"I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the Word of God abideth in you,
and ye have overcome the wicked one" (1 John 2:14). When the apostle spoke to them previously,
he simply said, "I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one." But
now he gives us the secret of that overcoming:Not strong in their own power but in the Lord and
in the power of His might, and because "the Word of God abideth in you." There are people who
spend the greater part of the week occupied solely with the things of earth, things that in
themselves are very right and legitimate. Once a week they come together for Bible study or
worship, and say, "How refreshing and helpful!" It is like folk coming for one good meal a week.
That is not the way to be strong. "The Word of God abideth in you." It is the Word of God first
thing in the morning, the Word of God all day long, and the Word of God the last thing at night.
You go to bed with the Word of God in your mind and you will wake up with the Word of God
in your mind. It is the Word of God that keeps from the power of the enemy all the hours of the
day. Some say, "I do not think this is possible." But it is possible, and many have proven it.
Somebody said to me once concerning a fellow-laborer, "I like your friend; he seems to be just
a walking Bible." That was because that man was constantly feeding on it.

There are many Christians who think of the Word of God as something to take up an extra hour
or so when they have nothing else to do; but one will never grow that way. What little strength
you get from that hour is all used up when you are occupied with other things. You do not get
anywhere that way. But when the Word of God is the supreme thing in your life, and everything
else is made to fit into that, you will grow and become a strong Christian.

The apostle continues:"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. For all that is in the world, the lust of the
flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And
the world passeth away, and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever"
(verses 15-17). What is this world that we are not to love? It is not the globe as such. The globe
itself has nothing in it that can hurt our souls. We can love nature; we do not need to be afraid of
a beautiful view or a lovely flower. I have seen some Christians who had an idea that John meant
we were not to enjoy the world of nature. I said to one, "Isn’t that a beautiful rose bush?" and he
replied, "I am not interested in roses; I am not of this world." That is not the world that is spoken
of. This universe is but the expression of the Father’s wisdom and goodness.

Our Lord loved the lilies of the field. He drew attention to the beauties of nature; they stirred His
own soul, and He would have His people see in them the evidences of the wisdom and goodness
of the Father. But what, then, is the world? It is that system that man has built up in this scene,
in which he is trying to make himself happy without God. You get it away back in Genesis where
Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and builded a city, and there what we call the world
really began. It was a wonderful world; they were engaged in all kinds of arts, sciences, business,
and pleasure, anything and everything to make them happy without God; but it ended in corruption
and violence, and God had to sweep the whole thing away with a flood. The principles of the
world that caused the corruption and violence before the flood were carried into the ark in the
hearts of some of Noah’s children. They brought the world into the ark, and when the new world

was started after the judgment of the flood, they brought the world out of the ark with them, and
again set it up.

When some think of the world, they think of things that are abominable and vile and corrupt, the
old-fashioned saloon and gambling-place, and all kinds of violence. Things like that have little to
attract the Christian heart, but the world they need to beware of is the world of culture, the world
that appeals to their aesthetic nature. That world has no more place for the Christian than the
corrupt, abominable world in the slums of our great cities. Do not imagine that if your world is
a cultured world consisting of devotees of the arts and sciences, that you are safe and free from
worldliness. Even the business world may become just as great a snare as any other. But you ask,
"Do not we have to go into business?" Yes, Jesus says, "I pray not that Thou shouldest take them
out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil" (John 17:15). In all these
things we have to watch against the evils of the world.

What is, then, the lust of the flesh (the gratification of the flesh), the lust of the eye (the desires
of the unregenerate soul), the pride of life? I remember when I was a young Christian, my world
against which I had to guard most was the world of polite literature. I used to love it, its poetry,
its essays, its wonderful books, and I appreciate them yet in a certain sense. But I had to
remember this, that if ever these things came in between my soul and my love for God’s Word,
I had to turn away from them and give my time and attention to this Book; and so it is with many
things. There was a young lady with great musical ability preparing to go on the concert stage
when the Lord saved her. She said one day, "You know I have made a sad discovery; my very
love for music is coming in between my soul and Christ"; and that young woman for eight years
would not touch a musical instrument, for she was afraid she would become so absorbed that she
would not enjoy the things of God. The time came when she said, "I cannot enjoy music for its
own sake, but I can use it as a vehicle to bless the souls of men," and she gave her talent to Christ,
and He used it in the work of the gospel. No matter what it is, if you lay it down at Jesus’ feet and
use it for Him, you do not need to be afraid of it. But do not put your work before Jesus Christ.

Sometimes a fine house is "the world." Here is a Christian, and while he is little in his own eyes
and has not much means, he lives in a quiet little home. But the Lord entrusts him with a good
deal of money and he immediately says, "I must have a better house now; I must have some style
about me; I must have magnificent furniture and draperies." What for? Is he any more
comfortable? He can eat just three meals a day, he can sleep in just one bed at a time, and sit in
just one chair at a time, but he feels he must impress people.

Beauty, too, can get in between you and Christ, and it will prove to be "the world" if one is not
careful. "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride
of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world."

What is "the pride of life"? The ostentation of living, trying to make an appearance before others,
the vainglory of the world. I think sometimes if some Christians took two-thirds of the money that
they put into a mansion down here, and invested it in sending the gospel to a lost world, they
would have a much finer mansion up there. As Christians, ours are the only joys that last forever;
ours are the things that will never pass away, and yet to think that we can be so foolish and invest

so much in that which is simply fleeting and will leave us dissatisfied and unhappy at last!

"But he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever." In obedience to His will there is lasting joy,
there is endless gladness. In the light of that, who would not say,

"Take the world, but give me Jesus,
All earth’s joys are but in name,
But His love abideth ever,
Through eternal years the same."

Have you made your choice, Christian? You made your choice once when you turned from sin
to Christ. Have you made the other choice? Have you turned from the world to Christ? There is
many a one who has trusted Jesus as his Saviour from judgment who has never learned to know
Him as the rejected One with whom he is called to walk in hallowed fellowship.

No one can ever put this world beneath his feet until he has found a better world above. When
your heart is taken up with that world, it is an easy thing to heed the exhortation, "Love not the
world, neither the things that are in the world."