A Christian's Greatest Danger

John is writing to answer the question in this little New

Testament letter of first John, how do you know?

How do you know that Christianity is true?

How do you know that you're a true Christian?

It's that second question that we actually spent the last three

weeks unpacking as John has LED us through three different

tests. Y'all tired of taking tests and

praise God it's not a test day. Amen.

So John is moving on to 1/3. How do you know?

Question. But we took the the love test

that was most recent. Before that we took the like

test and before that we took the light test, right?

God is light. Or are you walking in the light

and the like test? Does your life look like Jesus?

And then the love test? Are you loving God and one

another the way God has designed us to show and share His love?

How do you know Christianity is true?

How do you know you're a true Christian?

By the time you get through the 3rd test, John is assuming

you've passed his test all right.

And in fact, he is writing that we have assurance that we know

that we know that we know that we're children of God.

And so he's now continuing to write to us as the children of

God. And he's writing now to answer

1/3 how do you know question? And that question would be this,

how do you know what's dangerous to a child of God?

Another way to ask that would be more simply what is what is

dangerous. In fact, what is the most

dangerous thing to a child of God?

That's what John is going to answer.

That's what John's going to warn us about.

Now that we've passed the test, we know that we're in Christ.

We know that we've trusted in Jesus.

But now we need a warning about then what in the world could be

dangerous to us? But before we get the warning,

John here pauses to review just what a child of God is, What is

a Christian? And in fact, he defines it so

simply and straightforwardly. If you're here and wondering or

have questions about the Christian faith, what does it

mean to be a Christian? Whether you're in the room or

watching online, this is a straightforward and clear an

answer as you'll hear in all the Bible.

Listen, as we pick up in chapter 2 beginning through verse 12

through 14, remember this, what is a child of God?

We're going to see 3 characteristics here.

John says I'm writing to you little children.

He's not talking about actual little children, but he loves

that phrase to talk to Christians in Christ.

I'm writing to you, little children, because your sins are

forgiven for his namesake. And I'm writing to you, fathers,

because you know Him who is from the beginning.

And I'm writing to you, young men, because you have overcome

the evil 1 And I write to you, children, because you know the

Father. And I write to you Father, is

because you know him who is from the beginning.

And I write to you, young men, because you are strong and the

word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

We're going to start with just a reminder of three

characteristics of a child of God.

And the first one is this. A child of God is 1 whose sins

have been forgiven. A child of God is someone whose

sins have been forgiven. You see, forgiveness is the

fundamental condition, if you will, of the Christian life.

What's the difference between a Christian and a non Christian?

Number one, it's forgiveness. It's the fact the child of God

has received something from God Almighty through His Son Jesus

Christ that no one else has if they've not trusted in Jesus for

it. You say, why do we need

forgiveness of sin? Well, we'll get to that in a

second, but forgiveness is mankind's greatest need.

It's our greatest need because sin is our #1 greatest problem,

he said. Pastor Carl, I don't really even

know what sin means. Sin is anything, anything in our

lives, thought, mind, word, or action that does not honor God,

that is not right, that breaks His law, that breaks His heart.

It's anything in our lives and it's of all types.

We've said it, done it, thought it, including your pastor.

We come out in this world naturally bent towards sin,

causing us the issue. And who?

God is holy, He's righteous, He knows no sin, and then our sin

that separates us from God. Therefore our fundamental need

is forgiveness of that sin, and we instinctively know it.

In fact, a famous atheist was once asked, if there was a God,

what would you want him to say to you?

If there was a God, what would you want him to say to you?

To which the atheist responded, If there was a God, I would want

him to say to me, you are forgiven.

Now that's quite a fascinating answer, is it not?

Because here's a man who claims not to believe in God, and yet

he knows himself well enough that if there was one, he'd be

in big trouble. Because he knows he's got a

problem called sin. He knows he's done things, said

things and thought things that if there was a God would put him

at outs with that God. And if unless there was

forgiveness, he'd have no hope. This is the fundamental need of

every single man, woman, boy and girl is forgiveness from God.

That's, by the way, only offered through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Forgiveness happens when we believe on Jesus realizing what

he's done for us. And let me just give you that

reminder. I hope you could say the gospel

in 30 seconds or three seconds or 30 minutes, because it's

three simple things. Jesus lived a sinless life for

you #2 Jesus died on the cross for your sin, and #3 he overcame

the grave by walking out alive. Jesus lived, died, and rose

again. You can say that in three

seconds or 30 minutes if you want to, but that's the good

news of the gospel of what Jesus has done about your sin problem

and mine. So the Bible says if anyone

calls on the name of the Lord, they will be what saved, rescued

from their sin and forgiven. Do you know that you know your

sins have been forgiven? Psalm 103 verse 12 says as far

Psalms 103:12

as the East is from the West. So far has he separated, removed

our sins from us. A child of God.

If you trusted in Jesus Christ and called out to him.

You may be hearing about Kyle. I don't know how to get that

forgiveness. What does that mean that I do?

The Bible says you call out from your heart talking to God, his

Son Jesus Christ and asking, literally asking, just ask in

faith for forgiveness of your sin, trusting Jesus as your

Lord, the only one who can provide it.

Do you know that you've experienced forgiveness of sin?

That's what a child of God, number one.

But a second characteristic is this.

A child of God is one who knows the Father and his Son Jesus

Christ. This is verses 13 and 14.

You see, not only does the Christian experience forgiveness

of sin, y'all, but that person comes into a personal

relationship with God. They come to know God.

This person no longer knows about God, but they know God

personally. In fact, John 17 three defines

eternal life like this, and this is eternal life that they know

you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you've sent.

The definition of eternal life is a personal relationship with

God the Father through his Son Jesus Christ.

Let me just try to make things clear.

God made every single man, woman, boy and girl to live

forever. Our souls deliver.

Our bodies will wear out, but when our souls enter eternity,

they are headed towards eternal life or eternal death and life.

Eternal life is eternal togetherness with God.

Eternal death is eternal separation from God.

Like physical death is the separation of body and soul, but

spiritual eternal death is separation from God and the

soul. So eternal life or eternal

death. And the difference is, do you

know God personally through a relationship with Him through

his Son Jesus Christ? Because your sins have been

forgiven. If they have, then you've come

to know not just about God, but to know him personally.

And you're now one as a child of God who can walk and talk with

God in a personal relationship with him.

Now you may be thinking, Kyle, what in the world does that

mean? Walk and talk with God?

That sounds ridiculous to me. Listen, I can't necessarily

physically show you because we are not yet to the point where

we're seeing Jesus face to face. But here's what happens when you

call on Jesus to save you and he forgives you of your sin.

He gives you the Holy Spirit on the inside to dwell within you,

and He's given you the Word of God that you heard when you were

saved. We'll talk about that in a

second too. And with the word of God,

hearing the voice of God, inspired by God for us, for you

and for me, for his children, having the word of God to listen

to him. And the Holy Spirit of God on

the inside that no, I've never heard his audible voice.

But my goodness, I've certainly heard and, and sensed his

conviction. And I've sensed his guiding and

I've sensed him challenging me and pushing me and impressing

upon me and leading me and comforting me and strengthening

me and providing for me. And I've sensed on the inside

when I've sought to listen and listen to the Word and I've

heard him bring The Word Alive and I can walk and talk with

God. And so in you with the Word of

God and the Spirit of God on the inside, and though you can't

explain it all, it's this mystery of God living in you,

guiding you primarily through the light of this word for his

plan for your life. As you walk and talk, as you

listen to the Word and as you read it and internalize it and

listen and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you, you're walking and

talking with God to the day that we get to see Him face to face.

This is what I mean by you come to know God personally, God the

Father through his Son, Jesus Christ.

Do you know God personally? Do you know your sins have been

forgiven? Do you know that you know God

personally? That's the two characteristics.

There's a third of the child of God, and it's that it's one who

has overcome the evil one. This is verse 13 and 14.

I love this one. Like my team didn't win

yesterday, but I've still overcome the evil one through

Jesus Christ. Amen.

God's good, right? Even when Saturday's not I mean,

I'm serious, right? This is this is the this is one

of the most amazing things about the Christian life that we have

the victory over sin and over death and over the enemy, the

devil himself because of Jesus, right?

It says we have been over, we have overcome the enemy, we've

been saved. And again, I just want to be

real clear what in the world to be what does it mean to be

saved? It means to be rescued.

You know what being rescued means?

You're facing death. Unless someone intervenes and

snatches you out of that situation.

Spiritually, this is what's going on.

We're facing eternal life or eternal death, and then our sin

separates us from God. Guess where we're headed?

Eternal life or eternal death? Eternal death until the Son of

God intervened. Jesus Christ took on human flesh

and lived a sinless life. Why?

So that living for us, dying for us, being raised from the dead

for us, offering us eternal life and forgiveness of sin.

If we call out on Him, He in that moment rescues you from

your sin and eternal death and snatches you out of the Kingdom

of darkness, the wrong team, and into the Kingdom of His beloved

Son, the right team headed towards eternal life.

We're talking about a total transition from your total

eternal destination. We're talking about being dead

in sin to being made alive in Jesus.

This is what we mean. We say saved, rescued from what

you rightly deserve for your sin and given everything we don't

deserve because of God's mercy in Jesus.

You've overcome. You've been snatched away from

the devil's grip. You've been snatched out of his

hand, and no one can snatch you out of Jesus's hand.

Bible says here Colossians 113, Christ has delivered us from the

domain of darkness, transferred us to the Kingdom of his beloved

Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

How did the victory come in our lives?

Did you notice? It says because you're strong

and the word of God abides in you.

The way of rescue came to us when we heard the word of God

and that rescued us from Satan's grass when we by faith believed

it and acted on faith to call on Jesus.

And by the way, it's the Word of God that continues to give us

the victory as children of God against the enemy and against

temptations, against his seek seeking to get a foothold in our

lives and to try to reclaim areas that now belong to Jesus.

It's the word of God, right? When you read about the armor of

God, what's the only offensive weapon?

The sword of the Spirit. How did Jesus in the wilderness

when he was tempted by the devil three times, how did he respond

every time with the word of God? He knew the truth, he stood on

it and by that overcame the attacks of the enemy.

You've overcome as a child of God by the word of God.

So a child of God is 1. Whose sins have been forgiven?

Who knows the Father and the Son Jesus Christ, and who has

overcome the evil one? Let me just give you one other

quote I love about our overcoming of the evil 1 man by

the name of David Allen. I studied under in my ministry

training said this knowledge of the word of God takes the fangs

out of the serpent the devil. It takes the teeth out of the

lion, the devil who walks around seeking whom he may devour and

he says a fangless snake in a toothless lion can't do much

damage. The the the picture I want you

to think about is that, yeah, Satan that feels might get you

in his mouth and maybe gnawing on you has a roaring lion, but

he's got no teeth because Jesus Christ has ripped him out when

he rose from the dead, paid for your sin and walked out alive.

You have the victory in Jesus. Is this who you are?

Do you know that you know your sins have been forgiven, that

you know God personally like you walk and talk with him through

his word and by the spirit and that you've overcome the enemy?

Isn't it amazing what being a Christian is all about?

Like I mean, when you wake up to those realities, yes, you can

have a bad day, but listen, any bad day is still a grace filled

amazing day for a child of God because of who you are, what

God's done, what he's doing in your life.

So if that's who you are, then the question is what in the

world could be dangerous to you? What in the world does John need

to warn us about? Well, before we before we read,

let me just show you some things that you might think about when

you think of danger. All right, this is not Bible.

This is more Kyle here and some statistics, but this is kind of

just for for extra. All right, when you think of

danger, you might think of animals.

These are the number of human beings killed per year per

animal. Don't know if this is

interesting to you or not. I find this fascinating.

I would never have put lions as less dangerous than the

mosquitoes in my backyard, but there you go, right?

Lions kill a couple 100 people a year.

Hippos 500. That'd be a bad way to go.

Elephant 600, Crocodiles 1000, Scorpions 3300.

I don't even know what an assassin bug is.

I just pray I never run into one.

That sounds pretty vicious. Dogs bites from rabies is where

that number comes from. Snakes.

Human beings are pretty dangerous and mosquitoes top the

chart. All right.

You might think of like maybe a different category.

You may just think, well, what are just the top hazards?

I'm stressing some of y'all out right now.

I'm sorry about that. Top hazards to your health.

This is what they say. All right, again, this is not

Bible. It's just a free extra, all

right. Having no regular check UPS,

leading a sedentary lifestyle, eating too much, staying sleep

deprived, texting and driving. Uh oh, shipping the sunblock,

not washing your hands. All right, we got one more

category. These are just the leading

causes of death that's reported in 2021.

All right, here you go. Heart disease.

They say someone dies from heart disease every 34 seconds.

Stroke, lower respiratory infections, chronic obstructive

pulmonary disease, neonatal disorders, diabetes, Alzheimer's

and other dementias, cancer, kidney disease and other bodily

injuries. Amazing all the dangers that are

out there in our world. I hope you still take your nap

this afternoon without any problem.

But none of these things is what John is warning us about.

None of those things are the most dangerous thing in the

world to a Christian. So what is?

Well, here's what the Bible says.

Let's pick up in verse 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, 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 it is from the

world. And the world is passing away

along with its desires. But whoever does the will of God

abides forever. What is the most dangerous thing

in the world for a child of God? The most dangerous thing in the

world for a child of God is loving the world.

The most dangerous thing in the world for a child of God is

loving the world. Now, John doesn't actually say

exactly that, does he? What he does is, is he gives us

a command. Now, by the way, I don't know if

you printed out first, John, on 8 1/2 by 11 sheets of paper, so

you can read it on your own and mark it up.

If you still haven't done that, we're only in Chapter 2.

It's not too late, all right? I encourage you to get in this

book and stay in it daily, weekly, Let it marinate in your

own heart and life. And one of the things you might

do, here's a little Bible study insight.

If while reading the New Testament letters, if you will

mark all the commands, if you get to a verb and it's an

instruction, if it's A to do, if it's an imperative, underline it

or circle it. As someone has said, those

commands, those verbs are the load bearing walls of language

when it comes to the letters of the New Testament.

That's where the meaning, so much of the meaning is.

And if you are marking your 8 1/2 by 11 printed out sheets of

first John, this would be you would notice you would not mark

a command in this letter until verse 15 of chapter 2.

There is no instruction and 1st John 2 not in the form of a

command until this one right here.

And it's a -1 do not one do not what love the world John says.

John is actually giving us a command as our warning and

commands are not very popular. Let's be honest, at least in our

culture, right? No one really likes being told

what to do, but commands can actually be some of the

strongest expressions of love. Can you imagine never telling

your children not to run across the street without looking?

Can you imagine never telling your child don't touch that hot

iron? Can you imagine never telling

your children to buckle up when they get in the car?

Right. Commands can actually be some of

the deepest expressions of love, and John is giving us a

expression of love, a command in the form of that's taking a

warning in our lives here. So what John is saying, is this

the most dangerous thing in the world?

That is loving the world do not love the world.

What is the world? The world is anything and

everything that's part of this earthly life that's under the

curse of sin. I want to make another

clarification for you because what I don't want you to think

is the wrong definition of this world, of this word world.

And John 316 it says for God so love the by which he means all

the people of the world. When John says don't love the

world, he's not talking about the people of the world.

He's talking about all the physical or the things that are

of the here and the now, not the people that will not last to be

part of the Kingdom of God. Don't love this system, don't

love the things, don't love the pursuits, don't love all the

stuff that's under the cursive sin now that will not last to be

part of the Kingdom of God. What does it mean to love?

It means to value, it means to be loyal to it means to give

your affection or your allegiance to it means to

sacrificially pursue with your efforts and your energy.

John is saying don't value y'all.

Don't be loyal to don't give yourself sacrificially to what's

of the here and now that will not last to be part of the

Kingdom of God. Why?

Why John? Why?

Why? What's so dangerous about loving

the world? Two reasons.

That first one is the end of verse 15.

He says if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is

not in him. Reason #1 Loving the world is so

dangerous, it is impossible to love God and the world at the

same time. Johnson's reason number one, you

all not love the world as it is impossible to love God and the

world at the same time. You can't do it right?

If A you're loving the world, then B, you're not loving God.

And if we were in a debate with John, we might say John, OK, we,

we hear you. But why is that?

Why really can't we love God and the world at the same time?

He says verse in verse 16, because the things of the world

are not the things of God, they're polar opposite and he

names 3 categories of things in this world that we ought not

love. You notice them here, the lust

or desires of the flesh, the lust or desires of the eyes, and

then the boastful pride of life. Let's talk about these just for

a moment. What does he mean by the lust or

desires of the flesh, Right. Our bodies and the desires of

our bodies are not inherently bad.

God made us as physical beings, more than just physical beings,

but God as he made us and gave us physical bodies, designed us

with physical desires for our good, right?

And just a little bit, If I preach too long, you're going to

get what you're going to get hungry.

You might be hungry now, right? That's a good desire.

God gave you that desire. But that desire, any bodily

desire you have perverted or distorted by sin can be turned

into a lust of the flesh. It can be turned into overeating

or it can be turned into under eating.

And you can misuse that desire, right?

What about the desire for thirst?

We would desire naturally to quench our thirst.

You're not going to live if you don't stay hydrated.

And yet that desire can be perverted and twisted and

distorted and into drunkenness. Guess what?

You have a desire for pleasure. You have a desire for intimacy,

maybe a desire for offspring. That desire can be perverted and

distorted into sexual immorality.

You have a desire for rest. You have a desire for sleep.

You have a desire for comfort. That desire can be distorted

into laziness, but you can take any good.

This is what sin is. It's when the good things that

God designed and made, that he called good at creation, are

taken and distorted or twisted and used for things other than

the glory and goodness of God at which God designed them.

These are the the lust of the flesh.

Then there's the lust or desires of the eyes.

These are the cravings produced in US based on what we see.

By the way, much of these things aren't inherently bad either.

These can be good things, things God designed for us to enjoy.

But anything that our eyes see that caused our hearts to long

for more than God can produce a lust of the eyes, right?

I mean, it could be down to the clothes you wish you had.

Clothes are a good thing. I'm so glad you got dressed this

morning. Amen.

But what if you wanted certain clothes more than you really

wanted God? What if you wanted a car really

more than you? A certain car you wish you drove

more than you want God? What if there was a house you

wish you had and you lived in more than you really want to go?

Whether if there was an office you really wish you had, a job

you really wish you had more than you wanted God?

What if it was vacations you wish you could take more than

you wanted God, right? You could go down the list.

None of these things are necessarily bad, but if your

eyes see them and your heart desires them more than they,

your heart longs for God, guess what?

This is a lust of the the eyes. And by the way, I had even named

one of the most dangerous ones in our culture and time today.

But they're the images that are pervasive in our culture.

Any time you get on a screen or you can see off a screen.

But in our day, most of the time through media and the Internet.

I'm not going to use the full terminology just because I love

for you guys to be able to handle whatever age you brought

into the worship service at your timing.

But you know what I'm talking about when I talk to the graphic

of these images I'm Speaking of, I just, it is parents, listen to

me close. Kids are seeing this stuff now

between the ages of eight and 11 on average.

OK. If you think your kid hasn't

seen it and they're beyond the age of 11 or 12, you're probably

wrong. I just need to tell you that as

your pastor, you're probably wrong if you think they haven't

seen it and they're at least 12 years old because on average

they're seeing it between 8:00 and 11:00.

OK. You've got to have conversations

with your kids at that age and a little bit before and especially

through that age so they can come to you and tell you and you

use age appropriate terminology to know if they've been exposed

to something, if they've seen something, they can come talk to

you. And it's not just little boys,

it's little girls and, and it's both genders.

It is, it is, it is, it is pervasive.

It is almost impossible for someone to make it to adulthood

and not see this stuff at some point, somehow, somewhere.

So what happens when they're exposed to it?

And if they're not, if they don't have someone to talk to

about it and can guide them through those dangerous waters,

that almost always they're going to want to look again somehow.

And what happens is, is that this becomes an addiction.

And the way this works is that it's almost like a shark hook

that gets in their soul and their mind and their heart with

the Barb so big it's almost impossible to pull out.

They can't overcome it themselves.

By the way, just pastorally, I work with lots of people that

deal with this very issue. And it's more people than you

would realize. And if you're in it and you

think you're alone, you're not. Almost weekly I'm working with

someone in this issue. Psychologists talk about the

fact that it's actually destroying the way our brains

and our minds were meant to work.

It is rewiring the synapse structure in the way that the

brain connects things. So much so I this may.

I don't want to get TMI, but I just want to.

I want you to understand the destructiveness of this sin

where often times someone that's been so artificially exposed to

this cannot even physically function in the normal God

design way because they've been so distorted according to

exposure to the distortion of the desire, the lust of the

flesh, that life doesn't even work for them in the normal way

anymore. Listen parents, you've got to

have this conversation with your kids.

They've got to know you're a safe place they can go to say,

hey, I saw something I need to talk about.

You cannot give a screen to your kids that's unprotected and

expect them not to see it at some point.

I'm going to say that again, you cannot give a screen to your

children with unfiltered Internet access and not expect

them to see it. At some point.

Mark it down, they will. They will see it.

It's on the games they play, it's on the phones.

If they're unfiltered, it's coming through your Internet

router. If it doesn't have something

that blocks and if it doesn't come on the devices, it'll come

on the friends devices that come over that get on your router.

That's unfiltered, they're going to see it and it will silently

destroy them from the inside out.

It'll destroy the marriage unless something and you've got

to get help. I need you to come talk to me.

I need you to come talk to someone on our staff.

You've got to come talk to someone.

If this is, if this is anything anywhere in your life, you've

got to get help. All right.

The victory is possible, but you're not going to defeat it by

yourself. And then there's thirdly, the

boastful pride of life. These are, you know, this is

anything. Again, this doesn't have to be

bad things. It can just be things that we

like, feel good about, and like about more than we take our

pride, take our identity and our purpose in God.

This is the thing the world loves to have and boast in, like

money, money, money, toys and possessions and stuff.

And all the clout and popularity and success and status and

getting higher in the pecking order based on this or that or

whatever it is from who you are and who you know to how you look

or what you have or what you can do.

And anything that gives you status and standing and self

esteem based on the stuff of the world that's under the curse of

sin. That won't last.

That's not God and boasting in or identifying in or finding

purpose and meaning in that more than you do God, God, John is

saying y'all these things, the things of the flesh, the desires

of the eyes and the pride of life.

These things are of the world. It's impossible to love God and

them at the same time. Why?

Because they don't share anything in common.

Reason number one, you can't love God and the world at the

same time. Do not love the world.

But there's a second reason John also gives us in December 17.

Listen to verse 17 again and the world is passing away along with

its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

Reason #2 Loving the world is so dangerous is because the things

of the world are temporary, but the things of God are forever.

The things of the world are temporary.

What do I mean by that? I mean the things of the world

are literally awaiting ultimate destruction.

Say whoa, do what? Listen to what the Bible says.

Listen second Peter 3 verse 4 through 7.

2 Peter 3:4–7

They will say where is the promise of his coming?

Hey, it's been 2000 years, where's Jesus forever since the

Father's fell asleep? All things are continuing as

they were from the beginning of creation.

For they deliberately overlooked this fact that the heavens

existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and

through water by the word of God.

And that by means of these, the world that then existed was

deluged with water and perished. Noah and the flood, Hello.

But by the same word, the heavens and the earth that now

exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of

judgment and destruction of the ungodly in verse 10.

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, That is when

no one's expecting it. And then the heavens will pass

away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned

up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on

it will be exposed. So guess what happens to those

who love the world? God gives them what they want.

They get the world and they go to destruction with it.

This is why loving the world is so dangerous.

The things of the world are temporary, the things of God are

forever. Notice he says in verse end of

verse 17. But the one who does the will of

God abides forever. Now, if you're paying close

attention at all, something ought to strike you as off.

When I just read that right there, you're like, wait a

second. It says the one who does the

will of God. I thought we were talking about

either loving God or loving the world.

Why doesn't he say there? But whoever loves God abides

forever. Did you notice that's not what

he said. Why does he say, But whoever

does the will of God abides forever Because do you remember

the words of Jesus? If you love me, you will what

you'll obey me. Jesus is not looking for love

verbally professed he's looking for love live live lived out

because Jesus says if you love me it's going to be lived out.

The one who lives it out demonstrates that they really

love me escapes the danger of loving the world and loves God

first Father, heart, mind, soul and strength for a child of God,

the most dangerous thing in the world is loving the world.

Many of y'all know this. I grew up in South Georgia

little town called Americas Sumter County.

If you're familiar with the South part of the state and we

lived in a, in a, in a, a little neighborhood when I was very

young. But as a child we moved out to

more of a rural area of the county several miles outside of

town. So that's really where I

remember growing up. It was kind of out in the

country. And my best friend, his name is

Matthew Green, still lives in Americas, Georgia to this day

lived 3 miles from me. That sounds like a long way, but

that wasn't a problem with a four Wheeler.

We caught them in ATVs if you want to be all proper.

And so Matthew and I spent a ton of time together.

I mean, through farm fields and back roads and login roads.

We'd meet up and have a great time.

We had a mutual friend that lived halfway in between us,

about a mile and 1/2 from me, across a couple fields and

through some woods. And we'll just call this

friend's name Ben. That's not his real name, but

we'll say Ben lived there and and Ben's family just happened

to be extremely wealthy. And so Ben had just about

everything a 10 year old boy could imagine having.

In fact, Ben didn't just have one full with it a ride.

He had about two or three he could pick from.

He had a couple go karts. He had a dirt bike.

I had a basketball goal, but but Ben had a full scale basketball

court. Ben in his backyard.

Ben would love that. I mean, we played full court

when we went over to his house, he had a batting cage.

I had a batting cage, but but Ben had a professional baseball

coach that showed up at his right.

My dad's shoulder was kind of rough, but I praise God that he

threw all the pitches he could through my batting gauge.

Ben had model airplanes. I don't mean the kind of like

you buy Walmart that fly with batteries.

I'm talking about the ones you put gas in and I'm talking about

really fly. Ben had a big screen TV in his

room. That doesn't sound like a big

deal now that they're flat and cheap.

But you know when there were monstrosities back in the day,

he had one upstairs in his bedroom.

Ben had a couple of different horses he loved to ride.

Ben had all the name brand clothes.

Ben was the most popular kid in school.

I love spending time at Ben's house.

I was saved as a nine year old boy.

I was 9 when I trusted Jesus to forgive me of my sin.

That's when I came to know God personally.

That's when I overcame the evil 1 by the blood of Jesus Christ

and my faith, faith in Him. Nine years old.

When I was about 10 years old, my mother came to me one day

said Kyle, I need to talk to you.

I was like, OK. And she said I had a dream last

night. Now, I was really listening and

this has never happened before or since.

I'm not telling you. You may think a lot of different

things about this. I'm just telling you the way it

happened in my life. And she said, yeah, the Kyle,

the dream was quite unusual. And she said you were over at

Ben's house and all of Ben's stuff was in this giant pile,

like mounded up the AT VS the basketball stuff, baseball

stuff, the TV model, airplanes, horses, all the stuff in this

huge pile. And, and Ben was in the middle

of the pile playing with all his stuff.

But she said what was really unusual was that all the stuff,

the whole pile was on fire. But obviously Ben did not know

it was on fire. He was in the middle of it

having a great time enjoying all the stuff and she said then I

looked and you were not in the pile, you were not in the fire,

but you were off to the side looking on watching Ben enjoy

all his stuff and you obviously didn't know it was on fire

either. So you just kept getting closer

and closer, one step at a time, eyes locked in, mesmerized by

all the stuff in the fire and the fun he was having and

getting closer and closer. She said you got to the point

you got so close to the fire you could reach in and pick up a

piece of what was in the fire to enjoy, to do something, whatever

toy that was. She said as soon as you leaned

in and reached him, your fingertips caught on fire.

And I woke up. I mean, I was, I was a 10 year

old boy, but I knew exactly what God was trying to tell me

exactly. I knew I had been falling in

love with all of that stuff. Nothing wrong with any of that

stuff. But loving that stuff instead of

loving God was incredibly dangerous to me growing as a

child of God. The world and all the stuff of

the world is not yet on fire. But mark it down.

It is being prepared, along with all those who love the world for

a fire. Do not hear me.

Do not love the world. Don't give your allegiance.

Don't give your affection and your loyalty.

Don't sacrifice your energy and effort to run after that which

will not last. Jesus says, what will it gain a

man? What will it profit a man if he

gains the whole and yet forfeits his soul?

Don't love the world. For that matter, don't even

flirt with it. Don't give your heart.

Don't give your love to the things of the world that won't

last. Listen, here's the deal.

Some of you in the room may be in this situation.

The situation that I was in as a 10 year old boy, I was saved,

was a child of God, but I was falling in love with the stuff

of the world. Now here's the deal, when God

saves you and transfers you from the Kingdom of darkness to the

Kingdom of His beloved Son, He doesn't haul you back.

Y'all should say Amen to that right there.

He doesn't take you back. He never just owns you.

He doesn't undo what only He could do in your life.

If you've been saved, if you've been rescued, God's not going to

unsaved and unrescued you. But here's the deal.

It is possible for a child of God to live all of their life in

loving the world instead of loving God and one day stand

before Jesus Christ their Lord and Savior and only have the

ashes of a wasted life set on fire by love for the world and

not a love for Jesus. That they did not live out the

plan of God for their life and they bore no fruit for the

Kingdom of God and got nothing, nothing to show for it when they

stand before Jesus Christ. Saved, yes.

Fruitful for the Kingdom? No, because a love for the fire

of the world burned up any effectiveness for the Kingdom of

God. You don't want to do that.

You don't want to do that. So the question is, do you have

any areas of your life that are on fire for the wrong thing?

They may not be bad things, they're just not God.

And maybe you need to ask God to be a firefighter, to flood you

with His love and remind you of his plan and His goodness.

And maybe you just want to come and get on your knees or posture

yourself, or come pray with me or one of our counselors or

encouragers and say I've got fires in my life.

I need God to put out loves for things that have gotten out of

control, that are robbing me of fruitfulness and effectiveness

for the Kingdom of God. Maybe you're here and John and

praise team are coming to the stage.

Maybe you're here and you're not forgiven of your sin because you

never asked. You don't know God personally

because you never trusted in Jesus as your Savior, and you've

not overcome the enemy because he's whooping you up and down

right now and you know it, and you don't have the victory

through Christ. Would you step out from where

you are and come tell me, pray with our encouragers.

Come ask questions we could help walk you through.

Take those next steps to trust Christ.

We'd love to do that with you. I'm going to pray and then I'm

going to ask you to stand and respond as the Lord leads you

this morning, Heavenly Father. God, I want to ask right now in

these next moments, Father, that you allow us to say yes to

whatever it is you've pointed out in our lives need to be

surrendered to you. God, I pray you'd put out any

fires in our life where a love for something other than you is

taking territory and robbing us of fruitfulness for the Kingdom

of God. God, we don't want to stand

before you one day with the ashes of a wasted life.

God, we want to be vessels through which you can use and

bear fruit for the Kingdom of God.

Help us love you first. Keep us from the danger of

loving the world and help us tell others how they can escape

that same danger by trusting you.

And I pray if anyone is there on the precipice of a decision for

Jesus today. Father, you lead them to full

faith in your son. Rescue them from their from

their sin. Pour out your forgiveness.

Give life as you promised. If they call on you, let them do

it even now. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

Would you stand? Would you sing?

Would you come as the Lord leads you this morning?