Keith Battle - Pump The Brakes - Part 2

I’m continuing a series of discussions called «Pump the Brakes.» This is part 2. In part 1, we looked at 1 John—by the way, 1 John—if you have a Bible or app, turn to 1 John chapter 2 in the New Testament. In part 1, we examined one of the four warnings that we are covering in «Pump the Brakes,» which are things we need to ponder and brace ourselves on. The first warning was about greed. We discussed greed and concluded that the key to overcoming it is generosity. That is a general summation of what we talked about last week. This week, we will look at three other matters we need to be cautious about that can negatively impact our lives. These are found in 1 John chapter 2, verses 15, 16, and 17. That is our biblical focus today. I am reading from the New Living Translation, starting at verse 15. Here we go: «Do not love this world.» Everybody say «world.» «Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love what you do not have, the love of the Father is not in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father but are from this world. And this world is fading away along with everything that people crave, but anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.»

My subject today is «A World War.» What constitutes a world war? In a military sense, it is a conflict that extends beyond countries and impacts continents. When a war involves allies and counter-allies and spreads to various regions of the world, if the implications affect the global community, it is classified as a world war. Fortunately, there have only been two world wars in modern history. World War I began in 1914 and ended in 1918. In the late 1930s, World War II began and ended in 1945. Even though those are the only two recognized wars in recent history, if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, every single day of your life is part of a world war. We are not fighting with military weapons, and it is not a political battle; it is a spiritual fight. The nature of this struggle is that we have inclinations that make us love what God hates. We tend to love what God calls evil. There is something about the world referenced in this passage that it is easy for us, by nature, to fall in love with. The world has attractions that God deems evil. The very things that the world lauds and celebrates are the things God condemns. Many of the world’s temptations pull us away from God. Thus, we find ourselves in this conflict, this war. I believe it is crucial to bring this to our attention because I want us to be aware of some strategies regarding this world war, so we do not become casualties of a battle we do not even recognize.

We are in conflict, and the three enemies in this opponent called «the world,» which we see in verse 16 of 1 John chapter 2, are essentially three things: personal cravings, a craving for physical pleasure (which is the lust of the flesh), a craving for everything we see (which is the lust of the eyes), and pride in our achievements and possessions (which is the pride of life). Those are our three enemies—three considerations that God says we should pump the brakes on. It is not just those three; rather, they represent categories of temptation because there is something in us that is drawn to these things. We are in a fight; it is a war we are involved in. Essentially, the Bible teaches that there are four reasons why we should not love the world. First, in verse 15, if we love the world, we forfeit the love of God. When we love the world, the love of the Father is not in us.

Here are four reasons I will display on the screen for you to take a picture of. Then I will take them down, so be ready. The first reason is that loving the world makes us forfeit the love of the Father. You cannot have both. We do not possess enough agape or empathetic energy to be lovers of the world and still have the love of God because they are in competition with each other.