Warnings are Good – Right?

The Apostle John is known as the “Apostle of Love”; yet one could argue that the most hardcore truths are found in John’s letter ‘1John’. This is very interesting, and some might consider it ironic. When we understand that love speaks truth, we can rightly conclude that John’s lettering is not ironic at all, it is what you would expect from someone who loves.

After all, love warns a blind man who is unknowingly walking toward a cliff. A doctor who loves warns of a disease, he doesn’t ignore it so you can walk out of your appointment believing nothing is wrong.  A mechanic doesn’t tell you the “loud squeaking” is nothing and lets you drive out of the lot in danger of your brakes failing.

We can point to countless examples like this, where people warn other people because they care, doctors, dentists, mechanics, lawyers, counselors, teachers, and police officers. We also expect “things” to warn us, like traffic signs, check engine lights, and past due notices.

Why is it that we appreciate all the warnings of this world; yet, when it comes to warning about what God has revealed in His Word it is not received with the same appreciation? Even many that call themselves Christians shriek at the warnings found in 1John.

Consider this; would you rather be warned that you have cancer, or that you are on a path that will lead to eternal hell? After all, as Zig Ziglar used to say, “friend, you’re going to be dead lots longer than you’re going to be alive.”

Before we get into the warnings of 1John, please consider this. Of all the examples of the warnings listed above, would it be better if you buried your head in the sand and ignored them, and maybe you were never told to begin with; or would you want to know? If you were never told, or you ignored the warning of a life-threatening disease, would you have the disease any less by ignoring it or not being informed? If your car’s brakes were on the verge of failing, would ignoring the warnings, or never being made aware, change the outcome of failed brakes while heading into a busy intersection?

In the same way, to the Nth degree, ignoring the warnings of 1John does not remove the result.

We know that John is very concerned about his “little children”. His primary concern is that his “little children” not sin:

1John 2:1a My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.

It is very interesting how John “toggles” back and forth from “warnings” to “relief”; as he does in the rest of 1John 2:1:

1John 2:1b But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

This text is so comforting for Christians, much like 1John 1:9:

1John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

As Christians we cling to verses like 1John 1:9, and we should. But we must also heed the warnings with the same zeal. Warnings like 1John 2:15:

1John 2:15a Do not love the world or the things in the world.

This verse gets even heavier:

1Johnn 2:15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

Whoa!! Consider the magnitude of not having the love of the Father in you!!

John 14:21 Whoever has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

Let’s work through this logically:

1. We all started out this life as “children of Wrath”; therefore, we either still are, or we are no longer
   1. Ephesians 2:3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
2. As Christians, we had our eyes opened to the reality of our condition, and have trusted in Jesus to save us
   1. John 6:29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”
   2. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
3. We know that many will call Jesus Lord, but are not all genuine believers
   1. Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in Heaven.
   2. John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
4. The genuineness of our faith is evident by “doing the will of the Father”, and our obedience to the Son. We must test ourselves.
   1. 2Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!
   2. John 3:3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

If we are “testing ourselves”, if we are looking for evidence of having been born again, we must look to God’s Word. John is clearly illustrating one trail marker of this evidence:

1John 2:15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

Before we define “the world” we should consider this fact. John says, “do not love the world”; therefore, if you read that and think, “whoa, I am trouble, there is much of the world I love!” This may be true, but you can now respond to that conviction and at this moment determine not to love the world as John is about to define it. You can stop loving the world in the same way John The Baptist spoke when he was testifying of the coming Messiah:

Luke 3:10-14 And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?”  And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.”  Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”

That is the perfect question, right? When God convicts a man there is no better question than a panicked response of, “what must I do!?”

John tells them what to do. The tax-collectors were collecting beyond what was required, so he told them to quit doing that. Soldiers were extorting with threats and false accusations, so he told them to quit doing that and be content with their pay.

Therefore, in the same way, the Apostle John is saying here, “Do not love the world”.  You can ignore the warning, but then you should know this, if you ignore the warning, and instead continue to love the world, “the love of the Father is not in you.”

Just as 2 + 2 = 4, can we then conclude that if the love of the Father is not in a person, that person is not born again, and if they are not born again, they will not enter the Kingdom of God.

I read these texts and my mind immediately goes to, “I want Eternal Life, I want the love of the Father in me; therefore, I am going to examine myself and make sure I am not loving the world as John is warning about.”

What is the world?

We know John is not talking about the physical world, he is talking about the things of the world, the things contrary to God. We know this because John defines “the world” for us:

1John 2:16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.

A logical question would be, “if the things of this world are not from the Father, what or who are they from?” John answers that question later in the letter:

1John 5:19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

God has allowed the evil one, Satan, the devil, to have influence on this world and at these three primary points the evil one has the greatest impact:

1. The desires of the flesh

The desires of the flesh could be defined as what fallen man is by nature. Natural man is self-focused and self-centered. If it feels good, do it regardless of whether or not it aligns with God’s will or not. The desire of the flesh is about satisfy your desires, your cravings. This side of glory we will continue to have temptations of the flesh, but it is up to you, Christian, to war against the flesh, it is up to you to hate those desires of the flesh, not love them.

2. The desires of the eyes

In the same way that the desire of the flesh has a man seeking to gratify those desires, the desires of the eyes have man seeing something that is “appetizing” to him and going after it with no regard to the will of God. Our first example of this was in the Garden:

Genesis 3:6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

The desire of the eyes, ironically, cloud our ability to see truth. In the garden, the woman knew the fruit of this tree was forbidden to eat, yet, instead of believing God, she believed the father of lies and ate what she knew was forbidden, which she determined was a “delight to the eyes”. The enemy will always place appetizing things or people in your sight, it is up to you, Christian, not to pursue them, it is up to you to refrain from indulging, it is up to you not to love those things.

3. The pride of life

You could say the “the pride of life” are things that a man trusts in, or what defines him. For example, the rich trust in their riches, the religious trust in their religion and rituals, the powerful trust in their might, and the “good” trust in their “goodness”. A man remains marred by pride when he thinks he is “something” apart from Christ.

As I was writing this, I am reminded of what defined me when I was young. We didn’t have money, or material things, or influence, but what I did have was a meanness and a toughness. No matter what I didn’t have, I knew nobody could take this from me. Although I am ashamed of it now, I really thought that was something, it defined me, and I was proud of this “definition”.

Essentially, “pride of life” is thinking we are something when they are nothing:

Galatians 6:3 For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

John continues his warning, a warning that this “world” and all its sinful desires, the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life will be gone. The “world” that so many love is passing away, but along with this warning comes more relief, another promise for you, Christian:

1John 2:17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

In short, Christian, DO NOT LOVE THE WORLD, BUT INSTEAD DO THE WILL OF GOD, WHICH IS CONTRARY TO THE WORLD’S WAYS.