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In 1 John 2

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there is a very important Scripture

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with regard to the believer.

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It's in verse 15.

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He says, "Do not love the world,

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nor the things in the world.

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If anyone loves the world,

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the love of the Father is not in him.

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All that is in the world,

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the lust of the flesh and [br]the lust of the eyes

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and the boastful pride of life

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is not from the Father,

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but is from the world.

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The world is passing away,

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and also its lusts,

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but the one who does the will of God

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lives forever."

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Now, what does it mean to love the world?

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Well, first of all, we need to[br]define what the world is.

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The world has to do with

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all that stands contrary to the

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revealed will of God.

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Now, also it says that the world[br]is passing away,

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so there is a way in which we can

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also add an extra definition,

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but we have to be very, very careful.

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And that is this,

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the world is also something

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that is temporal.

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So the world is, first of all,

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that which is contrary [br]to the will of God,

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and secondly, it has the [br]aspect of temporal.

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So in order to know what the world is,

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we need to study the Scriptures.

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And we find those things [br]which God is against.

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Those ideas, those attitudes,

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those actions, those words,

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that are simply opposed [br]to God's Scripture.

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That is one aspect of the world.

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Now, there are some people who are

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very serious about walking with the Lord,

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and I praise God for them.

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And they look at Scripture and they say,

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God is against this, [br]I'm not going to do it.

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God's against that, [br]I'm not going to do it.

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And that's good.

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But then they also get to this aspect

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of this thing is passing away,

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so it must be worldly.

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And that's a little bit dangerous.

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Why?

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There are many things [br]that are passing away,

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that are not necessarily evil.

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Let me give you an example.

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My body is passing away.

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That doesn't make it evil.

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The sunset I saw this [br]morning is passing away.

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But that doesn't necessarily make it evil.

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Even my marriage with my lovely wife

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is passing away.

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But that doesn't make it outside of

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or opposed to the will of God.

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It seems like there's always two extremes

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in the Christian life.

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Do you know what I mean?

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Someone who does not [br]take the commands

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of God seriously,

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and simply just living continuously

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like an unbeliever.

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And then there's the person who

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takes God's commandments seriously.

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But becomes monkish,

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becomes separated from life.

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Becomes separated from many of the things

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that are manifestations of God's

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common grace in this world.

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A holy man isn't someone who

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just goes to church.

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Isn't someone who just reads his Bible,

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or just prays.

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A holy man is someone who is

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involved actively in relationships;

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It's someone that can [br]look at all the grace

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that God has given us in this life,

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whether it's marriage or children

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or friends or even food,

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or creation.

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So many experiences God has given us

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that are manifestations of His grace.

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And so many people deny those things.

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They're opposed to them;

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they hate them,

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when actually, they are good[br]gifts of God.

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One of the things that I would say is that

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if you're just like the unbelieving world,

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you're in trouble.

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You're worldly.

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On the other hand,

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if your desire to obey God has

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just separated you from almost

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everything in life, even the good things,

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and is gradually taking more and more

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of your joy away,

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and making you severe

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and loveless and critical,

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you've got a problem on the other side.

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The Christian is someone who is not

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bound by things.

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Not even bound by the good things of God.

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And yet at the same time,

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knows how to enjoy them

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and delight in them.

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One of the things that [br]I'm so worried about

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often because of the [br]way I preach sometimes.

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There's a need to point out sin,

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but you need to realize that

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that which is life is not sin.

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There's so much good in this world.

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So many things to enjoy.

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I'm overwhelmed at the goodness of God.

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One time, years and years ago,

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someone told me this and [br]I'll never forget it.

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They said, "Paul,

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God put leaves on trees.

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He didn't put religious tracts on trees."

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And what they were trying [br]to teach me was this,

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Paul, just because it [br]doesn't have the title

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of being religious or even Christian,

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doesn't make it evil.

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And I've taken that to heart,

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because I see that it's biblical.

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I enjoy my friends.

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I enjoy even my interactions with

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many, many lost people that

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I want to win to the Lord.

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The times that I've had with them,

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the conversations,

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even the laughter I've had with them.

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I enjoy nature.

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I enjoy hiking and kayaking.

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I enjoy laughter,

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and even though I may get[br]in trouble on this one,

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I enjoy grabbing my wife in the kitchen

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and doing a dance through the living room

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as my children are all applauding

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and laughing.

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One of the things also if you're a parent,

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I want to say this,

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you know there are so many evils

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out there for our children,

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and we have to guard them

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from those things,

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but here's something else,

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you need to replace those things

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with something good.

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If all you ever do is take away the world

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from your children,

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but you do not allow them to experience

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the good graces that God has given us

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throughout this planet,

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then you're going to create either

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a religious hypocrite,

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or someone who will eventually

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turn away from the faith,

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or someone who is severe and

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loveless and legalistic.

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And we don't need any of those things.

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Godliness is not removing yourself

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to live on some 40 acre farm in Kansas

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so that the world doesn't touch you.

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Godliness is living on this planet,

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interacting with Christians

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and unbelievers.

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Seeing all the wonderful [br]things from prayer

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to Bible study to fasting

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to walking down a country lane,

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to poetry.

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It's being able to take [br]in all these things,

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and to appreciate them

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while at the same time

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loving the Lord your God [br]with all your heart,

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soul, mind, and strength

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and seeing that all these good gifts

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come from Him.