“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” I John 2:15
We live in the last part of the church age, the Laodicean church age. As the Lord says in Revelation 3 this age is characterized by lukewarmness. Lukewarmness is caused by the mixing of two extremes – very hot and and very cold. Websters defines lukewarmness as “a character of tepidness or indifference; a lack of passion”. Lukewarm is average.
In the city of Laodicea there were two aqueducts that brought water
into the city. One brought very cold water from high in the mountains.
The other brought in hot water from the thermal springs. The problem
was the water traveled such long distances that by the time both got to the city both streams of water were the same temperature – lukewarm.
The Lord warns us this is a great danger in the age we live in. The danger is to coast, to let things be, to be tolerant and accepting of evil. In our age the world is very attractive – music, art, film, sport – there are many trinkets to love and enjoy and which, if not kept in their proper perspective, draw our love and passion away from the Lord so instead of being passionate for God we become lukewarm to Him and His word.
The Lord gives us the remedy for lukewarmness: “Therefore be zealous and repent”. How do we do that? “Buy from Me gold refined in the fire.” In other words, get passionate about doing those things which will last for eternity. Be prepared to be tested. Our life is full of either wood, hay, stubble or gold and precious stones in God’s eyes. The Lord tells us if we find ourselves becoming lukewarm our lives will produce activities that will have no eternal value and we, as believers, will suffer loss in heaven.
John writes to us and tells us how our passion for God is lost. “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (I John 2:15) The world is the corrupt value system that Satan uses to lure us away from God. He tempts us with the lust of the eyes (the pathway to covetousness). He tempts us to look at the things the world offers and to desire them. This desire causes us to want those things so much that the Lord, especially abiding in Him, is neglected. The world tempts us to be proud, “the pride of life.” Ambition, achievement and recognition become our gods. We want the credit, to be some- body, to be viewed as great instead of exalting Christ as our source of strength, wisdom and power. Finally, Satan tempts us with the lust of the flesh. These are the sinful cravings the world offers – ranging from sexual immorality to gluttony. Fulfill your longings!
What does this teach us? First, if we do not abide in Christ, we leave an empty shell that will be filled by one of the three temptations above. The first lesson is to repent of our sin of not abiding in Christ and return to that first love. Second, we are to avoid living as close to the world as we can. This requires some Godly discretion. There are certain things we cannot avoid – like work or money or food. Daniel could not avoid learning the knowledge of the Babylonians so he
addressed it by ensuring he stayed close to God’s Word. At the same time there are other parts of the world system to avoid. Many things call for our affection and time which draw us away from God. Daniel avoided the king’s food completely – total separation. He gave up tasty delicacies to obey God’s word. He drew a line.
So we see there are two actions necessary to avoid lukewarmness. Stay as close as we can to the Lord and as far away from the world system as we can. Don’t lose your distinctiveness.