(3.) But there is a third sense of the term ‘the world,’ and one of more frequent occurrence in Scripture than either of the other two. It is used for the body of unconverted persons as contrasted with the children of God. In this contrast there are many points clearly marked in Scripture.
(1.) The two classes are separated by the gift of God, as we learn from the words of our Lord in John, xvii. 9: ‘I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.’
(2.) Believers enjoy a fellowship with God to which the world are strangers. ‘How is it,’ said Judas (John, xiv. 22), ‘that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.’
(3.) The world has no real knowledge of the Father, of Christ, or of His people. They may think they know Him, and may really know a great deal about Him; but as for that knowledge which our Lord declares to be life eternal, they are perfect strangers to it, for His language is, ‘Oh righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.’ (John, xvii. 25.) In like manner said St. John, when speaking of the Father’s boundless love in 1 John, iii. 1, ‘Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the children of God! therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.’
(4.) The world has its origin in this world, and belongs to it; but believers have their life from God.
So the world are sometimes called ‘the children of this world,’ as e.g., Luke, xvi. 8: ‘The children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light;’ and our Lord puts the contrast very plainly when He says (John, viii. 23), ‘Ye are from beneath, I am from above: ye are of this world’ (ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου); ‘I am not of this world.’
On the other hand, of believers He says, that their life is from above. Just contrast the passage already quoted with His language in John, xvii. 16. Of the world He says, ‘Ye are of this world.’ But of His little flock, ‘They are not of this world, even as I am not of this world.’ They have a life given them from above (ἄνωθεν, John, iii. 3), and therefore St. John plainly declares respecting them (1 John, v. 19), ‘We are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.’
(5.) The world has its portion in this world; believers have their portion in heaven.
The world are like the rich man described by our Lord, to whom Abraham said, ‘Thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things.’ The good things that he sought for were all connected with this present life, and he received them. Thus there are few better definitions of men of the world than that given by David in Psalm xvii. 14, when he describes them as ‘men of the world, which have their portion in this life.’ Every person has his portion somewhere; i.e., we all have some treasure at which we are aiming, something that we are pursuing if we do not all attain it. Now the portion of the men of the world is altogether in this present life. I do not mean that they have no vague hope of going to heaven when they die; but that they are practically living for the things of time. It is for the things of this life that they are spending their strength, and here it is that they really have their portion.
How different it is with those whom God has called out of the world! They are in the world, but their treasure is in heaven, and they can say as David did (Psalm xvi. 5), ‘The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and my cup: thou maintainest my lot.’ To them the world is a crucified thing, as St. Paul said, ‘By whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.’ They have a new hope and a new inheritance; for, being children, they are heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ. Their conversation is in heaven, because their Saviour is there; and, while they are diligent in life’s occupations, they seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness. They are looking for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.