DO NOT ENTER - WRONG WAY is a sign that many of us have observed at the end of most freeway off-ramps. Still, on occasion, you hear about someone that was killed because they entered. There are many “Do Not” signs at construction sites. “DO NOT REMOVE SAFETY CABLE,” “DO NOT STAND ON TOP OF LADDER,” even “DO NOT TOUCH WET PAINT.” In every case, there is a significant negative, often fatal, impact to the one who disobeys the warning.
If we realize the importance of these signs in everyday life, how much more should we be ready to obey the “Do Not” commands of God? One such command can be found in 1 John 2:15-17. Turn there and read in your Bible, it starts “Do not love the world…” This is not a hint; it’s a command.
There are 3 usages of the word “world” in the Bible. One is the physical creation (Gen 1, Acts 17:24). Another is the human race (John 3:16). The third use is for the world system that rejects God and is ruled by Satan (1 Jn 5:19 & Jn 13:31). This is the world that we must not love; the world that through the transgression of one, sin entered into. In 2 Cor. 4:4, we learn “the god of this world (Satan) has blinded the minds of the unbelieving.” Men, we live in a world that should be foreign to believers, however, we are not told to isolate ourselves from the world, just not to love the world. (Jn 17:14-16)
Four reasons can be found from 1 John 2:15-17 as to why true believers should not love the world: The first is that God commands it and the second contrasts that to love the world would be to not love God. “If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” We learn from 1 John 4:19 that “We love because He first loved us.” To not have love for God would be to not have God’s love. This is not to say that we are perfect, but there should be a heartfelt internal conflict when we stumble into areas that reject God (Rom 7:15). The third reason we should not love the world is that the world opposes God. All that is in the world makes up the root of every sin “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life.” These things are from the world not from God. Romans 12:1 says that we should not be conformed to the world, but transformed. How? By knowing and applying God’s word. Jesus should be our example (Matt 4). Finally, the fourth reason is that we will outlast the world. The things of this world are fleeting and not lasting, yet those of God will abide with Him forever. One’s faith in Jesus Christ brings eternal life (1 Jn 5:11-12). The true believer has victory and has overcome the world through faith in Jesus Christ. (1 Jn 5:4-5)
Men, may each of us take heed to God’s command — Do not love the world.
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You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. — James 4:4
If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. — C.S. Lewis
If the devil were wise enough and would stand by in silence and let the Gospel be preached, he would suffer less harm. For when there is no battle for the Gospel it rusts and it finds no cause and no occasion to show its vigor and power. Therefore, nothing better can befall the Gospel than that the world should fight it with force and cunning. — Martin Luther
The neglected heart will soon be a heart overrun with worldly thoughts; the neglected life will soon become a moral chaos; the church that is not jealously protected by mighty intercession and sacrificial labors will before long become the abode of every evil bird and the hiding place for unsuspected corruption. The creeping wilderness will soon take over that church that trusts in its own strength and forgets to watch and pray. — A. W. Tozer