It is true also that the grosser manifestations of fallen human nature are part of the kingdom of this world. Organized amusements with their emphasis upon shallow pleasure, the great empires built upon vicious and unnatural habits, unrestrained abuse of the normal appetites, the artificial world called “high society.” These all are of the world. They are all part of that which is flesh, which builds upon flesh and must perish with the flesh. And from these things the Christian must flee. All these he must put behind him and in them he must have no part. Against them he must stand quietly but firmly without compromise and without fear.
So whether the world present itself in its uglier aspects or in its subtler and more refined forms, we must recognize it for what it is and repudiate it bluntly. We must do this if we would walk with God in our generation as Enoch did in his. A clean break with the world is imperative. “Ye adulterers and adultresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is an enemy of God” (James 4:4). “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” (1 John 2:15–16). These words of God are not before us for our consideration; they are there for our obedience and we have no right to claim the title of Christian unless we follow them.
Verse
You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? James 4:4
Thought
Whether the world present itself in its uglier aspects or in its subtler and more refined forms, we must recognize it for what it is and repudiate it bluntly.
Prayer
Father, we need to make a clean break with the world and learn to love You with all our beings.