Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament

^7. What is the “world” which persecutes? That of which it is said to us, “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, is the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, which is not of the Father, but of the world. And the world passes away, and the lust thereof: but he that does the will of God abides for ever,” even as God abides for ever. Lo! I have spoken of two “worlds,” the “world” which persecutes, and that which it persecutes. What is the “world” which persecutes? “All that is the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, which is not of the Father, but of the world;” and “the world passes away.” Lo, this is the “world” which persecutes. What is the “world” which it persecutes? “He that does the will of God abides for ever,” even as God abides for ever.