Genuine Desires

1 John 2:15-17 March 1, 2020

Dr Ritch Boerckel

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 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the

desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world.

17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God

abides forever.

We begin with a bit of a simple science experiment. If you had access to every modern

technology and your purpose was to get all the air out of this glass, what would you do?

As we think of that, there might be a number of methods. You could attach a vacuum

pump to the top and press all the air out of it. With all the technology, you could take it

into outer space. But there is a simpler and more complete way. Perhaps many, if not

most of you have already thought of it. You could just simply take a bottle of water and

then just sort of slowly fill it up. And guess what? I’m not going to fill it all the way to

the top, but for the most part, that glass now has no air in it. We could get all the air out

of it if we filled it all the way to the top. The water is heavier than the air. It displaces the

air. And so the water squeezes the air out of the container and no air remains.

How do you get the sin out of the Christian? That’s a question that God’s people have

considered and sought through Scripture. And many have come up with a number of

methods. Some might say, “What you need to do in order to get the sin out of the

Christian is to place signs and remembrances all over your house and your office and

your car just reminding you what God’s law says. ‘Do not do this. Do not do that. Do

that.’” The hope would be that these reminders would drive sin out of our soul and they

would be effective. If we just were not forgetful, then we could obey and we could get rid

of sin.

Others might say, “If you punish sin really harshly, every time it enters the community.

That punishment would strike fear and that fear would strike sin out. So we need to adopt

maybe more of a one strike and the member is out. There’s no hope really for confession

and restoration in the community.” The theory again is that the harshness in response to

sin would leave the sinner in a strengthened state to overcome sin.

Others might say, “Well, what you need to do is just add more discipline to your life. If

you more frequently read the Bible, more frequently prayed, more frequently went to

church, more frequently talked with other believers and fellowshipped, more frequently

were part of the kingdom witness, then all of that discipline applied would drive the sin

out.”

Some might even suggest some mystical practices. You can have people who are more

godly lay hands upon you and cast out demonic forces or pray specific prayers and bind

Satan to keep him from bringing temptation.

Now to be sure, some of these methods are not entirely wrong. It’s right for us, for

instance, to keep God’s law in front of us. It’s right to establish spiritual discipline in our

life. But what we want to observe from the gospel is that these methods, on their own,

will fail us. They won’t remove the sin out. That sin will remain. It will stay an active,

pervasive, indeed, enslaving problem. How do we get the sin out of the Christian? We

look in verse 15 and we find an interesting statement.

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.

John tells us that when the love of the Father fills the heart, there is no room for the love

of this world. This is so absolutely true that if anyone, he says, continues to habitually

love the world, in other words, love sin in it, that means that the love of the Father is not

in him. It’s not effective.

Remember that John is writing to us so that we would know that we know that we have

eternal life. John takes up the subject of worldliness and applies it to this new life that we

receive when we place our faith in Jesus. He reminds us that a love for God and a love for

His people, the love of the Father that is inside those who are His people, this love is

completely incompatible with a love for the world.

Now, we’re not to be passive with this new life and this new love that God gives us. We

have to fight to feed it. We have to fight to nourish it. The world, the flesh and the devil

are very real enemies to the Christian. While again, the love of the Father drives out the

habitual, continual love of the world, that doesn’t mean that the love of the world can’t

stain us, can’t still corrupt us, can’t still hurt us. And that’s why John gives this

command. It’s such a gracious word. It’s a gracious command from God to help us as we

pursue assurance that we indeed are of those who are now born of God and part of God’s

family.

The main idea that we’re going to look at in these three verses, these so powerful and

simple verses, is that God’s salvation creates a love for God and love for one another.

That’s what the love of the Father is. It’s a love that the Father now places in the souls of

His own children. This new love for God and this new love for His people is both upward

as well as horizontal to all of God’s people. This love drives out the old love that we had

before we had this new life. It drives out that old love of the world from our hearts.

Again, that’s not to say that this old love can’t be operative, that it can’t be present at any

time in the Christian. It’s just to say that its rule, its reign is over because we have a new

love that displaces it, a heavier love, a weightier love, a more glorious love. That is God’s

gospel. As we look at this passage, we think about these old desires and these new desires

that God creates in the heart through Jesus. We first observe that

I. Our new life in Jesus creates new desires within us.

It’s one of the most profound and basic principles regarding the blessings the gospel

brings to a man or woman or child. Begin again in verse 15. God says

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.

So what we’re going to be learning and have already learned throughout this letter of 1

John is that new life that comes to us through faith in Jesus brings about a real, inward

change. It brings a real, inward transformation. And this real, inward change promotes

practical holiness. It has a real effect on our every day life. This new, inward change

produces a new relationship with God’s law. It becomes one of resistance to one of relish.

It becomes one where we were disobedient to one where we delight to obey. And this

new inward change also produces an effect upon our lives where we have a new love. We

have a love for God and a love for His people.

In the Old Testament, God promises that this change would come about when His

Messiah comes and when His people receive the Messiah. This is part of the new

covenant that Jesus instituted in His blood. Ezekiel talks about this and he says

Ezekiel 36:26-27 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you.

And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I

will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey

my rules.

The heart of stone is a heart that is hard toward God and hardened toward His will, His

commands. The heart of flesh is a heart of softness, a heart of submission, indeed, a heart

of love. That’s what God says He is going to give to everyone who comes to the Messiah,

who receives the benefits of this new covenant. There is a real change.

Now, there are varying degrees of this inward change among believers. While we are yet

in this broken world, we still are a work in progress. The work that God begins when we

come to faith in Jesus will be carried on to completion until the day of Jesus. The day of

Jesus is the day when Jesus returns. We see Him and that transformation becomes

complete. We’re like Him because we see Him as He is, John says. But until then, we

must actively press on, we must actively fight, we must actively run this race to win it.

That’s the language that God uses to describe the Christian life. We fight to make more

and more progress in our transformation into the image of Jesus.

We will gain more assurance of our salvation as we see God’s Spirit make progress in

this specific practical transformation in our day to day lives. The Apostle Peter writes of

this very thing most beautifully in 2 Peter chapter 1. I just want to read a bit from that

letter.

2 Peter 1:3-4 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and

godliness,…so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having

escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

Prior to this new life, we didn’t have the resources necessary pertaining to life, spiritual

life, and to godliness, practical holiness. Through these resources, now we can become

like God in His character, in the qualities relating to practical righteousness. His life now

becomes ours through Jesus. There was sinful desire in our flesh and there was sinful

desire in the world. That was a terrible combination; indeed, an overwhelming opposition

apart from Jesus. Now this is what we’re to do with that. He says

2 Peter 1:5-8 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with

virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with

steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection,

and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they

keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He is sharing with us that the response to this new life, this divine nature that becomes

ours and this new power to be able to live out a life that is godly, our response is not one

of passivity. It’s not saying, “God’s got it covered!” John is saying here, “No, don’t love

the world. Make every effort not to let the love of this world invade and take over your

soul. God has already released you from that.”

2 Peter 1:10-11 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and

election,…For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the

eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

This is about assurance. Be diligent in these things because the more you see of the

practical effect upon your life of the gospel, the more assured you are that that’s God

working, because we could never produce that. The more we are assured that God is

working, the more we are assured that God is going to continue to work because it’s

God’s work and He completes everything He begins.

Here’s the truth that we learn from 1 John 2:15. Where there is change in our affections,

there is evidence of God’s salvation in our life. Where there is no inward change that

promotes practical holiness, there is no new life. John is going to repeat this theme over

and over and over.

John has made one very slight reference to this thing he calls the “world” in chapter 2,

verse 2. Pastor Josh talked about that verse where God says that Jesus

1 John 2:2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins

of the whole world.

It’s the only time that John mentions this thing called “world” up to this point. But now,

in three verses, he is going to light it up six different times. If you are using your Bible

Study booklets that we have given to you, hopefully you observed that. Circle, circle,

circle world, world, world, world, world. Now, what is it that John is referencing when he

talks about the world? In the Bible, this term is used in three primary ways. This term

“world” is used to refer to the natural universe, the world of creation. John would say that

Jesus

John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did

not know him.

This term is also used to refer to the people who live in the world, in this earth. And of

course in John 3:16, John uses it that way.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes

in him should not perish but have eternal life.

It’s right and good for believers to love the world in these two senses. We’re right to

rejoice in God’s creation. We see Jesus doing that. He rejoiced in the lilies of the field

and the birds of the air. It’s right also for us to love the people who live on the earth. God

certainly does. He loves the world so much that He gave His only Son, Jesus, to die so

that there could be hope.

But then there is this third sense of this term “world,” and that’s the way that John uses

this term here. It’s a moral or ethical sense. He is referencing the world as a society who

opposes Jesus’ rule. This term is used to refer to a culture or a system that rejects God’s

rule and that is hostile to Him. This world system of rebellion has its own values. It has

its own pleasures. It has its own priorities. It has its own desires and its goals. And these

values, pleasures, priorities, desires and goals stand against the values, pleasures,

priorities, desires and goals of God and His kingdom. So these are two in opposition. And

this world that owns these values, priorities, pleasures, desires and goals seek to wrestle

control over this entire sphere of God’s created universe. And so there is a war that is

taking place from the very beginning of sin entering the world with Adam and Eve. There

is a war that is taking place between these two systems; the kingdom of God and the

kingdom of this world.

Our new life in Jesus creates new desires within us. These new desires are contrary to the

desires of this world. The world hates anyone who aligns with the values, the pleasures,

the priorities, goals and desires of God. It hates such ones because that person stands as a

source of resistance to the complete control of the world over all creation. So it goes after

such a one. There is tremendous pressure from the world to conform to this system. So

friend, we must not try to be free of the love of the world first until we have received new

life in Christ. It’s just too overwhelming and we’re too weak. It’s impossible to overcome

the world and love of the world and the things of the world until the love of the Father is

in us. We may as well hope to find apples growing on pine trees or get grape juice from

squeezing bananas. It’s just impossible! It can’t happen! But thank God that everyone

who is in Christ has been granted new life. It is such life that qualifies us for everything

pertaining to that life and to godliness. That is our inheritance.

So first, at the outset, the beginning part of this message, we have to ask: Have you

believed in Jesus? Have you received new life in your soul? Otherwise this message has

no application and no hope for application until that change, that grace has been received.

The second idea that we want to trace through this passage is that

II. Our new desires fight against the old desires of the world.

16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and

pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world.

When my sons were in grade school and high school, I often quoted these verses to them

as they headed out the door in the morning to school. I knew that they were entering into

hostile territory. It was hostile not so much physically or even emotionally or

academically, but it was hostile spiritually to their soul. They were entering a sphere, a

culture that is not friendly to the Jesus way of life. And if they were not aware of the

battle that they were about to enter, they would be overcome by it. And by the way, I

quoted these verses to them when they went to Dunlap and when they went to PCS. And I

quoted these verses to them even when they were being homeschooled. You see, the

world is everywhere. We cannot isolate ourselves from the world. The world is here. It’s

pressing in against us even now inside the assembly of the saints. I knew that my boys

had new life through faith in Jesus. I thank God for the testimony they had early and

God’s work of grace, God’s answer to our prayers. I know that’s all a work of grace. But

I also knew that they needed to fight if they were to win against the forces that were

squeezing them into a mold that is contrary to God.

What a gracious word God gives us here! This is not a command given to a people who

are looking for loopholes. This is a command given to people who say, “I have a new

desire. That’s a desire to live for God. Help me!” And God says, “I’m going to help you.

Here is my Word. I’m going to give you a command that’s going to be really helpful to

you. It’s going to be strengthening. It’s going to be encouraging. It’s going to be

uplifting.” In this broken world, though we are made new in Christ, we still battle these

three great enemies of God. And John talks about them right here in this passage. The

three enemies are the world, the flesh and the devil. He talked about the devil in verse 14

when he says

1 John 2:14 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.

He talks about the world here. And in verse 16, he talks about the desires of the flesh. So

why does God give this command to a people who have already been given new life? The

answer is because God’s commands, along with His promises, are a means of grace.

They’re a means of strength, of nourishment to help us in our fight against the world, the

flesh and the devil.

New life in Christ eliminates the certainty that we will love the world. However, new life

in Christ does not eliminate the possibility that we will love the world. Do you catch that?

It’s possible to live a very low-level abysmal Christian life that has much of the love of

the world in it. And we must fight if we would win; if we would make progress toward

glory, toward goodness, toward joy. So God gives us gracious commands for the same

reason that a king gives a sword and a shield to his mighty warriors. The warriors need

weapons in order to fight if they are to stay alive in the midst of the battle. The battle is

hot and they don’t want to go off into battle with no weapons. That would be terrible to

have no weapons!

Now if a king gave a weapon to a person who doesn’t believe there is a battle going on

and doesn’t believe that they should be fighting, or doesn’t want to fight at all in that

battle, then a sword and a shield is not a gift. It’s like, “What do you mean? I have to lug

these things around every day? That’s terrible! It’s heavy. It’s clunky. It’s not

fashionable.” And many times, believers take that kind of attitude toward God’s

commands. They view them as a gift from a king that they don’t need, they don’t want,

and they think these gifts kind of mess up their life a little bit.

But if you are a believer who understands that there is a battle on to wage war against

your soul, against the joy, against the hope, against the love and against the peace of your

life, against your eternal future and your eternal reward, your eternal good, then you say,

“I’m going to take a different view of God’s commands. I’m not going to take a view of

God’s commands that says, ‘That’s kind of tough. I’m looking for a loophole here. I’m

looking for a way out or around it. If I could find a way around it, then I might be able to

have a real good life.’” A person who has new life in Christ looks at God’s commands

and says, “Those are weapons in my arsenal. I’m going to need them because there’s a

real battle, there’s a real world, there’s a real flesh inside of me, a principle, and there’s a

real devil that is prowling around to devour me. And if I don’t have weapons, I’m going

to be completely lost. I’m going to be undone.”

Skip forward to 1 John chapter 5.

1 John 5:2-3 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and

obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.

He’s talking about this new life. I love this here because it’s such an important line to

memorize and to understand and to know as a Christian. It’s so strengthening. He says

1 John 5:3 And his commandments are not burdensome.

To whom are the commandments of God not burdensome? The answer is to God’s

children. God’s commandments are terribly burdensome for those outside of His family.

They are terribly and overwhelmingly burdensome because all God’s commandments do

to a person who is not in Christ is condemn. But to a person who is in Christ, these aren’t

burdensome. These are life-giving principles. These are so helpful. These are so

enriching. These are so encouraging. These are so motivating. John goes on to say

1 John 5:4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the

victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

The life of God in our soul changes God’s commands from being tedious burdens, to

becoming life giving weapons. There are two reasons why God’s commands are now

viewed as friends to help us and not troublers to perturb us. And I would ask you, too, by

the way, how have you viewed God’s law up to this point? Have you viewed it as sort of

a trouble in your life that you kind of say, “Okay, I guess it’s there. I guess I should do

this.” Or do you say, “These are friends. They’re not burdensome. They’re not hurtful to

me. They’re really helpful to my life.”

There are two reasons why children of God view God’s commands as friends. One is that

we can now obey God’s commands. In other words, God gives us victory over the power

of sin, over the devil, over this world. In Christ, we have grace to obey them. And

secondly, we are no longer deceived by sin. God gives light to see that the sins which

these commands teach us to avoid and the righteousness that the commands teach us to

follow, that those sins only bring death and that righteousness only enhances our life. So

we’re no longer deceived. We understand the root of the command is God’s goodness.

Now, the world is not going to let us off without a fight. John says

1 John 3:13 Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you.

Followers of Jesus are peace loving men and women, but the world won’t cease to come

after us and pressure us to conform.

I love this translation that J. B. Phillips gives to Romans 12:1-2. Paul also talks about the

world here. And I love it because it’s so picturesque. I read it when I was in high school

and it still has captured my imagination and is still with me. He says

Romans 12:1 (JB Phillips Translation) With eyes wide open to the mercies of God,

That’s this new life. That’s where we start. Before we look at God’s commands, we have

to have God’s new life. And it’s ever with viewing God’s commands through the mercies

of God. He says

Romans 12:1-2 (JB Phillips Translation) I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent

worship, to give him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to him and acceptable

by him. Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God re-

mold your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for

you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.

I like that where he says “Don’t let the world squeeze you into its mold.” If you’ve ever

played with Play-Doh, you understand what squeezing into a mold is. And if you haven’t

played with Play-Doh, you gotta go out and get some Play-Doh because it is awesome!

(Laughter!) You get some Play-Doh. You have a mold. You squeeze it, and out comes a

dinosaur or a butterfly. It becomes whatever that mold is shaped. And that’s the idea. The

world sees us as Play-doh and it has its mold that says, “This is what the values and

pleasures are that I want to squeeze you into so that you fit in with everybody else.” And

everything around us in this world is squeezing us; from media, to people, to just work.

Everything is squeezing and saying, “You have to conform to this world. We have to get

everybody the same. And if you don’t conform, I’m going to be really mad at you.”

I remember when I was in junior high, my buddies and I loved playing basketball. We

had a great time together. Someone brought in the summer, this big cooler. I didn’t know

what the cooler had. I thought it had a bunch of water in it. Silly me! Afterwards, they

popped it open and there was all this beer. We’re 8th

graders and they’re all slaking it

down. I’m saying, “No thanks.” I’m still talking with them and I’m still hanging out, but

they’re slaking all this beer down. And one of them was quite a bit bigger than myself.

He got really mad at me for not drinking beer. Now, I didn’t find him to be overly

generous before, but he really, really, really wanted me to have a beer. And he popped it

open, he stuck it in my chest, and he said, “We’re going to make you drink this!” Why

would he do that? Why would he care? It’s the same reason why people care that you

would conform to every thought, every motive, every value, every goal. “You have got to

come along and be like us.” For the Christian to follow Christ, just that life is a

repudiation and the world won’t have it. The world understands that there’s a war.

Christian, we have to understand that there is a war!

How might I engage in this battle? Every one of these could be a sermon. Let me just

recite these very quickly. Keep God’s mercies in view. That is verses 12-14.

1 John 2:12-14 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his

name’s sake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the

beginning…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.

Before he says “don’t love the world,” he says, “I want you to know that your sins are

forgiven. And fathers, I want you to know that you have known the Father from the

beginning. That’s your relationship with Him. And young men, I commend you that God

has given you strength. You’re strong. He has given you the Word. Abide in that Word.

You’ve overcome the evil one. Keep God’s mercies in view.”

Secondly, feed the new affections that God has given you. Abide in God’s Word. Don’t

just sprinkle a couple Scriptures here and there, but saturate your life with God’s Word.

It’s impossible to overcome the saturation of the world around us if we don’t saturate

ourselves in the Gospel.

Third, press into knowing God and enjoying Him. The more we know Him the more we

will love Him. The more we love Him, the less we will be tempted by this world that

offers nothing in comparison to Him.

Fourth, be ruthless and courageous in putting away anything that stimulates sinful

passions. Jesus says

Matthew 5:29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away.

Fifth, keep looking to Jesus in faith. We’re not our own Savior. He is! Look to Him

constantly. Wonder at His death. Rejoice in His resurrection. Rest in His loving care.

Rely upon His intercession. Submit to His authority. Obey His commands. Trust in His

presence. Keep looking to Jesus. He’s your Savior. Don’t try to be your own Savior in

this.

Sixth, pray with faith, pressing God for victory. Persevere in those prayers. Wait on the

Lord in those prayers. Know that He hears you. And if we ask in faith and we keep

asking and keep asking, He will give us victory.

Seventh, know that God is with you. He will not leave you. He will never forsake you.

He is with you even as He was with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego when the world

squeezed them and said, “You have to bow down to the idol.”

This response from Nebuchadnezzar was so hostile. They were thrown into this flaming

fire. Nebuchadnezzar was looking on and wanting to see them burn up. But all that

burned was their ropes, and Nebuchadnezzar was shocked! He looks down into the fire

and what does he see? He sees another who is walking with them. And that one had an

image of glory like “a son of the gods,” he says. That’s Jesus! That’s a picture. That story

is for us. The world is Nebuchadnezzar squeezing and saying, “You better bow down to

this idol. If you don’t, we’re going to make you pay.” We get thrown into the furnace and

suffer, but we know that Jesus is with us. And their faith is so great. “We might die, but

we might not. I don’t think we will, but even if we die, Jesus is faithful.” That’s it. That’s

the Gospel. That’s what we believe.

III. The old desires of the world are obvious.

16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and

pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world.

The lust of the flesh is any appetite that appeals to our physical senses and replaces our

hunger for God. That’s what the lust of the flesh is. Commonly, these lusts chase after

sensual sins related to sex and substances and shiny stuff.

Then there is the lust of the eyes. The lust of the eyes is a focus that desires things we

don’t have, and that blinds us to the goodness of God. Commonly, this lust chases sins

related to coveting and greed. “Oh, that person has something I don’t have. I think I want

it.” It’s what the eyes appeal to, especially when others have stuff we don’t have or have

blessings that we don’t have.

And then there is the pride of life. This is the outward display of our possessions, gifts or

accomplishments in order to convince ourselves and others that our life is valuable. It is

that internal longing for others to notice us for who we are, what we have done, and what

we offer in this world. It’s a little boy saying, “Mommy, daddy, look, look, look!” It’s

that attitude of “I want to be noticed for me and my accomplishments and that I am

worthwhile.”

And the Gospel comes along and it replaces all of these desires with something that is

eternal, something that is abiding. With the lust of the flesh, we are given a desire for

God, a delighting in Him. Replacing the lust of the eyes, we’re able to see God and we’re

able to enjoy Him and see His kingdom and see His work. With the pride of life, we’re

able to boast in the Lord. Jeremiah would say

Jeremiah 9:23-24 Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let

not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him

who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who

practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I

delight, declares the LORD.”

And that command again, is one of those gracious commands. It’s not burdensome. Why

would I boast in the things that are passing away when I have something so glorious to

boast in? I don’t want attention drawn to me or my accomplishments. I want it drawn to

God because I have nothing apart from God. So I would encourage you to examine your

life. Are there any lusts of the flesh, lusts of the eyes or boastful pride of life that is

robbing you of fellowship with God? If so, make war, not peace with it!

Friends, we have to remember what life is and why we are here. Life is all about knowing

God. It’s all about enjoying Him. It’s all about becoming like Him. It’s all about telling

others of Him, both those who are in the family and those who are out. That’s what life is

about. That’s what gives us meaning and purpose. Let me use an illustration and I’ll close

with this. And with that, last words about what abides forever.

I’m not a huge boxing fan, but I’ve taken notice last week of this heavyweight boxing

match between a guy, American, Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury. These two guys were

undefeated, so boxing is now on the front page again. A year ago, they boxed and they

tied. So these two undefeated guys who tied a year ago were going to be boxing again.

Everybody thought the American was going to win because he was so much more

powerful and quicker. And so that’s what everyone assumed would happen. But boxing

experts from the very first ring of the bell when the boxing match started, they were

observing something about the American. They observed that he was slower. They said it

seemed like “he had no legs.” And sure enough, this cost him all the way until he was

technically knocked out by this man from Britain.

Afterwards, the American was trying to explain what happened. And I think this

contributes so much. I don’t think he was trying to make excuses. He was trying to make

an explanation. He said, “I let fashion designers design the costume for me that I was

going to walk out in.” Because you know, it’s all theater. “And this costume that they

designed for me weighed forty pounds. I put this costume on.” And he also had a mask

where he wasn’t able to breathe very well. And it was a long walk. It was really cool

walking down. He got down to the middle and he said, “I took off the costume and all of

a sudden I just felt tired.” It was like he had boxed several rounds before he started.

Now again, I don’t know the accuracy of his analysis there, but Wilder wasn’t there to

participate in a fashion show. There is nothing wrong with having a costume. He’s just

not there for that. He’s there for one purpose; get in the ring and box. That’s why he is

there! If you do anything else that hurts you in that, then you need to get rid of it. And I

think that’s so often what is happening to us as Christians. I think that’s why so much

worldliness is in us. We think, “Well, there’s nothing wrong with putting on a costume.

There’s nothing wrong with doing this or that.” But if it’s weighing you down so that

when this battle against the world and the flesh and the devil is such that you’re tired

already before you get in the fight, we have forgotten why we’re here. Why are we here?

To know God! Why are we here? To live for His glory! Why are we here? To proclaim

His Name! That’s why we’re here. And it is a fight! Do not let yourself get distracted or

worn down by anything that keeps you from this, the one thing that lasts forever. I’ll

close with verse 17. John says

17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God

abides forever.

We sing a song called Give Me Jesus.

Give me Jesus

Give me Jesus

You can have all this world

Just give me Jesus

May that be our song, the song of our hearts as we apply the gospel every day!

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 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the

desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world.

17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God

abides forever.

That’s our promise!