or even the physical universe. (Acts 17:24)

(Ac 17:24 NKJV) God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.

Sometimes the word is used to describe the people that inhabit this planet.

(Jn 3:17 NKJV) For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

Sometimes the word is used in the same sentence in several different ways.

(Jn 1:10 NKJV) He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.

Sometimes the word is used to describe the invisible “evil system” that is ruled by Satan, appeals to our sin nature, and is in conflict with the plans and purposes of God.

Jesus said to the Jewish unbelievers:

(Jn 8:23 NKJV) And He said to them, “You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.

Jesus warned His disciples:

(Jn 15:18 NKJV) “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.

Sometimes it is not clear which meaning is meant and the various meanings all overlap and run into each other.

Proper translation is not always cut and dry.  Sometimes it’s more “art” than it is “science”.

The evil world system is directed by Satan.

(1 Jn 5:19 NKJV) We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.

We have three spiritual enemies:  Satan, the world, and our flesh.

Satan directs the world to influence our flesh to lead us astray.

We have help

(1 Jn 5:4–5 NKJV) —4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world— our faith. 5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

The first step in overcoming this present evil world system is to believe in Jesus Christ.

In the world, not of it

I’m not sure the answer is running off to join a monastery. 

Illustration

The monks at a remote monastery deep in the woods followed a rigid vow of silence. Their vow could only be broken once a year—on Christmas—by one monk. That monk could speak only one sentence. One Christmas, Brother Thomas had his turn to speak and said, “I love the delightful mashed potatoes we have every year with the Christmas roast!” Then he sat down. Silence ensued for 365 days. The next Christmas, Brother Michael got his turn and said, “I think the mashed potatoes are lumpy, and I truly despise them!” Once again, silence ensued for 365 days. The following Christmas, Brother Paul rose and said, “I am fed up with this constant bickering!”

Jesus prayed,

(Jn 17:15 NKJV) I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.

God DOES want us to be a positive influence in the world. Jesus said,

(Mt 5:14–16 NKJV) —14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

No matter how much we hate this present evil world system, we can’t live outside it, but we can affect it.

:15 If anyone loves the world

In the Greek grammar, this is what’s called a “third class conditional statement”, meaning that the outcome is “probable”.

If anyone loves the world, it is “more probably” that the love of the Father isn’t in them.

It’s not completely impossible, but it is unlikely.

:15 the love – agape – affection, good will, love, benevolence; God’s kind of love that we too are supposed to have for each other.

:15 the love of the Father is not in him

This is the love possessed by the Father, the love that God has for us.

Wuest:  “the love possessed by the Father”

If we “love the world”, it is very likely that we have not tasted the love that God has for us.

What’s instructive is that the words for “love” and the “world” are also found in another verse:

(Jn 3:16 NKJV) For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

How is it okay for God to love the world, but for us not to love the world?

Because the word (kosmos) is used in different ways.

We should hate this evil world “system”.

The evil world system is “passing away” (2:17).

We should love the people of this “world”.

The “people” of the world don’t “pass away”.  People are eternal.

Lesson

Identify the enemy

When our military goes into battle, it is very important that they identify the enemy.

A soldier doesn’t want to kill a civilian or his fellow soldier.

To be honest, there are some people that really tick off some of us.

It might be a Wall Street banker who makes millions off the backs of people’s hard earned savings.

It might be a Madison Avenue add agency executive who authorizes sexually titillating commercials which display while we watch TV with our families.

It might be a politician who believes that it’s okay for a mother to kill her unborn child if the mother wants to.

But if we think these people are our enemies, we have it wrong.

We are not to love the world system that leads people away from God.

We are to love the people that are influenced by this world system.

Paul wrote,

(Eph 6:12 NKJV) For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Paul wrote,

(2 Ti 2:24–26 NKJV) —24 And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, 25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, 26 and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.

We need to learn to hate the world system, but love the people of the world.

That’s what God does.

:16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.

:16 all that is in the world

John is going to give us a better definition of what this “world” isThe things he’s going to talk about are not things from God, but are opposed to God.

Keep in mind that these things are not things that come from God, but are things that are opposed to God.

(Jas 4:4 NKJV) Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

:16 the lust of the flesh

lust felt by the flesh

lust – epithumia – desire, craving, longing

Lust is a strong desire for what is forbidden.

(Jas 1:13–15 NKJV) —13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

(Mk 4:19 NKJV) and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

flesh – sarx – flesh; that part of us that hates doing what is right.

(Ga 5:17 NIV) For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.

The lusts of our flesh are the desires that come from inside us to do the wrong things.  These desires are stirred up by things in the “world”.

:16 the lust of the eyes

eyes – ophthalmos – the eye

Sometimes the strong desires come through our physical senses.  Jesus said,

(Mt 5:28 NKJV) But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Don’t think this is limited to the eyes only, or else blind people would be immune to this, which they are not.  It’s all about our senses picking up on the temptations that the “world” shows off to us.

:16 the pride of life

pride – alazoneia – empty, braggart talk; an empty assurance

It comes from the word alazon, to be a “boaster”, someone who tells of their great achievements but necessarily things that are true.

life – bios (“biology”) – life; outward physical life (as opposed to inward spiritual life)

The “pride of life” is all about trusting in your own resources instead of God’s resources.  It’s about putting your trust in your “stuff”

To get a better idea of the flavor of this word, look at the one other place it is used in the Bible:

(Jas 4:13–16 NKJV) —13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” 16 But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

Is it bad to have wealth?

Only if it is your “Precious”.

Jesus said to take advantage of finances, or “mammon:

(Lk 16:9–13 NKJV) —9 “And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home. 10 He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. 11 Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? 12 And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own? 13 “No servant 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.”

Paul had a word for those who are wealthy.

(1 Ti 6:17–19 NKJV) —17 Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. 18 Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, 19 storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

You can see these three things at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, when He was led into the wilderness for forty days to be tempted three times by Satan (Mat. 4:3-11).

The temptation to turn stones into bread was like the “lust of the flesh”.

The temptation to jump from the top of the Temple was like the “pride of life”.

Seeing the kingdoms of the world and worshipping Satan was like the “lust of the eyes.

(Mt 4:3–11 NKJV) —3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” 4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” 5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ” 7 Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ” 8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ” 11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

turning stones into bread = “lust of the flesh”

jumping from the temple = “pride of life”

seeing the kingdoms of the world = “lust of the eyes”

You can see these three things in the Garden of Eden when Satan tempted Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit:

(Ge 3:6 NKJV) So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.

good for food = “lust of the flesh”

pleasant for the eyes = “lust of the eyes”

desirable to make one wise = “pride of life”

How do we deal with these three areas of the world?

Lesson

Flesh Control

Dealing with the “lust of the flesh”

There are at least two aspects of managing our “flesh”, or learning “self-control”.

Kill it

The Bible talks a lot about us learning to “crucify” our “flesh”.  Paul wrote,

(Ro 6:6–7 NKJV) —6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin.

(Ga 2:20 NKJV) —20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

(Ga 5:24 NKJV) And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

What does it mean to “crucify” our flesh?  Does it mean we have to get nailed to a piece of wood?

Take away your excuses and learn to say “no” to your own self.

Play “Stop It” clip.

It’s learning to stand up to our flesh and say “no”.

Paul wrote,

(1 Co 9:27 NKJV) But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.

Fill it

We need to learn to be filled with the Holy Spirit.  We need to learn how to live each day allowing the Holy Spirit to control more and more of us.

Saying “yes” to the Holy Spirit.

(Ga 5:16 NKJV) I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

The Holy Spirit wants to help you live a life that is pleasing to God.  He gives us the power to obey God.  He helps us cultivate self-control.

This combination of “saying no” to your flesh and “saying yes” to God is a potent combination.

It’s like Dorothy standing up to the Wicked Witch (saying “no” to the flesh) and throwing water on her (“saying yes” to the Holy Spirit)

Play “I’m melting” clip

Lesson

Gate keeping

Dealing with the “lust of the eyes”

Be careful what you let through the “gates” of your eyes.  What do you allow your senses to be exposed to? David wrote,

(Ps 101:3 NKJV) I will set nothing wicked before my eyes…

(Job 31:1 NKJV) “I have made a covenant with my eyes; Why then should I look upon a young woman?

Make a choice of what you “feed” your mind with.

You don’t always have a choice.  There are times when you are going to be exposed to garbage without asking for it.

But there are plenty of times when we have the choice of what we allow ourselves to be exposed to.

Illustration

Years ago on one of my half-hearted attempts at dieting, my mom told me about a cool book, “Eat This Not That”.

The idea in the book is that you need to make better choices of what you eat during the day, and even if you eat fast food all day, you can actually make decisions that will be the difference between losing weight or gaining weight.

On the book’s website, they give a sample of how with six meal choices during a day, you can either be consuming 1390 calories (which will let you lose weight), or 3450 calories (which will make you pack on the pounds).

The same principle applies to your mind.

Are you going to make choices that will encourage your walk in the Lord, or are you going to make choices that will feed your flesh.

Someone has to be in charge of what gets through the gate of your senses into your mind.

Sometimes it’s good to allow other people into your problem and ask them to help you stay accountable.  It’s good to have other people in your life who know what your struggles are.

But ultimately YOU have to commit to being the main gatekeeper.

It is pretty easy to fool the people you are supposedly accountable to, but in the end, you are only fooling yourself.

You have to own up to the responsibility yourself.

Lesson

Cultivating humility

Dealing with the “pride of life”

Illustration

In 2006, Ted Haggard was the pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, with a congregation of 14,000.

And then something hit the news.  A gay escort and masseuse revealed that he had been involved in a three years relationship with Haggard, involving gay sex and crystal meth.

One of the strange things at the time was the book that Haggard was promoting to his flock.

In The Pursuit of the Good Life he claimed to live a life virtually free of temptation, and urged readers to join him on this new plane of holiness. “I can withstand temptation and control my actions,” he wrote. “I am a Christian, and I live like a Christian.”

I’m afraid that sounds a lot like “pride” to me.  Pride will get you into trouble every time.

When Paul talked about the importance of humility in our lives, he wrote,

(Php 2:5–8 NLT) —5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. 6 Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. 7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, 8 he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

Humility isn’t something that comes naturally to us.  It’s something we have to purposely cultivate in our lives.

On the night of the Last Supper, Jesus surprised the disciples by doing the something that only a lowly servant ought to be doing – He washed their feet.  He told them He was teaching them something important:

(Jn 13:12–17 NKJV) —12 So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. 16 Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

Don’t confuse humility with poor self-esteem.  It’s not about thinking that you are worthless, it’s about learning to put others first before yourself.

One of many ways that we ought to be cultivating humility in our lives is through learning to serve others (washing feet).

When you say “yes” to serving the Lord by serving others, He will test you by putting some pretty stinky feet in your face.

You will say to yourself, “I’m too important to do this!”  You are so wrong.  Jesus washed feet.  So can I.

:17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

:17 passing away – parago – to pass by; to depart, go away; disappear

Present, middle, indicative

If you are living your life counting on the things of the world, you are going to be sorely disappointed because one day it will all be gone.

Illustration

This next clip is meant to be a “parable”.  It’s about a thirsty man and the water he finds to drink. In my “parable”, the water represents the things of this “world”.

Play “Thirst” clip

In my parable, the man keeps drinking the wrong “water” to quench his thirst.

If we are putting our trust in the world, we will be disappointed because it’s passing away, just like the water turning into sand.

When Jesus met a thirsty woman at a well, He said to her,

(Jn 4:13–14 NKJV) —13 …“Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

:17 does – poieo – to make; to do

Present, active, participle

:17 he who does the will of God abides forever

:17 the will – thelema – what one wishes or has determined shall be done; will, choice, inclination, desire, pleasure

:17 abides – meno – to remain, abide

Lesson

Choosing Forever

Doing the will of God leads to eternal life.  How do I do the will of God?

(Jn 6:28–29 NKJV) —28 Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

Doing the will of God starts with believing that Jesus died for you.

At the end of “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”, they are faced with making a decision. The ancient knight tells them that drinking from the wrong cup leads to death, but the right cup leads to life.  The first chap chooses “poorly” and dies.

Play “Indiana Jones Choose Wisely” clip.

Are you going to continue to drink from the cup of the world, or are you going to start following Jesus?