Sermon Tone Analysis

*Date:*      23rd September 2007                                                             (Sunday PM)                                                                        *Ref:* A0338

*Place:     Kambah P.S.*

*Title: The Spirit of the World*[1]**

*Text:        *& 1 John 2:15-17

 

      Our text describes a battle which will be fought out in the hearts and minds of God's people in these last days.

As followers of Jesus Christ you will have to face hard choices.

Will the lust of the flesh rule your hearts?

Will the lust of the eyes govern your choices?

Will the lust for position lead you away from Jesus' feet?

In short, will you do the will of God?

The Bible tragically appears to indicate that many will succumb to the delusion that you can indulge yourselves in the world and it’s "things" and still maintain a love for the Father.

– Dangerous delusion.

There are three terms in this passage which constitute the vocabulary of this great conflict.

These three words - world, lust and love-are extremely important for us to consider

!

I.                   The World

!! A.               Kosmos

i.

The word “world” is translated from the Greek word /kosmos/, The Theological dictionary of the New Testament gives us this definition for /kosmos/

      /kósmos/ has various senses connected with “order.”

It thus denotes “what is well assembled or constructed from its individual parts.”

/5./ /kósmos/ /as “World.”

I.

The Greek View.

/a.

The senses previously mentioned all merge in that of the cosmic order.

The use of /kósmos/ for the universe is widespread and goes back to an early period.

The idea is that there is an order of things that corresponds to the order of human law.

Individual things are at odds, as people engage in disputes, but an immanent cosmic norm holds things together as law does society.

The world itself is thus viewed as an ordered society.[2]

ii.               /kosmos/ means in effect "an ordered existence apart from God." Steve Gallagher wrote:

      it is used primarily to describe the corporate consciousness of the people of this world who are in rebellion against God's authority.

/Kosmos/ is what binds together the unbelieving world.

It is a global mentality that remains a powerful unspoken force in the lives of mankind.

It molds vastly different people groups into one entity which lives out its existence on earth under the domain of Satan, unified against God.

iii.

In the beginning of creation at the fall, man handed over dominion of the earth to Satan, Satan therefore has dominion over the world.

The world, the /Kosmos/, is in rebellion to God.

Satan, the founder and chief perpetrator of rebellion, is the mastermind behind the global mentality that is against God.

!! B.               Spirit of the World

i.

In Revelation, it is that /serpent of old who will deceive the entire world./

(Revelation 12:9; 13:14) Paul names Satan as /"the god of this world."/

(II Corinthians 4:4) Jesus calls him /"the ruler of this world."/

(John 12:31; 16:11) John explains that /"the whole world lies in the power of the evil one."/

(I John 5:19) He also said, /"This is the spirit of the Antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world."/

(I John 4:3)    

ii.

While the word /kosmos/ refers primarily to the people who are in this anti-God system, it also refers to the global consciousness of those people or to the spirit that controls their thinking.

There is a spirit behind the /kosmos/ and it is the devil ~/ satan.

iii.

To help us have a better awareness of who we are really dealing with, here are a few Scriptures that refer to the devil and I have substituted the phrase, /spirit of the world/ in its place:

         John 8:44-45 44 You are of /your/ father /the spirit of the world/, and the desires of your father you want to do.

He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.

When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own /resources,/ for he is a liar and the father of it.

45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. (NKJV)

         James 4:7 7 Therefore submit to God.

Resist /the spirit of the world/ and he will flee from you.

(NKJV)

         1 Peter 5:8-9 8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary /the spirit of the world/ walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.

(NKJV)

iv.

The spirit that continually offers such intoxicating rewards is the same spirit that seeks to destroy you.

The charms he uses to entice us, far from being innocuous, become avenues into your heart for the devil himself to enter.

!

II.

Lust

!! A.               Lust and Pride

i.

The spirit of the world thrives wherever you pursue "the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life."

If you are dominated by these ungodly passions you are worldly.

Demons thrive on such lusts of violence, greed and all the other passions to which you will yield yourself.

~~ I know that to be true from my own experience.

ii.

The world has a thousand charms to lure the believer away from a vibrant, genuine love relationship with God.

James said,

         James 1:14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.

(NKJV)

iii.

You have within your fallen nature numerous lusts which the spirit of the world targets.

Your urge to possess or experience "the things in the world" can be so powerful that your desire for them chokes out your desire for truth.

The enemy glamorizes the satisfactions which our lusts crave, leaving us to bounce from one lie to the next, constantly seeking an illusionary fulfillment that never materializes.

This is exactly what Jesus is referring to:

         Mark 4:18-19 18 Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, 19 and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

(NKJV)

iv.

The more you indulge in the lusts of the world, the more corrupted you will become inside.

Your love for God, which once might have burned intensely, will eventually dissipate into a mere outward facade of religious activity.

You may glibly say, "I love the Lord with all my heart," yet devote your time and energy to the attractions of this present world, putting God into a secondary and minor place in your life.

!! B.               Carnal Appetites

i.

These three carnal appetites, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the lust of pride, are branches of sin.

The lust of the flesh represents the entire realm of pleasure, entertainment, amusement, and comfort, and includes addictions, movies, sports, television, travel, and all the many kinds of activities people become involved in.

The lust of the eyes describes a person's intense desire to have something he sees.

It usually revolves around the desire for possessions: trendy clothes, the latest technology, a new car, and so on.

The pride of life is a person's exaggerated estimate of his own value as a person.

Self-ambition, a drive to be successful, to have more prominence, an urge to "keep up with the Joneses," or the prideful desire to "be the one" - these are the evidences of the pride life.

ii.

These could all be summarised by the single term coveting, which in its simplest meaning is the desire for something for self.

Most of the things mentioned above are not in and of themselves evil when they are kept in their proper place.

The trouble is that Christians have allowed these lusts to drive them in much the same way the unsaved are driven.