The Friendship of the World is Enmity with God; Consider God when Touching the World

James 4:4 Do you not know that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?

We may not realize this in full, but the world today is something designed and systematized by Satan in order to usurp the people of God from enjoying Christ and from accomplishing God’s purpose.

All the things on the earth – especially those related to us, the mankind – and all the things in the air have been systematized by Satan into his kingdom of darkness in order to occupy people and frustrate them from accomplishing God’s purpose.

Food today is not just something for our sustenance but there’s a whole world of foods with all kinds of spices, tastes, instructions, preparations, TV shows, chefs, restaurants, etc. Clothes today are not just something to cover us but there are different brands, styles, fashions, designs, etc. The means of transportation is not just a car that takes us where we need to go but all kinds of fancy cars, advanced technologies, luxury, air conditioning, music, internet, TV in the car, etc.

If Satan were to come to us directly we would reject him right away; so, he uses a mask, something to cover and disguise himself so that he may look nice and yet still inject death into us. The world is the mask Satan uses to deceive us and cheat us, and if we love the world, the love for the Father is not in us.

This, however, doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t use anything of the world but seclude ourselves and be like the “monks” and ascetics; rather, whenever we touch the things of the world, we should always ask the question, How is this think affecting my relationship with the Father?

Today we don’t even have to go out and seek the things of the world: the world is coming to us, and the reach of the world is everywhere. The world is powerful, exercising much attraction to captivate man and keep man busy with the things of the world.

We spend much time to make money and then we spend a lot of time to spend those money. We need to see that the world with its ruler has been judged when the Lord Jesus has been crucified in the flesh, and we need to remain in the cross of Christ so that we would experience being crucified with Christ from anything of the world.

In ourselves we cannot overcome the world, but when we are in Christ, the crucified One, we have already overcome the world!

The World is an Evil System Arranged Systematically by Satan to Usurp and Distract Man from the Enjoyment of God

1 John 2:15 If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him.

According to the divine revelation in the Bible and according to our Christian experience today we can see clearly that the world is an evil system arranged systematically by Satan in order to usurp and distract us from the enjoyment of God.

All the things on the earth, no matter how useful, good, necessary, and harmless they may seem, have been systematized by Satan into his kingdom of darkness to occupy us and frustrate us from accomplishing the purpose of God.

If you look at the things in the world you may not really see that they are part of Satan’s evil system; we need things such as education, food, shelter, transportation, drink, exercise, pleasure, joy, etc, but these things have been systematized by Satan to occupy us and distract us from the enjoyment of God.

Satan doesn’t come to us directly to tell us, Stop enjoying Christ and serve me! He puts on a mask, the world, which is a system that attracts us and captivates us in many ways, and through this system he keeps us away from God and the enjoyment of God. From behind the mask of the world and through the things of the world enjoyed by us, Satan injects death into us indirectly yet constantly.

Today the world is not only “out there” that we can go to; the world comes to us and reaches us wherever we are. The world is very powerful, captivating man with the things of the world. The world comes to find you wherever you are in many ways and forms, and it takes your time away from enjoying the Lord.

Everyone today talks about money, even in the church. When it comes to eating, people have particular preferences for Chinese food or Korean food, while others love fast food. There are “food TV channels” and there are many kinds of restaurants, chefs, cuisines, and types of food. There are many diets. The matter of food has been systematized by Satan to distract us from God; we spend much time to either source and cook our food or to find the best restaurant that we can eat at.

The world is at the door of the church and is seeking to even draw the saints of God into its grasp.

You don’t have to watch TV to find out the news, gossip, sports, and other things online: it’s now on your smart phone, in your pocket. The world travels with you in your pocket, and you have games, apps, music, TV shows, movies, and all kinds of distractions from God at your fingertips.

When it comes to choosing what to wear, there are particular brands, fashions, types of clothes, designs, etc – it’s a whole world of fashion and clothes. When it comes to having a car, there’s all kinds of fancy cars with many things in them to distract you from spending time with the Lord.

Through our spending time with all these things in the world, many of which are necessary for our human life, our time is usurped (taken by force illegally and unconsciously) by Satan and we don’t have much time for God. We discover that we don’t have much time to enjoy the Lord because we spend so much time with so many things of the world.

When Touching the Things of the World we need to Consider our Relationship with Our Father

Gal. 6:14 But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.

The world is against the Father (1 John 2:15), and if we love the world the love of the Father is not in us. Just as the devil is against Christ the Son (1 John 3:8) and the flesh is against the Spirit (Gal. 5:17), so the world is against God the Father.

There are therefore “two trinities” – the Divine Trinity composed of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, and the evil trinity composed of the world, Satan, and the flesh. And the world is passing away and its lust, but he who does the will of God abides forever (1 John 2:17). If we enjoy the Triune God we will have nothing to do with the evil trinity and we will abide forever.

If we love the world, we are enemies of God, and the friendship of the world is enmity with God (James 4:4).

The world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the vainglory of life. The lusts of the flesh are the passionate desires we have in our fallen body. The lusts of the eyes are the passionate desires we have in our soul through our eyes. The vainglory of life is the boasting, the willingness to show forth how rich you are and what you have and know and can do. If we have these things of the world, we are against the will of God.

May we really see the world as it really is, the mask of Satan and the system Satan uses to usurp us and distract us from enjoying God, and may we come to the Lord to spend time with Him every day!

If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him (1 John 2:15). When we touch the things of the world (and we do need to use many things and touch many things of the world), we need to always ask ourselves, Lord, how is this thing affecting my relationship with the Father? How is my buying a car or even buying a laptop affecting my relationship with the Father? How is watching this movie or going shopping affecting my relationship with the Father?

Also, we need to realize that the world, the evil system and the kingdom of darkness, was judged by Christ when its ruler, Satan, was cast out by the Lord’s being crucified in the flesh (see John 12:31-32; 16:11). Christ judged the world and its ruler through His death on the cross.

Even more, the world has been crucified to us and we have been crucified to the world (Gal. 6:14) – this took place through Christ, when we were crucified with Him. Christ gave Himself up for us to rescue us out of the present evil age (Gal. 1:3-4), out of this evil system designed by Satan to usurp us and corrupt us.

This present evil age, the world, includes both the material things, the psychological things, and the religious things that are used by Satan to distract us from the enjoyment of God. By the cross we have been separated from the religious world and we are now qualified to live in the new creation.

We need to turn to the Lord and remain on the cross with Him so that we would live a crucified life toward the world and love the Father by exercising our spirit to spend time with Him.

Lord Jesus, cause us to see the reach and grasp of the world in our life. Lord, save us from the world. We want to love You and remain in Your death, crucified with You toward the world. Save us from the influence of the world by the power of the cross. May we always check with You when we spend time in the things of the world. May we treasure our relationship with You more than the things in the world. We love You, Father! We love to spend time with You, dear Triune God! Keep us in You, one with You, and loving You all the days of our life! Save us from being systematized by Satan in the world!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Albert Lim’s sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1965, vol. 3, “The Heavenly Vision,” chs. 5-6,  as quoted in, the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Heavenly Vision, week 5 / msg 5, The Vision of the World.
• Recommended further reading:
  # The Experience of Life, chapter 5 (by Witness Lee).
  # Love Not the World (by Watchman Nee), see pp. 65-66 in Collected Works of Watchman Nee, by LSM.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # What has stripped the seeming beauty / From the idols of the earth? / Not a sense of right or duty, / But the sight of peerless worth. / Captivated by His beauty, / Worthy tribute haste to bring; / Let His peerless worth constrain thee, / Crown Him now unrivaled King. (Hymns #437)
  # Though the world may promise me more, / I’m just made to be filled with the Lord. / Nor it’s life worth living a day, / For the things that will soon pass away. / Doesn’t matter how rich or successful I’d be, / Or how many pleasures be offered to me. / There’s nothing that compares to my destiny— / To be thoroughly filled with the Lord. (Song on Loving God and not the World)
  # God has saved me from the world; / I’ll never go back anymore. / God has saved me from the world; / I’ll never go back anymore. / No, no, no, no, no, / I’ll never go back anymore! (Hymns #1127)
  # Oh! it is so sweet to die with Christ, / To the world, and self, and sin; / Oh! it is so sweet to live with Christ, / As He lives and reigns within. (Hymns #482)