I John 2:15  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.

There are probably many people who will read this devotional who have heard what John wrote here before; “love not the world”. There are probably some who will read this devotional who do not stop to think of what those words mean. The world here refers both to the physical world and also the philosophy of the world. When you look at a New Evangelical group, it is clear that they love the world. People try to justify the New Evangelical corruption by claiming that we want to get down to where the people are. Who is the Saviour? Is it not Jesus Christ? Keep in mind that John was directed to write and remind us that he had handled Jesus. He sat with Him. He ate with Him. He saw how Jesus lived. Jesus never got down to where the sinners were. He was always the holy One of Israel. He was always the Son of God. He sat with publicans and sinners but no one could ever rightfully accuse Him of being one of them. It is not a shame to be holy. It is not a roadblock to reaching the lost to live a pure life. We do not have to be one of them to reach them.
When churches bring in the CCM of the day and drift over to more raunchy junk, that is not loving the people. That is loving the world. Why have many churches changed to the world’s music. It is because the people in the church are in love with the world. The world’s music and the world’s dress standards should turn your stomach if you are saved. Why would God’s children want to entice others to lust after their bodies?
The love of the world has a real hold on many people. We need to remember that Jesus Christ changes a lost sinner into a saint. He does not change a lost sinner into a lost sinner. That is nothing. There are rough edges that need to come off every new saint. Jesus called Peter “Satan” at one point. Notice what Jesus said to Peter:

Matthew 16:23  But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.

Peter had a major problem. He was a hindrance to the work of God. Peter needed to change. He had already been called to follow Jesus. He was told that Jesus would make him a fisher of men. It took Peter some time to get that straight. Even after Acts 2, Peter still had some problems with the world.
In Galatians 2:11 we read that the apostle Paul had to withstand Peter because Peter was to be blamed. He chose the world over God. He was afraid to be authentic. He sided with the Jews over the Gentile believers. He did not want to offend the Judaizers. He knew they were wrong, but he wanted their support. He loved the world. The apostle Paul loved God and he loved Peter. He could not allow Peter to carry on that way. He had to confront him publicly because Peter was hurting many other people who were present at that event.
We need to stop to consider the fact that those who are saved have the love of God in them. Jesus reached out to the lost, but He showed them a better way. He did not change the Old Testament writings. He taught them as they were intended to be taught. He quoted from the Psalms and from Isaiah and from other places. The people were amazed at His teaching. He did not teach like the Scribes and the Pharisees. He taught with authority.
If we are saved, we are not to love the world, neither the things that are in the world. The things the world has to offer cannot compete with what God promises. Jesus asked the question: “what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” The reality is that there is nothing that we can give to purify our souls. We need God to purify our souls. He does that through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who are saved need to put God first. We do not need to be like the world to win the world. We have already lost if that is our philosophy. We need to be more like Christ in order to reach the lost. They might be offended for a time due to the convicting work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Keep in mind that Jesus warned us that:

John 15:18  If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

We will see that again in John’s epistle. John continued by telling us that if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Strong words, but important words. True Christians do not compare themselves with one another. We need to look to God and take our direction from Him. That is what God directed John to write about in this epistle. The New Evangelical crowd has tried to rewrite the Bible. There are over 100 perversions of the Bible in English. They are all corrupt and the lost love them. A man recently showed me a book he was reading. He was excited about it. I asked if I could have a look at it. I turned to the inside first couple of pages to find out what the writer was using as his source. He had three different perversions listed as sources for his material. He also listed the King James version. That writer was completely confused. The man who showed me the book was also confused. As we talked, I pointed out the major problem with that book and he could not understand what I was saying. I explained what is going on with the perversions and why so many people like them. The apostle Paul warned Timothy:

II Timothy 4:3  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
4  And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

God told Paul to write that. Timothy needed to be reminded of what he was up against. There are many people who have itching ears. They do not want the truth. They want to hear what they already are believing. They want to have a stamp of approval on their false ideas. That does not help anyone.
By the way, the man I spoke to did not get mad at me. He did not run away. We talked for quite a while after that. He had many questions. He also stated he wanted to meet again. We will see where that goes, but God knows all about it. If that man will listen to God’s drawing on his heart, we will meet again. If he is like the majority of people, he will find someone to scratch his itching ears. My responsibility is to love God and to love people. The truth is what sets a person free.
In verse 16 we are reminded that ALL that is in the world, not just some of it, but all of it will pass away. John pointed out what is in the world: “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life”. Those things do not come from God. They are of the world. The secular world has been brainwashing people for some time now that we need to protect the self-esteem of others. Parents have been told for a long time not to spank their children. It is child abuse to spank a child, so they say. No child loves a spanking. They want to be hugged and they want candy and they want toys and they want and they want and they want.
The lust of the eyes is also not of the Father. The devil knows how to lure people in. God directed Solomon to write about the strange woman. He warned of the foolish man who is lured by the flattery of the strange woman. This man also is lured by her eyes and her lips. The vanity of makeup is all designed to lure in the men. The worldly dress standards are also for the same purpose. It is interesting how many women walk around advertising that they are for sale, or maybe available for free. Of course many of them would take great offence to hearing me say that. Solomon knew about the lust of the flesh. He had 700 wives and 300 concubines. They turned his heart away from God. They were not God-fearing women. God said one man for one woman for life. Solomon was not walking in the fear of the LORD. He allowed his lust of the flesh to ruin him and the nation of Israel.
The pride of life is what keeps a person from accepting God’s Word as truth. The pride of life will cause some to take offence to what I have written here. The pride of life is not of the Father. It is of the world. If you take offence to it you are just showing where your heart is.
Verse 17 reminds us that the world is passing away. The world is always changing. In my 72 years I have seen many changes. We have talked of them before. God has not changed but the world has certainly had a drastic affect on many churches. The lust of the world will also be gone one day. God declared that He will destroy this world with fire one day. The world’s philosophy will also be destroyed. Those who are saved will not drag the world’s philosophy into heaven. We need to learn to live in the light of what we will have there, now.
John wrote that “he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” We have already seen that those who are saved are expected to do the will of God. Our eternal life is not dependent on our works. Our works will testify to where our hearts are at. We cannot fool God. We might fool people, but we will answer to God, not man. Let us choose to follow Him and walk in fellowship with Him. We can do this if we are saved. We need reminders like this book to help us to check our course.
Pastor Bartel