Rescue from Worldliness

I John 2:15-17

We are at War

• The Enemy – Satan– Put on the Full Armor of God

• The Battlefield – the World– Rescue from Worldliness

• The Battle within– The Spirit against the flesh

Rescue From Worldliness

Rescue from Worldliness

I John 2:15-17

First John 2:15-1715. 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,

16. because all that is in the world (the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the arrogance produced by material possessions) is not from the Father, but is from the world.

17. And the world is passing away with all its desires, but the person who does the will of God remains forever.

The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible. Biblical Studies Press.

• The Christian is not ruined by living in the world, but by the world living in him.

Source unknown

Rescue From Worldliness

Whada’ ya Mean, “Worldly”? Not:

• One who enjoys nature/creation• Sophisticated or worldly-wise:

o “An experienced and worldly man who had been almost everywhere” (Willa Cather).

• Polished• Knows which fork to use… at a

White House state dinner• Confident

Whada’ ya Mean, “Worldly”? Is:

• Worldliness is drifting with the prevailing values and affections of the secular culture.

• Worldliness is living in the present without giving thought to eternity.

• Worldliness is loving the creation more than the creator.

• Worldliness is believing the lie that something in this life, on this earth – other than God – can satisfy our innermost being.

The RescueThe RescueA Portrait of Worldliness

1. From the WorldWhat does the World

Offer?• 1 John 2:15-16 (NET)

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, 16 because all that is in the world (the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the arrogance produced by material possessions) is not from the Father, but is from the world.

From the World

• The lust of the flesh: passion • The lust of the eyes:

possessions • The pride of life: position

- Stewart Briscoe

From the World• The lust of the flesh: a passion for

sensual satisfaction• The lust of the eyes: an

inordinate desire for the finer things of life, ease, and affluence. It’s wanting what isn’t yours.– “Worldliness is reading

magazines about people who live hedonistic lives and spend too much money on themselves and wanting to be like them.”

• The pride of life: self-satisfaction in who we are, what we have, and what we have done

Dave Roper, The Strength of a Man

2. The World Under

Who motivates our affections for the things

of the World?• 1 John 5:19 (NET)19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

3. By The WorldThe World’s dirt stains

our mission• James 1:27 (NET)

27 Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their misfortune and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

4. Of the WorldGod’s people vs. the World’s

people • John 15:18-19 (NET) Jesus speaking to the

disciples: 18 “If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you do not belong to the world, but I chose you out of the world, for this reason the world hates you.

• John 17:14-15 (NET) Jesus speaking to the Father: 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them, because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 15 I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but that you keep them safe from the evil one.

5. In the WorldStaying Safe in a Hostile

Environment• John 17:11 I am no longer in the

world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them safe in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one.

• John 17:15 I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but that you keep them safe from the evil one.

The RescueThe RescueWhat Doesn’t Work

• Drawing up lists of “worldly things” – “Whenever people had difficulty with

some temptation or some particular type of recreation or some activity which gave them trouble, they learned a lesson from it, or thought they did, and marked that particular thing down as worldly.” - Ray Stedman

• Isolation: Surrounding yourself with other Christians and rejecting most contact with the outside world. – “But because worldliness is a belief

system within, ‘the world’ just followed me into seclusion.” – William P. Farley

• Self-discipline – “Using willpower to overcome worldly

seduction is like telling a man who has gone without water for three days to control himself.” – Farley

The RescueThe RescueWhat Does Work

1. The New Birth• 1 John 5:4-5 4 because everyone who

has been fathered by God conquers the world. This is the conquering power that has conquered the world: our faith. 5 Now who is the person who has conquered the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

• Billy Sunday, used to make fun of the term “worldly Christian”: “Why to talk about a worldly Christian makes about as much sense as talking about a heavenly Devil.”

Literally, "disciplining us." Grace exercises corrective discipline to train

us to deny worldly lusts.

2. The Training of Grace

• Titus 2:11-12 (NET)11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people. 12 It trains us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,

“Rejecting once for all." We reject "worldly lusts" when we refuse them.

NIV: “It teaches us to say ‘No’”

• Titus 2:11-12 (NET)11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people. 12 It trains us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,

3. A Renewed Mind

• Romans 12:2, NET: “Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind”

• Phillips: “Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within”

4. Courage• John 16:33 I have told you

these things so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have trouble and suffering, but take courage – I have conquered the world.”