Christian Lifestyle: February 2014
Table of Contents
Christian Lifestyle
Unlike the Israelite who was only in one place at one time, we are simultaneously in the world (Egypt), in the wilderness and in heavenly places (Canaan). We are to have a lifestyle suited to all three places at the same time. God has called us out of the world to be a heavenly people. But the Lord has sent us back into the world to be the light of the world and to manifest the love of God to the world. We must learn that the place where we are called to be as a testimony for God is a wilderness, for there is no food to be found there for our souls. Our souls can only be sustained by that food which our God supplies us from heaven itself. And as dead and risen with Christ and living in heavenly places (Canaan), we are at war with Satan and his forces. We must live a lifestyle suited to our life of warfare (Eph. 6).
Christian Lifestyle
It always has been a challenge for a Christian to live in the world and yet to not be of the world. As technology advances, communication exposes us to many more options, while the increasing moral degradation becomes more open and accessible. These new opportunities to witness for the Lord with the aid of modern technology coupled with the need of safeguards to keep us from the pollutions so prevalent in the world raise the question as to what kind of a lifestyle Christians should have. How can we take advantage of the technological opportunities without compromising holiness and godliness? The Lord clearly laid out what is needed in His prayer for His disciples in John 17. He was about to leave this world. The disciples would be left behind to represent Him in the ungodly world. We believe we are living very close to the time He will return to take us home, but until that moment, our place is to represent Him in the world.
Sanctified and Sent
Two main features of the Lord’s prayer for His disciples are that they be sanctified and sent. “I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth. As Thou hast sent Me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world” (John 17:15-18). The importance of this cannot be overemphasized. First there is the need to be set apart — sanctified. Without sanctification through the reading and washing of the Scriptures (the truth), there is no power to resist the evil or witness for Christ. The daily habit of reading a chapter of the Bible in the morning before facing the world is a must. It has a sanctifying effect on us which will keep us. It keeps us from becoming like the world; it gives us power to overcome the world (1 John 5:4). If we attempt to go into the world without maintaining the practical holiness that marks us as belonging to the Lord, the power to witness to the world is lost, and we will become like Lot who eventually needed to be rescued from Sodom.
The Lord’s Sanctification for Us
In addition to our sanctification through the application of the Word, the Lord Himself provided another kind of sanctification regarding our being sent into the world. “For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth” (John 17:19). The Lord Himself promises that when He left this world, He would set Himself apart — sanctify Himself — to look after those the Father had given Him. Thus, when He prayed for them, it was with the desire that they be kept from the world. How good to realize that He is caring for us in that way! He did not pray for the world; He prayed for those in the world that the Father gave Him. It should give us assurance of our ultimate preservation from the evil of the world and to know that as long as we walk with Him in obedience to the truth, our witness will have its desired effect in the world. We need not be afraid of the world, for the Lord Jesus has overcome the world and is in control. But if we think we can go into the world, mix with it and have power to change it through our own strength, we are sure to fail. Not only will we fail to change the world, but we also will most certainly be dragged down and destroyed in our life testimony.
The distinct action of being sanctified and sent into the world keeps us from the two extremes of assimilation into the world and isolationism from the world. The Lord did not leave us a specific code of Christian conduct, dress or ethics to practice, but all these outward things are ways that our faith in Christ can be shown. Rules without adorning the “hidden man of the heart” lead only to legality, while, on the other hand, unbridled immodesty without any care as to outward demeanor renders any testimony of the “hidden man of the heart” indistinguishable before the world. May the Lord help us to keep our focus on Him and His Word. It will conform us to the image of His likeness.
Three Witnesses of the World
Paul, the man with a keen mind and who, in service, surpassed the other apostles, said, “Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Rom. 12:2).
Peter, the energetic man of action who was restored to usefulness, said, “According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (1 Peter 1:3-4).
John, the man who knew most of the Lord’s love and lived the longest, said, “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. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever” (1 John 2:15-17). He also said, “Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:5).
D. C. Buchanan
Worldliness
“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. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever” (1 John 2:15-17).
Two Words for “World”
There are, in the New Testament, two primary words translated “world” — kosmos, the word used here and throughout John’s writings, and aion, found chiefly in Matthew and Paul’s epistles. The root meanings of the two words are entirely different. Kosmos means order, beauty; hence, we have the word “cosmetic” — that which beautifies; aion means age or dispensation — the course of existence. Aion is applied chiefly to mark time and condition, while kosmos gives us the material world primarily. Thus we have, “Be not conformed to this age [aion]” (Rom. 12:2) — to the course of things in which we live. In Ephesians 2:2 we have the two worlds significantly joined together: “In time past ye walked according to the course [aion] of this world [kosmos].” Satan is alike the prince of this world, kosmos (John 14:30; 16:11), and the god of this age, aion (2 Cor. 4:4).
The earth as it came forth from the hands of God was indeed a kosmos, a thing of beauty, upon which He could look in blessing and pronounce it “very good.” It was a fitted place for man’s habitation. But the world as it came from God’s hands is one thing; what it has become because of sin is, alas, quite another.
Worldliness — the World
With God Left Out
Worldliness is the world with God left out. It is what is not of the Father that is of the world. Covetousness, or desiring what we do not have, is idolatry (Col. 3:5), for God is displaced. And conversely, where He has His place, there can be no covetousness, no lust; we are satisfied with His fullness. Where the Father is left out, the empty soul craves, and though it had the whole world, it would be empty still, for God alone can fill the heart.
This then is the world — a Godless world. Worldliness may show itself in various ways. There may be the grosser, more sensual lust of the flesh, the more aesthetic lust of the eyes, or the mere boasting in riches and possessions, the “pride of living.” But in whatever way it takes possession of the heart, it is still the same: The Father is absent. It was in this way that Eve was taken by the beguilements of Satan, for her sin consisted in putting these gratifications in the place of God in direct disobedience to Him.
Cain’s apostasy seems more awful when we see him turn his back upon God and quietly settle down to enjoy the city which he had built than when he cried out, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.” Lot took his first step in the course which ended so shamefully in the mountain cave, when he lifted up his eyes upon the well-watered plain of Sodom, “like the garden of the Lord,” but with the Lord left out. Let us never, then, think lightly of that which is the root of all sin: departure from God. The Apostle describes the hopeless condition of the Gentile as “without God in the world” (Eph. 2). When with tears he would warn against those whose end was destruction and whose glory was in their shame, he described them as those who “mind earthly things” (Phil. 3).
Worldliness — Its Menace
The very essence of worldliness is the exclusion of God; it does not matter so much from what He is excluded, as the fact of His exclusion. We have thus far been looking at the nature of worldliness. Of its desolating effects, we need not say much. “Whosoever will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4). When the world has a place in the heart, coldness results. The first step to worldly Laodiceanism was Ephesian loss of first love.
When worldliness creeps in, we lose communion with God, and very easily divisions creep in to separate God’s people. Gospel work ceases or becomes a mere drudgery of routine. All spiritual activity ceases; the door is left wide open for some open sin, unless the mercy of God prevents it. It may be business, it may be pleasure, it may be things right and harmless in themselves, but if they displace God, their work is done. What desolation worldliness has wrought, and what bright, active, devoted Christians it has overcome!
We have spoken of the menace of worldliness. We are surrounded by it; it presses upon us from every side. It is active, energetic, under the guiding hand of its master, waiting only for an entrance. It is subtle, alluring. It has its attractions for the young Christian, but it also affects the more mature. Well did our Lord know our danger when He prayed, “I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil” (John 17:15). The church is threatened with three evils — false doctrine, divisions and worldliness — and we may safely say that worldliness is at the root of most of the power of the other two.
Worldliness — Its Prevention
and Cure
Having seen something of the nature and the effects of worldliness and that it is an evil which threatens us now, we may look simply at what is both a preventive and a cure. It is the Father’s presence. That which marks the world is His absence; when He is present, there is faith and victory over the world.
How suggestive, how alluring, is this word — Father! It reminds us of the Son, through whom we are sons and through whom we have access to the Father. It tells us of relationship, of nearness, of affections. It does not speak of, though it suggests, a place, but it reminds us of a Person. Mere place could not produce holiness, but sin cannot lift its head in the Father’s presence.
How sweet and how simple, then, is the cure for worldliness! Have we allowed it a place in our hearts? Let us turn to the Father. No matter how deep the immersion in the world nor of how long-standing, the Father’s claims are strongest, and His grace, His restoring grace, all-sufficient.
We are living in times of awful worldliness. As in the day of Cain, man is using the inventions and the luxuries of the age to hide God from his sight. In that church which should be a testimony for Him who was not of this world is often the home of worldliness. What shame, reproach and dishonor have been brought upon His holy name!
What is wanted is not sanctimonious asceticism (that is but a sham) nor legalism (which brings bondage), but a bright devotion to One who loves us, who has our hearts, and in whose presence it is our delight to dwell. “That the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them” (John 17:26).
Adapted from Help and Food
Self-Sacrifice
Divine love cares for others and sacrifices self. The Apostle was a living example of the gospel he preached. There were rights, and grace does not forget them for others — does not avail itself of them. He is even warm in repudiating any such thought. He was living Christ so as to feel and act like Him who taught that it was more blessed to give than to receive. His own life and death were the fullness of its truth, but the Apostle was no mean witness of it, though a man of like passions with us. Nor has he been without his imitators in this, even as he also was of Christ. He would not afford a handle to those who sought it at Corinth. Others have had grounds equally grave for a similar course.
It is important to see also that to preach is not a thing to boast of. It is an obligation — a duty to Him who has called one and conferred a gift for this very purpose. It is thus a necessity laid on all such, not an office of honor to claim nor a right to plead. Christ has the right to send, and He does send, laborers into His vineyard. This makes it truly a necessity laid on him who is sent. According to Scripture, the church never sends any to preach the gospel. Relations are falsified by any such pretension. Again, He who sends directs the laborer. It is of capital importance that this should be maintained with immediate responsibility to the Lord. Therefore it is that the Apostle adds, “Woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel.” Undoubtedly he who does this voluntarily has a reward, and the heart goes with the blessed work, whatever the hardness and reproach which accompany it. But if not of one’s own will, an administration, or stewardship, is entrusted to one. Now of the steward it is sought that he be found faithful.
“What, then, is my reward? That in preaching the gospel I may make the gospel without charge; so that I use not for myself my title in the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:18 WK). It was meet that such a one as the Apostle, extraordinarily called, should act in extraordinary grace, and this he does. He made the gospel without cost to others and at all cost to himself. He did not use his right to a support for himself. It is no question here of “abuse,” any more than in 1 Corinthians 7:31. It is the giving up of one’s right for special reasons of grace, and it is the more beautiful in one who had as deep a sense of righteousness as any man, perhaps, who ever lived. The plea for the rights of others was therefore so much the more unimpeachable, because it was absolutely unmixed with any desire for himself.
“Being free from all, I made myself bondman to all, that I might gain the most. And I became to the Jews as a Jew, that I might gain Jews; and to those under law, as under law, not being myself under law, that I might gain those under law; to those without law, as without law, not being without law to God, but under law to Christ, that I might gain those without law. To the weak I became weak, that I might gain the weak; to all I have become all things, that by all means I might save some. And all things I do for the sake of the gospel, that I may become a fellow-partaker of it” (1 Cor. 9:19-28 WK). How bright a reflection of the spirit of the gospel! The Apostle was ready to yield at every side where Christ was not concerned. He was free, but free to be a bondman of any and everyone, in order that he might gain, not ends of his own, but the most possible for Christ.
Such is the elasticity of grace. “To those without law, as without law,” while he carefully adds, not being without law to God, but duly or legitimately subject to Christ, that he might gain those without law. It is in vain to speak of natural character or education. If there ever was a soul rigidly bound by Pharisaic tradition within the straitest limits, it was Saul of Tarsus. But if any man be in Christ, there is a new creation. The old things passed; behold, they are become new. Such was Paul the Apostle, and so he lived, labored, and speaks to us livingly. He would not wound the scruples of the feeblest; nay, to the weak he became weak, that he might gain the weak; in short, he could, and does, say, “To all I am become all things, that I may by all means save some.” It was not, as some basely misuse his words, to excuse tampering with the world and so spare one’s own flesh, which is really to become the prey of Satan. His was self-sacrifice in a faith which had only Christ for its object and the bringing of every soul within one’s reach into contact with His love.
W. Kelly
Self-Denial, Not Self-Indulgence
“Though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; to them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some” (1 Cor. 9:19-22).
This teaches us the exquisite lesson of self-denial in order to meet the condition of others with a direct view to their salvation. This passage is frequently used for the direct opposite — namely, for self-indulgence and mixing ourselves up with all sorts of wrong things, under the plea of being “all things to all men,” and in result, instead of gaining them and delivering them out of the evil and folly in which they are involved, we fall under the power of these things ourselves, to the great dishonor of our Lord and the serious damage of souls.
C. H. Mackintosh
In the World, Not of the World
In His prayer to the Father in John 17, just before He went to the cross, the Lord Jesus made several references to His own, with respect to the world. Two of them are very relevant to the Christian today. First, we read, “Now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world” (vs. 11). Second, He says, “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world” (vs. 14). On these two statements hang some very important considerations for the believer, as to his relationship with the world around him.
Up to the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus, the world was under trial, for God was putting fallen man through every kind of test, to see if there were any good in him. Not that God needed proof of this for Himself, for of the Lord Jesus it could be said, “He knew what was in man” (John 2:25). However, God was proving to man that even under the best of circumstances, he was a complete failure. When this world crucified the Son of God, man’s trial was over, and God pronounced judgment on the world. From that point on, until the judgment is carried out, those who would honor God and live for Him in this world must follow a rejected Christ — One who has been cast out. Of course, right from the beginning of man’s history, rejection was the lot of those who sought to be faithful to God; once Christ was rejected, Satan became the god and prince of this world, and, as we might say, the battle lines were very clearly drawn.
It is beautiful to see that the Lord Jesus associates us with Himself in all of this, for we are “not of the world” even as He is “not of the world.” If He was cast out, we will be too, if we are faithful to Him. It is in His steps that we are to walk. In keeping with all this, we are called to a path of separation from the world, for “if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not him” (1 John 2:15). God’s love and purposes center in His beloved Son, and He loves us as He loves His beloved Son. If we are to enjoy that love and have fellowship with the Father, our hearts must be in tune with His. This can be true only if we share the same object — the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ and the world cannot exist in the same heart at the same time, and the love of the Father cannot coexist with the love of the world. It must be the one or the other.
Separation Versus Isolation
However, there must be balance in our Christian pathway as to all this, as in many other areas of our Christian life. If we are called to separation from the world, we are not called to isolation. If we are not of the world, we are nonetheless in the world and are called to be a testimony to it. The commission given to believers is found in Luke 24:47: “That repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” This cannot be done in a pathway of isolation; there must be contact with this world, and we must be accessible to it. The question arises as to how this can be done in the right way.
Some dear believers (and some, no doubt, with an earnest desire to reach this world with the gospel) have succumbed to the wrong notion that they must descend to this world’s level in order to reach souls. Instead of being “transformed by the renewing of your mind,” they have allowed themselves to be “conformed to this world” (Rom. 12:2). The full-blown effect of this is seen in so-called covenant theology, which teaches that it is the Christians’ responsibility to straighten out this world and make it ready for Christ’s kingdom. Thus we find many believers today getting into politics and other forms of help for this world, using their energies in that direction. Needless to say, those who work with this world must lower themselves to its principles; thus their testimony is diluted, and their spiritual discernment suffers as well. Such believers are not only in the world, but practically are of the world. Of course, there are degrees of worldliness, and some have much more of the world than others. Thus other believers who have little interest in bettering this world feel that it is enough to lead a good, morally upright life, while at the same time enjoying to the full all that this world has to offer. The question is often asked, “What is the harm in it?” This is rather low ground for a believer, for whatever is of self cannot be of God.
Other believers, appalled at the widespread increase in violence and corruption (and again with the best of motives), have taken up a pathway of isolation, seeking to protect themselves and their families from everything in this world. This way of dealing with the matter is not new, for such things as Christian hermits, monastic orders, and other forms of extreme isolation have been with us for more than 1500 years. But as another has most aptly said:
“Mere monasticism, no matter how severe, does not shut out worldliness; rather, it shuts it in. You may put a man behind stone walls and never allow him to see God’s fair world; you may deprive him of the luxuries of life, almost of its necessities, and yet have him as thoroughly worldly as ever. If the Father is excluded, there is worldliness. It is not enough to enclose a portion of ground with walls to make it a garden. Unless it is cultivated with good, it will produce more weeds than ever.”
Such believers are not of the world, but practically they are not even in the world, and their testimony to it is either weak or non-existent. Likewise, the world may continue to flourish in their hearts, only in a different way. The pride of life, one of the characters of the world that they wish to avoid, may well continue to thrive.
Transformed
What then is the answer? How can we achieve the proper balance? I would suggest that we can go to either of the extremes suggested — worldliness or isolation — without much exercise before the Lord. I may have self before me in either extreme and no spiritual discernment at all. My own lusts will control me in the one, and a legal spirit in the other. However, to balance these in the right way, I must be “transformed by the renewing of [my] mind” (Rom. 12:2), and “the love of the Father” (1 John 2:15) must be in me. When my heart is attracted to Christ, and the joy of His love is filling my heart, I am occupied with the same object the Father has before Him. The love of the Father will force out of me the love of the world.
Then I will be separated from this world, but more in heart than in location. I will not associate myself with the world in its pleasures, ambitions and politics, but I will live and move in it. Instead of conforming myself to it, I will not only be a living witness against its course, but also a witness to it of God’s character as Saviour. My mind having been renewed, I will be transformed, not conformed.
This does not mean that I will be characterized by a miserable asceticism. Rather, I will be thankful for God’s gracious provision for me, while remembering that I am to be among those who “use the world, as not disposing of it as their own; for the fashion of this world passes” (1 Cor. 7:31 JND). I will recognize that in walking through this world, I will contract defilement from time to time, and I will thus avail myself of “the washing of water by the Word” (Eph. 5:26), whether applied by the Lord Himself or by another believer.
Above all, I will seek continual guidance from the Lord, in a spirit of dependence on Him. The Spirit of God is able to lead and guide me and to show me how to be in the world, yet not of it. This requires constant dependence on Him, for “it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps” (Jer. 10:23). In this we have the perfect example in our blessed Lord, who voluntarily took His place down here as the perfect, dependent man, walking in the power of the Spirit of God. We know that at times He spent all night in prayer, not only for Himself, but as an example for us. It is a privilege to “follow His steps” (1 Peter 2:21).
W. J. Prost
The Right Combination of Accessibility and Separation
The Lord Jesus perfectly combined accessibility to the world while maintaining separation from the immorality of those around Him. His heart was not enticed by anything in the world. This is demonstrated in the example of his talking to the woman at the well of Sychar in John 4. There we see a perfect combination of One who maintained holiness while reaching out to those around Him. He demonstrates how to overcome sin while delivering those living in sin. The story ends with the woman being delivered from her sinful ways. Many others in the city also believed the testimony. The end of the story of another family, where there was a woman whom Samson loved, is very sad. She and all her family were destroyed by the Philistines as a result of Samson’s engagements with them. The life of Samson stands in contrast to the One who sat on the well of Sychar and delivered a woman from her life of sin. Samson, while in close proximity to the Philistines, gave up his vow of separation to Jehovah. The purpose of the Nazarite vow was to devote the life wholly to service for the Lord. Accompanying the vow of separation was strength, given to Samson to overcome all power of the enemy. This was given at a time when the nation of Israel was impoverished by the Philistines. As long as Samson kept his vow, he had power over the Philistines. But as the days went by when Samson lived among the Philistines, his heart became attracted to a woman who enticed him little by little to surrender his vow of separation. This resulted in his losing his power and becoming a prisoner.
The Nazarite Vow
There were three parts to the Nazarite vow which Samson was called to keep. He was not to drink wine or even eat anything from the vine. Wine cheers the heart (Judg. 9:13), but it also impedes discernment (Prov. 20:1). Living to please self was how Samson began to fail. He said concerning the Philistine woman, “Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well” (Judg. 14:3). Thus he began to compromise his calling and lose good discernment.
The second requirement for the Nazarite was not to defile himself with anything unclean. The application of this to Samson was from physical defilement, but it applies to moral defilement too. Samson took the honey from an unclean carcass, ate it and gave it to his parents without their knowledge of it. No doubt they would have refused it if they had known its source. Those who succumb to temptations like the company of others, to placate their conscience, but this does not remedy the defilement. We see that when Samson lived to please himself, it led to the allowance of uncleanness also. The example of the Lord Jesus while conversing with the woman at Sychar reveals His purity and self-control. With Him there was no exercise of His own will, nor any compromise with uncleanness. Afterward, when the disciples brought Him food, He could say, “I have meat to eat that ye know not of.” Then He continued to explain how He delighted to obey. “Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work” (John 4:32,34). There was no compromising of holiness; His delight was to do the Father’s will (Psa. 40:8). Afterward the woman was able to say of Him, “Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?” (vs. 29). All her secret sins were uncovered and brought into the light, where forgiveness is found. That part of her life was all past and she was taken up with His perfection.
The third requirement for the Nazarite was not to shave his hair. This was the outward mark of his separation to Jehovah for a special cause. The distinction of having long hair was to be kept until the vow was terminated. This was the last thing Samson gave up, and when he did, the Lord departed from him. The result was that Samson had no more power, and the Philistines were able to take him prisoner. He lost his separative power of holiness. It has been said that salt is a picture of this. So the Scriptures say, “Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves” (Mark 9:50). In this regard, we could say, Samson lost his salt — he lost his power of holiness through his lack of separation to the Lord.
The Lord Jesus was the perfect Nazarite as the One morally separate from evil. This enabled Him to be close to sinners physically without being defiled. He is the One who perfectly kept the Nazarite vow. In doing so He shows how moral separation can affect those who see it. This is the lifestyle that has power to witness to those in the world — the lifestyle that is close to the world, yet separate morally from it. In summary, we may say Samson’s lifestyle is an example of what happens when one professes to be separate from the world but gives it up, while the Lord Jesus is an example of what happens when one maintains separation. The importance of these things cannot be overemphasized for Christians today. We are in the world but not of the world. As the world degenerates, the uncleanness becomes more pronounced and openly evil, yet there is opportunity to live a godly lifestyle that has power to overcome the world.
D. C. Buchanan
Christianity - Positive and Negative
Elsewhere in this issue, we have spoken of the dangers of worldliness and how it drags the believer down spiritually. However, we must remember that in our Christian pathway, there must be both the negative and the positive. We find this brought before us in the Word of God, where we read, “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:21). It is not enough merely to resist evil and not be overcome by it; in addition, we are to be the overcomers, presenting the good that replaces the evil. Surely in all His dealings with man, God never takes away something without giving that which is better in return, and we are to present God’s character to this world.
The Moral Breakdown
As to the evil in this world, we do not need to say very much, for to any true believer, it must be evident that the moral breakdown in the past half-century has been tremendous. Within even the past ten or fifteen years, this pace of degeneration has accelerated so greatly as to be almost mind-boggling. In most Western countries, God’s Word has been set aside, the theory of evolution has been elevated to the level of established fact, and absolutes in morality have been discarded. It could be said today, as it was said in the days of the judges in Israel, “Every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judg. 21:25).
All of this has had a clear and definite impact upon the people of God, although the effect has been insidious. Most young people today cannot imagine life without such things as a cell phone, which usually also functions as a device that enables them to listen to music at any time, in any place. Likewise, most young people cannot imagine life without a television, videos, the Internet, and a personal computer. While television has been in common use for more than sixty years, such entities as personal computers, cell phones, and the Internet have become common only in the last twenty to twenty-five years. All have subtly contributed to a stronger connection to the world, not only among young people, but at any age. To give one example, a Christian friend of mine who is heavily involved in working with believers with addictions told me recently that about 80% of evangelical Christian men are “hooked” on Internet pornography.
Some of us are shocked at this, and perhaps we have not allowed such a thing in our lives. However, the continual “bombardment” of our minds by worldly things, available through these media, has a cumulative effect that begins to affect our attitude and spirit in a negative way. If we are not careful, our thinking is formed by the world rather than by the Word of God. While we may well do without the television, it is almost impossible today for children to get an education without having a computer and the Internet available to them, and it is almost impossible for many to do their secular jobs without cell phones, a computer, and the Internet. The answer is not to get rid of these things, but to use them wisely. Nevertheless, the temptations and potential for harm has been multiplied a hundredfold.
The Positive
This brings us to the positive aspect about which Scripture speaks. If we use such things as the Internet, we must realize that strong temptation exists, just as it does with the television. How can we avoid succumbing to that temptation? We have perhaps heard the old proverb:
“Sow a thought, reap an act;
Sow an act, reap a habit;
Sow a habit, reap a character;
Sow a character, reap a destiny.”
It is so easy to get started on a wrong road, yet so hard to get off it! But just as God wants us to forsake the world and its temptations, so He wants to fill our hearts with something better. If we want to avoid being overcome of evil, we must recognize that God is seeking to overcome evil with good, first of all in us, and then in our testimony to others.
We know that the things of this world never satisfy. We may be tempted to prove this by our own experience, but there is no need to do this, for God has recorded in His Word the experience of a man far richer and far wiser than any of us will ever be — Solomon. His experience with this world is given in the Book of Ecclesiastes, while His joy in something better is given in the Song of Solomon. The former is the cry of a heart too large to be filled by anything in this world, while the latter is the cry of one whose heart is too small for the object before it. Christ fills all things in heaven, and He is able to fill our hearts, too.
Inflow and Outflow
However, we are not intended simply to take in the things of Christ, without giving them out. A healthy lake must have both inflow and outflow. So God expects from the believer that “out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38). Every believer has a service to the Lord, to fellow-believers, and to the world, and we should all be occupied in all of these. It is most important! An older brother, long since with the Lord, used to remind us that if we were more diligent in the work of the Lord, we would not be nearly so likely to fall into sin. This is true, for “Satan finds some mischief still, for idle hands to do.” If we are taken up with Christ’s interests here in this world, we will not be so apt to seek our own selfish interests, which often lead to sin.
I would suggest that this is most important, not only for us as individuals, but for our families. Children who are taught by their parents, both by precept and by example, to seek out the work the Lord has given them and keep busy at it will not be so likely to seek worldly companionship and amusement. It is the responsibility of parents to encourage this and to be found doing it themselves. For example, we can show hospitality, and not only to friends. Children can be taught to set aside part of their allowance to use for the Lord and for others. Families can visit neighbors and the elderly, perhaps bringing them a treat or simply to spend time with them. There are many other ways to encourage an outlook toward the Lord and toward others, rather than our thoughts being centered on self.
Christ’s Interests
In seeking to carry this out, we must remember that we are not here to seek out our own interests and to do our own wills. If our own happiness is before us, we will always be disappointed, and Christ will inevitably be dishonored. No, we are here to follow in the steps of the One who said, “I do always those things that please Him [the Father]” (John 8:29). If we are content to seek Christ’s interests down here and to do the will of God, we will find that not only will we be kept from the defilement of the world, but that the Lord will look after our happiness. The pathway of obedience is a happy one; in fact, it is the only happy path.
The Difficulties
It is becoming more and more difficult to live for God’s glory in this world. We may, by grace, be able to avoid being overcome of evil, but then almost be paralyzed as to doing anything positive for the Lord. Let us not give in to this feeling, for it is of Satan. The command to the servants in the parable of the pounds (Luke 19) was to “occupy till I come.” There is work to be done right up until the Lord comes to call us home, and if we look to Him, He will show us what He wants us to do.
In conclusion, we need to be fully convinced that, despite the darkness of the day, it is not a time for discouragement. Rather, as the night grows darker, the light should shine brighter, for His grace is sufficient until the end.
W. J. Prost
Worldliness
All that is in the world has been raised up to please the eye or fleshly feeling and the love of grandeur where Satan reigns and where Christ was crucified, not to please the Father; the ornaments that please Him are spiritual. Worldliness begins wherever Christ is not the motive and rule of what I do, in the necessary details of life. He bends graciously to my necessities, but He does not cultivate folly. I shall seek what meets my necessity with thankfulness. If I seek to please the world and meet its eye, worldliness begins.
Things New and Old
First John 2:15
Even if we do not cling to the world, how it clings to us! If Christ had His place in our hearts, it could not. If it were last night that the Lord Jesus had been put to death by the world, would any of us be “hail fellows well met”? What matters if it were last night or over 1900 years ago? Some are insisting on belonging to this world and to Christ too. Christ had nothing in this world, and my business is to pass through it as earnestly and as fast as I can.
J. N. Darby
Lust
Lust is the stretching forth the hand to take something for self. If God says, “Take,” it is no lust to take, but if the very crown prepared by God for you were there and you were to take it yourself unbidden by Him, it would be lust. God has sheltered us in Christ. Walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. The Spirit seeks the things of God — the things that are the best for us and that are for the glory of God. Lust is taking for myself, and the better the thing, the worse it is. Lust is the very essence of the world, while “Lo, I come to do Thy will” is His way. Wherever there is “Thus saith the Lord,” though we may be going to the stake, you will find a joy and a calmness never found in stolen waters taken for self. A path utterly unblamable may be pursued, and yet God may say, “I did not put you there.” And this comes in to interfere with the sustainment of quiet peace in the heart. “Am I walking as Thou wouldest have me, Lord?” is the question for each heart. “Lo, I come to do Thy will,” simple obedience to God, is the one great thing for the soul.
G. V. Wigram
Loss of Affection
The moment the freshness of divine affection begins to wane, the heart goes after the world, and the next step is that the flesh is indulged; as the fruit of that we lose spiritual discernment and get turned away by the seductions of the enemy. You will find that order in the life history of every saint of God; that is, the world gets in, the flesh is indulged, spiritual perception is lost, and we drift from the path of obedience and loyalty to Christ.
Toronto Conference, 1953
The Lack of Spirituality
In general we are obliged to be much more occupied with the details of the Christian life than with the great principles of this life. God is patient, but it is sorrowful that the state of the church should be such. Because of the lack of spirituality, the Spirit cannot go on to unfold the riches of the thoughts of Jesus; He is then forced to be occupied with the walk, that the gospel may not be dishonored. The understanding of the counsels of God depends on the faithfulness of the walk, and what will be the consequence of this faithful walk? It will be a state of struggle with all, especially with all that brings in the principles of Judaism. In the actual state in which the world is, opposition will always be shown against the one who is faithful, and the fact of having more light excites opposition even with Christians. (Paul is a striking example of it.)
J. N. Darby
The Young Christian
I cannot give it up,
The little world I know —
The innocent delights of youth,
The things I cherish so!
’Tis true, I love my Lord
And long to do His will;
But oh, I may enjoy the world
And be a Christian still!
And yet, “outside the camp” —
’Twas there my Saviour died!
It was the world that cast Him forth
And saw Him crucified;
Can I take part with those
Who nailed Him to the tree?
And where His name is never praised,
Is that the place for me?
Farewell! Henceforth my place
Is with the Lamb who died;
My Saviour! While I have Thy love,
What can I want beside?
Thyself, blest Lord, art now
My free and loving choice,
In whom, though now I see Thee not,
Believing, I rejoice.
Lord Jesus! Let me dwell
“Outside the camp” with Thee!
Since Thou art there, then there alone
Is peace and rest for me;
Thy dear reproach to bear
I’ll count my highest gain,
Till Thou return, rejected One,
To take Thy power and reign!
Margaret Mauro (age 22)