Journey Out of Worldliness
First John 2:15-17
First John 2:15-17
15. Do not love the world or the things that belong to
the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the
Father is not in him. Because everything that
belongs to the world—
16. the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the
pride in one’s lifestyle—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 God’s will remains forever.
Holman Christian Standard Bible
page 1035
Whada’ ya Mean, “Worldly”?
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Sophisticated or worldly-wise:
o “An experienced and worldly man who
had been almost everywhere” (Willa
Cather).
Polished
Knows which fork to use… at a White
House state dinner
Confident
Whada’ ya Mean, “Worldly”?
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Worldliness is drifting with the
prevailing secular culture.
Worldliness is living without giving
thought to eternity.
Worldliness is believing the lie that
something in this life, on this earth –
other than God – can satisfy our
innermost being.
The Journey Out
A Portrait of Worldliness
1. From the World
What the World has to Offer
• 1st John 2:15-16 “…Everything that
belongs to the world—the lust of the
flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride
in one’s lifestyle—is not from the Father,
but is from the world.”
From the World
• The lust of the flesh: passion
• The lust of the eyes: possessions
• The pride of life: position
- Stewart Briscoe
From the World
• The lust of the flesh: a passion for
sensual satisfaction
• The lust of the eyes: an inordinate
desire for the finer things of life, ease,
and affluence.
– “Worldliness is reading magazines about
people who live hedonistic lives and
spend too much money on themselves
and wanting to be like them.”
• The pride of life: self-satisfaction in
who we are, what we have, and what we
have done
Dave Roper, The Strength of a Man
2. The World Under
Where the World Gets This Stuff
• 1st John 5:19 “We know that we are of
God, and the whole world is under the
sway of the evil one.”
3. By The World
What the World Can Do to Us
• James 1:27 “Pure and undefiled religion
before our God and Father is this: to look
after orphans and widows in their distress
and to keep oneself unstained by the
world.”
4. Of the World
Those Who Belong
And Those Who Don’t
• John 15:18-19 “If the world hates you,
understand that it hated Me before it
hated you. If you were of the world, the
world would love you as its own.
However, because you are not of the
world, but I have chosen you out of it,
the world hates you.”
• John 17:14-15 “The world hated them
because they are not of the world, as I
am not of the world.”
5. In the World
Staying Safe in a Hostile Environment
• John 17:11 “I am no longer in the
world, but they are in the world, and I
am coming to You. Holy Father, protect
them by Your name”
• John 17:15 “I am not praying that You
take them out of the world but that You
protect them from the evil one.”
The Journey Out
What Doesn’t Work
• Drawing up lists of “worldly things”
– “Whenever people had difficulty with some
temptation or some particular type of
recreation or some activity which gave them
trouble, they learned a lesson from it, or
thought they did, and marked that particular
thing down as worldly.” - Ray Stedman
• Isolation: Surrounding yourself with other
Christians and rejecting most contact with the
outside world.
– “But because worldliness is a belief system
within, ‘the world’ just followed me into
seclusion.” – William P. Farley
• Self-discipline
– “Using willpower to overcome worldly
seduction is like telling a man who has gone
without water for three days to control
himself.” – Farley
The Journey Out
What Does Work
1. The New Birth
• 1st John 5:4-5 “Whatever has been born
of God conquers the world. This is the
victory that has conquered the world: our
faith. And who is the one who conquers
the world but the one who believes that
Jesus is the Son of God?”
• Billy Sunday, used to make fun of the
term “worldly Christian”:
“Why to talk about a worldly Christian
makes about as much sense as talking
about a heavenly Devil.”
2. The Training of Grace
• Titus 2:11-12 “For the grace of God has
appeared, with salvation for all people,
instructing us to deny godlessness and
worldly lusts and to live in a sensible,
righteous, and godly way in the present
age”
Literally, "disciplining us." Grace
exercises corrective discipline to train us
to deny worldly lusts.
• Titus 2:11-12 “For the grace of God has
appeared, with salvation for all people,
instructing us to deny godlessness and
worldly lusts and to live in a sensible,
righteous, and godly way in the present
age”
“Denying once for all." We deny
"worldly lusts" when we refuse them.
NIV: “It teaches us to say ‘No’”
3. A Renewed Mind
• Romans 12:2, NET: “Do not be
conformed to this present world,
but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind”
• Phillips: “Don't let the world around
you squeeze you into its own
mould, but let God re-mould your
minds from within”
4. Courage
• John 16:33 “You will have
suffering in this world. Be
courageous! I have conquered the
world.”