“Warning: Lusts and Lies Ahead!”
(1 John 2:15-27)
Series: A Word for the Church [on screen]
Rev. Matthew C. McCraw, EdD
First Baptist Church, Bartow, Florida
September 19, 2021
The Passage
1 John 2:15-27
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. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s possessions—is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does the will of God remains forever.
18 Children, it is the last hour. And as you have heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. By this we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. However, they went out so that it might be made clear that none of them belongs to us.
20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. 21 I have not written to you because you don’t know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie comes from the truth. 22 Who is the liar, if not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This one is the antichrist: the one who denies the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father; he who confesses the Son has the Father as well.
24 What you have heard from the beginning is to remain in you. If what you have heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that he himself made to us: eternal life.
26 I have written these things to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. 27 As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you don’t need anyone to teach you. Instead, his anointing teaches you about all things and is true and is not a lie; just as it has taught you, remain in him.
Introductory Comments:
There are certain signs that we come across that are meant to warn us about particular dangers that lie ahead. Here are a few; see if you can guess what they are.[show pictures on screen]
Well, in this passage today, John is giving us some warnings about dangers that lie ahead for the Christian. It’s almost as if this passage provides warning signs for us as we live our lives for the glory of God.
We’re continuing our series in the book of 1 John. Today’s sermon has to deal with looking out for certain things. I’ve entitled this passage: “Warning: Lusts and Lies Ahead!” [on screen]
Let’s pray together as we begin this passage and as we learn what John wants to warn us about.
(prayer)
As John speaks to us about what to look out for, he also gives us some things that we should desire. So, in this passage, he gives two things that we should not love and two things that we should love.
So, let’s check it out. First, . . .
I. Don’t love the world (15-17)[on screen]
Let’s see how John very clearly speaks to this. Look at verses 15-17.
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. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s possessions—is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does the will of God remains forever.
Now, let’s establish, first of all, that John is not merely talking about the things of the world that are the material things of this earth, such as water, dirt, plants, and animal life. John is more so talking about the things of this world that are against the heavenly things that come from God.
So, this would include the negative things of this world such as power, greed, hate, racism, lust, un-forgiveness, and the like. That’s easy. John would say don’t love those things!
However, this could also include the things of this world that we love more than God. So, John would also tell us not to love people more than God, or possessions more than God, or money more than God; or even things like church and ministry more than God. Listen, church: nothing should take the place of our love for God and our devotion to God!
John is warning us, don’t love anything more than God!
John then goes on to explain why we are not to love the world and the problem with loving the world.
First, why are we not to love the things of this world?
Well, look at verse 16, “For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s possessions—is not from the Father.”
We must understand this: the things of this world are incompatible with God. John says everything in the world (again, he means the ways of the world) is not from God the Father.
We are not to love the things of this world because they are totally opposite to who God is.
Second, what is the problem with loving the things of the world?
We see the answer to this in verse 17. John says, “. . . the world with its lust is passing away.”
Listen, if you put your investment and love into the things of this world, you are putting your love into something that is guaranteed not to last.
I had something that was very special to me when I was sixteen years old. I bought a 1965 Ford Falcon when I was fourteen years old and spent two years restoring that car. Here are some pictures of the car. [show first three pictures on screen] However, here’s one of the last pictures of the car [show fourth car picture on screen] That car that was once a treasure to me all of a sudden became a hunk of scrap metal after I rammed it into the back of a Toyota Tacoma.
You see, one way or another, the things of this world are passing away. Don’t love the things of this world because they are temporary, they are unfulfilling, and they are not what you need.
Much more than the things of this world, we need fellowship with God, our Father and our Creator.
Don’t love the things of this world.
There’s another warning sign for us: second, . . .
II. Don’t love lies (18-19)[on screen]
Let’s look at the passage again. Look at verses 18-19.
18 Children, it is the last hour. And as you have heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. By this we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. However, they went out so that it might be made clear that none of them belongs to us.
John wants to remind his readers that the antichrist is coming at some point.
There will be a major figure who will one day oppose Jesus and His work. That’s what John is talking about when he says antichrist is coming. We won’t go into too much detail about this right now, but we do know that this will happen.
However, John also says that many antichrists have come. What does this mean? John is saying that as the antichrist will oppose Jesus and His work, many people have already come who are opposing the work of Jesus.
Don’t forget that there were many present in John’s day who were teaching what wasn’t true.
John is warning his readers (and us) that there are those who are teaching lies that go against Jesus and go against the ways of Jesus. We must not believe these lies; we must not love these lies.
John says that this will happen in the last hour, which refers to the time between when Jesus went to heaven and when He will return.
John doesn’t mean sixty minutes, but a period of time. We are in the period of time between the resurrection of Jesus and the return of Jesus. We are now in what John calls, “the last hour.”
Part of being in the last hour means that we need to be aware that there will be teachers who try to teach lies.
John also points out that these false teachers, these antichrists, were part of the church at one point but then they left the fellowship, accountability, and teaching of the church.
Listen, church: it’s important for us to realize that not everyone who attends church is a faithful follower of Jesus. Not everyone who attends church will be here one year from now, five years from now, or twenty-five years from now. There are some pretenders in churches and there are some false teachers in churches.
Well, how do we know who these people are? John says that one of the ways to tell if they are truly followers of Jesus is to see if they stand the test of time. John says in verse 19, “They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us.”
Church, we must be aware that there are false teachers in churches and we must watch out for the lies.
Do not love lies.
Third, . . .
III. Do love the truth (20-27)[on screen]
Sometimes we not only need to watch out for bad things, but we need to be on the lookout for good things as well.
There are signs out there that let us know about good things as well. You may see a sign that says, “Buy one get one free apple pie,” or a sign that says you’re almost home from a long trip, or a sign that says, “Chick-Fil-A, next exit!”
So, now John tells us to pay attention that we do love the truth. Look at verses 20-27.
20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. 21 I have not written to you because you don’t know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie comes from the truth. 22 Who is the liar, if not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This one is the antichrist: the one who denies the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father; he who confesses the Son has the Father as well.
24 What you have heard from the beginning is to remain in you. If what you have heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that he himself made to us: eternal life.
26 I have written these things to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. 27 As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you don’t need anyone to teach you. Instead, his anointing teaches you about all things and is true and is not a lie; just as it has taught you, remain in him.
John is saying a lot here, and we’re not going to cover everything; but I want you to catch this: followers of Jesus are people of truth.
John says in verse 21, “I have not written to you because you don’t know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie comes from the truth.”
Church, we should know the truth, and if we do know the truth, no lie will come from us.
Hold on to the old-timey message of the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as delivered by Jesus to the apostles and to the church for two thousand years! This is what John was saying in chapter 1 when he said that he and the other apostles delivered the one true message to the Church. That message is still true today! We must know it, love it, and hold onto it.
Hold onto the truth that Jesus is the Son of God, that He and God the Father are one, and that He is the only way to the Father!
Church, love the truth, pursue the truth, live the truth! If we do, we have this promise (look at verse 26): And this is the promise that he himself made to us: eternal life.
Finally, . . .
IV. Do love His anointing (20-27)[on screen]
Let me just pause here for a moment and state this: the anointing of God is something special. Let’s pay attention here. Look at verses 20-27 again.
20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. 21 I have not written to you because you don’t know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie comes from the truth. 22 Who is the liar, if not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This one is the antichrist: the one who denies the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father; he who confesses the Son has the Father as well.
24 What you have heard from the beginning is to remain in you. If what you have heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that he himself made to us: eternal life.
26 I have written these things to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. 27 As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you don’t need anyone to teach you. Instead, his anointing teaches you about all things and is true and is not a lie; just as it has taught you, remain in him.
Well, what is the anointing of God? The best way to understand God’s anointing is to think of it as a covering of blessing that comes over us when we are in Jesus Christ. It’s like covering ourselves with a blanket of blessing.
If you pretend that my coat is the anointing of God, you can see how I can sort of wrap myself in my coat; it covers me. So also, when the anointing of God comes upon us, it covers us in the blessings of God.
John says that the anointing of God’s Holy Spirit, among other things, helps us understand the truth.
That which we could not understand by our own natural ability; the truth that we could not retain by our own power, is given to us by the supernatural work of the Spirit of God anointing us with His blessings! How incredible is that?
We should love the anointing of God in our lives! We have access to knowledge, truth, and blessings that no one else in the world has access to!
Concluding Thoughts:
Listen, church: the blessings of God are so much better than the blessings of this world. Instead of the lusts and lies of the world, we should deeply desire the truth and anointing of God!
That takes us to our bottom line:
Bottom Line: If we are in Christ, we will not love the things in the world. [on screen]
(repeat)
If you’re in an airport, you don’t carry a pocketknife; if you’re in church, you don’t light up a cigar; if you’re going for a job interview, you don’t wear flip-flops and a ball cap; and if you are in Christ, you don’t love the things of the world.
So, church, are you in Christ? Do you belong to Jesus? Are you God’s child? If so, do not love the things of this world, give yourself fully to the truth of God.
Challenge yourself this week in the following ways:
Weekly Challenge: [on screen]
1. Identify the worldly influences in your life. [on screen]
What worldly things are capturing your attention, your time, and your love?
Perhaps it’s social media, politics, movies or shows, music, friends, power, money, sports, lusts, relationships, or something else.
Your attention and love belongs should be focused on the things of God, not on the things of the world! So, take some time to identify the things of this world that are seeking to rob your devotion to God.
2. Identify what the anointing of God is teaching you. [on screen]
God’s holy anointing teaches you supernatural truth. Well, what is God teaching you? Have you studied His Word lately? Have you prayed and asked Him to supernaturally teach and guide you?
Take some time this week to identify what the anointing of God is teaching you.
Closing:
Once you’re in Jesus, you have access to all that God designed you to have and blessings that are so much greater than what the offer has to offer you.
So, now is the time to determine if you are in Jesus? Now is the time to discover if you are you are going to live as someone who is in Jesus?
(Gospel presentation)
(closing prayer)
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