Well, good morning to everyone. Happy Mother's Day. Good to see all the mothers here this morning. We at Living Hope Church believe firmly in preaching through the Word of God, so we go verse by verse every Sunday through a book. And you happen to find yourself in the middle of 1 John 2, if you're visiting this morning. 

And we're looking at really a rather difficult passage, a passage that's kind of a hard message for us, but it's an important message because the broader context of 1 John is that John wants the believers, he's writing to those who believe Jesus, he wants the believers to know that they have eternal life. He wants them to understand their assurance in Jesus Christ because they believe Him. 

And he has a secondary purpose concerning those, he says, I write to you about those who would deceive you. There were those within the churches that he wrote to who were teaching false doctrine. And the essence of their teaching was that men need something more than Jesus. That they need something from the wisdom of men. That they need something from the world. And John was concerned that the believers would find their full assurance in Jesus Christ and nowhere else. 

In our text this morning, he's going to explain that the world, meaning the system of the world, the thinking of men, the ideologies, the philosophies, holds no truth, but in fact is anti-Christ, against God. And he wants them to look to Jesus, to look full in His wonderful face, to look to Him for their sufficiency, for their assurance, for their salvation, and for their peace and fruit every day. 

So this is a message concerning the man in Christ versus the man in Adam. The truth of God's Word versus the wisdom of men. Really the kingdom of Jesus Christ versus the world, the kingdom of Satan. 

I'd like to begin this morning by asking you to turn to 2 Corinthians 5, a favored passage of ours. I find it to be one of the most fascinating scriptures in the Bible and most instructive for our understanding of the new covenant Christian life. 2 Corinthians 5.14, Paul says, For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus, that if one died for all, then all died. And He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. 

Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh, even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. 

Paul talks about a great change that takes place in the believer when God saves him by grace through faith in Jesus alone. The internal work of regeneration that God does on a man when he comes to faith in Christ. It says in verse 16 that we now no longer regard anyone according to the flesh. In verse 17, Paul says that the old things have passed away, and behold, all things have become new. 

We see similar assertions in passages like Colossians 3, where Paul wrote, Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him. In Ephesians 4, Paul says something similar. 

In verse 17, he says, This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart, who being past feeling have given themselves over to lewdness to work all uncleanness with greediness. 

What a description of our world. He says, but you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him as the truth is in Jesus, that you have put off concerning your former conduct the old man, which grows corrupt according to deceitful lusts, and you are being renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you have put on the new man, which was created according to God in true righteousness and holiness. 

One of the most profound truths of the New Testament concerning our salvation in Christ is the change that has taken place in the man who believes, who Jesus says has passed from death unto life, who goes from being in Adam to being in Christ, no longer dominated and controlled by indwelling sin and destined for eternal death, but now under grace, righteousness, and as John wants to teach us in this epistle, possessing eternal life. 

An amazing contrast is established concerning these two different creatures. And this contrast is taught in various ways throughout the New Testament using all kinds of different terminology, but it is this contrast, this great truth that establishes the foundation for so many exhortations that we see including the one before us in verse 15 of our text. 

Do not love the world. Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. We have to understand the contrast, the truth difference between the man in Adam and the man in Christ if we are to understand the exhortation here to stop loving the world. 

Actually, what John is saying is that it is entirely inconsistent with who the man in Christ is to walk in step with the world system. And we will see that the man in Christ does not love the world. In fact, he cannot love the world. 

Look at verse 15, please. Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father, but of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it. But he who does the will of God abides forever. 

I've given you four points on your outline. First, we're going to look at design. Second, determination. Third, designation. And fourth, destiny. 

Our first point this morning is design. When John talks about the world here, what is he talking about? What is it? He uses the word cosmos. What does John mean by the world? 

Well, the etymology of the term world in the English language is very interesting, I think. It comes from the Old English word verod. And this comes from an early West Germanic composition of two words, vera, which means man, and the Indo-European base, oth, which comes from the Latin altus, meaning old. Thus, the meaning of the English word world is the old man. 

When we're talking about God's kingdom, we're talking about new life. We're talking about the new man. We're talking about those who are born again to new life. And when we talk about the world, we're talking about the old life, the old man, those who are not born again, but are born in Adam. 

There are three words translated world in the New Testament. Oikumene, which refers to the inhabited earth. Eon, which means age, often used in the context of this age or the end of the age, a period. And then the word John uses here, cosmos, which refers to the world system, the system that Satan has set up, including all of the philosophies and ideologies, Satan and his demons, the creation of God, and the men in Adam. 

John uses cosmos to describe the world system that we should not love. Bollinger says cosmos denotes the order of the world, the ordered universe, the ordered entirety of God's creation, but considered as separated from God, the abode of humanity, that order of things in which humanity moves or of which, listen, the man is at the center. 

I think this captures the essence of the meaning. Man is at the center. This is the world. It is the thoughts, wisdoms, ideologies, religions, the media, education, psychology, all the facets that make up the system of this world where man is at the center. 

What man does not know and does not understand is that the whole system is designed and run by Satan and his hordes of demons. We'll see in 1 John 5, 19, that John wrote, we know that we are of God and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. The whole world lies in the lap of Satan. Satan is called the God of this world, the God of this age. He has designed a system which is anti-God, anti-Christ, anti-truth in every way. 

And in so doing, he has fostered an environment that incites, that is conducive to sin and the hatred of truth and of Jesus Christ. And this brings us to the determination of the world. What is the purpose? If the world is the system of man's wisdom, the design of Satan, what is its purpose? 

The whole world lies in the sway of the wicked one, John says. Every system, the ordered structure of this world, is a massive scheme to keep men from truth. To keep men from Christ. If we do not understand the wiles of the devil, his plan to keep men from God, then we are in danger of being deceived by his cunning craftiness and evil plotting. Exactly what John was concerned for the believers about as he wrote these words. 

John wants us to know that there is nothing agreeable, nothing in common, nothing consistent with who we are in this world order. I'd like to just use the religions and philosophies of this world as an example. It's just part of the system, but a major part. 

I'd like for you to turn to Romans 1 with me, please. We often hear men talk about how there's truth in every religion. That we can find truth in all the different facets. Sometimes men say all roads lead to Rome. But that's not what the Bible says. Romans 1.18, For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 

For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. Because although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 

Professing to be wise, they became fools, and they changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. You know, it's funny. All my life I grew up in religion. A system of works and rites and rituals meant to be participated in in order to gain God's favor, to work my way to eternal life. 

And when I heard the Gospel, and I understood the Gospel, and I believed Jesus and became born again, I left that religion behind. Like Paul in Philippians 3, I counted all that self-righteousness, that worthlessness, that futility, that vain tradition handed down to me from my fathers, as Peter says, I counted it all as dung. That's Paul's words. 

But the lost men that I ran with, the ones who thought it strange that I no longer wanted to run in the same flood of dissipation, they all said that I had gotten religion. The truth is, I'd left religion because religion is created by men. And this is exactly what Paul says in Romans 1. Men who see and know the clear revelation of God in creation, who know God in their conscience, and take that clear truth that He reveals, even His eternal power in Godhead, that mountain of evidence that surrounds all men in the world that registers with their conscience, they take that and they actively, forcefully suppress it. They hold it down and they willfully reject God. 

And having rejected the true God and the truth of who He is and who they are in their desperate need for a Savior, they create their own systems of worship, their own religions. And they model them after themselves, after corruptible men, even after animals and birds and creeping things. 

When I think of this truth, I'm always reminded of Guy Folsom's story of when he was flying home and there was a woman sitting next to him who had just come from a workshop where she had learned to carve a Buddha out of a bar of soap. She took her Buddha from her bag and showed it to Guy. And if you know Guy Folsom, you know how entertaining this could have been. So she showed her Buddha to Guy and Guy said, well, what do you do with it now? Do you use it in the shower? And she said, well, no, I worship it. 

She carved a Buddha from a bar of soap and now she worships it. Over and over the Scriptures tell us of dumb idols, which men make for themselves, of wood and stone that cannot see, that cannot hear. Listen to the profound descriptive words of Daniel 5.23. And you have lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven. They have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and your concubines have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, and wood and stone, which do not see, do not hear, or know. And the God who holds your breath in His hand and all your ways, you have not glorified. 

This is the origin of every false religion of man, a major cog in the system of this world. They would not glorify God, the one who holds their very breath in His hand, the one who made them, who gave them life, who by common grace gives them every blessing every day of this life. And yet they are not thankful. They are futile in their thoughts. They will not come to God. They are not willing because they love their sin. And instead, they make religions with gods like themselves, corrupt and evil, and they worship them, those who are nothing. 

Paul says an idol is nothing, but behind every idol is a demonic force of deception. 1 Corinthians 10. He says that Satan works, masquerading himself as an angel of light and as ministers of righteousness in pulpits all over this land. 

My brothers and sisters, we will see in this letter of 1 John that the essence of false religion is denying who Jesus is and what He has done. Every religion of man, even the biggest and most respected so-called Christian denominations, deny the sufficiency and full atonement of Jesus on the cross. They either deny who He is, God and man, or they deny what He has done, full atonement on the cross, paying the full satisfactory payment for our sins, and that by faith alone through Him, we can receive His righteousness. 

All this makes them anti, against Christ, and against truth. And this is a major part of the world system, the man-centered religions of the world, teaching error, leading men into darkness, and keeping them from truth. 

So here is the point, my friend. What does a believer in Jesus Christ have in common with the lost man in Adam and the false religions in this world? What does the full, wonderful gospel truth concerning Jesus Christ have to do with the demonic lies of Satan concerning works, righteous religions that men have created? 

In 2 Corinthians 6, Paul said, do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? What communion has light with darkness? These are John's two favorite words, light and darkness. Believers walk in light. Lost men walk in darkness. And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. 

As God has said, I will dwell with them and walk among them. I will be their God and they shall be My people. Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. 

The point here, my friends, is that we as believers in Jesus Christ, those who walk in the light, those who are in Christ, who are new creations only by the grace of God, who believe the truth, who have the love of God poured out into our hearts, have nothing in common with the world system of Satan and men. 

We have nothing in common with the ones who are sons of Satan. That's Jesus' words in John 8.44. Who walk in darkness, who are in Adam and controlled by and dwelling sin and destined for the lake of fire. We have nothing in common. 

There is nothing of value in the things of the world, the system that Satan has designed. We can find no nuggets of truth in the false religions of man. The whole head is sick, my friends. From the sole of the feet to the top of the head, man is corrupt. And all his systems and ideologies are corrupt as well. 

This is what lost men do not understand. This is what the systems of this world will not recognize. And this is the great distinction, the gulf that divides men in Adam and men in Christ. 

We have seen here in our text the design of this world, what John means by the world, the system. And now we need to look at the determination, the purpose of Satan and his system. 

And third, our third point is the designation. And what I mean by the designation is again who we are in Christ. Satan has designed a system. The purpose of the system is to keep men in error, keep men in darkness, keep men from the truth. What about the designation? What does it mean that I'm in Christ? What does it mean that men are in Adam? Are you a believer? Or are you an unbeliever? 

Do you love the world? Do you love the system of the world? Or do you love the truth? We do not love the world, my brothers and sisters, because of who we are, because of what God did in us when we turned to Christ. The system of this world works contrary in every way to the gospel, to the truth, to the salvation of lost men and the glory of God. 

There was a couple that came to our house yesterday. They bought 14 pigs from us yesterday. And it was a man and his wife and he was a rough guy, you know. Harley rider and I don't know if he rides Harley. Seems like he should. But anyway, big guy, works in the mine up by Scandia. Super nice guy, Mark, and his wife Jackie. And they came and we started to talk and fellowship. They had their two sons with them. First thing we noticed, the sons walked up, they shook my hand, looked me right in the eye, told me their name. And that's hard to find today. 

As we started to talk, Mark started to talk to me about the Lord. Talked to me about his church, witnessing to these men that are in the mine and how he led this one rough guy to Christ and he was working on this other guy and how much joy he had. You know, we were so encouraged. Because we're brothers in Christ. Because we have that bond. 

Because that's who we are. It's because of what we want. We want men to be saved. We want to tell them that it's not by works of righteousness that we've done. It's not because I'm better than someone else. It's because we're all sinners. We all deserve God's wrath, but God in His grace has provided a way of salvation. Jesus dying in my place as my substitute, taking the punishment for my sin, and His provision is by faith that I can receive His righteousness. 

That's such good news we want to tell everyone. We want them to be saved. And what John's saying in this text is that the world, the system, Satan's system, is working against that all of the time. Who are you? 

The problem of men of this world is sin. It's an inner corruption. In Romans 5, Paul talked about how we were condemned in Adam. Through one man's unrighteous act, we were made sinners, he says in verse 19. That's who men are born in Adam. But through one man's righteous act, the free gift came to all men. And in Christ, through faith in Him, we are made righteous. We are given His life. He lives in us. 

We've established this fact in our study of the book of Romans and 1 John already, but it's crucial that we understand that there is a corruption, not only in man, but affecting the whole of creation from Satan on down. This is on the inside. It's an internal problem. A corruption that eats away at man like a cancer. 

It's taught that the world is evolving. That man is growing better and better. Evolving to a higher standard. Some think we're getting ready to jump to the next level. But the truth is, as Paul says in Timothy, that man is growing worse and worse. He's decaying on the inside. And this is true of all creation since the fall. The whole of God's creation is cursed. It is devolving. Decaying. Because of sin. Because of corruption. 

This is so important to understand because so much of Christianity is involved in trying to fix the external problems of this world. Adrian Rogers said, trying to fix the problems of this world is like rearranging the chairs on the Titanic. We think somehow that if we can fix the social ills of the world, if we can get the right politicians, if we can make our laws Christian, put the Ten Commandments in our school, etc., etc., then we can fix the problems of the world. But the truth is, it's not an external pollution problem. It's an internal corruption problem. 

Turn over to 2 Peter 1. I love this text. It makes this so clear. 2 Peter 1. Peter's first going to talk about the believers in chapter 1, and then he's going to talk about the false teachers in chapter 2. Verse 2, Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, look at what he says, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 

Believers have escaped, stay in 2 Peter, Believers have escaped the inner corruption. They have died to sin, being freed from the controlling power of sin and raised to newness of life. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. But for the man in Adam, even if he were alone on a deserted island somewhere, he would still be controlled by indwelling sin. This has been tried in monasteries and cloisters, through isolation and seclusion, self-deprivation and asceticism. But my friends, the problem of man is not an external problem. It's an internal problem of sin. 

They were made sinners in Adam. I look in 2 Peter 2. In 2 Peter 2, Peter's talking about the false teachers who have come into the church. The same problem that John's addressing in 1 John. Who have come out of the pollutions of the world and into the body of believers. But they have not escaped the corruption of indwelling sin. Listen to those words in verse 19. These false teachers, while they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption. For by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. 

For after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome. The latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than having known it to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them, according to the true proverb, a dog returns to his own vomit and a sow having washed to her wallowing in the mire. 

It's about who we are. And what John's teaching us is that the world system is not consistent with who we are as believers in Jesus Christ. The corruption of man, the indwelling sin principle, is so powerful, so vile, that Paul tells us that even the perfect law of God incites men to sin, to rebel. In Romans 7.5 he says, For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. 

In verse 10 he says, In the commandment which was to bring life, I found to bring death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. The problem of man is an inside corruption. And even if we had a perfect world, a world where the law of God ruled, where righteousness ruled, and everything was right, it wouldn't fix man's problem. 

This is exactly what will be the case when Jesus rules on this earth in the millennial kingdom. He will rule with a rod of iron in righteousness in a restored earth where the curse is partially lifted. And what will happen to those people who are born during that millennium? They will be born in Adam just the same and they will need to be saved and many of them will rebel in their hearts and they will side with their father the devil, even in a perfect world. 

So fixing the environment of man is not the solution. A perfect Christian world is not the need of man. And my friends, how much more dire a situation we see now in this world that John talks about, where Satan is the ruler, where he's designed a system to increase, to facilitate and nurture the sin that dwells in men. 

And that's what we see in verse 16 of our text. Look at verse 16. For all that is in the world, all, all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. John says all that is in the world is that which incites, which facilitates sin. 

As I was trying to understand this verse, thinking of what John is saying, it made me think of our new greenhouse. We spent a good deal of time last year building a 30 by 72 greenhouse on our farm. And the whole purpose of the greenhouse is designed to create an environment that facilitates the growth of plants. 

You know, we live in the snow belt up in the UP. You've got to be a little dumb and really stubborn to farm in the UP. But we'd like to grow some plants. And we've had our garden freeze on June 13th and August 13th. So we built a greenhouse. It holds the heat in, it magnifies the sun, it allows us to regulate the amount of water and nutrients the plants receive. The whole point is to extend our growing season to make an environment where those plants can thrive. 

Satan designed a world system with all its facets and mechanisms, philosophies and religions all meant to facilitate, to provide an environment where sin thrives. Where men are encouraged to sin. Where men are comforted in their sin. And where men are told that their sin is actually good. This is done in three ways. 

First, we see the lust of the flesh. And this refers to all that we've been discussing, the internal corruption of sin that's in man. The lust of the flesh concerns those inner impulses and desires, compulsions that come from within man. And this world system feeds that lust, encourages that lust and approves of that lust of the flesh. 

Jesus taught in Mark 7 that it's not what goes into a man that defiles him. It's not what you eat or external religion or different things going in, but it's what comes out that defiles a man. He says, from within, out of the heart of men proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness. 

All these evil things come from within and defile a man, Jesus said. And the world system is there to encourage and to bring out and nurture those impulses. Think about the wisdom of man. The accepted wisdom and academia of our world. 

Think about what they teach. They tell men that sexual immorality is natural and healthy. In the world of higher education and psychology, people are taught continually that the sinful impulses, the lust of the flesh is right. That it should be expressed and satisfied. The world of entertainment does its share to encourage this as well by example and by instruction in our movies, television shows, and social media forums. And religion enforces this. 

Where God is nothing but love and this kind of worldly love means that He accepts and encourages every kind of aberrant behavior that man can invent. We now see in our society, in our world, a time that's reminiscent of Noah's time. Where God said in Genesis 6-5, that the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 

Satan's world system is working well. It's effective in conjunction with the lust of the flesh that's in man. Paul said in 2 Timothy 3 that evil men are growing worse and worse and in this dying, decaying world, they're deceiving and they're being deceived. And God's judgment is looming again over this world and its system and its men. The lust of the flesh is a powerful force in the world. 

And John says the second avenue for sin in this world system is the lust of the eyes. This is a desire that arises when we see something attractive, something we want. This has to do with the sin of covetousness. We desire it. We have inner impulses. The lust of the flesh. James says in James 1, that the way sin works is that you have an inner impulse. You have a desire. And then you see something. You bring that thought. You take that impulse. You turn it into a thought. 

And then when that thought is born, he compares the impulse to conception. That a baby is conceived. You foster it when you take it in your mind and you decide you want it. Then he says, as sure as that conceived baby will grow and it will be delivered, so that sin will come to pass in your life. It's about what's in us. It's about our evil impulses and then our willingness to take that and foster it in our minds and our emotions. 

We see with our eyes and we lust. We covet what we see. Now it's important that we're clear here that John's not talking about the world's goods. He's not talking about material things or physical things, but rather the system of the world. There's nothing wrong with having the world's goods. In fact, look at chapter 3, verse 17. John tells us that when we see someone in need, we should share the goods that we possess. The world's goods, he calls them. 

He says that we have those goods, that it's good to have them. But we should use them to share. That we should use them to glorify God and to help others. Paul tells us in Timothy that God gives us all things richly to enjoy. But it is lusting after the things of this world. After riches and fame and power and desiring what others have. Whether that be our neighbor's wife or his goods, it is wrong to lust, to covet. To lust with our eyes. 

Well third, John gives us the real underlying truth concerning all sin. The pride of life. It all boils down to pride. The wording here has to do with self-exaltation, with self-centeredness and the need to be above or over others. This is a powerful force in man that is fostered by the world system of Satan continually. 

Man wants to exalt himself. He wants to be better than others. And this is manifest in every facet of life. From shooting the biggest buck or catching the biggest fish, to having the most toys or the biggest house or the most attractive spouse, all the way down to winning every argument or letting everyone around you know just how much you know about any given subject. We want to exalt ourselves. 

We want to be important. We want to be respected. We want to be better than others. How many times have you witnessed to a religious man? Are you going to heaven? Well, I hope so. Well, why would you go to heaven? Well, I'm trying really hard. Yeah, but aren't you failing? Yeah, but I'm not as bad as that guy. 

Even the religions of the world are based on comparing ourselves with ourselves and among ourselves to climb the ladder of God's favor, to be better than someone else. This is the pride of life. My friends, this is why the gospel is so offensive to men and to the world system. 

The gospel at its very core concerning grace and faith and our inability and our sin and need destroys entirely the whole concept of pride and self-exaltation and self-righteousness. Man's pride is confronted in the gospel. He must recognize his dire need. He must see his sin. He must humble himself and come empty handed before the cross to throw himself on the mercy of God. 

The believer in Jesus Christ does not love the world and its system because of its design, its orderly arrangement centered on man and against God. We do not love the world system because of its determination, its sole purpose of teaching error and keeping men from truth. We do not love the world because of the designation of men, those in Adam and those in Christ, because of who we are in Christ. 

And finally, we do not love the world because of its destiny. Look at verse 17 in our text. John says, and the world is passing away and the lust of it. Look at this tremendous promise. But he who does the will of God abides forever. The cosmos, the system of this world is passing away. It's in a state of decomposition, decay, devolution. 

It's evident in every part of creation. Everything is growing worse. Everything is rotting away. I just bought a brand new truck not long ago. I've only driven junk all my life. And I bit the bullet because I went through three transmissions on my half tons on the farm. So I thought, I need a three quarter ton truck. And Ray and I found, actually Ray found for us a really good deal on some trucks they were clearing out. 

It's a beautiful truck and it accomplishes the work that I need to do. But do you know if I took that truck and just parked it out in my field and I left it there for 20 years, what would happen? The second law of thermodynamics would get it. Entropy. Everything is decomposing. It's devolving. 

And in 20 years that truck would be a pile of rust. And worse yet, if I drove it on these salted roads in the winter. The system of this world is like this as well. It's going away. It's passing away. It's destiny like the men of this world in Adam is destruction. The system will fall. Babylon will fall as we read in Revelation. 

But we, we who do the will of God, we abide forever. You see that at the end of our text, this good news. We have hope. We have security. We have a promise. We who do the will of God. What does that mean? Does it mean I go to church on Sunday and I light a candle and I kneel down and I go through the sacraments and I put the law in my refrigerator and see how good I'm doing at keeping it? Is that the will of God? 

In John 6, Jesus said that the will of God is this, to believe on the One whom He sent. In 1 John 3, verse 23, we see the commandment of God is that we believe Jesus and love one another. We believe Jesus, my friends. We have obeyed the gospel and we do the will of God. We believe His Son. We hold fast to Jesus and what He's done for us. His love is poured out into our hearts and that love is extended to men. We abide forever. We now have eternal life. 

And this is the very thing that John wants us to know. He wants us to have assurance. He wants us to understand that if we believe Jesus, we have eternal life. Our purpose as believers is to preach the truth to men, to bring them to Christ and to glorify God in all that we do. The purpose of the world is to promote error and to keep men from truth. 

And yet we so often flirt with the world. We so often entertain the ideas of the world and give our approval. It may be funny, but it reminds me of the PLO. Some of you may remember a man named Yasser Arafat. He was the leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organization. And when I was young, this was a big deal. Apparently it made an impression on me. 

Yasser Arafat was an Arab nationalist and he founded a paramilitary organization and continually attacked Israel, killing and murdering. He was a terrorist. They call him the father of terrorism. He rose to power and began a more subtle means of destroying Israel through negotiation and politics. The charter of the PLO contains 33 articles, and all of them are geared toward the elimination of Israel. Their sole purpose is the destruction and removal of Israel from the earth. 

And on December 10, 1994, Yasser Arafat received the Nobel Peace Prize. He and his organizations were responsible for deaths of hundreds, and he's called the father of modern terrorism, having killed American diplomats and even 11 Olympic athletes from Israel and Munich in 1972. And the world gave him the Nobel Peace Prize. 

Sometimes I don't think we as believers understand this system, this world in which we live. We don't understand that Satan is the god of this age, that the whole world lies in the sway of the wicked one. And we even sometimes give approval to the systems and the ideologies, the wisdoms of men, or we look for truth in these things, we look for fulfillments where we can mine out the little nuggets and all the mire. 

Sometimes we flirt with the world. We're married to the world. We do not love the world, but sometimes we're still enamored with it. And John is telling us that there is nothing in this world that is consistent with who we are in Christ. Nothing in the systems, the wisdom of the world, that is good. That all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father, but it is of the world. It is of the old man. 

And our old man was crucified with Christ. And we were raised to be a new man. We can only find truth in the Word of God. We can only find peace and hope in Jesus Christ. In this world, this system of Satan has no redeeming qualities, has nothing to offer us. It's passing away. 

But he who believes Jesus has eternal life. He who does the will of God abides forever. We live in this world, my friends. God gives us the things, the goods of this world, for us to enjoy, for us to share, for us to use for His glory. We live in this world, but my brothers and sisters, we are not of this world. We are not of its systems, of its ideologies, of its theologies, of its wisdoms. 

And this is what John means when he uses the word cosmos. The world. And we need to see the world for what it is and not be enamored or attracted to it or deceived by it. Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him, but he who does the will of God, he who believes Jesus, he abides forever. 

Let's close in prayer. 

Father, we're so thankful for Your truth that You tell us the truth. Thank You for giving us this book, preserving it for us, revealing Yourself to us, and the truth concerning salvation, the truth of who we are in Christ, our destiny, the promises that we have. Thank You that You're our Father. Thank You that You love us. And thank You that You desire that all men be saved. 

And thank You for giving to us the word of reconciliation that we might go out and tell men the good news that anyone, anyone who believes Jesus, who trusts in Him to have died for their sins in their place, can receive Your righteousness and be saved forever. Thank you for that truth, in Jesus' name, Amen.