TTB - 1 John Chapter 2

1 John 2 - J. Vernon McGee
Through the Bible - June 22, 2015

Salvation vs. sanctification - His work for us vs. His work in us.

Staying in the right place so that God lives through us when we yield.  "McGee has really nothing to say, and nothing to give; sort of an average human being."


Three things in the world that are good, but we need to avoid because they are temptations.
Lust of the flesh - Eve knows fruit was good for food.  Jesus tempted to turn stones into bread.  People tempted with gluttony and over-indulgence.

Lust of the eyes - Eve sees a tree that is good to look at.  Jesus tempted with the beautiful kingdoms of the world.  We see an attractive world.

Pride of life - Eve tempted to become wise.  Jesus tempted to prove who He is to demonstrate his superiority and we're tempted to believe that we have arrived.

Why is the world not our focus?
The world and the lusts of it pass away.  Example: Hampton Court and Westminster Abbey, and the Tower of London that held great power in magnificent ways.




I'm really glad that I heard Mr. J. Vernon years ago and that I've rediscovered his Thru the Bible series, despite the spelling of through.  I enjoyed reading a little bit about him from the man's grandson in a blog I found with Google and I believe, like Marilyn Monroe, the person was someone I may not have liked very much, but the impact, image or legacy can be very profound.

Today he spoke about three temptations, and how food and sex can be temptations- yet both are necessary, and fine; even good.  Where do we draw the lines?  Our world is so focused on food.  The only people I like sit around and talk about food with me- my family, and all the friends I can think of, except for one.  Sex is everywhere implied.  These are mainly expressed through the eyes- the whole world is about image; very few mediums combine food and sex, but every show on tv is about one of them; except maybe sports, which is a substitute arena of life for men to show their emotions- so it must have something to do with sex.  And we are bombarded with knowledge- maybe not wisdom.  We're looking around for more and more to be better and better and enmeshed in all three of the temptations of the world spoken of in Genesis and in the gospels.