Love Not the World

The Love God Hates, Part 3

1 John 2:15-17

INTRODUCTION

A. The Reality of Satan's Reign

The New Testament uses the term world in different ways. Originally the term had two basic meanings: the planet, and the people. But once man rebelled against God, he forfeited his right to rule the planet God gave him to rule. In effect, man sold the title deed of the world, which fell into the control of Satan. In his short-sighted desire to be an autonomous being, man sold his birthright to the world to Satan for the knowledge of good and evil, much like Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for something to eat (Gen. 25:27-34). Adam and Eve ate of the tree, following Satan's desires. At that point, Satan gained the rulership of the world, and the term world took on a third meaning: the evil system opposed to God that now dominates this planet. The system that Satan began will continue to develop up to the time period known as the Great Tribulation.

Satan runs the world. Luke 4:6 gives us evidence of that: "The devil said to [Jesus], `I will give You all this domain [of the kingdoms of the world] and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish'" (NASB). The system that dominates the world is in the control of Satan. But Jesus knew that some day He would take it back as its rightful heir.

B. The Review of Satan's Reign

Genesis 4 shows us how Satan's system began to develop. Three factors characterized his system and enabled him to control the world:

1. False religion

Satan needed to counteract the truth. So he developed lies about God, eternal destiny, and other spiritual truths. The results of those lies first appear in Genesis 4:6-7: "The LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou angry? And why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door." Sin ruled over Cain because he failed to obey God. Although the Lord had apparently made it known that He required sacrifices for atonement, Cain brought the fruit of his hands--things he had grown in the field. However, Abel brought a blood sacrifice. Genesis 4 records the initial development of false religion, which is based on one thing: human works. Abel brought a sacrifice for sin (i.e. Christ), which was a picture of the final sacrifice. Cain brought his own works, which has been the continual legacy for false religions throughout the centuries. All false religions claim that man enters God's presence not on the basis of what God has done by His grace, but on the basis of what man can do himself if he is good enough.

Satan knew that if he was going to control the world's system, he would have to do it through religion, since man is a religious being. So he developed a religion that opposed God's grace and exalted man's own achievements. There are basically only two religions in the world: the religion of divine accomplishment or the religion of human achievement.

2. Crime

Satan brought fear and bondage into man's life through crime. That began in Genesis 4:8. "Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and slew him." Men are pitted against men. Throughout history, Satan has used crime, arguments, riots, and wars to destroy the unity that God had intended for the world to have. All forms of crime are a threat against unity. Every time a person steals, covets, or destroys what is someone else's--even to the point of killing them--the unity that God designed for mankind to experience disintegrates further.

3. Godless living

Another thing that Satan brought into his system was a pattern of godless living that operates independently of God.

Satan has developed a system in which he can captivates men. It is anti- God and anti-Christ. It is in rebellion to the truth and contradicts the divine perspective. Behind that system is Satan. He isn't directly responsible for everything that the world does, but he's behind it. For example, every time you are tempted, you are not tempted by Satan anymore than every Allied soldier who was shot in World War II on the European front was killed by Hitler--and yet Hitler was behind those deaths. In like manner, Satan is behind what's happening today in opposition to God's Kingdom.

REVIEW

First John 2:15 tells us to stop loving the system and the things that are in it; for if anyone is in love with it, his claim to love God is invalid. The system that Satan has developed is in total opposition to God. A person cannot love both. John is defining a Christian as one who loves God, rather than Satan's system. James 4:2-4 makes a similar exhortation: "Ye lust, and have not; ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain; ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever, therefore, will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." Love for the world and love for God are absolutely antithetical. A person cannot love both at the same time. A true Christian does not love the world. It is impossible because it is incongruous with who he is. Christians do not the world for several reasons:

I. BECAUSE OF WHAT THE WORLD IS (v. 15)

II. BECAUSE OF WHO CHRISTIANS ARE (vv. 12-14)

LESSON

III. BECAUSE OF WHAT THE WORLD DOES (vv. 15-16)

A. The Contrast of the World (v. 15)

1. The desire of God

"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the things in the world, the love of the Father is not in him."

We do not love the world because of what it does. It incites to sin. The world's system is designed to tempt a person to sin. God wants to generate holiness in our lives as we become more like Jesus Christ. Satan uses the world to tempt us. Some of us are able to resist the world's temptation because of our maturity in Christ. But that does not change the evil intentions of the world, which opposes the holiness that God desires in every Christian's life.

a) 1 John 2:1--"My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not." God does not want us to sin.

b) Ephesians 2:10--"We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."

c) Romans 6:17--"God be thanked, that whereas ye were the servants of sin, ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being, then, made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness." A Christian is a servant of righteousness. Having been forgiven, he serves a new master.

d) 2 Corinthians 6:14-17--The apostle Paul said, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers; for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial [Satan]? Or what part hath he that believeth with an [unbeliever]? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?... Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you." God desires that we be separate from sin.

e) 2 Corinthians 7:1--"Having, therefore, these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness." God's desire is that the believer live by His righteous standards.

f) Philippians 2:15--We are to be "blameless and harmless, children of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom [we] shine as lights in the world." We should live in such a way that the watching world cannot accuse our life-style.

g) 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13--"The Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you, to the end he may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness."

h) 1 Thessalonians 4:7--"For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness."

i) Titus 2:14--Jesus Christ "gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a people of his own, zealous of good works."

j) James 1:27--"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world."

k) 1 Peter 1:15--"As he who hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of life."

l) 2 Peter 3:11--The lives of Christians should be characterized by "holy living and godliness."

m) 1 John 3:7--"Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous."

n)3 John 11--"Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good."

There is a great deal of evidence that God wants us to be holy. Because the world endeavors to incite us to be evil, John says we cannot love that system and still say we love God. Philo, the first century Jewish philosopher, said it is as impossible for the love of the world to exist with the love of God as it is impossible for light and darkness to coexist (quoted by John of Damascus [Parall. Sacra A, Tit. xxx. p. 370]). The distinguishing mark of a Christian is that he does not want to sin. Rather, he desires to be holy. When he does sin, he cries out with repentance like David, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me" (Ps. 51:10).

2. The defilement of the world

First John 2:15 not only says that we should not love the system in general, but also the things that are in it. You might not love the system, but you might be attracted to the things that are in it. What are some examples? This world has godless religion, materialistic economics, and self-centered morality. We are not to be enamored with those things because they are inconsistent with who we are and how we are to live.

Some people say, "It's so hard to live a pure life today." It's always been hard, but the media today has probably made it more difficult to maintain a pure life. There's no sense in watching a movie that is filled with profanity, violence, and sexual immorality. Exposing yourself to things like that is only going to allow your mind to be preoccupied with the world's value system. Have you ever carefully listened to the music of world? I like many kinds of music, but the ideas that are conveyed through the music of the world rarely square with what the Word of God says. If your ears are constantly bombarded by such music, you may find yourself following the world's morality. The same is true with television: When you watch it, you are sold the world's standards in very slick way. The system is geared to generate sin, and if you want to play with it, that's exactly what it will do in your life. If you want to stick yourself in the world's mold--its materialism, humanism, and immorality--you are going against the very nature of your identity in Christ. Since we are called to "shine as lights in the world" (Phil. 2:15), we had better make sure people can see that there's something different about us. We need to disconnect ourselves from the system by saturating our minds with the Word of God to establish the right kind thought patterns.

B. The Content of the World (v. 16)

"For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world."

1. The lust of the flesh

a) Defined

This is the first of three areas in which Satan incites people to sin through his worldly system. Normally it brings to mind sexual immorality, but this kind of "lust" is much broader than that. The word in the Greek text is epithumia. It generally has an evil connotation, referring to a strong desire for satisfaction that is evil. The "flesh" is the part of man that is prone to sin, which man acquired when Adam rebelled against God. It is the rebellious self in us that wants to sin.

To identify it further, let me take you to Romans 7, where Paul gives insight into this particular part of man. Verses 15-17 say, "That which I do I understand not; for what I would [do], that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. then, I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now, then, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me." Paul describes the fleshly human nature, saying, "There's something in me that wants to do good, but I just can't seem to do it. At the same time, even though something in me says, `Don't do that,' I end up doing it anyway." There is a propensity for evil in human nature, even among Christians. For that reason, Paul could say, "I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing" (v. 18). The flesh in its spiritual sense has nothing good about it. It is our evil propensity to sin.

b) Delineated

The flesh produces all kinds of terrible things. Galatians 5 gives a list of manifestations of the lust of the flesh that can loosely be categorized into four areas:

(1) Immorality

Verse 19 says, "The works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness." Although "adultery" doesn't appear in the best Greek manuscripts, "fornication" would include any type of sex outside of marriage, including homosexuality and bestiality. Besides sexual sin, the flesh also produces "uncleanness," which refers to impurity in thought and action, and "lasciviousness," which means "sensuality." A person characterized by the latter would be living only to please his pleasure- sensitive appetites.

(2) Idolatry

The flesh not only touches the sexual area, but also includes the religious. Verse 20 mentions "idolatry" and "sorcery" (Gk. pharmakia). The latter is related to occultic practices and drugs, which have always been a part of pagan idolatry.

(3) Interpersonal relationships

The flesh tends to destroy our relationships with others. Verses 20-21 mention "hatred, strife, jealousy, wrath, factions, seditions, heresies, envyings, [and] murders."

(4) Indulgence

Man can't even control himself when it comes alcohol. If the flesh is not restrained, it can result in "drunkenness, [wild parties], and the like" (v. 21).

Verse 21 says that those who habitually indulge in the works of the flesh "shall not inherit the kingdom of God." Paul is saying that if you continue to do those kind of things, you could not possibly be a Christian. It is impossible for a Christian to regularly practice those things because he is a child of God. Furthermore, he is indwelt by the Spirit, who gives him victory over the flesh. The Christian will hate sin. When you were saved, you became a partaker of the divine nature, which imparts the desire to do what pleases God. The world attacks us at the point of our weakness--the flesh. Satan seeks to influence us for his purposes through sexual abuse, false religion, strained relationships, and destructive indulgence. He uses his system to incite our flesh.

2. The lust of the eyes

Satan also incites us to sin through our eyes. Did you know that your eyes can get you into a lot of trouble? Perhaps blind people have an advantage to living a righteous life. The Bible gives us some illustrations about people who faced this area of lust.

a) Joshua 7:1-26--Achan saw some of the spoils of Jericho as the Israelites were conquering it. He took some things and buried them under his tent, even though the Lord had commanded Israel not to take anything from the city for themselves. Achan's disobedience cost him his life.

b) 2 Samuel 11:1-17--David was up on his roof, which was higher than everyone else's since he was king. While there, he saw Bathsheba bathing on her roof. If he had been a blind man, the act of adultery that followed would have never happened. The consequences of that sin were an illegitimate child, the murder of Bathsheba's husband, and the eventual destruction of David's family. Even one of his own sons tried to kill him.

c) Matthew 5:27-29--Jesus talked about the lust of the eyes when he said, "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old, Thou shalt not commit adultery; but I say to you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee; for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell." If you have a problem with the lust of the eyes, you may have to take some drastic measures to change what you're looking at. If you want to sit there and stare at immorality on TV, at the movies, or in magazines, you are opening yourself up to become programmed to lust.

d) Job 31:1--Women in Job's day wore robes. I don't know what possibly could have excited men about a woman unless it was her wrist. However, Job gave us a wise principle for for avoiding the lust of the eyes. He said, "I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?" (NASB). Job was a smart man. He knew you're not going to get in trouble if you keep your eyes looking at the right things.

In our culture, we see things and want to buy them. It's almost impossible to keep driving the same car. It's so easy to think of forty-nine reasons for getting rid of it. Clothes are more that simple covering. Today, stores pressure us to be stylish and improve our image with them. We are bewitched by beauty. We drive in a different neighborhood and then become dissatisfied with the house we live in. We need to have the attitude of the psalmist who said in Psalm 119:37, "Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity" (NASB). Satan wants us to desire things that are beyond what God wants us to have. Our eyes have an appetite. You've probably heard people say, "Feast your eyes on that beauty!" Knowing that our eyes can lead us to lust, Satan uses his system to allure us into satisfying our appetites.

3. The pride of life

The third bridge to sin is "the pride of life." The Greek word alazoneia refers to being proud when you really have nothing to be proud about. For example, it would have been used to speak of a pauper who showed his friends when they came to town a fleet of ships that he claimed to own, when in reality none of them belonged to him. He would be bragging about something he didn't have. It's one thing to have something great and brag about it; it's something else to have nothing and brag about it. The pride of life puts on a big show for other people. A person might be able to get by with a certain item, but he may want to get a better item to impress people with. People often live just a little beyond what they can afford because they want others to think they have more than they have. Such a motive is boastful.

The Apostle John identifies the three springs of evil in a climaxing sequence: sensuality, covetousness, and pride. Sensuality is the corruption of the lower part of man's nature-- his base desires. Covetousness is the corruption of a higher part. It is a selfish desire for what is beautiful, whether it is a woman, a car, a house, or a dress. But pride is the highest corruption of man's being. It is the exaltation of man himself. By sensuality, man sinks to the level of animals; by covetousness he competes on the level of men; by pride he tries to reach to the heights of God. The world is set to draw you into sin. Christians cannot love the world because of what it is--the enemy, who we are--the family of God, what it does--causes iniquity, and where it is going--its destiny.

IV. BECAUSE OF WHERE THE WORLD IS GOING (v. 17)

A. Its Passing Discussed

Verse 17 presents a stark contrast: "And the world passeth away, and the lust of it; but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever." It is the Christian who does the will of God. What is God's will? First Timothy 2:3-4 tells us that "God, our Savior,... will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth." God's will is that people be saved. Those who are saved will abide forever, but the world and its followers will pass away. We can't love the world because of its destiny. We are eternal and it is passing. The two principles of life and death can't operate together. The church is an eternally living people; the world is a dead system.

The words "passeth away" (Gk. paragetai) are in the present tense and imply that the world is continuing to disintegrate. It is in the process of dissolution. We often wonder now how much longer our civilization can last. The world is going to self-destruct because sin produces death. The world is a dying system. All its institutions are crumbling little by little--the family, the judicial system, the government. Everything is breaking down because the world is plagued by sin, which operates on a death principle.

B. Its Passing Depicted

1. The process of deterioration

a) 2 Thessalonians 2:7--"The mystery of iniquity doth already work." Evil is getting worse to a degree that man never knew before.

b) 2 Timothy 3:13--"Evil men and seducers shall become worse and worse."

The world is in the process of destroying itself. Believers are citizens of an eternal Kingdom (Phil. 3:20). Therefore, we should not attach ourselves to the world's decaying system. Christians do not love the world, which is passing away. We belong to a different dimension. We live in "heavenly places" (Eph. 2:6).

2. The peak of destruction

a) The setting of the scene

The final phases of self-destruction will come during the Tribulation, as seen in Revelation 6--19. The scene in chapter 5 is of God sitting on His throne holding in His right hand a scroll, which is the title deed to the earth. (In effect, Satan took control of that title deed in the Garden.) An angel asks, "Who is worthy to open the scroll, and loose its seals?" (v. 2). Verses 6-7 say, "A Lamb as though it had been slain [Christ] ... came and took the scroll out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne."

A Roman will was sealed so it could not be officially opened until after the death of the one who made it. This scroll that Christ took willed the earth to Him as its rightful heir. Beginning in chapter 6, our Lord breaks the seals and terrible things start to happen.

b) The retribution upon the rejectors

(1) The seals

First comes the Antichrist on a white horse, pretending to be the Christ (v. 2). Peace is taken from the earth and men start to kill each other (v. 4). All of a sudden sin reaches a climax and everything in the dying system falls apart. A terrible famine strikes, as indicated by the phrase "a measure of wheat for a denarius" (v. 6). In other words, one meal's worth of wheat would cost a day's wages. The oil and the wine were to be left untouched for the rich people (v. 6). Death rampages the world and one- fourth of the earth's inhabitants are killed "with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth" (v. 8).

During this three-and-a-half-year period of world-wide catastrophe, there is "a great earthquake, and the sun [becomes] as black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon [becomes] like blood; and the stars of heaven [fall] unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven [departs] as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island [are] moved out of their places" (vv. 12-14).

(2) The trumpets

The prophetic description of the judgment of these last times continues in chapter 8: After the first trumpet of judgment sounded, "there followed hail and fire mixed with blood, and they were cast upon the earth; and the third part of the trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up" (v. 7). When the second angel sounded his trumpet, "a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea; and the third part of the sea became blood; and the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed" (vv. 8-9). This chain of reactions is perhaps initiated by some kind of a meteorite. Then comes a terrible contamination of fresh water: "The third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter" (v. 11).

As the fourth angel sounds his trumpet, God even judges time: "The third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars, so that the third part of them was darkened, and the day shown not for a third part of it, and the night likewise" (v. 12). The whole universe starts to fall apart. But that is only the beginning. The next trumpets to sound are even worse. With the sixth trumpet, a third part civilization is killed by fire, smoke, and brimstone (v. 18). People continue to worship demons, and refuse to repent of their acts of murder, sorcery, fornication, and robbery (vv. 20-21).

c) The end of the economy

Then in chapter 18, the entire evil system that Satan built is wiped out. Revelation 18:9 says, "The kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived luxuriously with [the system] shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning." When the system is gone, including its culture, economics, religion, and government, the unbelievers who are still alive will cry in despair. When judgment comes, "the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more: the merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all kinds of vessels of ivory, and all kinds of vessels of most precious wood, and of bronze, and iron, and marble, and cinnamon, and incense, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and cattle, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men. And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee ... and thou shalt find them no more at all. The merchants of [the world] shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, and saying, Alas, alas, that great city! (vv. 11-16).

Even the music of the world goes too: "And the voice of harpers, and minstrels, and flute players, and trumpeters shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsmen, of whatever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee" (v. 22).

d) The voices of victory

As the world's system is being destroyed, there will be voices in heaven saying, "The kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever" (Rev. 11:15).

Christians do not love the world because of where it is going. First Corinthians 7:31 says, "The fashion of this world passeth away." Let's not even flirt with it. We shouldn't love it because it is our enemy, because we are part of God's family, because it incites us to sin, and because we have a different destiny.

If you're a Christian, you have overcome the world. So act like it! If you're not a Christian, you are a part of a system that is self- destructing. You're being victimized by Satan, the god of this world-- and you probably thought you were doing what you wanted. That's tragic. Please understand that Jesus Christ can change your life when you put your faith in Him and accept what He's done for you. He will take you out of the world's evil system and give you eternal life. That's His promise.

Focusing on the Facts

1. Explain how man sold his birthright to the world.

2. Although the system that dominates the world is in the control of Satan, what did Jesus know He would do someday?

3. How did Satan first counteract the truth in Genesis 4? What indication is there that Cain was basing his acceptance before God on his own effort?

4. What do all false religions claim about how man enters God's presence?

5. What has Satan used things like crime, arguments, riots, and wars to destroy?

6. Is Satan directly responsible for everything that the world does? Explain.

7. What does the world's system incite us to do?

8. What do Christians become servants of, after having been servants of sin (Rom. 6:17)?

9. What has made it difficult to maintain a pure life in our modern society?

10. What do the words "lust" and "flesh" mean in the context of 1 John 2:16?

11. What are some of the ways that the flesh manifests itself (Gal. 5:19- 21)?

12. What will those who habitually indulge in the works of the flesh never inherit, according to Galatians 5:21?

13. Explain how the lust of the eyes got Achan and David into trouble.

14. Describe the person who is characterized by "the pride of life" (v. 16).

15. Differentiate between the corruptions of sensuality, covetousness, and pride.

16. Why is the world in the process of breaking down?

17. When will the final phases of the world's destruction come?

18. When the Lord breaks the seals on the scroll in Revelation 6, what starts to take place?

19. As the world's system is being completely destroyed, what will be the response from heaven (Rev. 11:15)?

Pondering the Principles

1. If you are a Christian, are you living the holy life that the Lord expects of you? According to Titus 2:14, why did Jesus Christ sacrifice Himself for us? What does that verse say our heartfelt response ought to be to that purposeful act of love? As you meditate on Titus 2:11-14, evaluate how well your life-style is fitting into God's purposes.

2. Knowing that we are conditioned to accept the world's values through secular media, we must carefully evaluate the kinds of things that we expose our eyes and ears to. Is TV programming you with its distorted perspective of human relationships and materialism? Its influence on you may have been so gradual and subtle that it has been hardly noticeable. Have you become so worldly that it is difficult to tell you apart from an unbeliever who attends church? Based on your understanding of the Word of God, examine yourself to see how brightly your life shines in the world as a lighthouse of truth to the people lost on the sea of secularism.

3. Do you find yourself concentrating on satisfying your pleasure- sensitive appetites, which can only be temporarily fulfilled? Or, are you consistently "trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord" (Eph. 5:10; NASB) with whom you will spend eternity? Commit yourself to saturating your mind with the Word of God and to letting the Spirit lead you in accordance with the Scripture He inspired.

4. The lust of the eyes is a major problem in our sex-oriented and materialistic society. If you are a male who struggles with the sin of lusting for someone other than your spouse, make a covenant with your eyes, like Job did in Job 31:1. Recognize that an illicit relationship dishonors God and hinders the development of a healthy relationship based on honesty and trust. As you communicate with members of the opposite sex, practice concentrating on looking only into their eyes. If material possessions cause you to lust, meditate on Matthew 6:19-33 to refocus your perspective.

5. Praise God that you are part of an eternal Kingdom that He has graciously allowed you to enter. Thank Him that you will be preserved from the terrible time of the Tribulation that will come upon those who have rejected Christ. Meditate on 2 Thessalonians 2:8-17.