Bible Questions Answered:
“How can John say not to love the
world, I love hiking and biking. Last year I spent 230 days doing one
or the other...”
Darrel/ Norwich, England (United
Kingdom)
Bible Answer:
Bible Texts:
Exodus 20:3-5 KJV (First Two
Commandments)
I)
3 Thou shalt have no other gods
before Me.
II)
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any
graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above,
or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the
earth.
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to
them, nor serve them: for I The Lord thy God am a jealous God..."
Isaiah 42:8 KJV
I am The Lord: that is My name: and
My glory will I not give to another, neither My praise to graven
images.
Isaiah 48:11 NLT
I will rescue you for My sake—yes,
for My own sake! I will not let My reputation be tarnished, and I
will not share My glory with idols!
There is a vast
difference between the words Love and Obsession.
Obsession,
dominates the mind, occupies all thoughts.
God's creation is
beautiful, and we certainly are to appreciate it, with thanksgiving.
But it like so many other things may easily become an obsession.
Wealth,
possessions, worldly accomplishments, popularity, self-amusements
etc. etc.
All may become
obsessions.
Our Lord reminds
us:
Isaiah 42:8 KJV
I am The Lord: that is My name: and
My glory will I not give to another, neither My praise to graven
images.
Obsessions are
idols, and they because so because they dominate our thoughts, and require
our devotion.
This may come as a
shock to some Christians, howbeit.
Christian people
are not on planet earth for the amassing of wealth, the accumulation
of possessions, Or awards for great achievements, be they academic or
other!
No!
Christians are here
with a call, and Christians are here on planet earth with a
purpose!
The Christians
Call And Purpose:
Matthew 10:7,27
KJV
7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The
kingdom of heaven is at hand.
27 What I tell you in darkness, that
speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon
the housetops.
Matthew 28:18-20
KJV
18 And Jesus came and spake unto
them, saying, All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth.
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of The Father, and of The Son,
and of The Holy Ghost:
20 Teaching them to observe all
things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you
always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Mark 16:15 KJV
15 And He said unto them, Go ye into
all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
16 He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
Luke 9:2,60 KJV
2 And He sent them to preach the
kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.
60 Jesus said unto him, Let the dead
bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.
John 15:10,14
KJV
10 If ye keep My commandments, ye
shall abide in My love; even as I have kept My Father's commandments,
and abide in His love.
14 Ye are My friends, if ye do
whatsoever I command you.
Acts 5:20 KJV
Go, stand and speak in the temple to
the people all the words of this life.
Acts 10:42 NLT
And He ordered us to preach
everywhere and to testify that Jesus is the one appointed by God to
be
The Judge of all—the living and
the dead.
II Timothy 4:1-5
KJV
1 I charge thee therefore before
God, and The Lord Jesus Christ, who shall Judge the quick and the
dead at His appearing and His kingdom;
2 Preach The Word; be instant in
season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long
suffering and doctrine.
3 For the time will come when they
will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they
heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
4 And they shall turn away their
ears from The Truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
5 But watch thou in all things,
endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of
thy ministry.
Today, we live in a
hedonistic society.
Hedonism:
1.the doctrine that
pleasure or happiness is the highest good.
2.devotion to
pleasure as a way of life: The later Roman emperors were notorious
for their hedonism.
(Dictionary.Com)
I John 5:19 KJV
And we know that we are of God, and
the whole world lieth in wickedness.
Our world is over
run with obsessive lustful pleasures of all kinds.
And yet we as
Christians, are “not,” called to a life of self-seeking pleasure!
We are called by
our Savior, with a purpose and a duty.
Matthew 10:38,39
NLT
38 If you refuse to take up your
cross and follow Me, you are not worthy of being Mine.
39 If you cling to your life, you
will lose it; but if you give up your life for Me, you will find it.
Matthew 16:24,25
KJV
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples,
“If any of you wants to be My follower, you must turn from your
selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow Me.
25 If you try to hang on to your
life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for My sake, you
will save it.
“So many people
today, want to be like The Lord;......but not identical, to The
Lord.” JJR
Christians, we'd
better get it right soon, scores of churches are closing every day!
I John 2:15-17
KJV
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.
16 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.
17 And the
world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth
the will of God abideth for ever.
I John 4:4 KJV
Ye are of God, little children, and
have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you, than he
that is in the world.
I John 5:4,5 KJV
4 For whatsoever is born of God over
cometh the world: and this is the victory that over
cometh
the world, even our
faith.
5 Who is he that over cometh
the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of
God?
John 17:1-26 KJV
1 These words spake Jesus, and
lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come;
glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
2 As thou hast given Him power over
all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as thou hast
given Him.
3 And this is life eternal, that
they might know thee The Only True God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou
hast sent.
4 I have glorified thee on the
earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest Me to do.
5 And now, O Father, glorify thou Me
with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the
world was.
6 I have manifested thy name unto
the men which thou gavest Me out of the world: thine they were, and
thou gavest them Me; and they have kept thy Word.
7 Now they have known that all
things whatsoever thou hast given Me are of thee.
8 For I have given unto them the
Words which thou gavest Me; and they have received them, and have
known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that
thou didst send Me.
9 I pray for them: I pray not for
the world, but for them which thou hast given Me; for
they are thine.
10 And all Mine are thine, and thine
are Mine; and I am glorified in them.
11 And now I am no more in the
world, but these are in the world, and I come
to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou
hast given Me, that they may be one, as we are.
12 While I was with them in
the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest Me
I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that
the scripture might be fulfilled.
13 And now come I to thee; and these
things I speak in the world, that they might have My joy fulfilled in
themselves.
14 I have given them thy Word; and
the world hath hated them, because they are not of the
world, even as I am not of the world.
15 I pray not that thou shouldest
take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest
keep them from the evil.
16 They are not of the world,
even as I am not of the world.
17 Sanctify them through thy Truth:
thy Word is Truth.
18 As thou hast sent Me into the
world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
19 And for their sakes I sanctify
Myself, that they also might be sanctified through The Truth.
20 Neither pray I for these alone,
but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word;
21 That they all may be one; as
thou, Father, art in Me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in
us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent Me.
22 And the glory which thou gavest
Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
23 I in them, and thou in Me, that
they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may
know that thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved
Me.
24 Father, I will that they also,
whom thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold
My glory, which thou hast given Me: for thou lovedst Me before the
foundation of the world.
25 O righteous Father, the
world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these
have known that thou hast sent Me.
26 And I have declared unto them thy
name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved Me
may be in them, and I in them.
