With the help of these distinctions I think we may fix, with some precision, the true import of the in- junction before us, and may proceed in a satisfactory manner to consider further,
II. The reasons with which it is enforced —
In confirmation of what he says respecting the world, the Apostle declares,
1 . That it is not worthy of our love —
[If we look at its nature, how base is it ! ** it is not of the Father, hut of the world." What is there in the whole circle of the world that can boast of an heavenly origin ? Nothing : not an atom of it either comes from God, or leads to God, any farther than it is sanctified unto us by the covenant of grace. It is enjoyed by Heathens, as well as by Christians: and what does it do for them? Yea, what does it advance the real welfare of the great mass of the Christian world? It altogether arose out of the fall of man. In Paradise, the world was nothing ; and God was all. It was not till sin had entered into the world, that the world and its lusts were put in competition with God, or that a love to present things had attained an undue ascendant over the soul. And were man still in his primaeval innocence, all pleasures, riches, and honours would be of no account, any farther than God was enjoyed in them, and they were made subservient to his
glory- . .
Again; if we look at its duration, it is altogether transient: " the fashion of this world passeth away, and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever." What has the lover of this world of all that he has ever enjoyed? and how long will the savour of his present enjoyments abide with him ? How long can he secure the continuance of them ? and what will remain of them the moment he has departed hence ? On the other hand, if he love God, and do his will, he has a continual feast : his gratifications never cloy : his bliss will bear reflection, and be renewed by the retrospect : the consciousness that he has a taste for such enjoyments will itself be a source of very sublime happiness; of a happiness which he will possess under the most afflictive circumstances, and which will soothe even the pangs of death itself: and this source of enjoyment, instead of being confined to this present life, will be infinitely enlarged, and afford inexhaus- tible supplies of bhss to all eternity.
Say then, Brethren, Whether this world is worthy of a Christian's affections? I do not hesitate to say, It is not: for it affords nothing that is capable of satisfying an immortal
soul ;