Do Not Love The World

"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them." (1 John 2:15)

Many things in the world seem desirable and we are yearning to possess them.  They may not be necessary bad as they can be used for purposes which God intended them to be for His Glory.  However, believers must not seek or value them for those purposes to which sin abuses them.

The world draws the heart from God; and the more the love of the world prevails, the more the love of God decays. The things of the world are classed according to the three ruling inclinations of depraved nature:

1. The lust of the flesh, of the body: wrong desires of the heart, the appetite of indulging all things that excite and inflame sensual pleasures.

2. The lust of the eyes: the eyes are delighted with riches and rich possessions; this is the lust of covetousness.

3. The pride of life: a vain man craves the grandeur and pomp of a vain-glorious life; this includes thirst after honour and applause.

The things of the world quickly fade and die away; desire itself will ere long fail and cease, but holy affection is not like the lust that passes away. The love of God shall never fail. Many vain efforts have been made to evade the force of this passage by limitations, distinctions, or exceptions. Many have tried to show how far we may be carnally-minded, and love the world; but the plain meaning of these verses cannot easily be mistaken. Unless this victory over the world is begun in the heart, a man has no root in himself, but will fall away, or at most remain an unfruitful professor. Yet these vanities are so alluring to the corruption in our hearts, that without constant watching and prayer, we cannot escape the world, or obtain victory over the god and prince of it.



Rev Dr. Ronnie Ng