And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
The world with its cravings is passing away, while the one who does the will of God remains forever, marking two opposite and final destinies. All that belongs to the world is the craving of the flesh, the craving of the eyes, and the pride of life, which are from the world and not from the Father, and love for the world cannot dwell together with love for the Father. Doing God's will means yielding the human will to His, keeping His holy law and Christ's words in daily life rather than merely hearing them, and being sanctified to walk in the light, abide in Christ, and bear much fruit. It requires an undivided heart that gives up every idol, selfish passion, and lust so that God reigns supreme, for a divided heart or even one idol kept forfeits eternal life. The world's pleasure, power, honor, and treasure are temporary, unsatisfying, and cannot be carried into the eternal world, so eternity must be brought into view until the present world appears as a mere atom and its spell is broken.
Meaning and Immediate Context
The verse sets two opposite destinies against each other: the world with its craving passes away, while the one who does the will of God abides forever. Clinging to temporary worldly things ends when they end, but obedience to God marks a lasting life with Him. Youth gives no excuse from this responsibility. If young people turn their ardent affections from worldly pleasures to Christ and heaven and do God's will, they have hope of enduring life and its promised glory; if instead they live to satisfy bodily desire, covet what they see, and seek status or pleasure, they choose passing things, separate themselves from the Father, and their hopes perish when those things pass away.
All that is in the world is summed up as the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. That craving of the flesh, craving of the eyes, and prideful living are from the world and not from the Father. Love for the world and the things in it is therefore incompatible with love of the Father. The two loves cannot exist together in the heart, and love of the world leaves no room for love of the Father, allowing no divided affection or separation of affection from God.
In its setting the verse closes John's distinction between little children whose sins are forgiven and who know the Father, fathers who have known Him from the beginning, and young men who are strong because God's word lives in them and have overcome the wicked one and defeated the evil one. It stands with the command to love not the world nor the things in it. It stands immediately before the warning that it is the last time. Those who heed the call to take heed, whether believers or unbelievers, have an anointing from the Holy One by which they know the truth and know that no lie belongs to the truth.
The plain truths of the chapter mean very much for those living in the last days and speak unmistakably about conditions in the last days. They are instruction from Christ to be read and studied in order to be ready for the Lord's appearing. That readiness requires not exalting self and disparaging others but criticizing self, confessing and forsaking sin, making diligent work of repentance in the great day of atonement, and setting the heart in order without losing a moment, because souls are in peril yet can be cleansed from sin. It belongs with walking in the light as God is in the light, having fellowship one with another, speaking the truth in love to grow up into Christ the Head, and keeping the love of Christ in the heart, since beautiful theories are not enough and loss of that first love means loss of all things.
Doing God's Will Endures
Doing God's will means bringing the human will into conformity with God's will, refusing to be guided or controlled by any human will, casting aside yokes of human devising and human authority over others, and taking Christ's yoke instead. It means studying, knowing, and doing what is revealed in Scripture rather than ignoring it, trusting God as faithful Creator, and gaining purity of soul through the blood of Jesus that cleanses from all sin. Those who know these things and do them are happy, find rest to the soul, and abide forever.
Doing God's will is complying with God's holy law as the standard of righteousness and rule of life, keeping Christ's commandments and practicing His words in daily life rather than merely hearing or theoretically accepting them. This doing honors God and Jesus Christ, proves love for Christ, and brings the love of God to perfection in the doer, while the world and its lust come to an end. Hearers who do not stamp the word upon the soul and weave it into life, who acknowledge the command to love God with all heart, soul, and strength without carrying out its principles, receive no sanctifying effect, but doers remain forever. It is entire conformity to God's eternal, unchangeable, immutable law, setting affections on things above and representing Christ in purity and holiness in vivid contrast to the selfishness of the world.
Doing God's will is sanctification, partaking of the divine nature, walking in the light, abiding in Christ and bearing much fruit, with results of efforts to uplift humanity enduring through all eternity. It means not loving the world nor the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, taking hold of Christ's righteousness to be cleansed from all iniquity, and going forth in the grace of God to warn cities with heaven's power, with Christ's righteousness before and God's glory behind. Those ruled by love of selfish indulgence quench spiritual life, prove God's love is not abiding in the heart, and become stumbling blocks rather than living epistles, while those who receive Jesus gain moral power to overcome all evil, eat the Bread of life and drink the water of life, and as probationers fitting for eternity become co-workers with God to do His will and abide forever while the world passes away. Those who stay carnally minded, sensual, and debased have never been sanctified through the truth, never become partakers of the divine nature, and never overcome self and the world, and so will never unite with the redeemed family.
The one who abides forever has carried on faithful warfare against the enemy, built himself up in the most holy faith, defeated the evil one, and stands against Satan's unceasing war against the government of heaven. This enduring belongs to fathers who know Him from the beginning, to little children who know the Father, and to young men who are strong because the word of God lives in them, with an anointing from the Holy One by which they know the truth and know that no lie belongs to the truth.
Abiding forever is living forever with God, remaining with Him, entering the city of God and standing as in the open portals surveying its glories within. It is accepting the cross and the Sabbath, rescuing God's trampled law and lifting it up as a perpetual memorial of a nobler world, which links the doer with the divine, exposes the inferiority of worldly enterprises, and brings responsibility to use God-given talents to take others toward everlasting life. It is detaching affections from the world as a snare that brings hopelessness, accepting the life of self-denial and self-sacrifice Jesus lived by teaching and example, and so entering the strait gate and traveling the narrow path to the celestial city to remain forever. Honor that comes from above is durable, glory is never-fading, and life continues after the world ends, while things that perish yield no real pure joy, no abiding good, and no lasting happiness.
That enduring life is eternal life of such value that it is worth lifelong persevering effort equal to its value, by making Christ a daily personal Saviour. It calls for singleness of purpose with wisdom from Christ who is sanctification and righteousness, walking in the knowledge of the truth and partaking of the divine nature, not crowding the mind with a variety of things but constantly improving the mind to comprehend the plain Thus saith the Lord. It calls for walking humbly with God to gain a genuine experience of more value than is recognized, for the daily question Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do, for daily receiving of holy oil as a consecrated vessel to be emptied into other vessels, for daily advance in perfection of Christian character, and for waiting and watching for opportunities, so that every word and work in Christ's lines has enduring preeminence and labor to advance the kingdom carries its results into the eternal world while earthly treasures cannot be carried beyond this world.
Doing God's will requires an undivided heart that relinquishes every idol so God reigns supreme, puts on Christ, and puts away indulgence of selfish passions and lusts. Love for the world and love for the Father cannot exist together, with no separation of affection from God allowed, for all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, which is not from the Father but from the world and comes to an end. Anything that divides affection, takes away supreme love for God, prevents unlimited confidence and entire trust in Him, and is loved, trusted, and worshiped in His place is an idol, whether pictures, earthly treasures, property, or other things exalted above God into the place Jesus should occupy. One with a divided heart yielding service and affections to another than God will finally and forever be something else than a faithful child of God, for the birthright of eternal life is easily sold for selfish gratification and repentance may come too late, and if even one idol is left it shuts the person out of heaven.
Those who do God's will receive God's guidance in judgment, and by clinging to the Lord with all their powers they bring His clinging in return, His sustaining power, and His presence as help in every time of need. They find rest and happiness for the soul.
Passing World and Worldliness
The pleasure, power, glory, honor and treasures of this present order are temporary and passing, frivolous and unsatisfying, yielding no real pure joy, no abiding good and no lasting happiness. Supposed valuable earthly things cannot be carried into the eternal world, and the world cannot provide lasting refuge, safety, light or peace, while trust in God and waiting for His salvation give light and peace amid earthly confusion. Those who follow the upward way of the cross must keep leaving earthly things behind, for otherwise the downward current of the world carries toward death. Earthly honors soon pass away while moral worth endures and stands the test of trial, and honor from above is durable, glory never-fading, and life continuing after the world ends. The approval of God is of far greater value than the friendship, pleasure and approval of the world, and knowing the world was pleased will not improve a person's condition in the day of final reckoning.
Love of worldly gain, pleasure and enjoyment, if not rooted out, chokes the growth of the gospel and prevents truth from sanctifying and refining character. Love of the world crowds out love of the truth and true godliness, producing spiritual dearth instead of prospering, hindering growth in grace and keeping believers in a lukewarm condition unacceptable before God. Through various temptations this opening allows faith to be overthrown, so strict watchfulness is necessary to stand, with greater devotedness to God's cause, refusal of conformity to the world, and transformation by the renewing of the mind. Love of the world coming in to take possession of and rule the heart sways it with one passion after another and one project after another. That rule expels the Holy Spirit from the soul and quenches the spiritual life, proving the love of God is not abiding in the heart.
Making God and heaven secondary by devotion to earthly pursuits is calamity for time and eternity, ending in loss of heaven even if one sits with princes, for the greatest riches this world can bestow leave a person wretched, hopeless and miserable in God's estimation. Loving the world and its things makes everything else secondary, corrupts family influence both received and given, makes faith indistinct, refuses the help God sends to subdue human nature, and prevents wholehearted effectual service, becoming strange fire instead of the consecrated service God alone accepts. Those ruled by love of selfish indulgence become stumbling blocks that make others worse instead of living epistles known and read of all men, and by not desiring practical truth they keep God from presiding in their hearts. Doing the will of God means as rational creatures placing a right estimate upon eternal things and not losing eternity out of reckoning, choosing the cross, disappointment, shattered earthly prospects, neglect of friends and disapproval of the world rather than losing heaven.
Earthly things become idols when loved, trusted and worshiped in place of God or given the affections, confidence and supreme place that belong to Him. Pictures, daguerreotypes and earthly treasures are idols if they draw the heart from God, divide affection, take away supreme love for God, prevent unlimited confidence and entire trust in God, or are worshiped in His place, and followers of Jesus must test whether they have exalted such things above God and given them the place Jesus should occupy. Worldly gain, honor and sensual pleasure eagerly pursued become idols, and trusting and loving wealth more than the living God, seeking the things of the world as worthy to be admired and enjoyed, following the fashions of the world, the desire of the eye, love of self and vainglory are obstructions to piety that separate the soul from God. Such hindrances cannot be overcome by taking them up one by one like picking leaves off a tree that only puts forth foliage again, but must be destroyed at the root by Bible truth. God's church must be more separate from the world in dress, fleeing pride of appearance and love of self, for indulging them works directly against the Spirit of God, leaves a person walking in darkness on the enemy's battlefield, sets up a barrier between people and Jesus, and keeps them from representing Christ in self-denial.
Devotion to worldly things, even things lawful in themselves, can ruin people when carried to excess. Strength of intellect and strength of mind that should be wholly devoted to God are often given to matters of minor importance, and what rightly used is lawful must be guarded against being carried to excess. Many souls are lost by engaging in things which, properly managed, are harmless, but which, perverted, misapplied and misused, become sinful, destructive and demoralizing. The spell of infatuation that the world's business casts on the mind must be broken by bringing eternity within the range of vision. When eternal things attract the mind the present world appears as it is, a mere atom, and the infinite treasures of eternal life reveal the littleness of the temporal, making eternal interests all-absorbing, while interest in present duties is not destroyed but the world is put in a subordinate, not a controlling, place. Unless the subduing, controlling love of God takes possession of the heart, inordinate love for worldly possessions engrosses the thoughts and absorbs the affections, distorts spiritual vision, and so magnifies earthly advantages that they eclipse heavenly attractions, with God's work and cause required to stand first in all aims and purposes, self dethroned, and character transformed to be Christlike in spirit and works.
The spirit of the world is an evil spirit that kills spirituality and is increasing to an alarming extent even in the churches. Those who stay carnally minded, sensual, debased in thought and abominable in God's sight will never unite with the redeemed family forever because they have never been sanctified through the truth, never become partakers of the divine nature, and never overcome self and the world with its affections and lusts. Such characters are all through the churches and make the churches weak and sickly and ready to die. Impurity must therefore be met with no indifferent testimony but a decided, pointed testimony rebuking every impurity and exalting Jesus, and the worldly spirit must be subdued in children from their earliest years.
Last Days and Judgment
A sharp line stands between the eternal God with His church on one side and the passing world on the other, with no unity and no sameness of mind and judgment between them. The strength and spirituality of God's people are seen in that distinct demarcation that separates them from the world, while the world is marked by love for earthly things and by selfish action without regard for the principles set forth in Christ's life. Those who do the will of God have the love of the truth in the heart and are charmed by heavenly things instead of being controlled by the world, and succeeding in that separation requires grace and the love of God. One side chooses the way of the Lord and lives forever with the eternal God, while the other chooses the ways of Satan and belongs to the passing world that perishes.
Choosing worldly interests over God's requirements leaves a person in danger when the test comes and the church and the world separate. Those who remain carnally minded, sensual, debased in thought and abominable in God's sight will never unite forever with the redeemed family, because they were never sanctified through the truth, never became partakers of the divine nature, and never overcame self and the world with its affections and lusts. Such characters are found all through the churches and make the churches weak and sickly and ready to die, so impurity must be met with no indifferent testimony but with decided, pointed testimony rebuking every impurity and exalting Jesus.
All must stand before the final judgment to hear decisions that cannot be cancelled, reviewed, or reversed. Doing the will of God means bringing religion to the Bible standard and holding to messages of reproof and warning without cutting them up, choosing part and rejecting part, or bending them to human liking, ideas, and judgments, and without pronouncing judgment upon God's works, and those who have grace remain on God's side. Love of worldly pleasure and display belongs to a warfare that will have conflicts to the very close of time, in which Satan manifests himself in a masterly way to obtain possession of human agents and by leading men and women to that love charms the senses to the destruction of the soul.
Time to work is short and calls for singleness of purpose with wisdom from Christ who is sanctification and righteousness. That means walking in the knowledge of the truth and partaking of the divine nature, not crowding the mind with a variety of things but keeping true understanding of what Jesus presents in His teachings and constantly improving the mind to comprehend the requirements of the plain Thus saith the Lord. It means obtaining now the genuine experience that is of more value than is recognized, and walking humbly with God, by which everything is gained. Therefore God's people must live in the attitude of expectation, working and waiting and watching and praying.
Daily Life Application
Youth is no excuse from the demand of the verse, for the world with its desires passes away while the doer of God's will abides forever, and young people who turn ardent affections from worldly pleasures to Christ and heaven gain enduring life and promised glory, whereas living to satisfy bodily desire, coveting what is seen, and seeking status or pleasure chooses passing things, separates from the Father, and leaves hopes to perish with them. That high destiny requires pondering well the path of the feet, beginning work with high and holy purpose, and determining by divine grace never to diverge from rectitude, since a wrong beginning makes every step perilous and keeps the straying from truth, safety, and success. Intellect must be strengthened and moral energies quickened by divine power, because God's cause demands the highest powers of being and needs in many white harvest fields young men of literary qualification who can be trusted for extensive labor. Young men of ordinary ability who give themselves wholly to God, uncorrupted by vice and impurity and sober-minded, will succeed and do a great work for God, while students absorbed by ambition for distinction, position, and honor in selfish pursuits turn from unselfish service and form habits that ruin life now and hereafter.
The verse calls God's people to remain separate from worldly desires and friendship with the world, contrasting temporary attractions and approval with lasting life and the friendship of Jesus. Obedience leads believers to leave worldly pleasures and gatherings behind and live separately, as children of light who set affections on heavenly things and by loving God and keeping His commandments separate themselves from the world's friendship and pleasures. The world is a snare bringing hopelessness from which no aid in spiritual need can be expected, so doing God's will means detaching affections from it and accepting the self-denying, self-sacrificing life Jesus lived in teaching and example, and only in that separation entering the strait gate and narrow path to the celestial city to remain forever. True followers are self-denying, living sober, humble, holy lives rather than joining empty pursuits of pleasure-seekers, since yielding to worldly influence and pursuing its pleasures separates from God and makes children of the world.
Separation means coming out and being separate by accepting the cross and the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, with the cross standing as perpetual memorial of a nobler world, rescuing God's discarded, trampled law from dust and rubbish and lifting it up, and setting eternal realities before the mind as if standing in the open portals of the city surveying its glories. That link of the doer with the divine exposes the inferiority of all worldly enterprises and brings responsibility to use God-given talents to take others toward everlasting life. Those enlisted in Christ's army must refuse love for the world and worldly things and come into entire conformity to God's eternal, unchangeable, immutable law, setting affections on things above and seeing by faith Him who is invisible. They represent Christ in character in purity and holiness in vivid contrast to worldly selfishness, living as men and women waiting for perfection of character to represent the Saviour fully, standing out in bold relief while beseeching men to be reconciled to God.
Conversion exchanges love for the world for love for God, for allowing the world to absorb the heart drives out love for God, while God's love restores divine power to the heart and, working with human effort, keeps worldly love from ruling by keeping the better world in view. In the converted person love for God takes the place of love for the world, and worldly rank and wealth cannot make rich toward God, since separation from God is eternal loss while a life of faith brings peace, rest, and joy. Those who do God's will have the love of truth in the heart and are charmed by heavenly things instead of being controlled by the world, with a distinct line of separation between them and the world.
Setting affection on money and worldly gain binds to the world and draws affection from God, and a grasping, distrustful, acquisitive spirit reveals that bond, so that putting more means in such hands only tightens it and moves farther from God. Faithfulness requires stewarding entrusted means with accountability to God and refusing to use them to fix the heart on the world. Love of the world and its gains leads to perishing with the world while doers of God's will endure, so covetousness and hoarding of entrusted means, which weaken the spirit of sacrifice, must be rooted out through self-denial for truth's sake. Strong love of money gains overpowering influence so a person cannot do known Christian duty, and doing God's will instead requires taking hold again and making another earnest effort.
Pleasure and power of this world will pass away, and no soul can carry supposed valuable earthly treasures into the eternal world, but a life spent doing God's will abides forever and what is given to advance God's work will be seen in result in His kingdom. Labor given to advance the kingdom carries its results into the future eternal world, and efforts to uplift humanity endure through all eternity, for doing God's will, which is sanctification, means abiding in Christ and bearing much fruit. That life asks daily, Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do this day, with daily receiving of holy oil as a consecrated vessel to be emptied into other vessels, daily advance in perfection of Christian character, and waiting and watching for opportunities, so every word and work in Christ's lines has enduring preeminence.
Love for this world weakens when a person gives himself wholly to God's work, and doing God's will means unselfish help for others, including helping provide a house for a fellow worker, while selfish opposition to such help is prompted by the enemy and belongs to love of the world. That same love of the world breaks close unity with fellow workers and brings a feeling of being wronged. Professing to serve Christ while serving the world is unsafe, for worldly gain, honor, and sensual pleasure eagerly pursued become idols, and serving self in that way produces unrighteousness rather than faithful obedience. To cleave to and love the world is to serve the world and ambitious plans instead of Christ, and keeping a name on the church roll while still loving the world breaks the call to stop loving the world.
The contrast reaches appetite when worldly desire for stimulation is valued above health, sound judgment, conscience, and a sanctified heart, as when people cling to coffee and tea for stimulating, intoxicating effect even to their harm. God gives the bitter cup to drink to purify and wean from this world, and sends calamity to wean the heart from property, treasure, and the world, but that object fails when this world is loved better than truth. Continuing in love of the world brings more anguish unless turned aside by deep humility and humble walk, while earnest, zealous following of given light makes things entirely different in the family. Trials can loosen attachment to earthly things and turn the heart toward lasting joy beyond this life, fitting the resolve to obey God as long as life continues while accepting death if that is God's will.
Satan labors to secure decision for temporary pleasures by representing religion's ways as difficult and worldly pleasure's ways as easy and strewn with flowers, arraying the world in false, flattering colors, and choosing those pleasures leaves without God and without hope. The verse demands soon and decisive rejection of that deception rather than grieving God's Spirit and deciding for what passes away. The contrast calls for settled hope of eternal life grounded in a life following Christ rather than mere profession or reliance on another's judgment and experience, with love of the world weakened by wholehearted devotion.
Loving property and the world better than all else will shut out of heaven, and doing God's will that abides forever requires sacrificing every idol, for even one idol left, whatever it is, shuts out of heaven, though possessions can remain so dear and of such worth that sacrificing anything even for the soul's sake seems great. Loving things of this world with increasing love for earthly treasure is worldly-mindedness, growing less spiritual and losing love for heavenly things, while the doer abides forever by arousing and being sanctified by professed truth and standing against Satan's unceasing war against heaven's government. Love of the world can rob of godliness and piety.
The world with its cravings is passing away, while the one who does the will of God remains forever, marking two opposite and final destinies. All that belongs to the world is the craving of the flesh, the craving of the eyes, and the pride of life, which are from the world and not from the Father, and love for the world cannot dwell together with love for the Father. Doing God's will means yielding the human will to His, keeping His holy law and Christ's words in daily life rather than merely hearing them, and being sanctified to walk in the light, abide in Christ, and bear much fruit. It requires an undivided heart that gives up every idol, selfish passion, and lust so that God reigns supreme, for a divided heart or even one idol kept forfeits eternal life. The world's pleasure, power, honor, and treasure are temporary, unsatisfying, and cannot be carried into the eternal world, so eternity must be brought into view until the present world appears as a mere atom and its spell is broken.
Meaning and Immediate Context
The verse sets two opposite destinies against each other: the world with its craving passes away, while the one who does the will of God abides forever. Clinging to temporary worldly things ends when they end, but obedience to God marks a lasting life with Him. Youth gives no excuse from this responsibility. If young people turn their ardent affections from worldly pleasures to Christ and heaven and do God's will, they have hope of enduring life and its promised glory; if instead they live to satisfy bodily desire, covet what they see, and seek status or pleasure, they choose passing things, separate themselves from the Father, and their hopes perish when those things pass away.
All that is in the world is summed up as the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. That craving of the flesh, craving of the eyes, and prideful living are from the world and not from the Father. Love for the world and the things in it is therefore incompatible with love of the Father. The two loves cannot exist together in the heart, and love of the world leaves no room for love of the Father, allowing no divided affection or separation of affection from God.
In its setting the verse closes John's distinction between little children whose sins are forgiven and who know the Father, fathers who have known Him from the beginning, and young men who are strong because God's word lives in them and have overcome the wicked one and defeated the evil one. It stands with the command to love not the world nor the things in it. It stands immediately before the warning that it is the last time. Those who heed the call to take heed, whether believers or unbelievers, have an anointing from the Holy One by which they know the truth and know that no lie belongs to the truth.
The plain truths of the chapter mean very much for those living in the last days and speak unmistakably about conditions in the last days. They are instruction from Christ to be read and studied in order to be ready for the Lord's appearing. That readiness requires not exalting self and disparaging others but criticizing self, confessing and forsaking sin, making diligent work of repentance in the great day of atonement, and setting the heart in order without losing a moment, because souls are in peril yet can be cleansed from sin. It belongs with walking in the light as God is in the light, having fellowship one with another, speaking the truth in love to grow up into Christ the Head, and keeping the love of Christ in the heart, since beautiful theories are not enough and loss of that first love means loss of all things.
Doing God's Will Endures
Doing God's will means bringing the human will into conformity with God's will, refusing to be guided or controlled by any human will, casting aside yokes of human devising and human authority over others, and taking Christ's yoke instead. It means studying, knowing, and doing what is revealed in Scripture rather than ignoring it, trusting God as faithful Creator, and gaining purity of soul through the blood of Jesus that cleanses from all sin. Those who know these things and do them are happy, find rest to the soul, and abide forever.
Doing God's will is complying with God's holy law as the standard of righteousness and rule of life, keeping Christ's commandments and practicing His words in daily life rather than merely hearing or theoretically accepting them. This doing honors God and Jesus Christ, proves love for Christ, and brings the love of God to perfection in the doer, while the world and its lust come to an end. Hearers who do not stamp the word upon the soul and weave it into life, who acknowledge the command to love God with all heart, soul, and strength without carrying out its principles, receive no sanctifying effect, but doers remain forever. It is entire conformity to God's eternal, unchangeable, immutable law, setting affections on things above and representing Christ in purity and holiness in vivid contrast to the selfishness of the world.
Doing God's will is sanctification, partaking of the divine nature, walking in the light, abiding in Christ and bearing much fruit, with results of efforts to uplift humanity enduring through all eternity. It means not loving the world nor the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, taking hold of Christ's righteousness to be cleansed from all iniquity, and going forth in the grace of God to warn cities with heaven's power, with Christ's righteousness before and God's glory behind. Those ruled by love of selfish indulgence quench spiritual life, prove God's love is not abiding in the heart, and become stumbling blocks rather than living epistles, while those who receive Jesus gain moral power to overcome all evil, eat the Bread of life and drink the water of life, and as probationers fitting for eternity become co-workers with God to do His will and abide forever while the world passes away. Those who stay carnally minded, sensual, and debased have never been sanctified through the truth, never become partakers of the divine nature, and never overcome self and the world, and so will never unite with the redeemed family.
The one who abides forever has carried on faithful warfare against the enemy, built himself up in the most holy faith, defeated the evil one, and stands against Satan's unceasing war against the government of heaven. This enduring belongs to fathers who know Him from the beginning, to little children who know the Father, and to young men who are strong because the word of God lives in them, with an anointing from the Holy One by which they know the truth and know that no lie belongs to the truth.
Abiding forever is living forever with God, remaining with Him, entering the city of God and standing as in the open portals surveying its glories within. It is accepting the cross and the Sabbath, rescuing God's trampled law and lifting it up as a perpetual memorial of a nobler world, which links the doer with the divine, exposes the inferiority of worldly enterprises, and brings responsibility to use God-given talents to take others toward everlasting life. It is detaching affections from the world as a snare that brings hopelessness, accepting the life of self-denial and self-sacrifice Jesus lived by teaching and example, and so entering the strait gate and traveling the narrow path to the celestial city to remain forever. Honor that comes from above is durable, glory is never-fading, and life continues after the world ends, while things that perish yield no real pure joy, no abiding good, and no lasting happiness.
That enduring life is eternal life of such value that it is worth lifelong persevering effort equal to its value, by making Christ a daily personal Saviour. It calls for singleness of purpose with wisdom from Christ who is sanctification and righteousness, walking in the knowledge of the truth and partaking of the divine nature, not crowding the mind with a variety of things but constantly improving the mind to comprehend the plain Thus saith the Lord. It calls for walking humbly with God to gain a genuine experience of more value than is recognized, for the daily question Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do, for daily receiving of holy oil as a consecrated vessel to be emptied into other vessels, for daily advance in perfection of Christian character, and for waiting and watching for opportunities, so that every word and work in Christ's lines has enduring preeminence and labor to advance the kingdom carries its results into the eternal world while earthly treasures cannot be carried beyond this world.
Doing God's will requires an undivided heart that relinquishes every idol so God reigns supreme, puts on Christ, and puts away indulgence of selfish passions and lusts. Love for the world and love for the Father cannot exist together, with no separation of affection from God allowed, for all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, which is not from the Father but from the world and comes to an end. Anything that divides affection, takes away supreme love for God, prevents unlimited confidence and entire trust in Him, and is loved, trusted, and worshiped in His place is an idol, whether pictures, earthly treasures, property, or other things exalted above God into the place Jesus should occupy. One with a divided heart yielding service and affections to another than God will finally and forever be something else than a faithful child of God, for the birthright of eternal life is easily sold for selfish gratification and repentance may come too late, and if even one idol is left it shuts the person out of heaven.
Those who do God's will receive God's guidance in judgment, and by clinging to the Lord with all their powers they bring His clinging in return, His sustaining power, and His presence as help in every time of need. They find rest and happiness for the soul.
Passing World and Worldliness
The pleasure, power, glory, honor and treasures of this present order are temporary and passing, frivolous and unsatisfying, yielding no real pure joy, no abiding good and no lasting happiness. Supposed valuable earthly things cannot be carried into the eternal world, and the world cannot provide lasting refuge, safety, light or peace, while trust in God and waiting for His salvation give light and peace amid earthly confusion. Those who follow the upward way of the cross must keep leaving earthly things behind, for otherwise the downward current of the world carries toward death. Earthly honors soon pass away while moral worth endures and stands the test of trial, and honor from above is durable, glory never-fading, and life continuing after the world ends. The approval of God is of far greater value than the friendship, pleasure and approval of the world, and knowing the world was pleased will not improve a person's condition in the day of final reckoning.
Love of worldly gain, pleasure and enjoyment, if not rooted out, chokes the growth of the gospel and prevents truth from sanctifying and refining character. Love of the world crowds out love of the truth and true godliness, producing spiritual dearth instead of prospering, hindering growth in grace and keeping believers in a lukewarm condition unacceptable before God. Through various temptations this opening allows faith to be overthrown, so strict watchfulness is necessary to stand, with greater devotedness to God's cause, refusal of conformity to the world, and transformation by the renewing of the mind. Love of the world coming in to take possession of and rule the heart sways it with one passion after another and one project after another. That rule expels the Holy Spirit from the soul and quenches the spiritual life, proving the love of God is not abiding in the heart.
Making God and heaven secondary by devotion to earthly pursuits is calamity for time and eternity, ending in loss of heaven even if one sits with princes, for the greatest riches this world can bestow leave a person wretched, hopeless and miserable in God's estimation. Loving the world and its things makes everything else secondary, corrupts family influence both received and given, makes faith indistinct, refuses the help God sends to subdue human nature, and prevents wholehearted effectual service, becoming strange fire instead of the consecrated service God alone accepts. Those ruled by love of selfish indulgence become stumbling blocks that make others worse instead of living epistles known and read of all men, and by not desiring practical truth they keep God from presiding in their hearts. Doing the will of God means as rational creatures placing a right estimate upon eternal things and not losing eternity out of reckoning, choosing the cross, disappointment, shattered earthly prospects, neglect of friends and disapproval of the world rather than losing heaven.
Earthly things become idols when loved, trusted and worshiped in place of God or given the affections, confidence and supreme place that belong to Him. Pictures, daguerreotypes and earthly treasures are idols if they draw the heart from God, divide affection, take away supreme love for God, prevent unlimited confidence and entire trust in God, or are worshiped in His place, and followers of Jesus must test whether they have exalted such things above God and given them the place Jesus should occupy. Worldly gain, honor and sensual pleasure eagerly pursued become idols, and trusting and loving wealth more than the living God, seeking the things of the world as worthy to be admired and enjoyed, following the fashions of the world, the desire of the eye, love of self and vainglory are obstructions to piety that separate the soul from God. Such hindrances cannot be overcome by taking them up one by one like picking leaves off a tree that only puts forth foliage again, but must be destroyed at the root by Bible truth. God's church must be more separate from the world in dress, fleeing pride of appearance and love of self, for indulging them works directly against the Spirit of God, leaves a person walking in darkness on the enemy's battlefield, sets up a barrier between people and Jesus, and keeps them from representing Christ in self-denial.
Devotion to worldly things, even things lawful in themselves, can ruin people when carried to excess. Strength of intellect and strength of mind that should be wholly devoted to God are often given to matters of minor importance, and what rightly used is lawful must be guarded against being carried to excess. Many souls are lost by engaging in things which, properly managed, are harmless, but which, perverted, misapplied and misused, become sinful, destructive and demoralizing. The spell of infatuation that the world's business casts on the mind must be broken by bringing eternity within the range of vision. When eternal things attract the mind the present world appears as it is, a mere atom, and the infinite treasures of eternal life reveal the littleness of the temporal, making eternal interests all-absorbing, while interest in present duties is not destroyed but the world is put in a subordinate, not a controlling, place. Unless the subduing, controlling love of God takes possession of the heart, inordinate love for worldly possessions engrosses the thoughts and absorbs the affections, distorts spiritual vision, and so magnifies earthly advantages that they eclipse heavenly attractions, with God's work and cause required to stand first in all aims and purposes, self dethroned, and character transformed to be Christlike in spirit and works.
The spirit of the world is an evil spirit that kills spirituality and is increasing to an alarming extent even in the churches. Those who stay carnally minded, sensual, debased in thought and abominable in God's sight will never unite with the redeemed family forever because they have never been sanctified through the truth, never become partakers of the divine nature, and never overcome self and the world with its affections and lusts. Such characters are all through the churches and make the churches weak and sickly and ready to die. Impurity must therefore be met with no indifferent testimony but a decided, pointed testimony rebuking every impurity and exalting Jesus, and the worldly spirit must be subdued in children from their earliest years.
Last Days and Judgment
A sharp line stands between the eternal God with His church on one side and the passing world on the other, with no unity and no sameness of mind and judgment between them. The strength and spirituality of God's people are seen in that distinct demarcation that separates them from the world, while the world is marked by love for earthly things and by selfish action without regard for the principles set forth in Christ's life. Those who do the will of God have the love of the truth in the heart and are charmed by heavenly things instead of being controlled by the world, and succeeding in that separation requires grace and the love of God. One side chooses the way of the Lord and lives forever with the eternal God, while the other chooses the ways of Satan and belongs to the passing world that perishes.
Choosing worldly interests over God's requirements leaves a person in danger when the test comes and the church and the world separate. Those who remain carnally minded, sensual, debased in thought and abominable in God's sight will never unite forever with the redeemed family, because they were never sanctified through the truth, never became partakers of the divine nature, and never overcame self and the world with its affections and lusts. Such characters are found all through the churches and make the churches weak and sickly and ready to die, so impurity must be met with no indifferent testimony but with decided, pointed testimony rebuking every impurity and exalting Jesus.
All must stand before the final judgment to hear decisions that cannot be cancelled, reviewed, or reversed. Doing the will of God means bringing religion to the Bible standard and holding to messages of reproof and warning without cutting them up, choosing part and rejecting part, or bending them to human liking, ideas, and judgments, and without pronouncing judgment upon God's works, and those who have grace remain on God's side. Love of worldly pleasure and display belongs to a warfare that will have conflicts to the very close of time, in which Satan manifests himself in a masterly way to obtain possession of human agents and by leading men and women to that love charms the senses to the destruction of the soul.
Time to work is short and calls for singleness of purpose with wisdom from Christ who is sanctification and righteousness. That means walking in the knowledge of the truth and partaking of the divine nature, not crowding the mind with a variety of things but keeping true understanding of what Jesus presents in His teachings and constantly improving the mind to comprehend the requirements of the plain Thus saith the Lord. It means obtaining now the genuine experience that is of more value than is recognized, and walking humbly with God, by which everything is gained. Therefore God's people must live in the attitude of expectation, working and waiting and watching and praying.
Daily Life Application
Youth is no excuse from the demand of the verse, for the world with its desires passes away while the doer of God's will abides forever, and young people who turn ardent affections from worldly pleasures to Christ and heaven gain enduring life and promised glory, whereas living to satisfy bodily desire, coveting what is seen, and seeking status or pleasure chooses passing things, separates from the Father, and leaves hopes to perish with them. That high destiny requires pondering well the path of the feet, beginning work with high and holy purpose, and determining by divine grace never to diverge from rectitude, since a wrong beginning makes every step perilous and keeps the straying from truth, safety, and success. Intellect must be strengthened and moral energies quickened by divine power, because God's cause demands the highest powers of being and needs in many white harvest fields young men of literary qualification who can be trusted for extensive labor. Young men of ordinary ability who give themselves wholly to God, uncorrupted by vice and impurity and sober-minded, will succeed and do a great work for God, while students absorbed by ambition for distinction, position, and honor in selfish pursuits turn from unselfish service and form habits that ruin life now and hereafter.
The verse calls God's people to remain separate from worldly desires and friendship with the world, contrasting temporary attractions and approval with lasting life and the friendship of Jesus. Obedience leads believers to leave worldly pleasures and gatherings behind and live separately, as children of light who set affections on heavenly things and by loving God and keeping His commandments separate themselves from the world's friendship and pleasures. The world is a snare bringing hopelessness from which no aid in spiritual need can be expected, so doing God's will means detaching affections from it and accepting the self-denying, self-sacrificing life Jesus lived in teaching and example, and only in that separation entering the strait gate and narrow path to the celestial city to remain forever. True followers are self-denying, living sober, humble, holy lives rather than joining empty pursuits of pleasure-seekers, since yielding to worldly influence and pursuing its pleasures separates from God and makes children of the world.
Separation means coming out and being separate by accepting the cross and the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, with the cross standing as perpetual memorial of a nobler world, rescuing God's discarded, trampled law from dust and rubbish and lifting it up, and setting eternal realities before the mind as if standing in the open portals of the city surveying its glories. That link of the doer with the divine exposes the inferiority of all worldly enterprises and brings responsibility to use God-given talents to take others toward everlasting life. Those enlisted in Christ's army must refuse love for the world and worldly things and come into entire conformity to God's eternal, unchangeable, immutable law, setting affections on things above and seeing by faith Him who is invisible. They represent Christ in character in purity and holiness in vivid contrast to worldly selfishness, living as men and women waiting for perfection of character to represent the Saviour fully, standing out in bold relief while beseeching men to be reconciled to God.
Conversion exchanges love for the world for love for God, for allowing the world to absorb the heart drives out love for God, while God's love restores divine power to the heart and, working with human effort, keeps worldly love from ruling by keeping the better world in view. In the converted person love for God takes the place of love for the world, and worldly rank and wealth cannot make rich toward God, since separation from God is eternal loss while a life of faith brings peace, rest, and joy. Those who do God's will have the love of truth in the heart and are charmed by heavenly things instead of being controlled by the world, with a distinct line of separation between them and the world.
Setting affection on money and worldly gain binds to the world and draws affection from God, and a grasping, distrustful, acquisitive spirit reveals that bond, so that putting more means in such hands only tightens it and moves farther from God. Faithfulness requires stewarding entrusted means with accountability to God and refusing to use them to fix the heart on the world. Love of the world and its gains leads to perishing with the world while doers of God's will endure, so covetousness and hoarding of entrusted means, which weaken the spirit of sacrifice, must be rooted out through self-denial for truth's sake. Strong love of money gains overpowering influence so a person cannot do known Christian duty, and doing God's will instead requires taking hold again and making another earnest effort.
Pleasure and power of this world will pass away, and no soul can carry supposed valuable earthly treasures into the eternal world, but a life spent doing God's will abides forever and what is given to advance God's work will be seen in result in His kingdom. Labor given to advance the kingdom carries its results into the future eternal world, and efforts to uplift humanity endure through all eternity, for doing God's will, which is sanctification, means abiding in Christ and bearing much fruit. That life asks daily, Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do this day, with daily receiving of holy oil as a consecrated vessel to be emptied into other vessels, daily advance in perfection of Christian character, and waiting and watching for opportunities, so every word and work in Christ's lines has enduring preeminence.
Love for this world weakens when a person gives himself wholly to God's work, and doing God's will means unselfish help for others, including helping provide a house for a fellow worker, while selfish opposition to such help is prompted by the enemy and belongs to love of the world. That same love of the world breaks close unity with fellow workers and brings a feeling of being wronged. Professing to serve Christ while serving the world is unsafe, for worldly gain, honor, and sensual pleasure eagerly pursued become idols, and serving self in that way produces unrighteousness rather than faithful obedience. To cleave to and love the world is to serve the world and ambitious plans instead of Christ, and keeping a name on the church roll while still loving the world breaks the call to stop loving the world.
The contrast reaches appetite when worldly desire for stimulation is valued above health, sound judgment, conscience, and a sanctified heart, as when people cling to coffee and tea for stimulating, intoxicating effect even to their harm. God gives the bitter cup to drink to purify and wean from this world, and sends calamity to wean the heart from property, treasure, and the world, but that object fails when this world is loved better than truth. Continuing in love of the world brings more anguish unless turned aside by deep humility and humble walk, while earnest, zealous following of given light makes things entirely different in the family. Trials can loosen attachment to earthly things and turn the heart toward lasting joy beyond this life, fitting the resolve to obey God as long as life continues while accepting death if that is God's will.
Satan labors to secure decision for temporary pleasures by representing religion's ways as difficult and worldly pleasure's ways as easy and strewn with flowers, arraying the world in false, flattering colors, and choosing those pleasures leaves without God and without hope. The verse demands soon and decisive rejection of that deception rather than grieving God's Spirit and deciding for what passes away. The contrast calls for settled hope of eternal life grounded in a life following Christ rather than mere profession or reliance on another's judgment and experience, with love of the world weakened by wholehearted devotion.
Loving property and the world better than all else will shut out of heaven, and doing God's will that abides forever requires sacrificing every idol, for even one idol left, whatever it is, shuts out of heaven, though possessions can remain so dear and of such worth that sacrificing anything even for the soul's sake seems great. Loving things of this world with increasing love for earthly treasure is worldly-mindedness, growing less spiritual and losing love for heavenly things, while the doer abides forever by arousing and being sanctified by professed truth and standing against Satan's unceasing war against heaven's government. Love of the world can rob of godliness and piety.