... the Love of the World Makes the Love of God Impossible.
The love of the world makes it impossible to love God, as it distracts us from Him and occupies our minds and hearts.
Andrew Murray emphasizes that the love of the world is fundamentally opposed to the love of God, as illustrated by the sin of Adam and Eve. He explains that loving the world manifests through the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, which distracts us from our devotion to God. The sermon highlights that true love for God requires a complete surrender of worldly desires and a focus on spiritual fulfillment. Murray calls for believers to examine their hearts and prioritize their relationship with God above all else.
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And wherein now does this spirit of the world show itself, and wherein does its sinfulness consist? 'If any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him.' As the great and first commandment is, 'Love the lord thy God with all thy heart,' so the great and first sin is the love of the world which makes the love of God impossible.
It was so with the sin of our first parents. And when John defines what the things of the world are, and what the love of them, we are at once led to think of that first sin. He speaks of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.
Man has body, soul and spirit. Eve saw 'that the tree was good for food': this was the seed of all lust of the flesh, the desire for the gratification of the body with its appetites.
'And that it was pleasant to the eyes': this was the beginning of all that delight the visible world, its God-created beauty and treasures, in which the powers of the soul and mind are occupied and drawn off from God as effectually as by more sensual pleasures.
(Excerpted from The Coming Revival, by Andrew Murray , pg. 28).
Sermon Outline
- The Spirit of the World
- The Sin of the World
- The Consequences of Loving the World
- The desire for gratification of the body
- The delight in visible treasures and beauty
- The distraction from God
Key Quotes
“''If any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him.''” — Andrew Murray
“''Love the lord thy God with all thy heart,'' so the great and first sin is the love of the world which makes the love of God impossible.” — Andrew Murray
Application Points
- We must be aware of the spirit of the world and its influence in our lives.
- We must prioritize our love for God above all else, including the world and its desires.
- We must be careful not to let the world distract us from our relationship with God.