Your Friendly Enemy | Part 1

From the Love We're Finding studios in Memphis, Tennessee, I'm Byron Tyler here with Kerry Vaughn, the CEO of Love We're Finding.

Kerry, we continue with Adrian Rogers in the series, The Sweetest Fellowship This Side of Heaven. I call the world the external foe. The world is the enemy out there. Now, when I say the world, I'm not talking about planet Earth. Planet Earth is not evil. Nor are we talking about the world of people when the Bible says the world. We're not to love the world, but we're to love people. The Bible says, For God so loved the world, the world of people, that he gave his only begotten son, that if anybody believes in him, in Jesus, he would have eternal life. So, when he says love not the world, he's not talking about the planet, he's not talking about the people, but what he is talking about is a system.

The word that is translated world is the Greek word cosmos. And it means a system. An order of things. It's just an order of things, a system of things that is contrary to our Lord and his ways. You know, one time Dr. Rogers shared that there's one hero, Jesus, there's one villain, Satan, there's one problem, sin, and there's one purpose to glorify him.

And that is a great, great statement. But also he talked about, you know, as believers, we don't really battle the world. We don't battle worldly sins. We battle sins of the flesh, right? And he named them. He said pride and lust.

And so here we see the lust of the flesh deals with our passions and the lust of the eyes deals with possessions. That's what we're talking about when we say enemies. That's right, Kerry.

You know, we have to ask ourselves really this question. Are you a friend of the world or are you loyal to Jesus Christ? I love what Adrian Rogers said, You don't have to be in a back alley eating 10 cans with the devil's billy goats if you're feasting on Jesus. That's exactly right. Another statement he made, I've never heard this before, but he said sin is primarily an abuse of something that is good. You know, we never look at it that way.

No, we don't. But it's perversion or abuse of something that is good. Well, the devil always has counterfeits, right?

That's right. We love hearing from our Love Refining listeners and you have a special letter today. It says, I want you to know how much I enjoy your ministry. Since turning my life over to God and giving him control, I've been introduced to Adrian Rogers' messages and this ministry. I have not missed one broadcast. Amen. Oh, I love that. I haven't missed one broadcast.

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They can download information, sermons, purchase products, all those tools and materials are there to mature people in their walk. Well, with today's message, Your Friendly Enemy Part 1, here's Adrian Rogers. The Lord fills your heart with love, but you are not to love everything. As a matter of fact, there's some things that you cannot be a child of God and truly love. As a matter of fact, you cannot truly love without hating some things. Now, today hate is an ugly word and there's some hate that is ugly hate. But let me give you a scripture. Even before we read in 1 John, put down Psalm 97 verse 10, ye that love the Lord, hate evil. And then again, Romans chapter 12 and verse 9, the Bible says, let love be without dissimulation. Do you know what the word dissimulation means?

That's a big word. It just means don't have hypocritical love. Let love be not hypocritical. Abhor that which is evil. You cannot cleave to that which is good. Now, you cannot cleave to that which is good without abhorring that which is evil. You cannot love the Lord without hating evil.

I mean, you know this in the natural world. If you love health, then you're going to hate disease. If you love peace, you're going to hate war. If you love cleanliness, you're going to hate filth. If you love people, you're going to hate sin. If you love life, you're going to hate death and killing. And our Lord here tells us there's something we're not to love.

Look, if you will, in verse 15. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. Now, the Bible tells us here in 1 John that we're not to love the world.

The title of our message today is Your Friendly Enemy. You have an enemy, and that enemy is the world. And the Bible says you're not to love the world.

Now, what do we mean by that? Obviously, he's not talking about the planet Earth. Now, the Bible also calls that the world, but there's nothing wrong with loving this planet, what God has made. When God made creation, God said that is good. And you can love the rocks, the hills, the trees, the fleas, the bees, all the rest of it.

You can love it. You can love the flowers, Jesus loves the flowers. He said, consider the lilies, how they grow.

Solomon, in all of his opulence, was not dressed up like one of these. And nothing wrong with loving God's creation. Thank God. This is my Father's world.

Amen. He made it, and you can love it, and you ought to enjoy it. And when he says love not the world, he's not talking about the world of people. We're to love people, red, yellow, black, and white. There's to be no prejudice. There's to be no hatred of any person, whether they're saved or lost. We're to love all people.

Why? Because the Bible says, in John chapter 3, verse 16, for God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son. So, if God loves the peoples of this world, we're to love the peoples of this world.

What is he talking about, therefore, in 1 John, the second chapter, when he says, love not the world? What is tied up in that word, world, which is the Greek word, cosmos. Now, you know what the cosmos is.

That is the order of things. The very word, cosmos, means a system or an order of things. It is a way of doing things. For example, today, we do the same thing. We talk about the world of finance or the world of sports or the world of fashion.

That is, there's a certain system, the sports system or the finance system. We call that a world. That's the way the word world is being used here. It's the word cosmos. What is a cosmopolitan area? It's a system. It's made up of two words that one means a city or a populace and people come together to work in an orderly way.

We call that a cosmopolitan area. When a woman puts her makeup on, what's she putting on? Cosmetics.

She's putting her face in order. All of these words come from this word where the Bible says, love not the world. There is a system that we are not to love. That's what he's talking about. He's not talking about planet earth. He's not talking about the people, but he is talking about an ungodly, devilish system that is set against our Lord and his Christ. You're not to love that world, although that world may be very friendly to you.

It may cozy up to you. It is a friendly enemy. We're going to look at the world and see what the Bible has to say about the world. We're going to understand why we are not to love that world. We're going to think about the world and its character. We're going to think about the world and its corruption, what it does, and we're going to think about the world and where it is headed, what the conclusion of this whole thing is, and the consequences of following and loving the world. What is the character of the world? When the Bible says here in 1 John 2, verse 15, love not the world, neither the things that are in the world, what is the character of this world?

Let me give you some words that begin with the letter P so you can remember them. First of all, this world has a prince. It has a prince, a dark, devilish, diabolical person, the devil who is the prince of this world. Now, put these scriptures down, if you will, as we think about this. For example, Jesus speaking in John chapter 12, verse 31, says, Now shall the prince of this world be cast out.

He was talking about the cross that would break Satan's back. Now will the prince of this world, this system, be cast out. And then in John chapter 14, in verse 30, Jesus speaking of the devil said, The prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me.

That is, I don't have any itch the devil can scratch. The prince of this world, the devil cometh, but he hath nothing in me. And then Jesus, speaking of the prince's final judgment, in John chapter 16, in verse 11, he says, The prince of this world is judged. That means that Satan sails a sinking ship and rules a doomed domain, this dark prince. And the apostle John, in this same passage of scripture that we're in, in 1 John, if you're going over back toward the back, you need to turn to it right now, but he says in 1 John chapter 5, verse 19, And we know that the whole cosmos, the whole world, lieth in wickedness. Williams translates that in the lap of the wicked one. That is, this whole world is just being rocked, cradled in the hands of Satan.

This dark prince. There is a mastermind behind this world system. Sometimes people ask, Do you believe in the conspiratorial theory of history? They have some dark Machiavellian scheme. There's a conspiracy here and a conspiracy there. And I'm sure there are some of those conspiracies.

But there is a bigger conspiracy than people dare dream. That is, there is a mastermind. There is a prince. His name is Satan. He has a whole system of people who work beneath him.

For the Bible says, For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities. You see, the principality is the pality over which the prince rules, over principalities and powers. He is a mastermind. He has a myriad of underlings who do his bidding.

There is an intricate organization, if you please, a worldwide web of wickedness. Now there is a prince. This world has a prince. Not only does this world have a prince, it has the second P, it has a philosophy.

There is a networking of ideas and values that are skillfully woven together to entrap the most innocent. For example, 1 Corinthians 3, verse 19. The Bible says, For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. The wisdom of this world. This world is wise, but it is wise to do evil.

So there is a philosophy, and it extends from the schoolhouse to the state house, from Madison Avenue to Wall Street. It appears in recreational theme parks and other places. It may seem innocent. It may seem beautiful.

It is often alluring, but the world has a prince. The world has a philosophy. And may I tell you that your friendly enemy, the world, has a purpose. That's the next P. What is the purpose? It is to draw you away from God.

Very alluringly. Now, therefore, the world is against the Lord Jesus Christ. Put this scripture down.

John, chapter 7, and verse 7. Jesus, speaking to his disciples, said, The world cannot hate you, but me it hateth. Have you ever wondered why the world hates Jesus? The world doesn't hate Jesus because He healed the sick. The world doesn't hate Jesus because He blessed the children. The world doesn't hate Jesus because He turned water into wine or broke bread and fed the multitudes. The world doesn't hate Jesus because He walked on the water. The world doesn't hate Jesus because He died on the cross. But Jesus said, The world hateth me, because I testify of it, that its works are evil.

That's why the world hates Jesus. I mean, today, you're not supposed to say anything is evil. For in today, we are supposed to be tolerant of everything. Isn't that right?

Just tolerant, tolerant. Do you know what the sin today is? The sin today is to call sin, sin. You call sin, sin.

Hey, hey, hey. Friend, you're spitting against the wind in today's society. And Jesus said, The world hateth me, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil. And then Jesus said in John chapter 14, verse 17, speaking of the Holy Spirit, and he calls him even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him, but ye know him, for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. Dwelleth with you, that was Jesus Christ himself, shall be in you.

That is the Holy Spirit coming to represent the Lord Jesus. John 15, verse 18, If the world hate you, and by the way, it will. Don't get the idea if you get right with God, they're gonna make you the mayor of your city. I thank God for godly mayors, but friend, don't get the idea that this world is going to praise and pat and flatter you if you get right with God.

It'll break your neck if it can. If the world hates you, Jesus said, know that it hated me before it hated you. And then, old James says in James chapter 4 and verse 4, you adulteress and adulteresses? Know ye not that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be the friend of the world is the enemy of God.

If you are a friend to this world that hates Jesus, you are an enemy of God and a traitor to Jesus Christ who died on the cross and was crucified by this world. This world has a prince. This world has a philosophy.

This world has a purpose, and that purpose is to draw away your heart to seduce you from loving the Lord Jesus Christ as you ought. Jesus said in John chapter 15 verse 19, if you were of the world, the world would love his own, but because you're not of the world, but I've chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Sometimes we use the term worldly Christian. Billy Sunday said, you might as well speak of a heavenly devil. He said, it's a contradiction in terms. We hear a lot about the separation of church and state. I believe we need to hear a little bit more about the separation of church and world, don't you?

I mean, today you can't tell the difference between those who name the name of Jesus and those who don't. They look alike. They talk alike. They go the same places.

They smoke the same things. No. We're to come out from the world.

No. Here is a world. It has, friend, a prince. It has a philosophy.

It has a purpose, and it has a people. Luke chapter 16 and verse 8, Jesus said, for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. The world has its people. Now, you might as well understand it. Folks, when you got saved, you came out of the world, and you are different. You are twice born in a world of once born people, and so you're going to find yourself swimming against the tide all the way. Don't get the idea that over here is the broad way and over here is the narrow way, and the broad way is going this way, and you're over here on a little side road going this way in the same direction.

No, no. If the broad way is coming this way, this is the way you're coming, just like that. You're swimming against the tide all the time, and you have what you know, what you believe.

It starts at a different source. It follows a different course, and, friend, it's headed toward a different conclusion. If you were of the world, the world would love you. You are twice born. This world is not your home. You are a pilgrim.

You are just passing through. We are not a part of this world's system. Now, folks, that's a forgotten message in today's church.

Did you know that? But it's not a forgotten message in the Word of God. The Bible says, love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.

Do you know what the devil's purpose is? Romans chapter 12 and verse 2, it is to conform you. That's the reason the apostle Paul said, do not conform to this world, but be transformed. The world wants to take you and squeeze you into its mold. The world doesn't want you to be different. The world wants you to follow its prince. The world wants you to believe its philosophies.

The world wants you to join its purpose, and the world wants you to be a part of its people, to be transformed to this world. So why does John say, love not the world? Well, number one, because of the character of the world.

Number two, because of the corruption of the world. Look at this passage of scripture right here now. Look in verse 16.

For all that is in the world, are you ready for this? The lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world. So we see not only the character of the world, what it is, but the corruption of the world, what it does. Now, this world that would seduce you from loving the Lord Jesus has three main appeals.

They're right here in this verse, in verse 16. They are the lust of the flesh. Do you see it? The lust of the eyes.

Do you see it? And the pride of life. Now, I want us to look at those.

I want us to look at them very carefully. What is the lust of the flesh? What does that mean? Well, that is Satan's appeal to your old nature. When the Bible says the flesh here, it doesn't mean you hide your hair, your skin, your nerves, your sinews, your bones, your wah-wah.

It doesn't mean that. But when the Bible says the flesh, that means your old, Adamic nature. The flesh is what we have received from our first birth. Spirit is what we received from our second birth. And so, Galatians chapter 5, verse 17 says, For the flesh lust against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. That is when you get saved, a civil war begins on the inside. Have you felt it?

Of course you have. There's that new nature that wants to serve God. That's that old nature that doesn't want to lie down and be dead, and so you're going to have a battle on the inside. Now, the Bible calls this old nature, the desires of the old nature, the lust of the flesh. Now, these are desires primarily in the area of the material, the physical, normally in the area of gluttony, laziness, drunkenness, immorality, perversion. You see, God has given you certain normal hungers. Appetite is normal and good.

Thank God if you have a good appetite. Ambition is normal and good. The sex drive is a gift from God because it is the glue that holds the family together. But what Satan wants to do is to take normal God-given proclivities and appetites and corrupt them and pervert them, and he wants us to pamper our flesh with food and sleep and sex and drugs and liquor and laziness. What sin is is primarily an abuse of something that's good. The devil doesn't have any raw materials.

God made everything. So anything bad is a perversion of something that's good, and it is a misuse of good things. For example, you can misuse food. You can misuse sleep.

You can misuse sex. Good things are bad things. Listen to me. Good things are bad things when they are out of place. Matthew chapter 6 and verse 33 says, Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

God's not going to take second place. But the world says, Let's pamper your flesh. Satisfy your flesh. And so there's the lust of the flesh.

Now listen carefully. That deals with our passions, our passions, our passions. That's the lust of the flesh. Now, the next thing he speaks of is the lust of the eyes. That doesn't deal with our passions.

That deals with our possessions. You see, your eyes have an appetite also. Have you ever heard anybody say, Just feast your eyes upon that? Now, the lust of the flesh deals with doing. The lust of the eyes deals with having. And this temptation may be a lot more refined than the lust of the flesh. The lust of the eyes may be sophisticated, intellectual, beautiful. It's the desire not merely to have and to own things. That is a legitimate desire. But to want more than we need and to be dissatisfied, as the Bible tells us in first Timothy chapter 6 verse 10 for the lust of money is the root of all evil.

It doesn't say money is the root of all evil. Let me ask you a question. And be honest, but don't answer out loud. What really motivates you? I mean, what are your personal goals? Is the first thing in your life to be a godly person, to seek the kingdom of God? Are you trying to be a successful person? Are you more with material things than spiritual things?

Have you tried to put God in second place when the Bible says, Seek ye first the kingdom of God? Your eyes are looking around and you see things and you say, I want that. I want that. And I need this. And I want that.

That's the lust of the eyes. And coming up tomorrow, we'll hear part two of this important message. But maybe today you have questions about the kingdom of God or who Jesus is or what he means to you.

Go to where I live. Go to your Discover Jesus page at lwf.org slash radio. You'll find resources and materials that can answer questions you may have about your faith. Again, go to lwf.org slash radio and click Discover Jesus. Well, thank you for joining us for today's study in God's Word. If you'd like to start receiving daily devotions and links to the Bible, be sure to sign up for our daily heartbeat emails at lwf.org slash radio and join us tomorrow for part two of Your daily enemy right here on Love Worth Finding.