Not Loving the World nor the Things in the World but Loving God and Living in Spirit

For us to prepare ourselves for the Lord’s return, we should not love the world or the things in the world, for if anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him; the world is an evil system arranged by Satan to distract us from Christ, but in Christ, we have overcome the world. Amen!

Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, dear readers, we as genuine believers in Christ are those who love the Lord and love His appearing! Amen!

We were saved not only to go to heaven when Jesus comes; we were saved to be made into the likeness of Christ, the Firstborn Son of God, and we are now in the process of being transformed and matured.

One day, when the Lord returns, our transformation will be complete, and we will become like Him, for we will see Him even as He is!

This is our hope today. On the other hand, however, we are here as a widow, for our Husband, Christ, is not here with us.

Others mistreat us and even mock us, asking us where is our Husband and why doesn’t He do anything about this and about that, and they may be right, for our Lord seems to be silent and not responsive when it comes to the current situation.

But we love the Lord, and we open to Him day by day, He is the most lovely One to us, and we are drawn to Him every day. Amen!

Our hope and future are not in this world; the ones around us may work hard to make a future for themselves and their children, but our hope and future are with the Lord and in Him.

Our hope is in the coming of the Lord Jesus. We yearn for Him to return, for we love Him and want to be with Him forever, and we know that His second coming will solve all the world’s problems today.

So we live in a watchful way, being watchful and ready, preparing ourselves for the Lord’s coming. How can we live and be in regard to the Lord’s second coming?

Our heart’s desire should always be yearning for His appearing. Our heart should ascend from this earth to go up to be with the Lord.

We should be in constant conversation with Him, yearning for His return, and loving Him more than we love anything and anyone in this world.

We are waiting for our Savior from heaven, and we love Him and we love His appearing.

As soon as we wait for His coming, we will definitely love His coming.

May our desire, the desire of our heart, be always yearning for the Lord’s appearing.

May our hearts be for the Lord and with the Lord, not being entangled by anything in this world.

As we set our hope in Him in this way, we are cleansing ourselves, even as He is clean.

Our hope in the Lord’s return cleanses us and purifies us so that we have a reward at His coming and not be put to shame. Amen!

Not Loving the World or the Things in the World but loving God and Expecting the Lord’s Return

The word “world” in the Bible has many meanings, some of which are positive and most of which are negative. In Greek “world” is “kosmos”, and it mainly denotes the evil system arranged systematically arranged by Satan (1 John 2:15-17).

In Matt. 25:34, John 17:15, Acts 17:24, Eph. 1:4, and Rev. 13:8, “world” denotes the material universe as a system created by God.

In John 1:29, 3:16, and Rom. 5:12 it denotes the fallen human race as a whole, which is corrupted and usurped by Satan as components for his evil systems.

In 1 Pet. 3:3 it denotes adorning or ornament. In 1 John 2:15 and John 15:19, 17:14, and James 4:4, the world denotes an order, a system, a set form, an orderly arrangement.

In its negative sense, the world denotes an ordered system set up by Satan, God’s enemy, to usurp and corrupt man so that man would not enjoy God.

God created the whole world, the whole universe, but He never systematized the world so that the world would occupy us to the extent that we don’t have time for God.

God created man to live on earth for the fulfilment of His purpose, but Satan came in and usurped the God-created man by forming the world.

The world is an anti-God system on the earth, for through the world Satan systematized man with things such as religion, culture, education, industry, commerce, and entertainment (Eph. 3:11; Gen. 1:26-28; 2:8-9; 4:16-24).

Satan used man’s fallen nature, in which he has ground, to create this world system today.

We all have legitimate needs such as food, drink, shelter, love, happiness, education, jobs, etc, but these needs have been hijacked and usurped by Satan to be systematized into something that distracts us from God.

The whole world lies in the evil one (1 John 5:19); the whole satanic system in the world today is from the evil one to usurp us, the people of God, from the enjoyment of Christ and from living Christ for the building up of the church.

So the apostle John says in 1 John 2:15 that we should not love the world; we should be those not loving the world or the things in the world but rather, love God and wait for the Lord’s return.

If we love the world, love for the Father is not in us.

In other words, we either love the world or we love God.

We cannot say that we love God, yet we still love things in the world; we can either love one or the other.

The love of the Father is actually His love in us that causes us to love Him.

Our love toward the Father is generated by His love within us. We love the Father with the love by which He has loved us.

This love for the Lord needs to increase in us, and we need to be those not loving the world or the things in the world but loving God and awaiting the Lord’s return.

The world has many things such as the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the vainglory of life; whoever loves such things, cannot love God the Father.

All these things that are in the world will pass away, and the lust of the world will also pass away, but he who does the will of God abides forever (1 John 2:17).

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

We are not here saying that we should hate everything in the world and just love God in a religious or outward way, as a demand; what we’re talking about is our need to see what the world really is.

If we see what the world is, if we realize it is a system used by Satan to distract us from enjoying Christ and living the church life, we will cling to God, we will love the Lord, and we will allow His love in us to increase until we are not loving the world and the things in the world but loving God and awaiting the Lord’s return.

If we see that Satan uses culture, education, industry, commerce, entertainment, and religion to form an anti-God world system that distracts us from loving God and enjoying Christ, we will give ourselves to love the Lord much more.

May the Lord give us a keen discernment concerning the world. May we love His appearing and not love the world.

May we realize that even a little time spent in loving the world drains our love for the Lord, causing us to be weak spiritually and strong in our flesh.

The world defiles us, corrupts us, and distracts us from enjoying Christ; it causes us to be dirty and unclean, and it wears out our love for the Lord.

And the world with all its things is so subtle; we need to find a place to live, and we need to have a car for our transportation, but even these matters can become something that distracts us from enjoying Christ.

We may choose a house that is not close to the saints but is to show off in our vain glory of this life.

We may need a car, but the car we choose to buy expresses our lust in the flesh. Oh Lord.

Even a little indulgence in the flesh will cause us to lose our fresh love for the Lord.

All these things are in us. There’s the lust of the flesh, there’s the lust of the eyes, and there is the vainglory of life – all these are in us, for we are in the world, and the world is in us.

So we need to have a keen discernment of the world and not indulge in the world and its lusts but be those not loving the world but loving God and expecting the Lord’s return.

It’s good to bring this to the Lord in prayer again and again, especially as we see that the world occupies more and more of our time, and tell Him in an honest way,

Lord Jesus, we want to love You and not love the world! Oh Lord, save us from loving the world and the things in the world. We give ourselves to You to just love You and have the love of the Father increasing in us. You see what we need, Lord. You see that we need a job, a house to live in, and so many things related to our human existence. Give us each day our daily bread, and do not lead us into temptation but deliver us from the evil one. Lord, deliver us from the love of the world. We want to be those not loving the world and the things in the world but loving God and enjoying Christ, eagerly expecting His return. Grant us to see what the world is and cause us to realize that the world is passing away, and its lust, but he who does the will of God abides forever. Amen, Lord, may we love You more and more each day! May we love Your appearing, not loving the world nor the things in the world!

By His Death on the Cross, Christ Judged the World and Cast out its Ruler, Satan; in Him, we Overcome the World!

On the negative side, we need to see a clear view of what the world is, and we need to realize that anything of the world that distracts us from the enjoyment of Christ is a part of Satan’s world system.

On the positive side, we need to realize that, by His death on the cross, Christ judged the world and cast out its ruler, Satan, and in Christ we overcome the world (John 12:31).

We may not be drawn or attracted to nightclubs or gambling systems so we may think we’re not loving the world, but there are things such as our phone or social media that eat up our time, and this becomes an aspect of the world that occupies us.

If we don’t have the discernment, many things in the world can occupy us and distract us from enjoying Christ.

Whatever causes our fellowship with the Lord to be interrupted and whatever makes us love the Lord a little less, that is the world.

We need to check with the Lord in our spirit to see what the world is; if something in our spirit gives us the feeling of death when we touch a certain matter, we should stay away from it.

We need to return to Him. And we need to realize that, in Christ, the One to whom we’re joined in spirit as one spirit (1 Cor. 6:17) has overcome the world.

Christ judged the world and cast out its ruler through His death on the cross.

This evil system with its ruler has been judged on the cross.

The kingdom of darkness was judged when its ruler, Satan, was cast out by the Lord’s crucifixion in the flesh.

Christ as the Son of Man was lifted up on the cross (John 12:23) in the form of the serpent (3:14), that is, in the likeness of the flesh of sin (Rom. 8:3).

He did not have the sin of the flesh in his flesh, but He had the likeness of the flesh of sin; He was sinless, but He still had the flesh.

Satan as the ancient serpent (Rev. 12:9; 20:2) injected himself into man’s flesh, so the Lord through His death on the cross destroyed Satan, who is in man’s flesh (Heb. 2:14). Hallelujah!

Satan has been judged and cast out through Christ’s death on the cross! When He judged Satan (John 16:11) in this way, the Lord also judged the world, which is hanging on Satan.

His being lifted up caused the world and its ruler to be cast out.

On one hand, Christ died on the cross to remove our sins, accomplish redemption for us, and deal with our serpentine nature.

On the other hand, Christ’s death on the cross dealt with Satan and destroyed him and the satanic world system that hangs upon him. Praise the Lord!

Now, by His death, we are redeemed and delivered, and we have the divine life; furthermore, we can overcome the world!

Whoever is begotten of God can overcome the world because the One who has overcome lives in him!

Greater is the One who lives in us than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4)!

Everything that has been begotten of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith (1 John 5:4).

How can we be those not loving the world nor the things in the world?

We need to see what the world is, and we need to be joined to Christ, the One who has overcome the world, and live by faith, in the organic union with Him!

Amen, in this way we can overcome the world, for He in us overcomes the world with all its passions and its lusts.

Lord, we praise You for Your devil-overcoming and world-destroying death on the cross! Hallelujah, through His death on the cross, Christ judged the world and cast out Satan, the ruler of the world! Praise the Lord, He put on the likeness of the flesh of sin and judged Satan and the world on the cross! Amen, Lord, we thank You for being such a One in us. You are the One who overcame the world and its ruler, and we are joined to You as one spirit. Hallelujah, everything that has been begotten of God overcomes the world, and our victory is our faith! Amen, Lord, keep us one spirit with You today, living by faith to overcome the world with its lusts. Keep us contacting You and living in the mingled spirit so that we may overcome even as You have overcome! We want to be those not loving the world nor the things of the world by being one spirit with You to overcome the world and eagerly expect Your return!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of 1 John (msg. 20) by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Making Ourselves Ready for the Lord’s Coming (2023 ICSC), week 1, entitled, Making ourselves Ready for the Lord’s Coming by Loving His Appearing and Not Loving the Present Age.
• Further reading on this topic:
  – The definition of the world and the contents of the satanic system, a portion from, Lesson Book, Level 4: Life—Knowing and Experiencing Life, Chapter 14, by Witness Lee.
  – 20 quotes from love not the world via, Conversant Faith.
  – The extent of dealing with the world and the practice of dealing with the world, a portion from, Lesson Book, Level 4: Life—Knowing and Experiencing Life, Chapter 14, by Witness Lee.
  – I am not alone anymore – a testimony via, The Church in Anaheim.
  – Loving The Father vs. Loving The World, article via, Living to Him.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Gone from my heart the world and all its charms; / Now through the blood I’m saved from all alarms; / Down at the cross my heart is bending low; / The precious blood of Jesus cleanses white as snow. / I love Him, I love Him, / Because He first loved me, / And purchased my salvation on Calv’ry’s tree. (Hymns #294 stanza 1 and chorus)
  – Lord Jesus, I long in Thy presence to live, / From morning to evening my one world Thou art; / O let not my heart be contented or rest / When loving or seeking what with Thee doth part. / Each moment, each day, throughout suff’ring and pain, / When nought in the world can give comfort or cheer, / When sighing and weeping encompasses me, / Lord, still all my sighing and wipe every tear. (Hymns #389 stanza 1)
  – Encamped along the hills of light, / Ye Christian soldiers rise, / And press the battle ere the night / Shall veil the glowing skies; / Against the foe in vales below / Let all our strength be hurled; / Faith is the victory, we know, / That overcomes the world. / Faith is the victory! / Faith is the victory! / O glorious victory, / That overcomes the world. (Hymns #882 stanza 1 and chorus)