Journey Out of Worldliness

First John 2:15-17

First John 2:15-17

15. Do not love the world or the things that belong to the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. Because everything that belongs to the world—

16. the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s lifestyle—is not from the Father, but is from the world.

17. And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does God’s will remains forever.

Holman Christian Standard Bible page 1035

Whada’ ya Mean, “Worldly”?

• Sophisticated or worldly-wise:o “An experienced and worldly man

who had been almost everywhere” (Willa Cather).

• Polished• Knows which fork to use… at a

White House state dinner• Confident

Whada’ ya Mean, “Worldly”?

• Worldliness is drifting with the prevailing secular culture.

• Worldliness is living without giving thought to eternity.

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

The Journey OutThe Journey OutA Portrait of Worldliness

1. From the WorldWhat the World has to

Offer• 1st John 2:15-16 “…Everything that

belongs to the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s lifestyle—is not from the Father, but is from the world.”

From the World

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

possessions • The pride of life: position

- Stewart Briscoe

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

sensual satisfaction• The lust of the eyes: an

inordinate desire for the finer things of life, ease, and affluence. – “Worldliness is reading magazines

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

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

Dave Roper, The Strength of a Man

2. The World Under

Where the World Gets This Stuff

• 1st John 5:19 “We know that we are of God, and the whole world is under the sway of the evil one.”

3. By The WorldWhat the World Can Do to

Us• James 1:27 “Pure and undefiled

religion before our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

4. Of the WorldThose Who Belong And Those Who Don’t

• John 15:18-19 “If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of it, the world hates you.”

• John 17:14-15 “The world hated them because they are not of the world, as I am not of the world.”

5. In the WorldStaying Safe in a Hostile

Environment

• John 17:11 “I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, protect them by Your name”

• John 17:15 “I am not praying that You take them out of the world but that You protect them from the evil one.”

The Journey OutThe Journey OutWhat Doesn’t Work

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

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

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

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

• Self-discipline – “Using willpower to overcome worldly

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

The Journey OutThe Journey OutWhat Does Work

1. The New Birth

• 1st John 5:4-5 “Whatever has been born of God conquers the world. This is the victory that has conquered the world: our faith. And who is the one who conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”

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

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

us to deny worldly lusts.

2. The Training of Grace

• Titus 2:11-12 “For the grace of God has appeared, with salvation for all people, instructing us to deny godlessness and worldly lusts and to live in a sensible, righteous, and godly way in the present age”

“Denying once for all." We deny "worldly lusts" when we refuse them.

NIV: “It teaches us to say ‘No’”

• Titus 2:11-12 “For the grace of God has appeared, with salvation for all people, instructing us to deny godlessness and worldly lusts and to live in a sensible, righteous, and godly way in the present age”

3. A Renewed Mind

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

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

4. Courage

• John 16:33 “You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.”