001.24. Chapter 24
Chapter 24 THE WORLD PROHIBITED
“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” The connection between our present verse and the foregoing ones may not be apparent at once, but a little reflection will make it evident that it is linked more or less closely to all that precedes. As we have previously pointed out, the contents of 1 John 2:12-14 were designed to pave the way for what follows. John would duly impress his readers with what the riches of grace had made them in themselves, and this in order to prepare them to respond cheerfully to the prohibition of 1 John 2:15. In view of what they now were in relation unto God in Christ, they should the more readily and heartily detest that which is directly opposed to Him. As we have repeatedly observed in those sections of the epistle already traversed, John is fond of presenting the Truth under the form of sharply defined antitheses. It is so again here. Having described the several members of God’s family, he sets over against them the world. They are solemnly reminded that they have to live their lives in an evil and hostile environment, and therefore are they warned against its menace, and instructed how to carry themselves toward it. At the beginning of our chapter the apostle had announced, “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not;” and to enforce that injunction he had stated the broad and basic principles by which the characters of believers are to be formed and their conduct regulated. They must fix their eyes upon the One who is their Advocate with the Father, keep God’s commandments, and walk even as Christ walked (1 John 2:1-6). Then he had descended from the general to the particular: calling upon them to exercise love unto their brethren (1 John 2:7-11). Next, he had expressed some strong assurances (1 John 2:12-14)—addressed to the different grades of Christians to whom he was writing—which were designed as motives and incentives unto a compliance with the exhortations to which he now returns. Following the command to love the brethren is the dehortation “Love not the world.” It gives additional point and weight unto these precepts if we bear in mind that they are not only rules for the direction of conduct, but also tests by which we are required to examine and measure ourselves, for proof that we personally possess a saving knowledge of the Truth. As the apostle proceeded to develop his subject and pursue the several designs which he had before him when writing this epistle, the different tests which are presented become increasingly searching, and the line of demarcation between a valid and an invalid Christian profession is drawn more sharply. On the other hand, the characteristics and walk of the regenerate are so delineated and their portion and privileges so described, that their comfort and assurance should be proportionately deepened. Thus it is both a needful and a salutary thing for every one of us carefully and honestly to try himself by each of these admonitions and precepts. As J. Morgan pointed out, “Without conformity to them we are not entitled to conclude that ‘we know’ Christ or that we are ‘in Him’ by faith. As, therefore, we would have our evidences clear of a saving interest in Him, and would enjoy the assurance of a living faith, we must cultivate a close conformity to the manner of life enjoined by the apostle.” It is with such considerations before us that we should prayerfully ponder the interdiction of our present text, and, instead of viewing it abstractedly, suffer ourselves to be searched by it.
There is also an undoubted link between 1 John 2:15-17 and that which was before us in 1 John 2:9-11. There John had contrasted those who walk in darkness and those who abide in the light, and, as Haupt strikingly pointed out, “Here again (1 John 2:15) is the ‘darkness,’ though in its concrete form, where its kingdom is to be found.” It is not sufficiently recognized that the world is the domain where darkness works and holds sway. Nor is it sufficiently realized that, morally, darkness is not an objective thing only, but a subjective one too, an operative force within man; yet Scripture speaks expressly of “the power of darkness” (Luke 22:53, Colossians 1:13) and “the rulers of the darkness of this world” (Ephesians 6:12).
Darkness is as truly the animating principle in the unregenerate as light is in the saints. All that is outside of God in Christ is under the dominion of sin and Satan, which is but another way of saying that it is the realm of darkness. That is the fundamental reason why the world is not to be loved by us: it is the very antipodes from Him who is light, as is made very plain in the verses which follow, where its hideous features are depicted.
“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” This verse contains one of the innumerable proofs of the Divine authorship of the Bible, for its teaching concerning the world is at direct variance with the beliefs and sentiments of humanity. If on the one hand that which is of great price in the sight of God (1 Peter 3:4) is despised by the world, on the other hand that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God (Luke 16:15). Now if there be anything which is highly esteemed by man it is the world. He thinks highly of it, and speaks loudly in its praise, for he regards it as his world. Since it be that which his labours have produced, man views the world with pride and satisfaction, boasts of its progress, and is assured that it will yet develop into a real Utopia. Certain it is then that none of mankind ever invented such a statement as “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” (James 4:4). Equally evident is it that our text never originated with the human mind. The Bible uniformly condemns the world. Again and again Christ and His apostles indicted and warned the saints against it. When the Son of God became incarnate and tabernacled among men, “the world knew Him not” (John 1:10); yea, He declared, “Me it hateth” (John 7:7). He insisted that the whole world was of less value than a man’s soul (Matthew 16:26). He intimated that its cares and the deceitfulness of riches were the thorns which choked the Word and made its hearer unfruitful (Matthew 13:22). He solemnly said, “Woe unto the world because of offences” (Matthew 18:7). He announced that Satan was its prince (John 14:30). In reference to the Holy Spirit He stated, “whom the world cannot receive” (John 14:17). He averred, “I pray not for the world” (John 17:9). He “gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world” (Galatians 1:4), and therefore are His people forbidden to be conformed to it (Romans 12:2). The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God (1 Corinthians 3:19). “Ungodliness and worldly lusts” are linked together (Titus 2:12). 2 Peter 2:20 mentions “the pollutions of the world,” while 1 John 5:19 informs us that “the whole world lieth in wickedness.”
Such declarations as these are radically opposed to all the beliefs and philosophies of men. The above passages greatly need pressing today upon all professing Christians: “all,” we say, genuine saints not excepted. A careful pondering of the same makes it very manifest that this dehortation “love not the world” is no incidental or secondary one, but rather one which is fundamental unto vital godliness. It is therefore a matter of great practical importance that we obtain a right understanding and definition of the world, the “things that are in it,” and especially of what is meant by loving the same; otherwise, how can we rightly keep this precept? There are some conscientious souls who are very apt to distress themselves needlessly through incorrectly interpreting the same, supposing that to have their thoughts engaged with secular things while performing their daily duties is a species of worldliness, and a contravention of this injunction. But that is not so: God requires every able-bodied person to be engaged in some useful occupation: “work with your own hands” (1 Thessalonians 4:11), and “if any would not work, neither should he eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10).
Honest industry is incumbent upon all, and if our calling be a lawful one, then we should apply our minds to the same: “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might” (Ecclesiastes 9:10). “Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds” (Proverbs 27:23). If there be an eye single to God’s glory and a conscientious performance of duty, He is as truly honoured and pleased by the farmer as by the preacher, the labourer as his employer. Indolence or inattention to practical matters is very far from being an evidence of spirituality: “Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit, serving the Lord” therein (Romans 12:11) is one of the marks of a true disciple. It is not sinful to trade, to be industrious in the same, and to acquire money; yet constant watchfulness is necessary lest we be captivated and ensnared: “if riches increase, set not your heart upon them” (Psalms 62:10). Many a prosperous merchant has been a man of deep piety, and his wealth a power for good. Nor is it wrong for a Christian man to lay up in store for his family, agreeably to the bounty of the Lord toward him (2 Corinthians 12:14; 1 Timothy 5:8).
No. Scripture does not require the saints to renounce the duties of relative life, or to become careless in the discharge of them. The proper evidence of being a Christian is not merely to talk about Divine things, but (by grace) to walk according to the rules of God’s Word in whatever position Providence has placed him: whether as a master or servant, husband or wife, parent or child, bearing rule or yielding obedience as unto the Lord. Diligence and fidelity in the management of temporal affairs are to be maintained, yet without a sinful conformity to the world. It is indeed necessary that the believer should ever bear in mind that “the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for Himself” (Psalms 4:3), and that as a stranger and pilgrim in this scene he must abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul (1 Peter 2:11). Yet that is far from signifying that he is to make himself conspicuous as an oddity. There is a happy medium between a sinful compliance with the world, being a slave to its opinions and an imitator of its fashions, and a scrupulous singularity which repudiates the spirit and liberty of the Gospel, and which is in reality nothing but a spirit of self-righteousness.
“Love not the world.” In this and all similar passages the “world” is both a society and a system. The members of it are described as “men of the world, which have their portion in this life” (Psalms 17:14). Their chief good consists of the things of time and sense: their consuming desire is to crowd as much as possible of earthly joy into the present. Of each of its prosperous citizens it is said, “Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches” (Psalms 52:7). As a system, it is under the dominion of Satan: he is its “prince,” regulating its policy and politics; its “god” (2 Corinthians 4:4), directing its religions. It is therefore the embodiment of his spirit, bearing his image and wearing his livery. Thus it is said of the unregenerate that they walk “according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2). As Christ declared to some of its most respected devotees, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will [desire and are determined to] do” (John 8:44); they listen willingly to his solicitations and readily credit his lies.
Considered morally, rather than materially, the world is synonymous with the kingdom of Satan (Matthew 12:26) or the unregenerate part of mankind, together with the things on which they set their hearts: all that is outside “the kingdom of God”—where His authority is owned. “It is the reign or kingdom of ‘the carnal mind’ which is ‘enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.’ Wherever that mind prevails, there is the world” (A. Candlish).
It is fallen human nature acting out itself under the influence of the Devil, fashioning the framework of society after its own tendencies. Its very spirit is hostile to godliness, for it is dominated by carnal ambition, pride, avarice, self-pleasing, and sensuous desires and interests. Its opinions are false, its aims selfish, its pleasures sinful, its influence thoroughly demoralizing. The maxims which govern it, the springs which operate it, the ends which it seeks, are earthly, sensual, devilish. Its politics are corrupt, its honours empty baubles, its smiles fickle. Even to its own votaries it is a thing of bitter disappointments, for it is full of illusions and fierce rivalries.
Now since the world is the sphere of rebellion against God, His people are commanded not to love it. They are not to esteem it as their portion or treasure. They are forbidden to set their affections upon it. Love is the supreme affection in whatever heart it dwells. It is jealous and will brook no rival. Its very nature is to make everything else subordinate to the object on which it is set, whether that object be God, a human creature, riches or pleasure. To love the world is to give it the first place in our hearts, to idolize it, to make everything else subordinate to the acquisition and enjoyment of it, to despise whatever comes into competition with it. Where the world be loved, it possesses and governs the soul, overcoming the scruples of conscience and the principles of integrity, for its influence is subtle and insidious, powerful and perilous. It dominates many who do not suspect it. To love the world is to make its vanities the chief objects of our pursuit, to share its friendships, to court its smiles, to conform to its ways, and to find our happiness in what it yields. Since the world is openly antagonistic to God, for any of His people to love it is to exercise a spirit of hostility to Him—it is to act a traitor’s part, to hold converse with the enemy’s camp.
Even the habitable earth in which we reside must not be cherished by the Christian as though it were his eternal dwelling place: for “this is not your rest, because it is polluted” (Micah 2:10). As Henry remarked, “It was never intended to be so: it was designed for our passage, but not for our portion; our inn, but not our home… let us therefore sit loose to it, live above it, and think of leaving it.” All the time we spend here is but a night in comparison with eternity. Even the patriarchs were not satisfied with Canaan, though, it flowed with milk and honey; instead, they “confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth,” and desired a better country, that is a heavenly, “wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He hath prepared for them a city” (Hebrews 11:13, Hebrews 11:16). A loathness to leave this earth indicates that our affections cleave too much unto it. To be content with such a sinful scene as this is sure proof that any individual is in a sad state of heart. It is because of their proneness to cleave to it that God so often embitters this world unto them.
“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.” In the second clause the apostle descends from the general to the particular. One may renounce the world as a whole, and yet the heart still clings to some of its parts. Even an unregenerate religionist may separate himself from the grosser aspects of the world, refusing to have fellowship with the giddy and frivolous, scorn its carnal attractions, and yet remain a thorough worldling at heart. He may have no sympathy with its tone and spirit, and yet certain objects in it possess great attraction for and have power over him. It is all the same in essence whether I love the world collectively or any of the single things which comprise it. It is not sufficient that I eschew the ways of the world, I must also detach my affections from everything which seeks to claim them. I must not delight in anything which would cause me to lessen my esteem of Christ and heavenly things. I am not to value any object if it hinders the performance of my duties Godward, dulls my relish for His Word, or chills the spirit of praise and prayer.
I am to prefer nothing to spiritual things. I may use many of the things that are in the world, but I must not abuse them, trust in them, or place my happiness in them.
Manton most helpfully pointed out: “God doth not require that we should love nothing, think of nothing, but Himself: the state of this life will not permit that. But God must have all the heart so far (1) that nothing be loved against God—a prohibited object is forbidden: sin must not be loved. (2) Nothing above God with a superior love: ‘he that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me’ (Matthew 10:37). (3) Not equal with God, for then our love is but a partial and half love, divided between God and the creature. God above all, and our neighbour as ourselves. God can endure no rival. Love to man is but the second commandment, and must give way to the first. (4) Nothing apart from God, but as subservient to Him: God in the creature, Christ in His members: myself, wife, children, natural comforts in God and from God.” The Christian’s love is to be reserved for God, and not thrown away upon anything which is averse to Him, and therefore whatever present and sensible things exert a malignant influence upon the mind, as opposed to the influence and effect which spiritual and future things should have upon us, are to be shunned. As “love not the world” is not an order forbidding the believer to have any intercourse with the society of the world or to engage in commerce therein, so love not the things that are in the world is not a prohibition against his making a moderate use of the comforts and conveniences of this life, agreeable to the station to which the Lord has appointed him here. Christians are not required to cut themselves off from all contact with their fellow men and retire into a monastery or convent; nor are they directed to abstain from pleasant food or the wearing of clothes which become their station; still less is it wrong for them to admire the wonders and beauties of God’s handiwork in the material creation. While he is bidden to be temperate in all things, yet it is no virtue for a saint to adopt the austerities of the Spartans or to practice the bodily mortifications of the Brahmins. There is a “strictness” which arises from ignorance rather than knowledge, and a self-denial which is the fruit of fanaticism rather than spirituality. To be wholly concerned about externals is to gratify the spirit of self-righteousness, for it is possible to starve the body while feeding pride.
“If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” It comes to the same thing whether the love of the Father refers to His being shed abroad in the heart, or ours to Him, for the one cannot be without the other. If my prevailing desires be for the things which are in the world, if I conform to its carnal manners, comply with its sinful demands, and would do anything rather than antagonize it, then obviously I am an unregenerate person. If my affections be set upon the world which hounded His Son to death, and which hates His people in proportion as they see His image in them, how can the love of the Father dwell in me? It is impossible: the world, which lieth in the wicked, and the Father are irreconcilable, for they are diametrically opposed. Since they be thoroughly incompatible, love for the world and love to God cannot dwell together in the same heart. That was plainly taught by Christ: “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other” (Matthew 6:24). Both cannot rule the soul, for their governments and commands are contrary: their spirit and their course are diverse. Each person has to choose which of the two claimants for his heart shall be served and loved. Each Christian is required resolutely to resist the world in every respect in which it draws him away from God, and refuse to comply with it at the cost of disobeying Him.
Here are some tests by which the reader should examine himself to determine whether he loves the world or the Father. Which do you seek with the more fervour: the wealth and honours of the world, or the riches of grace and the approbation of God? Which have the greater attraction: the pleasures of the world, which are but for a season, or those pleasures at God’s right hand, which are for evermore? Wherein lies your confidence: in the money you have “laid up for a rainy day,” or in the living and faithful God, who has promised to supply all the need of His people? Which occasions the deeper sorrow: a temporal loss, or the severance of fellowship with God? Which are you spending more money upon: personal comforts and luxuries, or the circulation of God’s Word and the spread of His Gospel? What most dominates your mind: thoughts and schemes after worldly advancements, or resolutions and efforts to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord? Do your “good intentions” materialize, or are they empty dreams?