Good morning, everyone. It's delightful to be
with you this morning. If we haven't met, my
name is Scott. Last time I was here, I would
begin by saying I'm from Vic Park, Presbyterian.
But you guys took Mark from Bull Creek, and so
a hole was emptied up there. So I've moved from
Vic Park to Bull Creek. So to some degree, it's
like, thank you. My life has changed because
of what you guys have done. So it's great that
we can all... be connected and serve. Yeah, it'd
be great for you to have the passage of One John
open this morning. And yeah, it was a great delight
to hear that you guys are going through One John
because it is a book that I've spent a lot of
time in. And so it's great to kind of, yeah,
see and be in God's Word and delight in that
together. As we begin, let me paint a picture
for you. You know, it's a normal day, you get
a phone call, you kind of don't recognise the
number, and so you kind of go, oh, maybe it's
that relative from the East or that friend. So
you pick it up, it's not them. It's not your
friend, it's someone from a company that you
recognise the name of, and they say, oh, there's
this problem with your system, or maybe this
thing, we just need some details from you. Maybe
there's even something in for you. It's not them.
No, no, that's a scam. Or here, another one for
you. You get an email. There's a great deal opening
up. There's a business just about to start booming,
and this is your chance to buy in. No, no, that's
another scam. Or you're online, and a friend
request comes from someone on Facebook. Pretty
attractive. They want to start a relationship
with you. They seem to like all of the really
specific things that you like. And they're really
keen to get to know you and see you. They're
in a different part of the country, so they need
plane tickets. And can you help them pay for
that? No, no, that's another scam. Here's a scary
statistic for you. In Australia just this year
so far, $147 million... have been lost in Australia
to scams. There are evil people out there using
the internet to contact and coerce, confuse and
steal money from people who just thought that
maybe this was their break. Devastating. Millions
of dollars going somewhere. What was offered
up ended up being empty. It was a trap. It was
a temptation that ended up being treacherous.
But here's another scam for you that's running
out through the entire world. It captures billions
of people every year and tempts everyone to join
in. And that's the scam of the world, of sin,
which sets itself against God and His Word. And
it is tricky and deceptive. It says to those
that know God, actually, you can know God and
do what you want. You can know God and enjoy
sin. It calls out to those that love God, like,
you know, come here, come taste and see, like,
how bad could it be? It's a scam. And it deceives
the world. And John here in our letter says,
you know, be aware. Don't give in. It's kind
of a big theme in 1 John is Christians as they
live in a world of sin. How are they going to
fight it? John doesn't want you to be deceived.
He's written, just in the previous section, to
fathers and sons, right? Telling them, know who
you are, because who you are affects what you
should do. And John is kind of like the older,
wiser man in the family. Comes to his flock,
to his... church family, kind of gently puts
his arm around them and says, like, know that
it's a scam. Don't give in. And as you've gone
through One John, have you noticed his methodology?
He's teaching you through repetition. You get
to another section, you kind of go, oh, this
sounds familiar. Didn't we not just do this?
Here's a picture for that. I don't know if you've
been to a shop that sells Lego recently. There's
kind of two kinds. There's the one where there's
just all the boxes and that's kind of, that's
all right. There's still Lego there. The other
kind is the one that kind of really wants to
put on display that they are building Lego. There's
the kind of, I've got a picture from my mum recently.
It's her standing next to a life -size Darth
Vader from Star Wars, completely made out of
Lego. It was just like, that's pretty cool. But
another funny one that I saw recently at a shop
was kind of a meter high statue of just a big
blue Lego block. Like it was just like this one
big brick made out of what I imagine was thousands
and thousands of kind of smaller bricks all put
together. And I think that's what Juan John is
right. Like he's got the same argument time and
time again. Look at the Christian and the world.
Look at the Christian and sin. And it's kind
of All these bricks together till you get the
one big picture about how the Christian should
live in this world and respond to sin. All those
blocks together get us to see in good detail
each scenario. And today we're looking at the
Christian as he lives in the world. He's already
pushed back against a whole lot of other wrong
teachings though. He's pushed back against that
the Christians don't need to think about sin.
They don't need to care. He's pushed back against
it. They said, no. He's pushed back against the
lies that Christians can think that they can
get to the point where they don't sin anymore.
He said, no, that's not right. And also that
they can be completely free from sin or have
sin nature. He said, no, those aren't correct
views. Again, again, those are just the blocks
that get put together as we see how the Christian
should live in this world. And here's one more
block for you, the Christian in the world. We've
got three verses today, 1 John chapter 2 verses
15 through to 17. So three verses, we've got
three points. They're in your outline. It's the
love of the world, the desires of the world,
and then we'll finish with eternal satisfaction.
Alright, so let's begin verse 15, the scam of
the world. See that verse 15, like, 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 begins as a command, but as I said
before, John is the older man with his arms around
you, kind of with his family saying, come, like,
let's think about this clearly. I'm warning you
about the things that I've seen and experienced
in my wisdom. Hear and see these potential dangers.
You know, he's talked to children and fathers
and said, like, you know, I'm speaking to you,
you know who you are, and so hear them. He speaks
to them as their shepherd. And he warns them
about their heart. You know, do not love the
world. This is about their love. This isn't about
John just saying kind of like, oh, you know,
back in my day, or the world isn't like it used
to be. And this isn't John saying that you can
hate people right. What John is particularly
on about here is what has captured your heart.
What's motivating you, what pulls you, what you
truly desire, kind of at your deepest core. If
you're an onionist, we've peeled back layer after
layer and we look at the core. What is in there?
If you were a car, we've lifted up the hood,
we've looked at the engine, we're seeing what's
fuelling that engine. If you were a plant...
that draws life from its roots, where are those
roots sunk in? And John says, is that the world?
And by world here, I think John doesn't mean
what he means in John 3, 16. We've had that there.
It is a very, very helpful passage for us, because
it is saying a lot of the same thing. But there,
the world is the people, particularly, that God
has come to save. Here, though, the world is
the place that God has saved people from. Kind
of the sin, the place that tempts, that blinds,
that enslaves people. Here, don't love the world
is don't love sin and sinfulness. All that tempts
you in this world, that's in opposition to God.
John is calling the church. and saying, as he
says again and again and again, if Jesus has
saved you, if He saved you from the world, if
He's taking you out of the darkness, if He's
taking you out of your shame and your sin and
your failings, run from them, don't run back
to them. A vivid picture of this, I think, is
from Sodom and Gomorrah. The city that is truly
at the depths of vileness and debauchery. You
know, two angels come to the city and they're
intercepted by Lot, kind of at the gate, and
he takes them into his care. But as night falls,
the men of the city kind of come barging in and
attempt to rape them. The angels blind the men
and basically grab Lot and his family and say,
like, it's time to go. This city's going to be
destroyed and you must flee. And they do. You
know, Lot and his wife and his children, they
flee to the hills. But there's the painful part
of the story where Lot's wife turned back. She
looked back. And she became a pillar of salt.
She was in the arms of salvation leaving the
city, but her heart was back there. It's like
a worldly form of repentance, kind of Christians
rush in sorrow and sadness turn from our sin,
but she in sadness turned back to the city of
sin. That's where her heart was. And in the Bible,
God is never satisfied with just the presence
of His people. He wants their hearts. And actually
loving the world, having it be your desire, your
goal is a sign of separation from Him rather
than salvation. Do you see that in verse, in
the second part of verse 15? If anyone loves
the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
And here the love of the Father, as we kind of
saw a few weeks back in verse 5, is the love
that we have for our Father. You can't love the
world and God. But the world says that you can,
right? But let me paint this picture for you.
It's a beautiful wedding day. The sun is shining.
The flowers are kind of in full bloom. You chose
the perfect day. The bride and the groom are
there. It's time for their vows. And the bride
is beautiful. Dress up hair. Just... Perfect
makeup, you know, on point. Everyone's like,
wow. And the groom, everyone's like, oh, you
did a good job. But it's a beautiful picture.
And they're there, and they make deep promises
to each other, don't they? You know, it's, I
will love only you. You have my heart. And like,
in that moment, as they exchange vows, it's beautiful.
And we know that there's a deep, deep problem
if they share that love that they should have
for one another with any other. That's adultery.
It's betrayal. It's devastating because it gets
to the core of who people are. And it's so destructive.
And God wants us to give our hearts to Him. If
the world has your heart, if it has the core
of your being, every time there's a temptation,
every time you face sin, you will follow your
heart and your life will be painted by that.
Your life won't be distinct from the world, it
will be directed by it. And John here says, there's
a warning, it's a command, turn back, don't be
deceived. Jesus' own words along these lines
are you cannot love God and money. Let's look
at the other side of this and this is kind of
what I want us to see what the passage is not
saying though. In kind of the time that I've
had doing ministry I've caught up with a number
of guys and I would often take them to one John.
Love one John because John says hard things,
really clearly. But what is verse 15 saying?
If you're struggling with sin, what does it say
to the one that is struggling with sin? The one
who has an indwelling sin, one that they're trying
to kill, but they're constantly failing, they're
constantly returning to it, but they like, they
hate it. Are they, as John puts it here, are
they without God's love in them? I don't think
that's what John is saying here. Because for
many of these guys who have caught up with them,
they do live in a world of sin, they are tempted
by sin, they do fail. But like John is clear,
we do have an advocate. We do have a Redeemer.
That's what we saw in the first eight verses
of this chapter. We have someone who cleanses
us from all sin if we would come and repent.
If we come hating our sin that we've fallen into,
that we were tempted by, that did capture our
hearts, turn from it, come and lamenting in our
weakness and our failing. And I would say to
all of these guys, the fact that you repent,
the fact that you're constantly turning from
your sin is not a sign of godlessness. but is
a sign of God working in you, a sign of God's
love in them, His Spirit working, shaping them,
making them more like Christ, though they live
in a world that's constantly drawing them. And
John, sort of here, always wants to point us
back to the cross, points us back to God's love
and mercy and forgiveness, and see what was paid
there and know that we can come back to our Father.
that Jesus comes to us in our weakness and failing
and he knows that he, John says that he will
meet us there and draw us in. Like when our hearts
are wavering, Jesus' is not. His heart doesn't
waver for us. He loves us so deeply. We can turn
and run to him, seek mercy and strength in the
one that we do love. But don't give in to the
scam. Don't think that there's no need to repent.
Our passage is clear that you can't see sin as
safe. You can't see porn as palatable, gossip
and greed as good, lying as laughable. You can't
love them and God. The warning here screams out
at the same time as God's mercy rings out. For
those that have chosen to stop fighting, You
need to turn back. You can't live with it. You
can't love it. And John says, don't be scammed.
You can't do it. It's a poison, and it affects
all of you and your desires. Come to our second
point, because John's going to draw some really
specifics then. He's talked about this love of
the world, but what does that look like? Well,
let's see that in verse 16. trusting desires.
Verse 16, For all that is in the world, the desires
of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the
pride of life, is not from the Father, but is
from the world. And it kind of draws us in. Is
what the world offers us good? Are they from
God or are they not? Think about our world. Our
world wants you to kind of give in to every desire
that you have. Has that led to a more stable
society? Is justice flourishing? Do families
thrive? Are the weakest and meekest cared for?
Is our world moving towards God and what God
commands or a way? John calls us not to be scammed.
It's not simply think that our desires, because
our bodies came from God, are kind of authentic
and godly, but to see that actually our bodies
and our desires reflect the world that they spring
from. I was never really a big fan of mushrooms,
but like the mushroom trial has kind of really
increased my suspicion of mushrooms. And part
of that is, I think because that's where they
grow, like where do they grow? Mushrooms grow
in like the deepest darkest dankest kind of You
know and so I should be suspicious that's where
they kind of grow and We too should be suspicious
of our desires as we live in this world So many
of our desires do not spring from a godly heart,
but from the fact that we live in a godless world
But the three things John is going to say, and
it's worth saying that I think the words that
John chooses are perfect words. But because we
kind of have grown up in a kind of post -Christian
country, the words that John says, I don't know
that we necessarily jump to the right conclusions
as to what they mean. What does he say? He says,
the desires of the flesh, the desires of the
eyes and the pride of life. I think for the first
two, the desires of the flesh and the desires
of the eyes, our minds jump and kind of like
really limit what we think John's talking about.
We kind of think, oh, John's just like talking
about, you know, like sex. But I don't think
that's the focus of what John's talking about.
I think it's included. But in our minds, because
we live in post -Christian Australia, we limit
it. I think John's talking in broad terms. Because
I think flesh here is referring to our mortal
bodies. I have a body that's made out of flesh,
and so do you. We are fleshly beings. We have
bodies, and our bodies are fallen. Because of
Adam's sin... We live in a world full of sin
and our bodies are affected by that. Our desires
are twisted. Not only are we moved towards sin,
we live in a world of sin and that tempts us,
it tempts us in our weakness. And John here is
saying, don't be deceived by those desires. Don't
give in to sexual temptation. the desires for
all sorts of pleasures, to kind of hit that high,
to follow the chemical trail of happiness that
our body says is good. That is from the world
and not from God. Same with the desires of the
eyes. The drive to look outside of yourself at
what others have. To envy, to covet. to lust
that is kind of the desire to see more than what
we should and to see the things that we shouldn't.
Like yes it's true that God made beauty but our
eyes kind of take the fact that there is beauty
out there as kind of like a license to do whatever
it wants. And that's not from God, that's from
our sinful nature. And that's to be not satisfied
with what God has provided us with, but to compare
to desire and to sin. John states that that's
the pattern of the world, and that's not from
our loving Heavenly Father. And then thirdly,
the pride of life. If the first was the body
and the second was to look outside, this third
one is to look inward. to look at ourselves and
see all that we have done and attribute it to
me. Pride is like rightly the chief of all sins
because it is idolatry of myself. As we worship
ourselves and say how good is everything that
I have done. Take King Nebuchadnezzar standing
at the heights of Babylon and this was his phrase
before he gets turned into a wild animal. Is
this not the great Babylon I have built as the
royal residence, by my mighty power and for the
glory of my majesty? A kind of a false lifting
up of oneself as all -important, as the chief
and ruler of our lives, that it's me that did
it, not at all a thought for the God who made
us and sustains us and gives us each breath.
Devoid of God, thinking that it's all for our
glory and not His. But why has John done this?
Why has he shown us these things, these three
particular temptations? Why has he kind of fleshed
out these fleshly things? Well, verse 16 is explaining
verse 15. The kind of the love of the world is
seen here in all of its potential. And John takes
us here because those things are what the world
says will give you true satisfaction. Does not
the world say, come, do this, give in to this,
have you seen this? Or once you've achieved this
then all your longings, your heart will be filled,
that relationship will fill you completely, that
hole in your chest, just come over here, do that,
then you will finally feel full. The world says,
keep going, dig deeper, try more, sleep around
more, push more, achieve more, make your kids
do more if you can't. And those are real temptations.
And to be fair, they do appear shiny, but they
never satisfy. John is here saying, look, it's
a scam. They'll keep on taking. until it has
your heart and all of you. You can't have a little
bit of that and love God. Give that up and come
to the one who does satisfy. Jim Carey, the kind
of strange actor, seems to have become a Christian.
Back in 2020, he was quoted as saying this, I
think everyone should get rich and famous and
do everything they ever dreamed of. So they can
see that it's not the answer. Jim the actor,
John the apostle point us to the same thing.
The answer is not in the world. The world truly
offers no satisfaction and don't give in to its
lies. And then in our third verse I think John
takes us and shows us where we can find true
satisfaction. So point three, eternal satisfaction.
Where there are competing loves, we often turn
to the one that we love the most. And so I think
John takes us by the hand and points us to where
actually both the love of the world and the love
of God lead. He shows us that one of them is
empty and in the end actually offers you nothing.
The other is eternal and truly satisfying. See
that in verse 17. And the world is passing away
along with its desires, but whoever does the
will of God abides forever. It's kind of like,
look at the extended warranty on what the world
is offering. Does it last? No. But again, this
isn't new. John hasn't brought this out from
nowhere. He's already tackled this in part in
verse 8. He's already pointed out that actually
the darkness of the world is fading because the
light of the world is already shining. For all
that the world promises you and offers you, it
doesn't last. The world and its opposition to
godly living won't last. I think we kind of get
a glimpse of that now because our feelings fade,
our desires fade. When you do give in to sin,
that promised pleasure that offered you so quickly
fades. It was meant to last and it's gone. And
it's replaced with guilt because it's just all
so fleeting. Like Solomon in Ecclesiastes talks
about seeking all that the world has to offer.
He's tried it all, but it's all meaningless.
It's like a breath of vapor and it's just gone.
And if that's your goal, If that's where your
heart is pulling you, if that's where your treasures
are, then you will follow it. Jesus talking about
wealth in Matthew chapter 6 says, do not lay
up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth
and rust destroy and where thieves break and
steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in
heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys
and where thieves do not break and steal, for
where your treasure is, there your heart will
be also. It's not that life is meaningless though,
right? Like there is true satisfaction. Our passage
points us to saying that lasts eternally. Kind
of the second half there. Whoever does the will
of God abides forever. This true satisfaction
and lasting satisfaction. That the things that
will be remembered, the things that will be treasured,
are not the things done now for your own pleasure.
No matter how good that holiday was, no matter
how shiny your car is, no matter how prestigious
that award is, or the greatness of your name,
they fade. And kind of, again, John, as the older
man, kind of points us to our Heavenly Father
and says, like, listening to Him, resting on
Him. like seeking Him and the gifts that He gives
us, like there, there is true satisfaction, things
that last, things that won't fade. We have a
loving Heavenly Father that loves to give good
gifts to His children, that are so much better
than anything that the world can offer. God gives
Himself to you. The language there of abiding
always takes my mind to one of the deepest intimacy
and embrace. God doesn't hold us at arm's length.
No, no, God delights in us coming to Him and
seeking Him. He loves us loving Him, seeking
all of Him, and He delights to give you all that
you need. I don't give in to the fake, shiny
imitations of this world. with all their temptations
because they will never satisfy you. The temptations
and pleasures of this world, they do look bright
and shiny. It looks like that's what we need,
but John reminds us, no, no, Jesus is all that
you need. Maybe you've been buying into that
scam. Maybe your heart's been set on this world
or you've been slowly moving towards it and returning
from your father. God calls you today to come
and be satisfied, to be overwhelmed with his
riches, to give up all the fakes for the eternal.
John, he's the loving under shepherd of Jesus,
the great shepherd, says, come back. Come back
set your heart here in your father's arms Remember
all that he has done for you and see what he
truly offers But truly satisfies Like to end
with we've sung some great songs this morning
I think which basically have said my path like
my sermon for you. You've already sung it but
let me Do one more. This is come thou fount of
every blessing. Where Jesus is all that we need
and we need to come and pray and ask for his
strength because we do live in a world that constantly
tempts us. And we need his help to keep our heart
in his arms. I'm gonna sing, I'm not gonna sing
for you. I'm gonna read the first and last one.
If I sing it I'll cry. And then the last verse.
take and seal it seal it for thy courts above
the world tempts us don't give in let's run to
our father now in prayer father we come to you
in our weakness Lord, we are in a world that
tempts us each day, that shows us shiny things,
that says, offers us all that we need. Lord,
please help us not to give in. Lord, seal our
hearts. We give them to You. We need Your strength
each day by Your Spirit. Lord, remind us of what
You have done on the cross for us. that you have
secured us for eternity, to be with you in heaven
with all that we'll ever need for eternity, Lord,
in joy unspeakable. Lord, as we walk this world
now, Lord, give us eyes for heaven. We can't
do it by our own strength, Lord, so we ask for
yours. And I'm your son. Amen.