Title: Don't Love the World
(Lecture 19) 1 John 2:15-17 Do not love the world
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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 is the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. The world and its lusts pass away, but he who does the will of God abides forever (1 John 2:15-17).
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If the visible is the world, then what is the visible church? No one would say that the church is the world. In the end, the church is the only thing that does not belong to the world in the visible world. That is why, naturally, what we do in the church is not of the world, and everything we do outside of the church is classified as worldly. What goes wrong with this? It comes to be seen as faith to prioritize church work over work outside the church. You are wrongly claiming that it is church work rather than work, and church work rather than family work. This is the result of a misunderstanding of the world.
To be worldly does not mean to do worldly things. It is often said that the church is secularized. In the past, to prevent the secularization of the church, it was forbidden to go to the theater, go to karaoke, and even have members get manicures and perms. It is to regard all such things as worldly. In the end, it was seen as preventing the church from becoming secular by preventing any culture from the world from entering the church. This is the result of the misunderstanding of faith as ascetic.
If not loving the world and the church not being secularized are such things, then those who live in isolation from society like a monastery will regard themselves as completely unloving of the world. They will think that there is no secularization for them. Then, in order not to love the world, do you have no choice but to isolate yourself from the world?
But the world John is talking about is a completely different meaning. If we know the meaning of the world John speaks of, we will realize how worldly we are and how we live as world-lovers. And even those who live in isolation like a monastery, even if they are isolated from society, they love the world and will come to the conclusion that they are secularized.
First of all, the world John speaks of does not mean visible and material things, but it refers to all ways of thinking that do not believe in God and do not depend on God. This is because the spirit of life in the world itself lies in the fact that they can live freely with their own strength and ability even without God.
Therefore, within the church, there are as many worlds as possible. When they try to achieve something with their own strength, when they say that there is nothing that cannot be accomplished if they want to, that is the world, and they are referring to it as the secularization of the church.
The church lives in a way of grace and love. Recognizing that God is the God of God, God rules and reigns over the entire universe
The church is obedient to God's work while acknowledging the heart. However, these churches resist God's rule rather than acknowledge it. They complain and complain about what God has given them, and they cry out for it to be done according to their own will. This is the world and the secularization of the church.
Therefore, to love the world means to live a life fulfilling what we want without God and looking good. Rather than living according to what God has given to you, living by accomplishing what you want with all your zeal and strength is far more life-like and rewarding because the love for the world is in it.
If you have a father's love, you will never like the way the world lives. Rather, he becomes hostile to the way of thinking that denies his father's rule. And you will fight and live such a life. It is because we love God that such an image comes out.
If you have the Father's love, that love makes you look to, trust, and depend on the Father. The way the world lives without God will never look good. That's why you don't love the world. When there is no father's love, the world naturally has no choice but to look good. This is what it means to be a worldly man, a worldly man
Verse 16 says, ?쏤or all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, does not come from the Father, but is from the world.??
The purpose of a world in which we live without God is all about the lusts of the flesh and the lusts of the eyes and the pride of life. We live for the pleasure of the flesh, and we live by judging the value of the outward appearance. Therefore, they have no choice but to hate God. Because God demands submission to His will. It is because God wants us to obey what He commands us to do.
Lust means making your own desires for things in the world. And pray for it. This is said to be a prayer that is erroneously asked to be spent on lust. In other words, it is saying that it is wrong to pray for the fulfillment of one's wishes.
James 4:4 says, ?쏻omen of adultery, do you not know that friendship with the world is the enemy of God? Why is friendship with the world enmity with God? It's because the world's way of thinking is completely out of line with God.
To love the world is to despise the preciousness of life within us. It is a denial of the grace of Jesus on the cross.
Folks, the world is just passing by. Everything that seems good to our eyes is but something that will disappear after a while. It cannot be eternal. However, if you try to use such worldly things as the pride of this life and to honor yourself by owning worldly things, you can't help but say it's foolish. Our glory is given only through Christ. Please don't love the world. Because a believer is a person who lives with eternal life.