Sermon Prepared by James McCullen
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FORBIDDEN LOVE
1 John 2:15-17

INTRODUCTION:
The writters on television often appeal to the exotic. A title like forbidden love with sub heading of lust would get the world's attention. In this text we see a forbidden love. The word also talks of lust of the flesh and lust of the eyes. All of this is part of Love forbidden by God. Follow with me as we examine this text.
 

I.    FORBIDDEN LOVE THE COMMAND OF IT. v 15

II.    FORBIDDEN LOVE THE CONCEPTION OF IT. v 15 c & v 16 c

III.    FORBIDDEN LOVE THE CLARIFICATION OF IT. v 16

IV.    FORBIDDEN LOVE THE CONTRAST OF IT.    v 17
 
 

A.    COMMANDED DON'T LOVE THE WORLD. v 15 a
 

B.    COMMANDED DON'T LOVE THE THINGS OF THE WORLD. v 15 b
 

Illustration
SISTER TERRESSA AT THE NATIONAL PRAYER BREAKFAST.  Ed Young tells on a tape that she went up to the President and shook her finger and said  "stop killing our babies".
 

Application

We are commanded to not love the world.
 
 

A. CONCEIVED BY A . . DISCARDING OF THE FATHER'S LOVE. v 15 c
        v 15 c . . . If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
 

B. CONCEIVED BY A . . DIRECTIVE OF THE WORLD'S LOVE. v 16 c
        v 16 c . . . is not from the Father, but is from the world.
 
 

A.    THE LUST OF THE FLESH. v 16 a . . PASSION.   GEN.3:6 ". . .saw that the tree was good . .."

Illustration
As a kid, I saw a movie in which some shipwrecked men are left drifting aimlessly on the ocean in a lifeboat. As the days pass under the scorching sun, their rations of food and fresh water give out. The men grow deliriously thirsty. One night, while the others are asleep, one man ignores all previous warnings and gulps down some salt water. He quickly dies.

Ocean water contains seven times more salt than the human body can safely ingest. Drinking it, a person dehydrates because the kidneys demand extra water to flush the overload of salt. The more salt water someone drinks, the thirstier he gets. He actually dies of thirst.

When we lust, we become like this man. We thirst desperately for something that looks like what we want. We don't realize, however, that it is precisely the opposite of what we really need. In fact, it can kill us. -- Craig Brian Larson
 

B.    THE LUST OF THE EYES. v 16 b . . PLEASURE.   Gen. 3:6 ". . .pleasant to the eyes, . . ."

ILLUSTRATION
The army of Alexander the Great was advancing on Persia. At one critical point, it appeared that his troops might be defeated. The soldiers had taken so much plunder from their previous campaigns that they had become weighted down and were losing their effectiveness in combat. Alexander immediately commanded that all the spoils be thrown into a heap and burned. The men complained bitterly, but soon came to see the wisdom of the order. Someone wrote, "It was as if wings had been given to them -- they walked lightly again." Victory was assured.

As soldiers of Christ we must rid ourselves of anything that would hinder us in the conflict with our spiritual enemy. And to fight the battle effectively, we must be clad only with the armor of God (Eph. 6:11-17). Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations, Paul Lee Tan, Assurance Publishers, Rockville, MD, 1979, p. 836
 

C. PRIDE OF LIFE. v 16 c . . PRIDE.    Gen 3:6 ". . .to make one wise,. . ."

Illustration
Former heavyweight boxer James (Quick) Tillis is a cowboy from Oklahoma who fought out of Chicago in the early 1980s. He still remembers his first day in the Windy City after his arrival from Tulsa. "I got off the bus with two cardboard suitcases under my arms in downtown Chicago and stopped in front of the Sears Tower. I put my suitcases down, and I looked up at the Tower and I said to myself, "I'm going to conquer Chicago." "When I looked down, the suitcases were gone."
 
 

A.    CONTRAST WHAT WILL ERODE. v 17 a
 

B.    CONTRAST WHAT WILL ENDURE. v 17 b
 
 

I. FORBIDDEN LOVE THE COMMAND OF IT. v 15
 

II. FORBIDDEN LOVE THE CONCEPTION OF IT. v 15 c & v 16 c
 

III. FORBIDDEN LOVE THE CLARIFICATION OF IT. v 16
 

IV. FORBIDDEN LOVE THE CONTRAST OF IT. v 17