December 3rd
15: Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16: For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17: And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. 18: Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. 19: They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. 20: But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. 21: I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. 22: Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. 23: Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. 24: Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. 25: And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life. 26: These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. 27: But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. 28: And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. 29: If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.
Next John turns to the believer’s relation to the world. And he says you should have no relationship. This world passed sentence on Christ and we are to follow his example. We are to go forth unto him outside the camp! The world is in the hands of the Evil one and if we become entranced with the world and drawn in to the world then the love of the Father is not in us. All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye and the pride of life is to be left behind by the believer. Notice that these three things were seen in the temptation of Adam and Eve in the Garden and they were seen in the temptation of Christ. Satan addresses three aspects of human life – Firstly, The flesh. He takes something perfectly legitimate and moves the temptation into a forbidden area. He does it through the needs of the body for food, drink, sex, work. All of these things are good for us but he moves them into the extremes and that is sin. Godliness is found in restraint! Secondly, the lust of the eye is the beautiful things we see all around us. When he tempted Christ he showed his the kingdoms of the world and their glory. What a sight and what a wonderful set of scenes he must have seen. However for Christ it meant nothing. Not all that glittered was gold and he was used to the glory of heaven itself! He turned from this temptation – it had no appeal to him. Thirdly, The pride of life. Everyone needs to feel they have a place in life. That they feel important at some level. However to think more highly of ones self than one aught to think is pride. Eve thought she was being really clever in sinning. Cleverer than God! So you see Satan takes things which are good and moves them into the extreme level and that is sin and this is what attracts us in temptation. John says simply, This world is temporary but whoever does the will of God will be eternal. This is the Jewish hope, righteousness in action and the promise of eternal life. The greatest blaspheme that John brings forth here is the denial of Jesus as the Messiah of Israel. John says, Go back to the message you heard from Christ while he was calling Israel to himself and let that message of the Kingdom, remain in you. He says, live righteously – so that when Christ returns you will not be ashamed at his coming. The test of being born again for the Jew is - Do you live righteously according to the law?
Steve
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