1 Corinthians 1:18-31

Read
It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense.

But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength. (1 Corinthians 1:22-25)

Reflect
Many Jews considered the Good News of Jesus Christ to be foolish, because they thought the Messiah would be a conquering king accompanied by signs and miracles. Jesus had not restored David’s throne as they expected. Besides, he was executed as a criminal, and how could a criminal be a savior? Greeks, too, considered the gospel foolish: They did not believe in a bodily resurrection; they did not see in Jesus the powerful characteristics of their mythological gods; and they thought no reputable person would be crucified. To them, death was defeat, not victory.

The Good News of Jesus Christ still sounds foolish to many. Our society worships power, influence, and wealth. Jesus came as a humble, poor servant, and he offers his Kingdom to those who have faith, not to those who do all kinds of good deeds to try to earn his gifts. This looks foolish to the world, but Christ is our power, the only way we can be saved.

Jesus’ resurrection demonstrated his power even over death. And he will save us from eternal death and give us everlasting life if we trust him as Savior and Lord. This sounds so simple that many people won’t accept it. They try other ways to obtain eternal life (being good, being wise, etc.). But all their attempts will not work. The “foolish” people who simply accept Christ’s offer are actually the wisest of all, because they alone will live eternally with God.

Respond
Is Christianity against rational thinking? Knowing Christ personally is the greatest wisdom anyone could have. Christians clearly do believe in using their minds to weigh the evidence and make wise choices. In this passage Paul is declaring that no amount of human knowledge can replace or bypass Jesus’ work on the cross. Yet he provides us with the tools to give a well-reasoned argument concerning Christianity. How has knowing Jesus expanded your capacity to argue persuasively about the gospel?

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2 Thessalonians 1:3-12

Read
Dear brothers and sisters, we can’t help but thank God for you, because your faith is flourishing and your love for one another is growing. We proudly tell God’s other churches about your endurance and faithfulness in all the persecutions and hardships you are suffering. And God will use this persecution to show his justice and to make you worthy of his Kingdom, for which you are suffering. In his justice he will pay back those who persecute you. (2 Thessalonians 1:3-6)

Reflect
Paul had been persecuted during his first visit to Thessalonica (Acts 17:5-9). No doubt those who had responded to his message and had become Christians were continuing to be persecuted by both Jews and Gentiles. In Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians, he said that Christ’s return would bring deliverance from persecution and judgment on the persecutors. But this caused the people to expect Christ’s return right away to rescue and vindicate them. Paul had to point out that while waiting for God’s Kingdom, believers could and should learn perseverance and faith from their suffering.

As we live for Christ, we will experience troubles because we are trying to be God’s people in a perverse world. Some people say that troubles are the result of sin or lack of faith, but Paul teaches that they may be a part of God’s plan for believers. Our problems can help us look upward and forward, instead of inward (Mark 13:35-36; Philippians 3:13-14); they can build strong character (Romans 5:3-4); and they can provide us with opportunities to comfort others who also are struggling (2 Corinthians 1:3-5).

Respond
The keys to surviving persecution and trials are perseverance and faith. When you are faced with crushing troubles, you can have faith that God is using your trials for your good and for his glory. Knowing that God is just can help you endure, because you know that he has not forgotten you. In God’s perfect timing, he will relieve your suffering. Do you trust God’s timing? How has God helped you endure past trials? If you’re in the midst of hardship, your troubles may be an indication that you are taking a stand for Christ. How can remembering God’s provision in the past comfort you now?

Scripture: Romans 8:1-4 Psalms 121:1 Romans 8:8-8:13

Sermon
The eighth chapter of Romans begins with one of the greatest promises in all the Bible. "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." And even standing by itself there is something in those words that makes your heart flutter. The significance of the fact that in spite of our sin, God doesn’t condemn us is overwhelming in and of itself. But the truth of the matter is, when you read that verse in light of chapter 7, the personal application of its truth is even more invigorating.

You see, chapter 7 is one of the most powerful statements about struggling with sin in the history of all literature. What makes it so powerful is, that it is Paul providing us a glimpse into his own struggle. For me that is encouraging.

Often when I think of the apostle Paul, I think of somebody who is bigger than life. I see him standing up and defending his faith in front of the Roman governors and even the emperor. I remember him on his great missionary journies all over the Roman empire. We have all listened to him as he instructs the churches to be faithful, and as he encourages Timothy and Titus to remain true to their calling. Probably most of us have put Paul on quite a pedestal.

But when we come to the 7th chapter of Romans, we get a peek behind eyes of the apostle, and he’s a lot more human than we might have first thought. Paul is a fellow struggler. (Read 7:14-15, 18-19) Did you notice what is going on here? Paul is honest enough to recognize within himself a tendency to get caught in to the stranglehold of sin. This is not Paul talking about the way he used to be sinful before he became a Christian. This is Paul saying, "Just this morning, I gave in again. It happens to us all. Earlier in his letter he has proclaimed "No one is righteous, not even one." Later he stated matter of factly "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." But now he states it even more personally. "I struggle with sin, and sometimes I lose." Finally, the frustration of losing seems to break through to the surface as Paul proclaims in 7:22-24 (Read).

How many times a week could you just kick yourself for failing?
• You try to be patient with your kids or your spouse or your parents, but in a flash you strike out and the words you say have done their damage before you even knew it.
• You thought you had broken the grip of that nasty habit, but there was that one weak moment, and you listened to the whisper that told you "it will be okay just this once," and now you feel like a failure.
• You knew you should have steered clear, but you thought you could handle it. Before you know it, you have found out the hard way that you were weaker than you thought.

A thousand times, in a thousand different ways you have tried to live by the standards that you know are right. And now all you feel is stupid, filthy, wretched to use the language of Paul. But hear where Paul goes from here.

Read 7:24-8:2.

You see, I told you that promise was even more grand when you know Paul’s train of thought. You see, Paul admits that there is a struggle going on within every human being, and when we try to win on our own strength we often get pinned to the mat. But the greatness of the promise of God’s grace is that even when we fail again, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. There is security in our relationship with God. If we are in Christ, we don’t need to wonder if God is angry with us. "There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." If you have a personal relationship with Jesus, you don’t need to fear God’s wrath. "There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." When God looks at you, He doesn’t see a wretch, He sees a son or daughter.

You remember the story of the prodigal son. The boy disregarded his father, and then disgraced himself in every way possible. Dr. Vernon McGee says "Do you know the difference between the son in that pigpen and the pig? The difference is that no pig has ever said to himself, ’I will arise and go to my father.’" He’s right, but a child can do that! And when that dirty, stinking boy came within eyesight of home, His dad was there to clean Him up and throw Him a party. Paul wants to make sure that you understand that God is just as anxious to throw His arms around you. "There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."

Now let me tell you why this is so important to understand. Because if the truth be known, there is sometimes condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. But it never comes from God. It comes from Satan. Do you know what the word "satan" means in hebrew? Accuser! He loves to fool us into believing that we are condemned. He wants to trap us into believing that we are so wretched that God doesn’t want anything to do with us. He wants us to be like Adam and Eve in the garden after they sinned. All they wanted to do was hide from God!

And the truth is, we’ve all been there. We have failed, and kicked ourselves, and felt condemned. And we have hidden ourselves from God, and turned away, not because we don’t love Him, but because we are ashamed. We have felt like a wretch, and we have listened to Satan tell us that God condemned us for our sin. But if we were in Christ at the time, then we were wrong.

A little while back I heard a story about a girl who was the daughter of one of the royal families of Europe. She had a big, round nose that destroyed her beauty in the eyes of others -- and especially in her own eyes. She grew up with this terrible image of herself as an ugly person. So her family hired a plastic surgeon to change the contour of her nose. He did his work, and there came the moment when they took the bandages off and the girl could see what happened.

When the doctor removed the bandages, he saw that the operation had been a total success. All the ugly contours were gone. Her nose was different. When the incisions healed and the redness
disappeared, she would be a beautiful girl. He held a mirror up for the girl to see. But, so deeply embedded was this girl’s ugly image of herself that when she saw herself in the mirror, she couldn’t see any change. She broke into tears and cried out, "Oh, I knew it wouldn’t work!" The doctor labored with that girl for six months before she would finally accept the fact that she was indeed different. But the moment she accepted the fact that she really was different, her whole behavior began to change.

Paul recognizes a very important truth, that we act according to what we know we are. If we are deceived into thinking that we are not what God says we are, then we are going to keep on acting that way. That is why the way to break the power of the most vicious and evil habit is to see yourself as God sees you. Then you begin to act that way. Now, how many of you believe the Bible to be true? I want to find out. Remember, when you say the word "Amen" you are actually saying a Hebrew word that means "That’s the truth!" In a minute I am going to read a promise from God’s Word, and I want you to respond. If you believe the truth of the promise, then respond by saying "Amen." (Not wimpy amen) God’s Word proclaims "Therefore, there is now no condem-nation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Do you believe it?

The challenge that we face, is not to just say that we believe it, but to live like it. Don’t let anything that you have ever done, or will ever do to separate you from God. A little later in Romans 8 Paul asks a very important question that at one time or another is on the mind of every Christian. (Read 8:35-39) You see, none of those things can separate us from Him. But when we are foolish and fail, our tendency is to turn away in shame.

For five weeks beginning today I am preaching from Romans 8 about the Good News about being a Christian. Nothing else I can ever say could be more important than the one that Paul begins this great chapter with. "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." There is never a time when you will turn toward God and not find his arms extended, waiting for your return. Why would we ever want to turn away?

Even though we are beginning a series of messages from Romans 8, Paul didn’t begin his train of thought by proclaiming the good news that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. He began by proclaiming the bad news that in our natural state, every single person who lives on the face of the earth is guilty of sin and condemned to death.

- No one is righteous, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God
- The wages of sin is death. In our natural state we get what we deserve. Imperfection brings death.
- The gift of God is eternal life "in Christ Jesus."

The bad news is that everyone outside of Christ will suffer the consequences of their sin. They will die.

The good news is that God has made a provision for us to come "into Christ." His will is that every person will come into Christ. But God does not force His will on us. He gives us free will.

Now we must choose who must guide our lives. Will we live by our own standards and suffer the consequences. Or will we turn our lives over to God and receive the promise of Romans 8:1 "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."

The time to make that decision is now.
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Galatians 5:16-26

Read
The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another. (Galatians 5:22-26)

Reflect
The fruit of the Spirit is the spontaneous work of the Holy Spirit in us. The Spirit produces these character traits that are found in the nature of Christ. They are the by-products of Christ’s control—we can’t obtain them by trying to get them without his help. If we want the fruit of the Spirit to grow in us, we must join our lives to his (see John 15:4-5). We must know him, love him, remember him, and imitate him. As a result, we will fulfill the intended purpose of the law—to love God and our neighbors.

Because the God who sent the law also sent the Spirit, the by-products of the Spirit-filled life are in perfect harmony with the intent of God’s law. A person who exhibits the fruit of the Spirit fulfills the law far better than a person who observes the rituals but has little love in his or her heart.

In order to accept Christ as Savior, we need to turn from our sins and willingly nail our sinful nature to the cross. This doesn’t mean, however, that we will never see traces of its evil desires again. As Christians we still have the capacity to sin, but we have been set free from sin’s power over us and no longer have to give in to it. We must daily commit our sinful tendencies to God’s control, daily crucify them, and moment by moment draw on the Spirit’s power to overcome them (see Galatians 2:20; 6:14).

Respond
Which of the nine qualities listed in the passage above (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control) do you want the Spirit to produce in you? Why? How has God worked within you in the past week?

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Galatians 3:1-14

Read
Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross. Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ. How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it?

I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ.

In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” (Galatians 3:1-6)

Reflect
The main argument of the Judaizers was that Gentiles had to become Jews in order to become Christians. Paul exposed the flaw in this argument by showing that real children of Abraham are those who have faith, not those who keep the law. Abraham himself was saved by his faith (Genesis 15:6).

The Galatians knew that they had received the Holy Spirit when they believed, not when they obeyed the law. Like the Galatians, many people today feel insecure in their faith, because faith alone seems too easy. People still try to get closer to God by following rules. While certain disciplines (Bible study, prayer) and service may help us grow, they must not take the place of the Holy Spirit in us or become ends in themselves. By asking these questions, Paul hoped to get the Galatians to focus again on Jesus as the foundation of their faith.

The Holy Spirit gives Christians great power to live for God. The Galatians quickly turned from Paul’s good news to the teachings of the newest teachers in town; what they needed was the Holy Spirit’s gift of persistence.

Respond
Some Christians want to live in a state of perpetual excitement. The tedium of everyday living leads them to conclude that something is wrong spiritually. Often the Holy Spirit’s greatest work is teaching us to persist, to keep on doing what is right even when doing so no longer seems interesting or exciting. Can you relate? If the Christian life seems ordinary or dull, you may need the Spirit to stir you up. Every day offers a challenge to live for Christ.

Post on November 26, 2014 by Cross Bearer Ministry

James 5:13-18

Read
Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven.

Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops. (James 5:13-18)

Reflect
Jesus has made it possible for us to go directly to God for forgiveness. But confessing our sins to each other still has an important place in the life of the church. (1) If we have sinned against an individual, we must ask him or her to forgive us. (2) If our sin has affected the church, we must confess it publicly. (3) If we need loving support as we struggle with a sin, we should confess that sin to those who are able to provide that support. (4) If, after confessing a private sin to God, we still don’t feel his forgiveness, we may wish to confess that sin to a fellow believer and hear him or her assure us of God’s pardon. In Christ’s kingdom, every believer is a priest to other believers (1 Peter 2:9).

The Christian’s most powerful resource is communion with God through prayer. The results are often greater than we thought were possible. Some people see prayer as a last resort to be tried when all else fails. This approach is backward. Prayer should come first. Because God’s power is infinitely greater than ours, it only makes sense to rely on it—especially because God encourages us to do so.

Respond
Pray for someone on the prayer list at your church or someone in your neighborhood. You might make an appointment to pray in person as James suggests. If you do, consider taking someone with you—a pastor or an elder at your church.

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Scripture: 1 John 2:12-17


Sermon: Introduction
A group of first-graders had just completed a tour of a hospital, and the nurse who had directed them was asking for questions. Immediately a hand went up.
“How come the people who work here are always washing their hands?” a little fellow asked.
After the laughter had subsided, the nurse gave a wise answer:
“They are ‘always washing their hands’ for two reasons. First, they love health; and second, they hate germs.”

In more than one area of life, love and hate go hand in hand. A husband who loves his wife is certainly going to exercise a hatred for what would harm her. “Ye that love the Lord, hate evil” (Ps. 97:10). “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cleave to what is good” (Rom. 12:9, NASB).

John’s epistle has reminded us to exercise love (1 John 2:7–11)—the right kind of love. Now it warns us that there is a wrong kind of love, a love that God hates. This is love for what the Bible calls “the world.”

There are four reasons why Christians should not love “the world.”

I. Because of What The World Is
The New Testament word world has at least three different meanings. It sometimes means the physical world, the earth: “God that made the world [our planet] and all things therein” (Acts 17:24).
It also means the human world, mankind: “For God so loved the world” (John 3:16). Sometimes these two ideas appear together: “He [Jesus] was in the world, and the world [earth] was made by Him, and the world [mankind] knew Him not” (John 1:10).
But the warning, “Love not the world!” is not about the world of nature or the world of men. Christians ought to appreciate the beauty and usefulness of the earth God has made, since He “giveth us richly all things to enjoy” (1 Tim. 6:17). And they certainly ought to love people—not only their friends, but even their enemies.

This “world” named here as our enemy is an invisible spiritual system opposed to God and Christ.
We use the word world in the sense of system in our daily conversation. The TV announcer says, “We bring you the news from the world of sports.” “The world of sports” is not a separate planet or continent.
It is an organized system, made up of a set of ideas, people, activities, purposes, etc. And “the world of finance” and “the world of politics” are likewise systems of their own. Behind what we see, in sports or finance, is an invisible system that we cannot see; and it is the system that “keeps things going.”
“The world,” in the Bible, is Satan’s system for opposing the work of Christ on earth. It is the very opposite of what is godly (1 John 2:16) and holy and spiritual. “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19, NASB).

Jesus called Satan “the prince of this world” (John 12:31). The devil has an organization of evil spirits (Eph. 6:11–12) working with him and influencing the affairs of “this world.” Just as the Holy Spirit uses people to accomplish God’s will on earth, so Satan uses people to fulfill his evil purposes. Unsaved people, whether they realize it or not, are energized by “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience” (Eph. 2:1–2).

Unsaved people belong to “this world.” Jesus calls them “the children of this world” (Luke 16:. When Jesus was here on earth, the people of “this world” did not understand Him, nor do they now understand those of us who trust Him (1 John 3:1).

A Christian is a member of the human world, and he lives in the physical world, but he does not belong to the spiritual world that is Satan’s system for opposing God.

“If ye were of the world [Satan’s system], the world would love his own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you” (John 15:18).
“The world,” then, is not a natural habitat for a believer. The believer’s citizenship is in heaven (Phil. 3:20, NASB), and all his effective resources for living on earth come from his Father in heaven.
The believer is somewhat like a scuba diver. The water is not man’s natural habitat, for he is not equipped for life in (or under) it. When a scuba diver goes under, he has to take special equipment with him so that he can breathe.

Were it not for the Holy Spirit’s living within us, and the spiritual resources we have in prayer, Christian fellowship, and the Word, we could never “make it” here on earth.

We complain about the pollution of earth’s atmosphere—the atmosphere of “the world” is also so polluted spiritually that Christians cannot breathe normally!

But there is a second reason why Christians must not love the world.

II. Because of What A Christian Is (vv. 12 – 14)
This raises a practical and important question about the nature of a Christian and how he keeps from getting worldly.

The answer is found in the unusual form of address used in 1 John 2:12–14. Note the titles used as John addresses his Christian readers: “little children... fathers... young men... little children.”
What is he referring to?
To begin with, “little children” (1 John 2:12) refers to all believers. Literally, this word means “born ones.” All Christians have been born into God’s family through faith in Jesus Christ, and their sins have been forgiven.

The very fact that one is in God’s family, sharing His nature, ought to discourage him from becoming friendly with the world. To be friendly with the world is treachery! “Friendship with the world is enmity with God... whosoever therefore will be [wants to be] a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (cf. James 4:4).

But something else is true: we begin as little children—born ones—but we must not stay that way! Only as a Christian grows spiritually does he overcome the world.

John mentions three kinds of Christians in a local church family: fathers, young men, and little children (1 John 2:12–14). The “fathers,” of course, are mature believers who have an intimate personal knowledge of God. Because they know God, they know the dangers of the world.

No Christian who has experienced the joys and wonders of fellowship with God, and of service for God, will want to live on the substitute pleasures this world offers.

The “young men” are the conquerors: they have overcome the wicked one, Satan, who is the prince of this world system. How did they overcome him? Through the Word of God!

“I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the Word of God abideth in you” (1 John 2:14). The “young men,” then, are not yet fully mature; but they are maturing, for they use the Word of God effectively. The Word is the only weapon that will defeat Satan (Eph. 6:17).

But there is a third—and more serious—reason why Christians must not love the world.

III. Because of What The World Does To Us (vv. 15 – 16)
“If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15).
Worldliness is not so much a matter of activity as of attitude. It is possible for a Christian to stay away from questionable amusements and doubtful places and still love the world, for worldliness is a matter of the heart. To the extent that if a Christian loves the world system and the things in it, he does not love the Father.
Worldliness not only affects your response to the love of God; it also affects your response to the will of God. “The world passeth away... but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever” (1 John 2:17).
Doing the will of God is a joy for those living in the love of God. “If ye love Me, keep My commandments.” But when a believer loses his enjoyment of the Father’s love, he finds it hard to obey the Father’s will.
When you put these two factors together, you have a practical definition of worldliness: anything in a Christian’s life that causes him to lose his enjoyment of the Father’s love or his desire to do the Father’s will is worldly and must be avoided.
Responding to the Father’s love (your personal devotional life), and doing the Father’s will (your daily conduct)—these are two tests of worldliness.
Many things in this world are definitely wrong and God’s Word identifies them as sins. It is wrong to steal and to lie (Eph. 4:25, 28). Sexual sins are wrong (Eph. 5:1–3). About these and many other actions, Christians can have little or no debate. But there are areas of Christian conduct that are not so clear and about which even the best Christians disagree.
In such cases, each believer must apply the test to his own life and be thoroughly honest in his self-examination, remembering that even a good thing may rob a believer of his enjoyment of God’s love and his desire to do God’s will.
A senior student in a Christian college was known for his excellent grades and his effective Christian service. He was out preaching each weekend and God was using him to win the souls and challenge Christians.
Then something happened: his testimony was no longer effective, his grades began to drop, and even his personality seemed to change. The president called him in.
“There’s been a change in your life and your work,” the president said, “and I wish you’d tell me what’s wrong.”

The student was evasive for a time, but then he told the story. He was engaged to a lovely Christian girl and was planning to get married after graduation. He had been called to a fine church and was anxious to move his new bride into the parsonage and get started in the pastorate.

“I’ve been so excited about it that I’ve even come to the place where I don’t want the Lord to come back!” he confessed. “And then the power dropped out of my life.”
His plans—good and beautiful as they were—came between him and the Father. He lost his enjoyment of the Father’s love. He was worldly!

John points out that the world system uses three devices to trap Christians: the lust (desire) of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16).

These same devices trapped Eve back in the Garden: “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food [the lust of the flesh], and that it was pleasant to the eyes [the lust of the eyes], and a tree to be desired to make one wise [the pride of life], she took of the fruit” (Gen. 3:6). But our hope is in the fact that Jesus in the wilderness conquered these same devices.

A. The Lust of the Flesh
The lust of the flesh includes anything that appeals to man’s fallen nature. “The flesh” does not mean “the body.” Rather, it refers to the basic nature of unregenerate man that makes him blind to spiritual truth (1 Cor. 2:14).

Flesh is the nature we receive in our physical birth; spirit is the nature we receive in the second birth (John 3:5–6). When we trust Christ, we become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4).

A Christian has both the old nature (flesh) and the new nature (Spirit) in his life. And what a battle these two natures can wage! (Gal. 5:17–23)
God has given man certain desires, and these desires are good. Hunger, thirst, weariness, and sex are not at all evil in themselves. There is nothing wrong about eating, drinking, sleeping, or begetting children.

But when the flesh nature controls them, they become sinful “lusts.” Hunger is not evil, but gluttony is sinful. Thirst is not evil, but drunkenness is a sin. Sleep is a gift of God, but laziness is shameful. Sex is God’s precious gift when used rightly; but when used wrongly, it becomes immorality.
Now you can see how the world operates. It appeals to the normal appetites and tempts us to satisfy them in forbidden ways.

It is important that a believer remember what God says about his old nature, the flesh. Everything God says about the flesh is negative. In the flesh there is no good thing (Rom. 7:18).
The flesh profits nothing (John 6:63). A Christian is to put no confidence in the flesh (Phil. 3: 3). He is to make no provision for the flesh (Rom. 13:14). A person who lives for the flesh is living a negative life.

B. The Lust of the Eyes
The second device that the world uses to trap the Christian is called “the lust of the eyes.” We sometimes forget that the eyes can have an appetite! (Have you ever said, “Feast your eyes on this”?)
The lust of the flesh appeals to the lower appetites of the old nature, tempting us to indulge them in sinful ways. The lust of the eyes, however, operates in a more refined way. In view here are pleasures that gratify the sight and the mind—sophisticated and intellectual pleasures.

Back in the days of the Apostle John, the Greeks and Romans lived for entertainments and activities that excited the eyes. Times have not changed very much! In view of television, perhaps every Christian’s prayer ought to be, “Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity” (Ps. 119:37, NASB).

Achan (Josh. 7), a soldier, brought defeat to Joshua’s army because of the lust of his eyes. God had warned Israel not to take any spoils from the condemned city of Jericho, but Achan did not obey. He explained: “When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and 200 shekels of silver, then I coveted them, and took them” (Josh. 7:21). The lust of the eyes led him into sin, and his sin led the army into defeat.
The eyes (like the other senses) are a gateway into the mind. The lust of the eyes, therefore, can include intellectual pursuits that are contrary to God’s Word. There is pressure to make Christians think the way the world thinks.
God warns us against “the counsel of the ungodly.” This does not mean that Christians ignore education and secular learning; it does mean they are careful not to let intellectualism crowd God into the background.
C. The Pride of Life
The third device is the “boastful pride of life” (NASB). God’s glory is rich and full; man’s glory is vain and empty. In fact, the Greek word for “pride” was used to describe a braggart who was trying to impress people with his importance. People have always tried to outdo others in their spending and their getting. The boastful pride of life motivates much of what such people do.
Why is it that so many folks buy houses, cars, appliances, or wardrobes that they really cannot afford? Why do they succumb to the “travel now, pay later” advertising and get themselves into hopeless debt taking vacations far beyond their means?
Largely because they want to impress themselves and other people—because of their “pride of life.” They may want folks to notice how affluent or successful they are.
Most of us do not go that far, but it is amazing what stupid things people do just to make an impression. They even sacrifice honesty and integrity in return for notoriety and a feeling of importance.
Yes, the world appeals to a Christian through the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. And once the world takes over in one of these areas, a Christian will soon realize it.
He will lose his enjoyment of the Father’s love and his desire to do the Father’s will. The Bible will become boring and prayer a difficult chore. Even Christian fellowship may seem empty and disappointing. It is not that there is something wrong with others, however—what’s wrong is the Christian’s worldly heart.
It is important to note that no Christian becomes worldly all of a sudden. Worldliness creeps up on a believer; it is a gradual process. First is the friendship of the world (James 4:4).
Next, the Christian becomes “spotted by the world” (James 1:27). The world leaves its dirty marks on one or two areas of his life. This means that gradually the believer accepts and adopts the ways of the world.
When this happens, the world ceases to hate the Christian and starts to love him! So John warns us, “Love not the world!”—but too often our friendship with the world leads to love. As a result, the believer becomes conformed to the world (Rom. 12:2) and you can hardly tell the two apart.
Sad to say, being conformed to the world can lead a Christian into being “condemned with the world” (1 Cor. 11:32). If a believer confesses and judges this sin, God will forgive him; but if he does not confess, God must lovingly chasten him.
When a Christian is “condemned with the world,” he does not lose his sonship. Rather, he loses his testimony and his spiritual usefulness. And in extreme cases, Christians have even lost their lives! (Read 1 Cor. 11:29–30)
But the fourth and final reason why Christians must not love the world is…
IV. Because of Where The World Is Going (v. 17)
“The world is passing away!” (cf. 1 John 2:17)
That statement would be challenged by many men today who are confident that the world—the system in which we live—is as permanent as anything can be. But the world is not permanent. The only sure thing about this world system is that it is not going to be here forever. One day the system will be gone, and the pleasant attractions within it will be gone: all are passing away. What is going to last?
Only what is part of the will of God!
John is contrasting two ways of life: a life lived for eternity and a life lived for time. A worldly person lives for the pleasures of the flesh, but a dedicated Christian lives for the joys of the Spirit.

A worldly believer lives for what he can see, the lust of the eyes; but a spiritual believer lives for the unseen realities of God (2 Cor. 4:8–18).

A worldly minded person lives for the pride of life, the vainglory that appeals to men; but a Christian who does the will of God lives for God’s approval. And he “abideth forever.”

This present world system is not a lasting one. “The fashion of this world passeth away” (1 Cor. 7:31). Everything around us is changing, but the things that are eternal never change.

A Christian who loves the world will never have peace or security because he has linked his life with that which is in a state of flux. “He is no fool,” wrote missionary martyr Jim Elliot, “who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

God reveals His will to us through His Word. “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Ps. 119:105). A worldly believer has no appetite for the Bible. When he reads it, he gets little or nothing from it. But a spiritual believer, who spends time daily reading the Bible and meditating on it, finds God’s will there and applies it to his everyday life.

We may also learn God’s will through circumstances.
Finally, God leads us into His will through prayer and the working of His Spirit in our hearts.

[Conclusion]

The downward steps and their consequences are illustrated in the life of Lot (Gen. 13:5–13; 14:8–14; 19). First Lot looked toward Sodom. Then he pitched his tent toward Sodom in the well-watered plains of Jordan. Then he moved into Sodom.

And when Sodom was captured by the enemy, Lot was captured too. He was a believer (2 Peter 2:6–, but he had to suffer with the unbelieving sinners of that wicked city.

And when God destroyed Sodom, everything Lot lived for went up in smoke! Lot was saved so as by fire.

The choice is yours…the world of Wicked One or the will of the Severing One.


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(1) James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings. (2) My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, (3) knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. (4) But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
New King James Version http://crossbearerevangelicalministry.com/
James addresses his book, "To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad." Since the breadth of this address does not indicate that the people were enduring any common experience, James is likely giving counsel of timeless and general application that is indispensable to growth in godly character to all sorts of people under every circumstance. At the very beginning he writes,
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. (1:2-4)
Is patience that important? How important is it that we grow to be perfect and entire? James is clearly saying that patience is a vital ingredient to achieving this. Notice that he does not perceive patience as passive. It works! The fruit of its work can be either another virtue it is producing or in preserving itself, for that, too, is sometimes necessary.
Patience is not merely a fixed determination to hold our place in the teeth of the wind, but to make actual progress in spite of it. A ship may ride out a strong wind with a snug anchor and strong chains, yet another may set the sails to take advantage of the wind to bring it closer to its destination. It is this latter attitude that James is bidding us have and use.
Christ is a good example of this. Luke 9:51 says, "He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem." All His life the shadow of His crucifixion hung over Him, yet without faltering, swerving, or resisting, He took every step of His path and nothing turned Him aside because He came into the world for that hour. His resolve never broke. He would not blench from carrying out His duty.

(4) For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.
New King James Version
Within its scope, this verse includes God’s work with Israel and with other nations and people’s over the entire Old Testament. This should teach us that the scope of God’s salvation activities is far vaster than it appears on the surface.
II Peter 3:9 confirms this: “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” In I Timothy 2:3-4, the apostle Paul echoes Peter’s statement: “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
God is preparing us for what is to come. He has caused these examples and principles to be recorded and preserved so that we would be equipped with the guidance to conduct our life in the right way. The scope of what God is working out in our lives is awesome! If we are to discern Passover and its costs rightly, this has to be considered deeply. When properly understood, every bit of what God is doing is out of love. We will not be able to observe Passover properly unless we can see its importance in its broadest sense.
What a moment in time it was on that Passover in AD 31! God must have been filled with excitement about what was taking place. It was an awesome step toward what He is working out with us.
We must consider Romans 15:4 in light of the historical witness that God is making in our lives. Meditate on this: How many people have lived and died in the vast sweep of the history of each nation to prove a very important point—that there is no way but God’s way that will produce the environment that man greatly desires but has never achieved? We need to consider this before taking the next Passover because it is important to our thinking that we look at things from God’s point of view.
It is not necessary to recount everything, but from Abraham on, how many Israelites have lived and died without ever being offered spiritual salvation? The numbers become staggering as we expand our meditation further back in time. How many people were obliterated from existence at Sodom and Gomorrah? How many people lost their lives in the Flood?
How many people died in Egypt over and above the firstborn? That land was so devastated that it took generations to recover—and may never have truly regained its former glory! In the days of Ezekiel, God prophesied that Egypt would “be the lowliest of kingdoms” until the Millennium (Ezekiel 29:15), when He will raise it up to be one of three major nations with Israel and Assyria (Isaiah 19:23-25). Egypt must have been an awesome nation, a wonderful people, with plenty of ability, as their remaining architectural monuments testify. Yet, God decimated them to provide an object lesson for us! He can do that—He is God, and it is His purpose being worked out. He perhaps did not have to do it, but He did it to help us to understand and appreciate Passover more fully. God thinks so big that it is beyond our comprehension.
God’s Old Testament record of His dealings with them continued to be written right on through Malachi. Even among the Israelites, few seemed to have been called to conversion. From the days of Abraham to Jesus, how many lived and died just as the wilderness generation did so that this record could exist for our edification? What a costly operation!
When we take the Passover, we need to weigh these things so that they make a deeper impression on our minds than they did before. Even so, the cost of the Father and Son’s love,
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