The Way of Life | 1 John 2:15-17

Good morning, everyone. It's delightful to be

with you this morning. If we haven't met, my

name is Scott. Last time I was here, I would

begin by saying I'm from Vic Park, Presbyterian.

But you guys took Mark from Bull Creek, and so

a hole was emptied up there. So I've moved from

Vic Park to Bull Creek. So to some degree, it's

like, thank you. My life has changed because

of what you guys have done. So it's great that

we can all... be connected and serve. Yeah, it'd

be great for you to have the passage of One John

open this morning. And yeah, it was a great delight

to hear that you guys are going through One John

because it is a book that I've spent a lot of

time in. And so it's great to kind of, yeah,

see and be in God's Word and delight in that

together. As we begin, let me paint a picture

for you. You know, it's a normal day, you get

a phone call, you kind of don't recognise the

number, and so you kind of go, oh, maybe it's

that relative from the East or that friend. So

you pick it up, it's not them. It's not your

friend, it's someone from a company that you

recognise the name of, and they say, oh, there's

this problem with your system, or maybe this

thing, we just need some details from you. Maybe

there's even something in for you. It's not them.

No, no, that's a scam. Or here, another one for

you. You get an email. There's a great deal opening

up. There's a business just about to start booming,

and this is your chance to buy in. No, no, that's

another scam. Or you're online, and a friend

request comes from someone on Facebook. Pretty

attractive. They want to start a relationship

with you. They seem to like all of the really

specific things that you like. And they're really

keen to get to know you and see you. They're

in a different part of the country, so they need

plane tickets. And can you help them pay for

that? No, no, that's another scam. Here's a scary

statistic for you. In Australia just this year

so far, $147 million... have been lost in Australia

to scams. There are evil people out there using

the internet to contact and coerce, confuse and

steal money from people who just thought that

maybe this was their break. Devastating. Millions

of dollars going somewhere. What was offered

up ended up being empty. It was a trap. It was

a temptation that ended up being treacherous.

But here's another scam for you that's running

out through the entire world. It captures billions

of people every year and tempts everyone to join

in. And that's the scam of the world, of sin,

which sets itself against God and His Word. And

it is tricky and deceptive. It says to those

that know God, actually, you can know God and

do what you want. You can know God and enjoy

sin. It calls out to those that love God, like,

you know, come here, come taste and see, like,

how bad could it be? It's a scam. And it deceives

the world. And John here in our letter says,

you know, be aware. Don't give in. It's kind

of a big theme in 1 John is Christians as they

live in a world of sin. How are they going to

fight it? John doesn't want you to be deceived.

He's written, just in the previous section, to

fathers and sons, right? Telling them, know who

you are, because who you are affects what you

should do. And John is kind of like the older,

wiser man in the family. Comes to his flock,

to his... church family, kind of gently puts

his arm around them and says, like, know that

it's a scam. Don't give in. And as you've gone

through One John, have you noticed his methodology?

He's teaching you through repetition. You get

to another section, you kind of go, oh, this

sounds familiar. Didn't we not just do this?

Here's a picture for that. I don't know if you've

been to a shop that sells Lego recently. There's

kind of two kinds. There's the one where there's

just all the boxes and that's kind of, that's

all right. There's still Lego there. The other

kind is the one that kind of really wants to

put on display that they are building Lego. There's

the kind of, I've got a picture from my mum recently.

It's her standing next to a life -size Darth

Vader from Star Wars, completely made out of

Lego. It was just like, that's pretty cool. But

another funny one that I saw recently at a shop

was kind of a meter high statue of just a big

blue Lego block. Like it was just like this one

big brick made out of what I imagine was thousands

and thousands of kind of smaller bricks all put

together. And I think that's what Juan John is

right. Like he's got the same argument time and

time again. Look at the Christian and the world.

Look at the Christian and sin. And it's kind

of All these bricks together till you get the

one big picture about how the Christian should

live in this world and respond to sin. All those

blocks together get us to see in good detail

each scenario. And today we're looking at the

Christian as he lives in the world. He's already

pushed back against a whole lot of other wrong

teachings though. He's pushed back against that

the Christians don't need to think about sin.

They don't need to care. He's pushed back against

it. They said, no. He's pushed back against the

lies that Christians can think that they can

get to the point where they don't sin anymore.

He said, no, that's not right. And also that

they can be completely free from sin or have

sin nature. He said, no, those aren't correct

views. Again, again, those are just the blocks

that get put together as we see how the Christian

should live in this world. And here's one more

block for you, the Christian in the world. We've

got three verses today, 1 John chapter 2 verses

1 John 2:15

15 through to 17. So three verses, we've got

three points. They're in your outline. It's the

love of the world, the desires of the world,

and then we'll finish with eternal satisfaction.

Alright, so let's begin verse 15, the scam of

the world. See that verse 15, like, 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. John begins as a command, but as I said

before, John is the older man with his arms around

you, kind of with his family saying, come, like,

let's think about this clearly. I'm warning you

about the things that I've seen and experienced

in my wisdom. Hear and see these potential dangers.

You know, he's talked to children and fathers

and said, like, you know, I'm speaking to you,

you know who you are, and so hear them. He speaks

to them as their shepherd. And he warns them

about their heart. You know, do not love the

world. This is about their love. This isn't about

John just saying kind of like, oh, you know,

back in my day, or the world isn't like it used

to be. And this isn't John saying that you can

hate people right. What John is particularly

on about here is what has captured your heart.

What's motivating you, what pulls you, what you

truly desire, kind of at your deepest core. If

you're an onionist, we've peeled back layer after

layer and we look at the core. What is in there?

If you were a car, we've lifted up the hood,

we've looked at the engine, we're seeing what's

fuelling that engine. If you were a plant...

that draws life from its roots, where are those

roots sunk in? And John says, is that the world?

And by world here, I think John doesn't mean

what he means in John 3, 16. We've had that there.

It is a very, very helpful passage for us, because

it is saying a lot of the same thing. But there,

the world is the people, particularly, that God

has come to save. Here, though, the world is

the place that God has saved people from. Kind

of the sin, the place that tempts, that blinds,

that enslaves people. Here, don't love the world

is don't love sin and sinfulness. All that tempts

you in this world, that's in opposition to God.

John is calling the church. and saying, as he

says again and again and again, if Jesus has

saved you, if He saved you from the world, if

He's taking you out of the darkness, if He's

taking you out of your shame and your sin and

your failings, run from them, don't run back

to them. A vivid picture of this, I think, is

from Sodom and Gomorrah. The city that is truly

at the depths of vileness and debauchery. You

know, two angels come to the city and they're

intercepted by Lot, kind of at the gate, and

he takes them into his care. But as night falls,

the men of the city kind of come barging in and

attempt to rape them. The angels blind the men

and basically grab Lot and his family and say,

like, it's time to go. This city's going to be

destroyed and you must flee. And they do. You

know, Lot and his wife and his children, they

flee to the hills. But there's the painful part

of the story where Lot's wife turned back. She

looked back. And she became a pillar of salt.

She was in the arms of salvation leaving the

city, but her heart was back there. It's like

a worldly form of repentance, kind of Christians

rush in sorrow and sadness turn from our sin,

but she in sadness turned back to the city of

sin. That's where her heart was. And in the Bible,

God is never satisfied with just the presence

of His people. He wants their hearts. And actually

loving the world, having it be your desire, your

goal is a sign of separation from Him rather

than salvation. Do you see that in verse, in

the second part of verse 15? If anyone loves

the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

And here the love of the Father, as we kind of

saw a few weeks back in verse 5, is the love

that we have for our Father. You can't love the

world and God. But the world says that you can,

right? But let me paint this picture for you.

It's a beautiful wedding day. The sun is shining.

The flowers are kind of in full bloom. You chose

the perfect day. The bride and the groom are

there. It's time for their vows. And the bride

is beautiful. Dress up hair. Just... Perfect

makeup, you know, on point. Everyone's like,

wow. And the groom, everyone's like, oh, you

did a good job. But it's a beautiful picture.

And they're there, and they make deep promises

to each other, don't they? You know, it's, I

will love only you. You have my heart. And like,

in that moment, as they exchange vows, it's beautiful.

And we know that there's a deep, deep problem

if they share that love that they should have

for one another with any other. That's adultery.

It's betrayal. It's devastating because it gets

to the core of who people are. And it's so destructive.

And God wants us to give our hearts to Him. If

the world has your heart, if it has the core

of your being, every time there's a temptation,

every time you face sin, you will follow your

heart and your life will be painted by that.

Your life won't be distinct from the world, it

will be directed by it. And John here says, there's

a warning, it's a command, turn back, don't be

deceived. Jesus' own words along these lines

are you cannot love God and money. Let's look

at the other side of this and this is kind of

what I want us to see what the passage is not

saying though. In kind of the time that I've

had doing ministry I've caught up with a number

of guys and I would often take them to one John.

Love one John because John says hard things,

really clearly. But what is verse 15 saying?

If you're struggling with sin, what does it say

to the one that is struggling with sin? The one

who has an indwelling sin, one that they're trying

to kill, but they're constantly failing, they're

constantly returning to it, but they like, they

hate it. Are they, as John puts it here, are

they without God's love in them? I don't think

that's what John is saying here. Because for

many of these guys who have caught up with them,

they do live in a world of sin, they are tempted

by sin, they do fail. But like John is clear,

we do have an advocate. We do have a Redeemer.

That's what we saw in the first eight verses

of this chapter. We have someone who cleanses

us from all sin if we would come and repent.

If we come hating our sin that we've fallen into,

that we were tempted by, that did capture our

hearts, turn from it, come and lamenting in our

weakness and our failing. And I would say to

all of these guys, the fact that you repent,

the fact that you're constantly turning from

your sin is not a sign of godlessness. but is

a sign of God working in you, a sign of God's

love in them, His Spirit working, shaping them,

making them more like Christ, though they live

in a world that's constantly drawing them. And

John, sort of here, always wants to point us

back to the cross, points us back to God's love

and mercy and forgiveness, and see what was paid

there and know that we can come back to our Father.

that Jesus comes to us in our weakness and failing

and he knows that he, John says that he will

meet us there and draw us in. Like when our hearts

are wavering, Jesus' is not. His heart doesn't

waver for us. He loves us so deeply. We can turn

and run to him, seek mercy and strength in the

one that we do love. But don't give in to the

scam. Don't think that there's no need to repent.

Our passage is clear that you can't see sin as

safe. You can't see porn as palatable, gossip

and greed as good, lying as laughable. You can't

love them and God. The warning here screams out

at the same time as God's mercy rings out. For

those that have chosen to stop fighting, You

need to turn back. You can't live with it. You

can't love it. And John says, don't be scammed.

You can't do it. It's a poison, and it affects

all of you and your desires. Come to our second

point, because John's going to draw some really

specifics then. He's talked about this love of

the world, but what does that look like? Well,

let's see that in verse 16. trusting desires.

Verse 16, For all that is in the world, the desires

of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the

pride of life, is not from the Father, but is

from the world. And it kind of draws us in. Is

what the world offers us good? Are they from

God or are they not? Think about our world. Our

world wants you to kind of give in to every desire

that you have. Has that led to a more stable

society? Is justice flourishing? Do families

thrive? Are the weakest and meekest cared for?

Is our world moving towards God and what God

commands or a way? John calls us not to be scammed.

It's not simply think that our desires, because

our bodies came from God, are kind of authentic

and godly, but to see that actually our bodies

and our desires reflect the world that they spring

from. I was never really a big fan of mushrooms,

but like the mushroom trial has kind of really

increased my suspicion of mushrooms. And part

of that is, I think because that's where they

grow, like where do they grow? Mushrooms grow

in like the deepest darkest dankest kind of You

know and so I should be suspicious that's where

they kind of grow and We too should be suspicious

of our desires as we live in this world So many

of our desires do not spring from a godly heart,

but from the fact that we live in a godless world

But the three things John is going to say, and

it's worth saying that I think the words that

John chooses are perfect words. But because we

kind of have grown up in a kind of post -Christian

country, the words that John says, I don't know

that we necessarily jump to the right conclusions

as to what they mean. What does he say? He says,

the desires of the flesh, the desires of the

eyes and the pride of life. I think for the first

two, the desires of the flesh and the desires

of the eyes, our minds jump and kind of like

really limit what we think John's talking about.

We kind of think, oh, John's just like talking

about, you know, like sex. But I don't think

that's the focus of what John's talking about.

I think it's included. But in our minds, because

we live in post -Christian Australia, we limit

it. I think John's talking in broad terms. Because

I think flesh here is referring to our mortal

bodies. I have a body that's made out of flesh,

and so do you. We are fleshly beings. We have

bodies, and our bodies are fallen. Because of

Adam's sin... We live in a world full of sin

and our bodies are affected by that. Our desires

are twisted. Not only are we moved towards sin,

we live in a world of sin and that tempts us,

it tempts us in our weakness. And John here is

saying, don't be deceived by those desires. Don't

give in to sexual temptation. the desires for

all sorts of pleasures, to kind of hit that high,

to follow the chemical trail of happiness that

our body says is good. That is from the world

and not from God. Same with the desires of the

eyes. The drive to look outside of yourself at

what others have. To envy, to covet. to lust

that is kind of the desire to see more than what

we should and to see the things that we shouldn't.

Like yes it's true that God made beauty but our

eyes kind of take the fact that there is beauty

out there as kind of like a license to do whatever

it wants. And that's not from God, that's from

our sinful nature. And that's to be not satisfied

with what God has provided us with, but to compare

to desire and to sin. John states that that's

the pattern of the world, and that's not from

our loving Heavenly Father. And then thirdly,

the pride of life. If the first was the body

and the second was to look outside, this third

one is to look inward. to look at ourselves and

see all that we have done and attribute it to

me. Pride is like rightly the chief of all sins

because it is idolatry of myself. As we worship

ourselves and say how good is everything that

I have done. Take King Nebuchadnezzar standing

at the heights of Babylon and this was his phrase

before he gets turned into a wild animal. Is

this not the great Babylon I have built as the

royal residence, by my mighty power and for the

glory of my majesty? A kind of a false lifting

up of oneself as all -important, as the chief

and ruler of our lives, that it's me that did

it, not at all a thought for the God who made

us and sustains us and gives us each breath.

Devoid of God, thinking that it's all for our

glory and not His. But why has John done this?

Why has he shown us these things, these three

particular temptations? Why has he kind of fleshed

out these fleshly things? Well, verse 16 is explaining

verse 15. The kind of the love of the world is

seen here in all of its potential. And John takes

us here because those things are what the world

says will give you true satisfaction. Does not

the world say, come, do this, give in to this,

have you seen this? Or once you've achieved this

then all your longings, your heart will be filled,

that relationship will fill you completely, that

hole in your chest, just come over here, do that,

then you will finally feel full. The world says,

keep going, dig deeper, try more, sleep around

more, push more, achieve more, make your kids

do more if you can't. And those are real temptations.

And to be fair, they do appear shiny, but they

never satisfy. John is here saying, look, it's

a scam. They'll keep on taking. until it has

your heart and all of you. You can't have a little

bit of that and love God. Give that up and come

to the one who does satisfy. Jim Carey, the kind

of strange actor, seems to have become a Christian.

Back in 2020, he was quoted as saying this, I

think everyone should get rich and famous and

do everything they ever dreamed of. So they can

see that it's not the answer. Jim the actor,

John the apostle point us to the same thing.

The answer is not in the world. The world truly

offers no satisfaction and don't give in to its

lies. And then in our third verse I think John

takes us and shows us where we can find true

satisfaction. So point three, eternal satisfaction.

Where there are competing loves, we often turn

to the one that we love the most. And so I think

John takes us by the hand and points us to where

actually both the love of the world and the love

of God lead. He shows us that one of them is

empty and in the end actually offers you nothing.

The other is eternal and truly satisfying. See

that in verse 17. And the world is passing away

along with its desires, but whoever does the

will of God abides forever. It's kind of like,

look at the extended warranty on what the world

is offering. Does it last? No. But again, this

isn't new. John hasn't brought this out from

nowhere. He's already tackled this in part in

verse 8. He's already pointed out that actually

the darkness of the world is fading because the

light of the world is already shining. For all

that the world promises you and offers you, it

doesn't last. The world and its opposition to

godly living won't last. I think we kind of get

a glimpse of that now because our feelings fade,

our desires fade. When you do give in to sin,

that promised pleasure that offered you so quickly

fades. It was meant to last and it's gone. And

it's replaced with guilt because it's just all

so fleeting. Like Solomon in Ecclesiastes talks

about seeking all that the world has to offer.

He's tried it all, but it's all meaningless.

It's like a breath of vapor and it's just gone.

And if that's your goal, If that's where your

heart is pulling you, if that's where your treasures

are, then you will follow it. Jesus talking about

wealth in Matthew chapter 6 says, do not lay

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth

and rust destroy and where thieves break and

steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in

heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys

and where thieves do not break and steal, for

where your treasure is, there your heart will

be also. It's not that life is meaningless though,

right? Like there is true satisfaction. Our passage

points us to saying that lasts eternally. Kind

of the second half there. Whoever does the will

of God abides forever. This true satisfaction

and lasting satisfaction. That the things that

will be remembered, the things that will be treasured,

are not the things done now for your own pleasure.

No matter how good that holiday was, no matter

how shiny your car is, no matter how prestigious

that award is, or the greatness of your name,

they fade. And kind of, again, John, as the older

man, kind of points us to our Heavenly Father

and says, like, listening to Him, resting on

Him. like seeking Him and the gifts that He gives

us, like there, there is true satisfaction, things

that last, things that won't fade. We have a

loving Heavenly Father that loves to give good

gifts to His children, that are so much better

than anything that the world can offer. God gives

Himself to you. The language there of abiding

always takes my mind to one of the deepest intimacy

and embrace. God doesn't hold us at arm's length.

No, no, God delights in us coming to Him and

seeking Him. He loves us loving Him, seeking

all of Him, and He delights to give you all that

you need. I don't give in to the fake, shiny

imitations of this world. with all their temptations

because they will never satisfy you. The temptations

and pleasures of this world, they do look bright

and shiny. It looks like that's what we need,

but John reminds us, no, no, Jesus is all that

you need. Maybe you've been buying into that

scam. Maybe your heart's been set on this world

or you've been slowly moving towards it and returning

from your father. God calls you today to come

and be satisfied, to be overwhelmed with his

riches, to give up all the fakes for the eternal.

John, he's the loving under shepherd of Jesus,

the great shepherd, says, come back. Come back

set your heart here in your father's arms Remember

all that he has done for you and see what he

truly offers But truly satisfies Like to end

with we've sung some great songs this morning

I think which basically have said my path like

my sermon for you. You've already sung it but

let me Do one more. This is come thou fount of

every blessing. Where Jesus is all that we need

and we need to come and pray and ask for his

strength because we do live in a world that constantly

tempts us. And we need his help to keep our heart

in his arms. I'm gonna sing, I'm not gonna sing

for you. I'm gonna read the first and last one.

If I sing it I'll cry. And then the last verse.

take and seal it seal it for thy courts above

the world tempts us don't give in let's run to

our father now in prayer father we come to you

in our weakness Lord, we are in a world that

tempts us each day, that shows us shiny things,

that says, offers us all that we need. Lord,

please help us not to give in. Lord, seal our

hearts. We give them to You. We need Your strength

each day by Your Spirit. Lord, remind us of what

You have done on the cross for us. that you have

secured us for eternity, to be with you in heaven

with all that we'll ever need for eternity, Lord,

in joy unspeakable. Lord, as we walk this world

now, Lord, give us eyes for heaven. We can't

do it by our own strength, Lord, so we ask for

yours. And I'm your son. Amen.