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.