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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
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
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
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
to the will of God,
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and secondly, it has the
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
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
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,
I'm not going to do it.
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God's against that,
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
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
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
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
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
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
I'm so worried about
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often because of the
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
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
to teach me was this,
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Paul, just because it
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
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
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
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
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.