Peter Barnes | 1 John 2:15-17
SERMON NOTES
THE CHRISTIAN AND THE WORLD
Genesis 3:1-19; 1 John 2:15-17
– there is a sense in which the world is to be loved (John 3:16; Matt.5:44-45), but we are not to join in its rebellion against God.
1. It is impossible to love the world wrongly and be a Christian.
– 2:15; Matt.6:24; John 15:18-19; Rom.12:2; James 4:4
– Augustine: ‘the good make us of this world in order to enjoy God, whereas the evil want to make use of God in order to enjoy the world’.
2. What it means to love the world wrongly.
– 2:16; it is Vanity Fair
– Gen.3:6; Joshua 7:1, 20-21; 2 Sam.11:2-3
3. Why we should not love the world wrongly.
– 2:17; it is passing away (1 Tim.6:7; 1 Cor.7:31)
– we have the promise of everlasting life
– Augustine: ‘Hold fast Christ. For you He became temporal, that you might become eternal.’