Certain Eternity Part 18 – Do Not Love The World Part 1

Date
February 1, 2025
Speaker
Nikolas Tsamoutalidis
Topic
Love
Series
Certain Eternity—1 John
Book
1 John

Nikolas Tsamoutalidis

1/26/25

1 John 2:15-17

Transcripted with Slide Breaks:

SLIDE 1

Let us pray: Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be your name. Lord God you are the maker of heaven and earth and all that is in it. We exalt you and magnify your name. Thank you for sending your son Jesus (John 3:16: For God so loved the world that HE gave HIS only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.) And that HE lived the life we could never live, and died the death that we deserved. He was mocked, beaten, tortured…crucified and buried. Thank you Father God that HE was raised on the third day and defeated hell, death, and the grave. And your word says if you confesses with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him for the dead, you will be saved. And not only are we forgiven, accepted, adopted, and redeemed but you knew we needed help and so you gave us the greatest gift a divine deposit of your Holy Spirit. We have the privilege of having your spirit in us, you reside in us. Christ in us, the Hope of Glory. And because of this we have the same spirit in us that raised Jesus from the dead. Thank you Father that we get to be your Ambassadors for Christ and you make your appeal through us so we can implore others on behalf of Christ to be reconciled to you Lord. There are far too many whom the gods of this age has blinded; are lost, confused, without belief in you and are suffering…teach us to preach you by our countenance/disposition, actions and deeds so that our lives can be a living sacrifice and witness to a world that is literally on fire, deceived, and lost. Lord break our hearts for the lost because you love the world you created and all that is in it. Lord teach us that all our gatherings, the reading and studying your Word are so that we grow in our love for you and our love for others. You call us to love people more than ideas. Father God, I pray that we impose our wills and set ourselves apart this morning, that are minds are stayed on you where perfect peace is found…thank you that this gathering is a glorious celebration of a life of another, you Lord. And it’s all about you. Thank you for this gift, this dress rehearsal this morning that is a glimpse of what the awe and wonder of heaven will be like…until then Lord may we walk worthy of the calling for which we have been called. I pray and say all of this in the name above all names, Jesus. And everyone said; Amen.
Good morning Church. This morning is the 18th sermon in the first letter of John and our series Certain Eternity.
We are all hardwired to love. We love. It’s what we do as humans every moment of every day, in every location and situation. You are never not loving. It’s been woven into the very fabric of your being. It’s the way God constructed you. Why did HE hardwire us to love? Why is this an essential part of who you are? God created you with this capacity so that you would have what you need to live in a loving, worshipping relationship WITH HIM. Your capacity to love was created FOR HIM. Your desire to love was meant to draw you TO HIM. Your heart was designed to long for love, and that longing was meant to find its final fulfillment IN HIM. But here is the tragedy. Sin causes us all in some way to turn our backs on the love of God and give the principal love of our hearts to someone or something else. We seek to have our hearts fulfilled by the horizontal love of the creation instead of the vertical love of the Creator. Thus, we love the creation more than the creator. We love other people more than we love God. We love ourselves so much that we have little energy left to love the ONE who is love. We run from thing to thing, hoping our hearts will find contentment in earthly love. We’re all spiritually promiscuous, running from one love to another and loyalty of our hearts to things other than God. We are spiritual adulterers giving away what by design belongs to God and God alone. The Bible is a love story that looked like it would end in tragedy—but thankfully & gratefully Jesus came. God is love and HE sent His Son of Love to make the ultimate and final sacrifice of love so that we would become people who LOVE HIM. HE covers us with HIS (Agape) Love that never gives up on us even in our most unloving day. By His Grace, He transforms our heart so that His Spirit in us can sanctify us from Glory to Glory to Glory so we can keep creation and all the horizontal loves in its proper place and keep the vertical and ultimate love of our hearts FOR HIM & HIM ALONE. Aren’t you grateful for His rescuing love?
And because of this, I believe that the greatest immunity against the allures/lies/temptations of the world as a follower of Jesus Christ is to recite and remind ourselves of the Gospel daily as I did in my prayer a few minutes ago. And so as we begin this morning I would like to level set us with the greatest reminder and gift we can ever receive.
(Romans 8:35-39): Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.[a] 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
How often do you think about the fact that Jesus willingly endured constant rejection and injustice throughout His life so that you and I would experience the unshakable love of God forever. His calling, His mission, was to suffer and this was an everyday thing. He deserved to be loved, but was rejected so that we could be eternally loved. He was loved by the father, and loved us. So the fulfillment of His love was greater than anything he ever needed/wanted from the world. Which is an excellent example to us as well as we walk more deeply in the love of the Father, Son, and Spirit and as we love the world meaning the people including the lost – even when we are reviled (which John will talk about later in the letter) we can love – because of God’s love for us that has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that we have in us, with us, and is for us. This is the example Jesus gave us. His act of suffering was substitional in our place so He could put an end to our suffering. He came as a suffering servant, who in His suffering would save us from ourselves and finally from our suffering. He endured separation so that nothing could ever separate us from the Father’s Love. If God was willing to give up His Son so that we could know His love, doesn’t it make sense that He will also w/ Him give us everything else that we need? His suffering was our salvation. His suffering is our Hope. The promise of the Christmas story that we celebrate each December is unshakable Love and every need met. But that’s not all. As amazing as the grace of forgiveness and acceptance are, God knew we needed daily help. He didn’t just accept us, he came to us and made us the place where God dwells. Our ultimate and final identity. Do we allow our hearts and minds to meditate on this wonder? “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20) By grace He lives in us and we are the temple of the Most High God. By grace His power is at our disposal. He works within us to complete the labor of grace that He has begun. He convicts us and encourages us. We are able to choose and do what is right only because He lives in us and gives us the power to do so by His Grace, He hasn’t just forgiven us, He has taken up residence in us, Christ in us the Hope of Glory. And that is the ultimate reason that you and I have Hope—God has made us the address where HE lives. This means that the ONE who can do more than we are able to conceive of is constantly with us and constantly working on our behalf. The (5) most Hopeful words: I Am with you always. John purposely repeated themes throughout His letter that we have been studying. Like John I have purposely followed suit by communicating and repeating the Good News of Christ within these first few minutes together. Because we know faith comes by hearing and that faith is a gift from God. Where do you currently stand in regards to this gift?
And so I ask; Is the worth of His love greater to you than all of the earthly treasures? If His Love, Blood, and Grace is all you have anymore; is that enough? Your honest answer to these questions determines to what degree you love the world.

SLIDE 2

Oswald Chambers Quote: Not often, but every once in a while, God brings us to a major turning point—a great crossroads in our life. From that point we either go toward a more and more slow, lazy, useless Christian life, or we become more and more on fire, giving our utmost for His glory.
And I have a sense that some of us are right here and depending on the soil of our hearts will humbly receive what the Lord shows you this morning and be ignited by the grace of the Holy Spirit or maybe checkboxes that is more morality based boxed in by the culture we find ourselves living in…and dare I say devoid of the power when John says, in 1 John 5:4 coming up in a few weeks – “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world.” And this is the victory that overcomes the world—our faith! My prayer is that there is a greater submission, trust, and surrender for all of us and especially for those who are lacking confidence or whatever it may be to present Christ to others in our daily living…one step at a time.
So let me start with an illustration: There once was a wealthy man who had lost his beloved son, and then later he himself died. Over the course of his life, he had accumulated a number of expensive, valuable and rare commodities which, following his death were to be auctioned off in an estate sale. Knowing this person’s taste and choice of exquisite furniture, art, and the like, hundreds of people showed up for this auction. The day began, though, with a piece that most showed no interest in at all. The auctioneer had come forward with a cheaply framed picture of the man’s only son, saying, “The first piece we’re offering today is this portrait of the man’s son.” He paused to give everyone a chance to view it, then continued. “Do I have a bid?” The room fell silent as no one raised their hands to bid on this framed portrait. They had come for some of the expensive art pieces and artifacts, not for something as simple as that. He could tell by the faces of the attendees that this wasn’t something anyone really wanted to buy. But he asked once more, “Do I have a bid?” Does anyone want this portrait of the man’s son?” Just then, from the back of the room, an elderly man stepped forward and said, “Sir, I was the servant of the man who died, and if nobody will take the picture of his son, I want to know if I can have it.” The auctioneer said, “One more time. Is there anyone who will bid on the picture of the son?” Yet nobody did. So, he said, “Yes, sir,” to the servant. “The picture is yours.” The elderly servant slowly walked forward to take hold of the picture of the man’s son. Looking lovingly on the boy’s image, he then tucked it under his arm and headed toward the back of the room. As he did, though to everyone’s shock, the auctioneer picked up his gavel, banged it down, and said, “The auction is now over.” Everybody looked around and said, “What? You haven’t brought out any of the expensive pieces that are supposed to be sold. How can the auction be over?” The auctioneer replied…
I’ll share the ending at the end of the sermon…I am hoping that this illustration and story will be etched into your mind as we are called to set ourselves apart, to be in the world and not of it…to have the love of the Father in us and not the world. So in every situation, location, and relationship in our lives, God is employing people, places, and things as his tools of transformative grace to sanctify us to be more like Christ in an environment and in many spaces that are diametrically opposed to HIM.

SLIDE 3

open your Bibles or your Bible App to the book of 1 John, chapter 2 verses 15-17 which is an incredibly critical text for our day – especially since right from the gate verse 15 is an attack on our relationship with God & the snare of worldliness
The counsel of John is clear and just as important today as when he penned the words: READ VERSES 15-17
At first glance this could seem to be a contradictory text especially since we are called as followers of Christ to love like Him — self sacrificially, by this they will know that you are my disciples. (John 13:35) – By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. And even in a world where the word love has been cheapened to mean anything…you can still know the AGAPE Love Jesus is referring to when HE references John 15:12-14: 12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. Jesus is teaching His disciples then and now that to imitate Him (which is the goal of every believer) and to become Christ-like we are called/summoned to die to ourselves, and display self-sacrificial love. A stark contrast to the world which is frequently beckoning us to be about me, myself, and I.
We love because God is love. We love because God first loved us. (1 John 4:19) We love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and we love our neighbor as ourselves. (Matthew 22:37-39) & (Mark 12:30-31). There are myriad commands to love one another. In fact, that is how the world knows that we are Christians, by our love which I have already reference but not only our love for one another, we are commanded to love our enemies (Matthew 5:43-44).
By love we fulfill the law. The Apostle Paul says in (Romans 13:8-10), “Owe no one anything, except to love each other. The one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,’ and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”
And then there is the issue of the world. This seems to contradict one of our most beloved verse in the Bible, (John 3:16), “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, (that’s exactly what the Gospel is) so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” HE loved the world and we are to love the lost in this regard, we are to love the people of the world that we would pray and work for their redemption…and God has given us much work in this regard.
And so here we are being commanded “DO NOT LOVE”…and unless we dig into this can cause confusion or an incorrect interpretation. But if we do not follow then we will be in sin, which means that some love can be sinful. And we live in a time and culture where this word, “LOVE” has been cheapened to be whatever we feel like it is, especially if it gratifies your passions. So let’s examine closer what John means in these verses.

SLIDE 4

It all begins when we examine the Greek word for world. The word for world is Kosmon in the Greek. This word Kosmon was used by John in his writings at least (3) different ways.
First, it can refer to all of creation – the entire world. You can see this in your handout. Examples of this are in the Gospel of John 1, 3, 4-8. So it refers to all the world, planet earth & the universe. John is not saying that we should not love the created global earth, universe, and all that is in it.
Second, the term world/kosmon refers to the people that inhabit the world HE created. HE is NOT saying to NOT love people or mankind. Thus, the mass of humanity. Because that flies in the face of John 3:16: For God so loved the world,[a] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
We are called to love our enemies and the Great Commandment: To Love The Lord your God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself.
There is a third use of the term Kosmon/world and it refers to the spiritual realm that is in opposition to God and in rebellion against HIM and HIS Kingdom. So, it is this third sense of the world being discussed by John which is why I have it bolded in the handout. We are not to love or give ourselves over to the world’s system or its way of doing things which is an anti-God or ignoring-God way of doing things that characterizes much of our society. And sadly, it is easy to be allured and to love the world in this sense.
One of the first examples of this idea of the world in the Bible helps us to understand this point. Please turn to Genesis 11 where it speaks of human society’s united rebellion against God at the tower of Babel. Let me read the first 9 verses: 11 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2 And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” 5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. 6 And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused[a] the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.
So we learn here – At the tower of Babel, there was an anti-God leader of humanity (whose name was Nimrod). There was organized rebellion against God (in disobeying the command to disperse over the whole earth). There was direct distrust of God’s word and promise and this was all about human independence and self sufficiency apart from God; like they have no need of God. Something to note; that the confusion of their language did NOT harm anything other than their “system”, which was devoted to separation from God. The people (2nd meaning of world) and the land, etc. (1st meaning) were not harmed by the confusion. This further emphasizes the difference in the meanings and what aspect of the “world” the Lord pushed back against which is the system, fueled by the mindset/thinking.
So the whole story of the tower of Babel shows us that fundamental fact about the world system. The world’s progress, technology, government, and organization can make man better off, but not better. Because we like being better off, being comfortable, fitting in, it is easy to fall in love with the world.
Finally, the story of the tower of Babel shows us that the world system – as impressive and winning as it appears to be – will never win out over God. The Lord defeated the rebellion at the tower of Babel easily. The world system will never win out over God.
Do NOT Love The World is when your love becomes sinful when it is directed at that system that is anti-God, anti-Kingdom, AND which is Satanic. James 4:4 says, You adulterous people![a] Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
You cannot serve two masters. You will love the one and hate the other. It’s an either/or situation. You can’t love the world (system that is anti-God) and love God at the same time. In our salvation we were taken out of that kosmon system, the world. 1 Peter 2:9 reminds us – But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Remember that one of the themes of 1 John is that God is highlighting the difference between His kingdom of light and the world system of darkness. These verses are critical in highlighting that difference and the warning to not get caught up in the darkness as evidenced by what we love. Our allegiance, worldview, and kingdom was exchanged and transferred.
But if our love & allegiance is still for the world and this anti-God system then was it ever transferred?
We see a glimpse of this two verses later in 1 John 2:19 – They went out from among us, because they were not of us. If they had been of us, they would have remained. But they left, so that it might be known,” so that it might be obvious, “that we might see that they were never ours.” They were never His, because their love, their affections were pointed at the system that is opposed to God.
We have to constantly examine ourselves to see if the kosmon/world this system that is anti-god has allured us cunningly. We have to be disciplined and fight daily against the mindset and ways of the world but also not take it in a morality/legalistic way which puffs up our pride. You can abstain from things that worldly people do and looked down on them which is one of the tactics of the enemy. Because I can love something (fill in the blank: drugs, alcohol, sex) and not partake in it. My heart can be angled in that direction and not partake in it and allow my moralism or legalism or pridefulness fool me by thinking that I am better than I was and also better than you. But I love it internally even though I do not act out on it, which is good. But if it is fanning my pride and arrogance then it is not. Because John is not saying do not participate in the world…he is saying Do Not Love the World. It takes spiritual discernment and maturity to realize the difference. And this happens by renewing and transforming our minds through the spiritual practices of prayer, fasting, reading His Word, gathering with other believers more than on Sundays, and worshipping the Lord and desiring to please HIM through our lives.
The world buys our love with the great things it has to give us. Cars, homes, gadgets, and the status that goes with all of them, can really make our hearts at home in the world.
Through the centuries, Christians have dealt with the magnetic pull of the world in different ways. At one time it was thought that if you were a really committed Christian and really wanted to love God instead of the world, you would leave human society and live as a monk or a nun out in a desolate monastery. This approach, and other approaches that seek to take us out of the world, have two problems. The first problem is that we bring the world with us into our monastery. The other problem is that Jesus intended us to be in the world but not of the world. We see this in His prayer for us in John 17:14-18 – I have given them your word…they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.[a] 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them[b] in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. Therefore, we are NOT to isolate, we are to ENGAGE through the love of God and man…not the world system.
The World Cannot Give You What You Need (1 John 2:15) The longing of the human heart is to be loved and to love. The objects of our affections and devotion need to be rightly ordered if we are truly to find ultimate and lasting satisfaction. John commands us to not love the world or the things that belong to the world. Why? To love the world is to not Love Father God, which is what you and I really need. It is what we were created for. John is telling us to choose your lover, but choose carefully, choose wisely. Choose God the Father, not the worldly enticements of the “father of lies” (John 8:44). We must recognize that turning even good things into “god” things becomes a bad thing. It is to give your love to a lesser lover—one who can never satisfy, who can never give you what you truly need.
Beware of anything that competes with your loyalty to Jesus Christ.
Personal story: The greatest competitor of true devotion to Jesus is the service we do for Him. It is easier to serve than to completely pour out our lives for Him. I am a goal oriented/achievement type of person. It was born out of a complicated relationship w/ my father and a lack of encouragement/validation. SO; I have always thrown myself into getting things done especially growing up as an ELL/free/reduced lunch kid. Having a chip on your shoulder and proving yourself to doubters. My high school coach doubted me in playing beyond a D 2 or 3 state school. I proved him wrong w/ a full scholarship to ISU. Lehigh U. told me my SAT scores were too low to be recruited. I got a M.Ed. with a 3.9 GPA. SO going full tilt and not half “you know what” anything is ingrained in me. I started a 2nd Masters program in 2019 from a prompting I know was from the Lord pre- pandemic. And obtained my masters in Clinical Counseling which has allowed me to be in the position I currently hold and has opened new opportunities such as working with a educational consulting firm part-time, adjunct faculty at Moravian U. as I pivot to future retirement plans. One of the opportunities was being sponsored by the district to complete the Franklin Covey Executive Coaching program these past 13 months as I attained over 100 hours of coaching. And the culmination to this program was studying/cramming 11 days of test instead of the usual/average 90 days. And on 1/2nd I took the ICF Credentialing Exam and passed it, which is the Gold Standard in coaching. And in a few months I will be taking the NCE Exam so I can be LPC Certified as the last component of future retirement plans. And the vision is to offer coaching, counseling, consulting to Pastors for free. However, I know that I need guardrails due to lack of validation as a kid, and a lifetime of folks telling me what I can not do. I tell you this because I can get overly goal focused…I am sure some of you may be able to relate. So we need guardrails, honesty, and others who we allow to speak into our lives or we allow to peek into our lives. Good things can become “god things” and we deceive ourselves by so many ways. Am I more devoted to service than I am to Jesus Christ Himself? I am frequently asking myself this question…WHY? Because knowing my bent…Goals can become gods. Because a lot of sacrifice goes into my 3 goal planning and goal achieving for this year: ICF Certified (done); NCE Certified/LPC (April); Seed Group Gathering (ongoing) and I can make an argument that this is all Kingdom Work. But am I living for these goals? Am I serving them? I can not serve two masters. It’s an either/or situation. Have they taken over my heart and my first love? I am constantly examining myself in light of the truth in scripture. During the 11 days of ICF study prep I had to double down my time in prayer and scripture reading. I needed to keep my heart soft and alert for convictions.

SLIDE 5

We move on to the next section of your handout with the following questions.
How do you know if you love something?
Do you know what you really love. Well let’s think about that for a few moments. I’ve been thinking a lot about that this the last few weeks and I want to help you flush that out a little bit. I want to help you really think through that a little bit. First of all and this is not an exhaustive list but I believe that this can shed light and help you shed light on the things that you love. First of all do you think about it? Do you think about the issue, or that thing? What do you think about? What do you really think about? What do you maybe even daydream about? What do you think long and hard & talk about? What are the things that you talk about when you have the opportunity? When you really like to talk about something what do you like to talk about? What do you get excited about? I mean the things that you truly get excited about. Maybe are revealing something. How about this one, do you obsess over it? Meaning do you think a lot about it? Perhaps you might not even be able to get away from it. What I mean is that physically you are with others, but you remind and thoughts are somewhere else on this thing. And here’s a big one, what are the things that you sacrifice for? Do you forego certain things? Do you sacrifice financially? Do you sacrifice in time? Do you sacrifice in effort or in comfort for it? What we sacrifice the most for has the most potential to become a God replacement. Do you defend it? And find yourself making reason for it or even excuse for it. Do you return to it? Is it the kind of thing that you keep coming back to? Maybe even if you don’t want to. Do you learn about it you know it’s amazing and perhaps it’s a part of an obsession or part of something that you love. You know all about it. Do you work for/at/ or on it all the time? Do you work at it? Do you work for it or do you work on it? How about this, do you allow it to control you? Does it control you, that very often it’s something that you come back and you would say; I love this. How about this, do you either privately hoard it or proudly share it? Does it keep you up at night?

You see, what I want us to think broadly for just a moment when we think about this list a bit, think about the things that you love in this life now. What’s interesting about this is we are notoriously positive about our own heart in our own life. I know I am. We are notoriously prone to give ourselves a pass and to judge ourselves really lightly. Or conversely, to judge ourselves too harshly. Pride and self-righteousness work both ways. So my question is not what do you say that you would love so much, but based on the above behaviors…what are the things that others would say you love. If you were to ask your wife, if you were to ask your husband, or if you were to ask your children what would they say?
It’s okay to love some things we want to be very careful but never above God. It’s worth repeating: Beware of anything that competes with your loyalty to Jesus Christ. What are the things that you get excited about?…that you talk about?…that you defend?…that you return to?…that you obsess about? Because these can reveal the things that you love. And we want to be careful and not be like the church in Ephesus. Please turn to Revelation Chapter 2, verses 2-4. In Revelation 2: 2-4: 2 “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. 4 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. They are commended for their perseverance and discerning theology (which describes many Christians) in verses 2 and 3 AND makes the indictment of losing their first love even stronger. These were people who were overcoming trials and had good theology….but they fell away from their love of Jesus/the Lord.
As followers of Christ, our first love must be the person of Jesus Christ! The Ephesians were doing the right things outwardly but without the heart, love and personal devotion to Jesus anymore. Perhaps it was more of an “I have to” instead of “I get to” mentality. It is easy for our Christian lives to just become a religion, going through the motions but the Lord does not want that! We can become a Martha, active and serving the Lord while missing ‘what is better’, that which Mary chose, to be fellowshipping with Him (Luke 10:38-42) the story of Mary and Martha is where Jesus visits their home and while Martha is busy preparing food and serving, Mary chooses to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to his teachings, highlighting the importance of prioritizing spiritual connection over worldly tasks; Jesus affirms Mary’s choice as the “better part” that will not be taken away from her. Martha: Represents someone focused on outward actions and service, getting caught up in the details of hospitality. Mary: Represents someone who chooses to prioritize listening to and learning from Jesus, focusing on a deeper spiritual connection. “One thing is necessary”: Jesus’ statement to Martha, indicating that while serving is good, actively listening to his teachings & following is the most important thing. Jesus prioritizes sincere humble faith over rote tradition or cultural standards. Like Martha, how many times has our busyness led us to miss a sacred moment? How many times have we missed the Lord’s promptings because of our busyness?
Are any of us in this predicament? We have another first love? Are we deceived & our hearts may be hardened that we’re not even aware that something else has become or could be vying to become our first love? Do we rationalize, justify, or explain? But I am hoping and praying that you ask those closest to you. That we bring it into the light.

SLIDE 6

We move on to the next section of your handout. What are the things that those closest to you would say that you love? What eternal things occupy your mind heart resources and time? That means everything that you have in your allotted time, what eternal things. I think you ought to list them. I hope that you have some. If not, today’s a great day to start. What temporal things occupy your mind your heart your resources and time? You see we’re nearing the end of the sermon and I’m asking some questions for you to apply. And I want you to notice some things by looking at the eternal things in your life and the temporal things in your life and then you need to evaluate how much do I love the eternal things versus how much do I love the temporal thing? I mean where does my time go? Where does my reputation go? Where does my effort go? Where does my money go? How does your investment in each of these compare to the other? Now let me just say that there’s a lot of different things that we can love in our life and there’s some things that we should love and there’s some things that we shouldn’t love. I want us to recognize this…the fleshly foolishness that verse 15 is really pointing to should be rejected. Sinful vices should be exposed…these are the things of the world that come and destroy and that get down deep into our heart, anchors in and hold back the things for which Christ died. Now the best thing to do with a vice is to expose it and then also to abandon it. You cannot do that in your own strength, you need the help of God first and others that’s why it needs to be exposed.

In James chapter 5 we are told confess your sins one to another that you may find healing.
In psalm 51 the psalmist cries out to God he says against you and you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight. So I will declare what I have done. You see this is the idea of exposing it not only to yourself but to others. It’s why in a few minutes I am going to ask the elders to identify themselves and position themselves in the auditorium to pray with anyone who needs it. If the Holy Spirit is tugging on your heart, don’t be prideful and humbly receive prayer. We read throughout scripture how the Holy Spirit is attracted to humility and is repulsed by pride.
How about a common pitfall like our job which is something good and it is Godly to have a job and to work. If a man won’t work then he shouldn’t eat is a reminder in the Bible concerning work. It’s important to work, but what about when we work too much or when we are obsessive about our work, or that it is taking frequent residence in the real estate of our minds? When we neglect other important things namely people, especially those closest to us. We neglect offering our gifts given to us by the Lord for the body of believers because we are too busy or do not have time. We secretly and internally love our work and worse yet worship our work.
All these questions are for each of us to examine ourselves, our hearts in regards to our affections for the world because we never want to be in a place where the love of the Father has diminished in us.
??? – Personal Story: Concerning work/responsibilities/future funding needs/pressures of being a man, husband, father

SLIDE 7

One of the saddest stories in the Bible concerns a man by the name of Demas. He is not very well known, but his life serves as an important & tragic lesson for those of us who love the Father who sent His Son. Please turn to Colossians Chapter 4. We first hear of him in Colossians 4:14 where he is working hard for the Gospel alongside Luke. He is listed along w/ nearly ten others for their faithful service to Christ (Colossians 4:7-18). Join me & follow along as I read these verses sarting in verse 7.
Final Greetings : 7 Tychicus will tell you all about my activities. He is a beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant[a] in the Lord. 8 I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts, 9 and with him Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you of everything that has taken place here.
10 Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, and Mark the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you have received instructions—if he comes to you, welcome him), 11 and Jesus who is called Justus. These are the only men of the circumcision among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me. 12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God. 13 For I bear him witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis. 14 Luke the beloved physician greets you, as does Demas. 15 Give my greetings to the brothers[b] at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house. 16 And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea. 17 And say to Archippus, “See that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord.” 18 I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.
We do not hear of him again until 2 Timothy 4:10, toward the end of Paul’s letter, as Paul anticipates his own execution and martyrdom for Christ. There we simply read, “Demas has deserted me, because he loved this present world.” The NLT says, “he loves the things of this life.” You can almost feel Paul’s heart break as he pens these words. There are so many ways that any one of us can back-slide into carnality, become embroiled in legalism, be enticed back into worldly lusts, or become disenchanted with our Christian walk, if we are not firmly grounded in the truth of Scripture. Let each one of us take heed of this sad and sombre tale of Demas’ desertion from the truth, so that like him we should fall from grace, return to the things of this life, and in so doing, lose our heavenly inheritance (not a loss of salvation but a loss of reward).
Let each of us conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the good news of Christ, striving together for the faith and praising our Father in heaven: “Knowing that there is laid us for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.”
Paul was teaching us 2,000 years ago to Finish Strong long before it became a common cultural term in athletics and other venues. How will YOU finish YOUR race?
Let’s learn from the unfortunate story of Demas. It is not how you start because all of us started in darkness until HE called us into the Light and rescued us from ourselves…Amen.
Don’t let love for the things of this life eclipse your love for the Father. Don’t let a love for the things of this life cause you to chase after that which is fleeting and passing away. Let the Love of the Father found in Jesus; come in. Love the Father with all your heart, and see every space/room you enter become a sanctuary of Love from the Father, all your work a sacrifice of Love to the Father, and every praise that rolls off your lips a confession of Love for the Father. Love the Father supremely who has loved you so deeply. There will be no regrets. You know how I know that? Because God’s Word says so.

SLIDE 8

Beware of anything that competes with your loyalty to Jesus Christ.
So what; not what? – so now we come to the end of our handout with final reflections that will mobilize you to action.
Application Questions: What has the Lord shown you this morning? What’s important to you about this topic & verse?
What might be getting in the way of a closer walk with Jesus? What is one step you can take? By when?

SLIDE 9

Anytime we hear the Good News of Christ and His Holy Word we are presented with truth. So what will you do now? Who will you partner with to grow as a disciple and not backslide as a cultural christian or tragically a deserter like Demas.
Oswald Chambers again: (And you have this quote at the bottom of your handout) You can never be the same after the unveiling of a truth. That moment marks you as one who either continues on with even more devotion as a disciple of Jesus Christ, or as one who turns to go back as a deserter.
So we end with the conclusion of the story from the beginning. The auctioneer replied, “The Father’s will says that the auction was to begin with the picture of his son, and whoever took that got everything else in his estate. He valued his son so highly that he stipulated that whoever took his son’s picture would inherit everything.” Essentially, he who has the son has everything else. He who does not have the son, gets nothing. Sometimes we are like those buyers at the estate auction. We’re looking for everything else to buy, but God is saying, “I have come to give you life, and to give it to you more abundantly. But that life can only be found in connection with My Son. If you have My Son, you have eternal life and all that goes with it.” He gives you Himself to abide in you. You are never alone. The 5 most Hopeful Words: I am with you always. It states this so clearly for us in the book of Romans where we read, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32) Friends, ALL the things that the Lord wants to give you are entirely connected to His Son, Jesus Christ, and what was accomplished through His death, burial, and resurrection. The cross purchased for us eternal salvation and freedom from the penalties associated with sin, but it also purchased a whole lot more. As Jesus Himself states, “I came so that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10) The great thing about the abundance and increase that the Father wants you to have is that it comes, according to the passage in Romans, free of charge. “Will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” In case you didn’t catch that, free means absolutely no charge. Yet while it comes at no charge, it also only comes as connected to God’s Son and the accomplishment He procured on the Cross. The thought that any fallen human being and that’s all of us would be able to perform his or her way into acceptance with God has to be the most insane of ALL delusions. Do not be like the men and women standing at the estate sale, fooling yourself and disregarding the One and Only thing that can bring you everything. 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. I pray, may it not be so, for the consequences in the here and now and the not yet of eternity are grave.
Elders if you would please stand up and perhaps take a corner of the auditorium and some of you come down front for prayers. Please do not allow the worldliness of this age which is Our Greatest Threat not be met with a fellow brother in prayer.

Let’s pray: Father in heaven there are some obvious things that your Holy Spirit has touched in our hearts this morning that we know that we need to expose and abandon. There are some obvious things that we know we need to reject, there are story lines and hours of entertainment that need to change. Lord there are things that you are convicting us to let go of… some things that aren’t even right or wrong but just are not Lord… your will for us which would make them wrong. Lord I pray that we would be a people who listen carefully to your word when it says do not love the world. Do not love the values of the world, do not love the obsessions that a world without God promote. Lord the media is strong, the commercials are powerful, Lord the pop-ups all around us, there are billboards, the radio, the television, the thinking of the world, the conversations in every imaginable aspect of our life Lord can pull us away from the things that you say are most important. Father I pray that this morning that your Holy Spirit would be moving and working in us and that Lord that this week that we would really evaluate, do we love the world? Lord that we would take serious consideration in evaluation of what we spend our time our money our emotion on. That Lord that we would be careful to say Lord just you, we want to be obedient to you. Lord I’m thankful that the most fulfilling life that we can have is being obedient to you. Because blessings follow obedience. I’m thankful that there’s no sport, there’s no hobby, there’s no craft Lord, there’s no job, there’s no hike that can replace Lord honoring you and being walking in step with you. So Lord I pray that you would help us with this, I pray that we would be a people who live with eternity on our minds and on our hearts, and that we would be ready the day our heart stops to stand before you and Lord that we would not be ashamed at your appearing & our homegoing to you. We ask that you would do this work in our hearts. I say this prayer to the glorious and wonderful name of Jesus. Amen.