Teaching Resources International

For the sake of accuracy, a distinction should be drawn between the condescension and the humiliation of Christ, though most writers confound them.  This distinction is made by the Holy Spirit (Philippians 2:7-8).

First, He “made himself of no reputation;” second, He “humbled himself.”  The condescension of God the Son consisted in His assuming our nature, the Word becoming flesh.  His humiliation lay in the consequent abasement and sufferings He endured in our nature.  The assumption of human nature was not, of itself, a part of Christ’s humiliation, for He still retained it in His glorious exaltation.  But for God the Son to take into union with Himself a created nature, animated dust, was an act of infinite condescension.

Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.  Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name (Philippians 2:6-9).

These verses trace the path of the Mediator from highest glory to deepest humiliation and back again to His supreme honor.  What a wondrous path was His!  And how terrible that this divine description of His path should have become the battleground of theological contention.  At few points has the awful depravity of man’s heart been more horribly displayed than by the blasphemies vented upon these verses.

A glance at the context (Philippians 2:1-5) at once shows the practical design of the apostle was to exhort Christians to spiritual fellowship among themselves — to be likeminded, to love one another, to be humble and lowly, to esteem others better than themselves.  To enforce this, the example of our Lord is proposed in the verses we now consider.  We are to have the same mind in us that was in Him; the mind, spirit, habit, of self-abnegation, the mind of self-sacrifice, and of obedience to God.  We must humble ourselves beneath the mighty hand of God, if we are to be exalted by Him in due time (1 Peter 5:6).  To set before us the example of Christ in its most vivid colors, the Holy Spirit takes us back to the position which our Mediator occupied in eternity.  He shows us that supreme dignity and glory was His, then reminds us of those unfathomable depths of condescension and humiliation into which He descended for our sakes.

“Who being in the form of God.” First of all, this affirms the absolute Deity of the Son, for no mere creature, no matter how high in the scale of being, could ever be “in the form of God.”  Three words are used concerning the Son’s relation to the Godhead.

First, He subsists in the “form” of God, seen in Him alone.

Second, He is “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15), which expression tells of His manifestation of God to us (cf. 2 Corinthians 4:6).

Third, He is the “brightness of his glory and the express image of his person” (Hebrews 1:3), or more exactly, the “effulgency (outshining) of His glory and the exact expression of His substance” (Bagster Interlinear).  These perhaps combine both concepts suggested by form and image, namely, that the whole nature of God is in Christ, that by Him God is declared and expressed to us.

“Who being,” or subsisting (it is hardly correct to speak of a divine person “existing.” He is self-existent; He always was in “the form of God.”)  “Form” (the Greek word is only found elsewhere in the New Testament in Philippians 2:7, Mark 16:12) is what is apparent.  “The form of God” is an expression which seems to denote His visible glory, His displayed majesty, His manifested sovereignty.  From eternity, the Son was clothed with all the insignia of deity, adorned with all divine splendor.  “The Word was God” (John 1:1).

“Thought it not robbery to be equal with God.” Almost every word in this verse has been the occasion of contention.  But we have sufficient confidence in the superintending providence of God to be satisfied the translators of our authorized version were preserved from any serious mistake on a subject so vitally important.  As the first clause of our verse refers to an objective delineation of the divine dignity of the Son, so this second clause affirms His subjective consciousness.  The word “thought” is used (here in the aorist tense) to indicate a definite point in time past.  The word rendered “robbery” denotes not the spoil or prize, but the act of taking the spoil.  The Son did not reckon equality with the Father and the Holy Spirit an act of usurping.

“Thought it not robbery to be equal with God.” This is only a negative way to say that Christ considered equality with God as what justly and essentially belonged to Him.  It was His by indisputable right.  Christ esteemed such equality as no invasion of Another’s prerogative, but regarded Himself as being entitled to all divine honors.  Because He held the rank of one of the Three coeternal, coessential, and co-glorious persons of the Godhead, the Son reckoned His full and perfect equality with the other two was His unchallengeable portion.  In verse 6 is no doubt a latent reference to Satan’s fall.  He, though “the anointed cherub” (Ezekiel 28:14), was infinitely below God, yet he grasped at equality with Him.  “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the most High” (Isaiah 14:14).

However the Greek word for “robbery” is translated, it is evident the emphatic term of this clause is “equal.”  For if it signifies a real and proper equality, then the proof for the absolute deity of the Savior is irrefutable.  How, then, is the exact significance of this term to be determined?  Not by having recourse to Homer, nor any other heathen writer, but by discovering the meaning of its cognate.  If we can fix the precise rendering of the adjective, then we may be sure of the adverb.  The adjective is found in several passages (Matthew 20:12; Luke 6:34; John 5:18; Acts 11:17; Revelation 21:6).  In each passage, the reference is not to a likeness only, but to a real and proper equality!  Thus the force of this clause is parallel with, “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30).  “My Father is greater than I” (John 14:28) must not be allowed to negate John 10:30.  There are no contradictions in Holy Writ.  Each of these passages may be given its full force without there being any conflict between them.  The simple way to discover their perfect consistency is to remember, that Scripture exhibits our Savior in two chief characters: as God the Son, the second Person of the Trinity; and as Mediator, the God-man, the Word become flesh.  In the former, He is described as possessing all the perfections of deity; in the latter, as the Servant of the Godhead.  Speaking of Himself according to His essential Being, He could unqualifiedly say, “I and Father are one,” — one in essence or nature. Speaking of Himself according to His mediatorial office, He could say, “My Father is greater than I,” not essentially, but economically.

Each expression used (Philippians 2:6) is expressly designed by the Holy Spirit to magnify the divine dignity of Christ’s person.  He is the Possesser of a glory equal with God’s, with an unquestioned right to that glory, deeming it no robbery to challenge it.  His glory is not an accidental or phenomenal one, but a substantial and essential one, subsisting in the very “form of God.”  Between what is Infinite and what is finite, what is Eternal and what is temporal, He who is the Creator and what is the creature, it is utterly impossible there should be any equality.  “To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One” (Isaiah 40:25), is God’s own challenge.  Thus, for any creature to deem himself “equal with God” would be the highest robbery and supremest blasphemy.

“But made Himself of no reputation.” The meaning of the words is explained in those which immediately follow.  So far was the Son from tenaciously insisting upon His personal rights as a member of the blessed Trinity, He voluntarily relinquished them.  He willingly set aside the magnificent distinctions of the Creator, to appear in the form of a creature, yes, in the likeness of a fallen man.  He abdicated His position of supremacy and entered one of servitude.  Though equal in majesty and glory with God, He joyfully resigned Himself to the Father’s will (John 6:38).  Incomparable condescension was this!  He who was by inherent right in the form of God, suffered His glory to be eclipsed, His honor to be laid in the dust, and Himself to be humbled to a most shameful death.

“And took upon Him the form of a servant.” In so doing, He did not cease to be all that He was before, but He assumed something He had not been previously.  There was no change in His divine nature, but the uniting to His divine person of a human nature.  “He who is God, can no more be not God, than he who is not God, can be God” (John Owen).  None of Christ’s divine attributes were relinquished, for they are as inseparable from His person as heat is from fire, or weight from substance.  But His majestic glory was, for a season, obscured by the interposing veil of human flesh.  Nor is this statement negated by John 1:14 — “we beheld His glory” (explained by Matthew 16:17), in contrast from the unregenerate masses before whom He appeared as “a root out of a dry ground,” having “no form nor comeliness” (Isaiah 53:2).

It was God Himself who was “manifest in the flesh” (1 Timothy 3:16).  The One born in Bethlehem’s manger was “The mighty God” (Isaiah 9:6), and heralded as, “Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).  Let there be no uncertainty on this point. Had He been “emptied” of any of His personal excellency, had His divine attributes been laid aside, then His satisfaction or sacrifice would not have possessed infinite value.  The glory of His person was not in the slightest degree diminished when He became incarnate, though it was (in measure) concealed by the lowly form of the servant He assumed.  Christ was still “equal with God” when He descended to earth. It was “The Lord of glory” (1 Corinthians 2:8) whom men crucified.

“And took upon Him the form of a servant.” That was the great condescension, yet is it not possible for us to fully grasp the infinity of the Son’s stoop.  If God “humbleth Himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!” (Psalm 113:6) how much more so to actually become “flesh” and be amongst the most lowly.  He entered into an office which placed Him below God (John 14:28; 1 Corinthians 11:3).  He was, for a season, “made lower than the angels” (Hebrews 2:7); He was “made under the law” (Galatians 4:4).  He was made lower than the ordinary condition of man, for He was “a reproach of men, and despised of the people” (Psalm 22:6).

What point all this gives to, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5).  How earnestly the Christian needs to seek grace to be content with the lowest place God and men assign him; to be ready to perform the meanest service; to be and do anything which brings glory to God.

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The final section of this truly wondrous and most blessed Gospel contains teaching greatly needed by our fickle and feeble hearts.  The central figures are the Lord and Simon Peter, and what we have here is the sequel to what was before us in chapter thirteen, the Lord washing the feet of His disciples.  There, too, Peter was to the fore and that because he occupies the position of a representative believer; that is, his fall and the cause of it, his restoration and the means employed for it, illustrate the experiences of the Christian and the provisions which Divine grace has made for him.

The first thing recorded in connection with Peter’s fall is our Lord’s words to him before it took place: “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat.  But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren” (Luke 22:31-32).  This is very solemn and very blessed.  Solemn is it to observe that the Lord prayed not to keep Peter from failing.  In suffering His apostle to fall, the Lord’s mercy comes out most signally, for that fall was necessary in order to reveal to Peter the condition of his heart, to show him the worthlessness of self-confidence, and to humble his proud spirit.  The need for Satan’s “sifting” was at once made manifest by the Apostle’s reply, “And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death” (Luke 22:33).

“This is a condition which not only exposes one to a fall, but from which the fall itself may be the only remedy.  We have to learn that when we are weak only are we strong; and that Christ’s strength is made perfect in our weakness.  Peter’s case is a typical one; and thus it is so valuable for us.  “The Lord Himself, in such a case as this, cannot pray (“cannot” morally do so — A.W.P.) that Peter may not fall, but that he may be ‘converted’ by it, turned from that dangerous self-confidence to consciousness of his inability to trust himself, even for a moment.  Here Satan is foiled and made to serve the purpose of that grace which he hates and resists.  He can overpower this self-sufficient Peter; but only to fling him for relief upon his omnipotent Lord. Just as the ‘messenger of Satan to buffet’ Paul (2 Corinthians 12), only works for what he in nowise desires, to repress the pride so ready to spring up in us, and which the lifting up to the third heaven might tend to foster.  Here there had been no fall and all was over-ruled for fullest blessing; in Peter’s case, on the other hand, Satan’s effort would be to assail the fallen disciple with suggestions of a sin too great to be forgiven — or, at least, for restoration to that eminent place from which it would be torture to remember he had fallen.  What he needed to meet this with was faith; and this, therefore, the Lord prays, might not fail him.

“How careful is He to revive and strengthen in the humbled man the practical confidence so needful!  The knowledge of it all given him beforehand — of the prayer made for him — of the exhortation addressed to him when restored, to ‘strengthen his brethren’ — all this would be balm indeed for his wounded soul; but even this was not enough for his compassionate Lord.  The first message of His resurrection had to be addressed specially ‘to Peter’ (Mark 16:7), and to ‘Cephas’ himself He appears, before the Twelve (1 Corinthians 15:5).  Thus He will not shrink back when they are all seen together.  When we find him at the sea of Tiberias, it is easy to realize that all this has done its work.  Told that it is the Lord who is there on the shore, he girds on his outer garment, and casts himself into the sea, impatient to meet his Lord.  But now he is ready, and only now, for that so necessary dealing with his conscience, when his heart is fully assured” (Numerical Bible).

Mark carefully how the Lord began: not with a reproach, still less a word of condemnation, nor even with a “Why did you deny Me?” but “Lovest thou me more than these?”  Yet, observe that the Lord did not now address him as “Peter,” but “Simon son of Jonas.”  This is not without its significance.  “Simon” was his original name and stands in contrast from the new name which the Lord had given him: “And when Jesus beheld him, he said, thou art Simon the son of Jonas: that shalt be called Cephas (Peter), which is by interpretation, A stone” (John 1:42).  The way in which the Lord now addressed His disciple intentionally called into question the “Peter.”  Mark how that in Luke 22:31 the Lord said, “Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat.”  Christ would here remind him of his entire past as a natural man, and especially that his fall had originated in “Simon” and not “Peter!”  On only one other occasion did the Lord address him as “Simon son of Jonah” and that was in Matthew 16:17, “Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon son of Jonah: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.”  But note that the Lord is quick to add, “And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church: and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.  And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom.”

Thus this first word of the Lord to His disciple in John 21:15 was designed to pointedly remind him of his glorious confession, which would serve to make him the more sensitive of his late and awful denial. “Lovest thou me more than these?” This was still more searching than the name by which Christ had addressed His Apostle.  He would not heal Peter’s wound slightly, but would work a perfect cure; therefore, does He as it were, open it afresh.  The Savior would not have him lose the lesson of his fall, nor in the forgiveness forget his sin.  Consequently He now delicately retraces for him the sad history of his denial, or rather by His awakening question brings it before his conscience.  Peter had boasted, “Though all shall be offended, yet will not I:” he not only trusted in his own loyalty, but congratulated himself that his love to Christ surpassed that of the other Apostles.  Therefore did the Lord now ask, “Lovest thou me more than these?” i.e., more than these apostles love Me?

“He said unto him, Yea Lord; thou knowest that I love thee” (John 21:15).  An opportunity had graciously been given Peter to retract his former boast and gladly did he now avail himself of it.  First, he began with a frank and heartfelt confession “thou knowest.”  He leaves it to the Searcher of hearts to determine.  He could not appeal to his ways, for they had reflected upon his love; he would not trust his own heart any longer; so he appeals to Christ Himself to decide.  Yet observe, he did not say “thou knowest if (or whether) I love thee,” but “thou knowest that I love thee” — he rested on the Lord’s knowledge of his love; thus there was both humility and confidence united.

“It was as though he said, ‘Thou hast known me from the beginning as son of Jonah; drawn me to Thee, hast kindled love in my soul, hast called me Peter; Thou didst warn of my blindness, and pray for my faith, and hast since forgiven me; Thou hast looked, both before and since Thy death, into my heart, with eyes of grace, so Thou knowest all!  What I feel concerning my love is this, that I am far from loving Thee as I ought and as Thou art worthy of being loved; but Thou, O Lord, knowest that in spite of my awful failure, and notwithstanding my present weakness and deficiency, I do love Thee’“ (Stier).

“He saith unto him, Feed my lambs” (John 21:15). What marvelous grace was this!  Not only does the Lord accept Peter’s appeal to His omniscience, but He gives here a blessed commission. Christ was so well satisfied with Peter’s reply that He does not even confirm it with, “Verily, I do know it.”  Instead, He responds by honoring and rewarding his love.  Christ was about to leave this world, so He now appoints others to minister to His people.  “Feed my lambs.”  The change of figure here from fishing to shepherding is striking: the one suggests the evangelist, the other the pastor and teacher.  The order is most instructive.   Those who have been saved need shepherding — caring for, feeding, defending.  And those whom Christ first commends to Peter were not the “sheep” but the “lambs” — the weak and feeble of the flock; and these are the ones who have the first claim on us!  Note Christ calls them “my lambs,” denoting His authority to appoint the under-shepherds.

“He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?” (John 21:16).  The Lord now drops the comparative “more than these” and confines Himself to love itself.  This question is one which He is still asking of each of those who profess to believe in Him.  “‘Lovest thou me?’ is, in reality, a very searching question.  We may know much, and do much, and talk much, and give much, and go through much, and make much show in our religion, and yet be dead before God for want of love, and at last go down to the Pit.  Do we love Christ?  That is the great question.  Without this there is no vitality about our Christianity.  We are no better than painted wax-figures: there is no life where there is no love” (Bishop Ryle).

“He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; Thou knowest that I love thee” (John 21:16).  In this passage, there are two distinct words in the Greek which are translated by the one English word “love,” and it is most instructive to follow their occurrences here.  The one is a much stronger term than the other.  To preserve the distinction the one might be rendered “love” and the other “affection” or “attachment.”  When the Lord asked Peter, “Lovest thou me?”  He used, both in John 21:15 and 16, the stronger word.  But when Peter answered, what he really said, each time, was “thou knowest that I have affection for thee.”  So far was he now from boasting of the superiority of his love, he would not own it as the deepest kind of love at all!  Once more the response of Divine grace is what Peter receives: “He saith unto him, Feed my sheep” (John 21:16).  The word for “feed” here is more comprehensive than the one which the Lord had used in the previous verse, referring primarily to rule and discipline.  Observe the Lord again calls them “my sheep,” not “thy sheep” — thus anticipating and refuting the pretensions of the Pope!

“He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?” (John 21:17).  Here the Lord Himself uses the weaker term — “Hast thou affection for me?  Grace reigns through righteousness” (Romans 5:21).  Three times had Peter denied his Master; three times, then, did the Lord challenge his love.  This was according to “righteousness.”  But in thus challenging Peter, the Lord gave him the opportunity of now thrice confessing Him.  This was according to “grace.”

In His first question, the Lord challenged the superiority of Peter’s love.  In His second question, the Lord challenged whether Peter had any love at all.  Here, in His third question, the Lord now challenges even his affection! Most searching was this!  But it had the desired effect.  The Lord wounds only that He may heal.

“Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me?” (John 21:17).  Here we are shown once more the power of the Word. This was indeed the sequel to John 13.  That Peter was “grieved” does not mean that he was offended at the Lord because He repeated His question, but it signifies that he was touched to the quick, was deeply sorrowful, as he re- called his threefold denial.  It is parallel with his “weeping bitterly” in Luke 22:62.  This being “grieved” evidenced his perfect contrition! But if it was grievous for the disciple to be thus probed and have called to remembrance his sad fall, how much more grievous must it have been to the Master Himself to be denied?

“And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee” (John 21:17).  Beautiful is it to behold here the transforming effects of Divine grace.  He would not now boast that his love was superior to that of others; he would not even allow that he had any love; nay more, he is at last brought to the place where he now declines to avow even his affection.  He therefore casts himself on Christ’s omniscience. “Lord,” he says, “thou knowest all things.”  Men could see no signs of any love or affection when I denied Thee; but Thou canst read my very heart; I appeal therefore to Thine all-seeing eye.  That Christ knew all things comforted this disciple, as it should us.  Peter realized that the Lord knew the depths as well as the surfaces of things, and therefore, that He saw what was in his poor servant’s heart, though his lips had so transgressed.  Thus did he once more own the absolute Deity of the Savior.  Thus, too, did he rebuke those who would now talk and sing of their love for Christ!

“His self-judgment is complete.  Searched out under the Divine eye, he is found and owns himself, not better but worse than others; so self-emptied that he cannot claim quality for his love at all.  The needed point is reached: the strong man converted to weakness is now fit to strengthen his brethren; and, as Peter descends step by step the ladder of humiliation, step by step the Lord follows him with assurance of the work for which he is destined” (Numerical Bible).

“Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep” (John 21:17).  “The Evangelist relates in what manner Peter was restored to that rank of honor from which he had fallen.  The treacherous denial, which had been formerly described, had undoubtedly rendered him unworthy of the Apostleship; for how could he be capable of instructing others in the faith, who had basely revolted from it?  He had been made an Apostle, but from the time that he had acted the part of a coward, he had been deprived of the honor of Apostleship.  Now, therefore, the liberty, as well as the authority of teaching, is restored to him, both of which he had lost through his own fault.  That the disgrace of his apostasy might not stand in the way, Christ blots it out and fully restores the erring one.  Such a restoration was needed both for Peter and his hearers; for Peter, that he might the more boldly exercise himself, being assured of the calling with which Christ had again invested him; for his hearers, that the stain which attached to him might not be the occasion of despising the Gospel” (John Calvin).

We may add that this searching conversation between Christ and Peter took place in the presence of six of the other Apostles: his sin was a public one, so also must be his repudiation of it!  Note that in Acts 20:28 all the “elders” are exhorted to feed the flock!  “Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.”  If you love Me, here is the way to manifest it.  It is only those who truly love Christ that are fitted to minister to His flock!  The work is so laborious, the appreciation is often so small, the response so discouraging, the criticisms so harsh, the attacks of Satan so fierce, that only the “love of Christ” — His for us and ours for Him — can “constrain” to such work.  “Hirelings” will feed the goats, but only those who love Christ can feed His sheep. Unto this work the Lord now calls Peter.  Not only had Christ restored the disciple’s soul (Psalm 23:3), but also his official ministry; another was not to take his bishopric — contrast Judas (Acts 1:20)!

“Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.” Marvelous grace was this.  Not only is Peter freely forgiven, not only is he fully restored to his apostleship, but the Lord commends to him (though not to him alone) that which was dearest to Him on earth — His sheep! There is nothing in all this world nearer the heart of Christ than those for whom He shed His precious blood, and therefore He could not give to Peter a more affecting proof of His confidence than by committing to his care the dearest objects of His wondrous love!  It is to be noted that the Lord here returns to the same word for “feed” which He had used in John 21:15.  Whatever may be necessary in the way of rule and discipline (the force of “feed” in John 21:16), yet, the first (John 21:15) and the last (John 21:17) duty of the under-shepherd is to feed the flock — nothing else can take the place of ministering spiritual nourishment to Christ’s people!

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It is a great mistake to suppose that the works of the Spirit are all of one kind, or that His operations preserve an equality as to degree.  To insist that they are and do would be ascribing less freedom to the Third Person of the Godhead than is enjoyed and exercised by men.  There is variety in the activities of all voluntary agents: even human beings are not confined to one sort of work, nor to the production of the same kind of effects; and where they design so to do, they moderate them as to degrees according to their power and pleasure.  Much more so is it with the Holy Spirit.  The nature and kind of His works are regulated by His own will and purpose.

Some He executes by the touch of His finger (so to speak), in others He puts forth His hand, while in yet others (as on the day of Pentecost) He lays bare His arm. He works by no necessity of His nature, but solely according to the pleasure of His will (1 Corinthians 12:11).

UPON BOTH THE UNSAVED AND THE SAVED

Many of the works of the Spirit, though perfect in kind and fully accomplishing their design, are wrought by Him upon and within men who, nevertheless, are not saved.  “The Holy Spirit is present with many as to powerful operations, with whom He is not present as to gracious inhabitation.  Or, many are made partakers of Him in His spiritual gifts, who are not made partakers of Him in His saving grace, Matthew 7:22, 23” (John Owen on Hebrews 6:4).  The light which God furnishes different souls varies considerably, both in kind and degree.  Nor should we be surprised at this in view of the adumbration in the natural world: how wide is the difference between the glimmering of the stars from the radiance of the full moon, and that again from the shining of the midday sun.  Equally wide is the gulf which separates the savage with his faint illumination of conscience from one who has been educated under a Christian ministry, and greater still is the difference between the spiritual understanding of the wisest unregenerate professor and the feeblest babe in Christ; yet each has been a subject of the Spirit’s operations.

“The Holy Spirit works in two ways.  In some men’s hearts, He works with restraining grace only, and the restraining grace, though it will not save them, is enough to keep them from breaking out into the open and corrupt vices in which some men indulge who are totally left by the restraints of the Spirit..… God the Holy Spirit may work in men some good desires and feelings, and yet have no design of saving them.  But mark, none of these feelings are things that accompany salvation, for if so, they would be continued.  But He does not work Omnipotently to save, except in the persons of His own elect, whom He assuredly bringeth unto Himself.  I believe, then, that the trembling of Felix is to be accounted for by the restraining grace of the Spirit quickening his conscience and making him tremble” (C. H. Spurgeon on Acts 24:25).

The Holy Spirit has been robbed of much of His distinctive glory through Christians failing to perceive His varied workings.  In concluding that the operations of the blessed Spirit are confined unto God’s elect, they have been hindered from offering to Him that praise which is His due for keeping this wicked world a fit place for them to live.  Few today realize how much the children of God owe to the Third Person of the Trinity for holding in leash the children of the Devil, and preventing them from utterly consuming Christ’s church on earth.  It is true there are comparatively few texts which specifically refer to the distinctive Person of the Spirit as reigning over the wicked, but once it is seen that in the Divine economy all is from God the Father, all is through God the Son, and all is by God the Spirit, each is given His proper and separate place in our hearts and thoughts.

THE SPIRIT’S OPERATION IN THE NON-ELECT

Let us, then, now point out a few of the Spirit’s general and inferior operations in the non-elect, as distinguished from His special and superior works in the redeemed.

1.  In restraining evil. If God should leave men absolutely to their own natural corruptions and to the power of Satan (as they fully deserve to be, as He will in Hell, and as He would now but for the sake of His elect), all show of goodness and morality would be entirely banished from the earth: men would grow past feeling in sin, and wickedness would swiftly and entirely swallow up the whole world.  This is abundantly clear from Genesis 6:3, 4, 5, 12.  But He who restrained the fiery furnace of Babylon without quenching it, He who prevented the waters of the Red Sea from flowing without changing their nature, now hinders the working of natural corruption without mortifying it.  Vile as the world is, we have abundant cause to adore and praise the Holy Spirit that it is not a thousand times worse.

The world hates the people of God (John 15:19): why, then, does it not devour them?  What is it that holds back the enmity of the wicked against the righteous?  Nothing but the restraining power of the Holy Spirit.  In Psalm 14:1-3 we find a fearful picture of the utter depravity of the human race.  Then in verse 4 the Psalmist asks, “Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge?  Who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the Lord.”  To which answer is made, “There were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of the righteous” (v. 5).  It is the Holy Spirit who places that “great fear” within them, to keep them back from many outrages against God’s people.  He curbs their malice.  So completely are the reprobate shackled by His almighty hand, that Christ could say to Pilate, “thou couldest have no power against me, except it were given thee from above” (John 19:11)!

2.  In inciting to good actions. All the obedience of children to parents, all the true love between husbands and wives, is to be attributed unto the Holy Spirit.  Whatever morality and honesty, unselfishness and kindness, submission to the powers that be and respect for law and order which is still to be found in the world, must be traced back to the gracious operations of the Spirit.  A striking illustration of His benign influence is found in 1 Samuel 10:26, “Saul also went home to Gibeah: and there went with him a band of men, whose hearts God (the Spirit) had touched.”

Men’s hearts are naturally inclined to rebellion, are impatient against being ruled over, especially by one raised out of a mean condition among them.  The Lord the Spirit inclined the hearts of those men to be subject unto Saul, gave them a disposition to obey him.  Later, the Spirit touched the heart of Saul to spare the life of David, melting him to such an extent that he wept (1 Samuel 24:16).  In like manner, it was the Holy Spirit who gave the Hebrews favor in the eyes of the Egyptians—who hitherto had bitterly hated them—so as to give earrings to them (Exodus 12:35, 36).

3.  In convicting of sin. Few seem to understand that conscience in the natural man is inoperative unless stirred up by the Spirit.  As a fallen creature, thoroughly in love with sin (John 3:19), man resists and disputes against any conviction of sin.  “My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh” (Genesis 6:3): man, being “flesh,” would never have the least distaste of any iniquity unless the Spirit excited those remnants of natural light which still remain in the soul.  Being “flesh,” fallen man is perverse against the convictions of the Spirit (Acts 7:51), and remains so forever unless quickened and made “spirit” (John 3:6).

4.  In illuminating. Concerning Divine things, fallen man is not only devoid of light, but is “darkness” itself (Ephesians 5:8).  He had no more apprehension of spiritual things than the beasts of the field.  This is very evident from the state of the heathen.  How, then, shall we explain the intelligence which is found in thousands in Christendom, who yet give no evidence that they are new creatures in Christ Jesus?  They have been enlightened by the Holy Spirit (Hebrews 6:4).  Many are constrained to inquire into those scriptural subjects which make no demand on the conscience and life; yea, many take great delight in them.  Just as the multitudes took pleasure in beholding the miracles of Christ, who could not endure His searching demands, so the light of the Spirit is pleasant to many to whom His convictions are grievous.

THE SPIRIT’S OPERATION IN THE ELECT

We have dwelt upon some of the general and inferior operations which the Holy Spirit performs upon the non-elect, who are never brought unto a saving knowledge of the Truth.  Now we shall consider His special and saving work in the people of God, dwelling mainly upon the absolute necessity for the same.  It should make it easier for the Christian reader to perceive the absoluteness of this necessity when we say that the whole work of the Spirit within the elect is to plant in the heart a hatred for and a loathing of sin as sin, and a love for and longing after holiness as holiness.

This is something which no human power can bring about.  It is something which the most faithful preaching as such cannot produce. It is something which the mere circulating and reading of the Scripture does not impart. It is a miracle of grace, a Divine wonder, which none but God can or does perform.

TOTAL DEPRAVITY APART FROM THE SPIRIT

Of course, if men are only partly depraved (which is really the belief today of the vast majority of preachers and their hearers, never having been experimentally taught by God their own depravity), if deep down in their hearts all men really love God, if they are so good-natured as to be easily persuaded to become Christians, then there is no need for the Holy Spirit to put forth His Almighty power and do for them what they are altogether incapable of doing for themselves.  And again: if “being saved” consists merely in believing I am a lost sinner and on my way to Hell, and by simply believing that God loves me, that Christ died for me, and that He will save me now on the one condition that I “accept Him as my personal Savior” and “rest upon His finished work,” then no supernatural operations of the Holy Spirit are required to induce and enable me to fulfill that condition—self-interest moves me to, and a decision of my will is all that is required.

But if, on the other hand, all men hate God (John 15:23, 25), and have minds which are “enmity against Him” (Romans 8:7), so that “there is none that seeketh after God” (Romans 3:11), preferring and determining to follow their own inclinations and pleasures.  If instead of being disposed unto that which is good, “the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil” (Ecclesiastes 8:11).  And if when the overtures of God’s mercy are made known to them and they are freely invited to avail themselves of the same, they “all with one consent begin to make excuse” (Luke 14:1 8)—then it is very evident that the invincible power and transforming operations of the Spirit are indispensably required if the heart of a sinner is thoroughly changed, so that rebellion gives place to submission and hatred to love.  This is why Christ said, “No man can come to me, except the Father (by the Spirit) which hath sent me draw him” (John 6:44).

Again—if the Lord Jesus Christ came here to uphold and enforce the high claims of God, rather than to lower or set them aside.  If He declared that “strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto Life, and few there be that find it,” rather than pointing to a smooth and broad road which anyone would find it easy to tread.  If the salvation which He has provided is a deliverance from sin and self-pleasing, from worldliness and indulging the lusts of the flesh, and the bestowing of a nature which desires and determines to live for God’s glory and please Him in all the details of our present lives—then it is clear beyond dispute that none but the Spirit of God can impart a genuine desire for such a salvation.  And if instead of “accepting Christ” and “resting upon His finished work” be the sole condition of salvation, He demands that the sinner throw down the weapons of his defiance, abandon every idol, unreservedly surrender himself and his life, and receive Him as His only Lord and Master, then nothing but a miracle of grace can enable any captive of Satan’s to meet such requirements.

OBJECTIONS TO TOTAL DEPRAVITY PROVED FALSE

Against what has been said above it may be objected that no such hatred of God as we have affirmed exists in the hearts of the great majority of our fellow-creatures—that while there may be a few degenerates, who have sold themselves to the Devil and are thoroughly hardened in sin, yet the remainder of mankind are friendly disposed to God, as is evident by the countless millions who have some form or other of religion.  To such an objector we reply, The fact is, dear friend, that those to whom you refer are almost entirely ignorant of the God of Scripture: they have heard that He loves everybody, is benevolently inclined toward all His creatures, and is so easy-going that in return for their religious performances will wink at their sins.  Of course, they have no hatred for such a “god” as this!  But tell them something of the character of the true God: that He hates “all the workers of iniquity” (Psalm 5:5), that He is inexorably just and ineffably holy, that He is an uncontrollable Sovereign, who “hath mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will He hardeneth” (Romans 9:18), and their enmity against Him will soon be manifested—an enmity which none but the Holy Spirit can overcome.

It may be objected again that so far from the gloomy picture which we have sketched above being accurate, the great majority of people do desire to be saved (from having to suffer a penalty for their sin), and they make more or less endeavor after their salvation.  This is readily granted.  There is in every human heart a desire for deliverance from misery and a longing after happiness and security, and those who come under the sound of God’s Word are naturally disposed to be delivered from the wrath to come and wish to be assured that Heaven will be their eternal dwelling-place—who wants to endure the everlasting burnings?  But that desire and disposition is quite compatible and consistent with the greatest love to sin and most entire opposition of heart to that holiness without which no man shall see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14).  But what the objector here refers to is a vastly different thing from desiring Heaven upon God’s terms, and being willing to tread the only path which leads there!

The instinct of self-preservation is sufficiently strong to move multitudes to undertake many performances and penances in the hope that thereby they shall escape Hell.  The stronger men’s belief of the truth of Divine revelation, the more firmly they become convinced that there is a Day of Judgment, when they must appear before their Maker, and render an account of all their desires, thoughts, words and deeds, the most serious and sober will be their minds.  Let conscience convict them of their misspent lives, and they are ready to turn over a new leaf; let them be persuaded that Christ stands ready as a Fire-escape and is willing to rescue them, though the world still claims their hearts, and thousands are ready to “believe in Him.”  Yes, this is done by multitudes who still hate the true character of the Savior, and reject with all their hearts the salvation which He has. Far, far different is this from an unregenerate person longing for deliverance from self and sin, and the impartation of that holiness which Christ purchased for His people.

All around us are those willing to receive Christ as their Savior, who are altogether unwilling to surrender to Him as their Lord.  They would like His peace, but they refuse His “yoke,” without which His peace cannot be found (Matthew 11:29).  They admire His promises, but have no heart for His precepts.  They will rest upon His priestly work, but will not be subject to His kingly scepter.  They will believe in a “Christ” who is suited to their own corrupt tastes or sentimental dreams, but they despise and reject the Christ of God.  Like the multitudes of old, they want His loaves and fishes, but for His heart-searching, flesh-withering, sin-condemning teaching, they have no appetite.  They approve of Him as the Healer of their bodies, but as the Healer of their depraved souls they desire Him not.  And nothing but the miracle-working power of the Holy Spirit can change this bias and bent in any soul.

It is just because modern Christendom has such an inadequate estimate of the fearful and universal effects which the Fall has wrought, that the imperative need for the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit is now so little realized.  It is because such false conceptions of human depravity so widely prevail that, in most places, it is supposed all which is needed to save half of the community is to hire some popular evangelist and attractive singer.  And the reason why so few are aware of the awful depths of human depravity, the terrible enmity of the carnal mind against God and the heart’s inbred and inveterate hatred of Him, is because His character is now so rarely declared from the pulpit.  If the preachers would deliver the same type of messages as did Jeremiah in his degenerate age, or even as John the Baptist did, they would soon discover how their hearers were really affected toward God; and then they would perceive that unless the power of the Spirit attended their preaching they might as well be silent.

From Studies in the Scriptures, January and February 1934.

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Contentment by A. W. Pink

“I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content” – Philippians 4:11

Discontent! Was there ever a time when there was so much restlessness in the world as there is today?  We very much doubt it.  Despite our boasted progress, the vast increase of wealth, the time and money expended daily in pleasure, discontent is everywhere.  No class is exempt.  Everything is in a state of flux, and almost everybody is dissatisfied.  Many even among God’s own people are affected with the evil spirit of this age.

Contentment! Is such a thing realizable, or is it nothing more than a beautiful ideal, a mere dream of the poet?  Is it attainable on earth or is it restricted to the inhabitants of heaven?  If practicable here and now, may it be retained, or are a few brief moments or hours of contentment the most that we may expect in this life?  Such questions as these find answer, an answer at least, in the words of the apostle Paul: “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content” (Philippians 4:11).

The force of the apostle’s statement will be better appreciated if his condition and circumstances at the time he made it be kept in mind.  When the apostle wrote (or most probably dictated) the words, he was not luxuriating in a special suite in the Emperor’s palace, nor was he being entertained in some exceptional Christian household, the members of which were marked by unusual piety.  Instead, he was “in bonds” (cf. Phil. 1:13-14); “a prisoner” (Eph. 4:1), as he says in another Epistle.  And yet, notwithstanding, he declared he was content!

Now, there is a vast difference between precept and practice, between the ideal and the realization.  But in the case of the apostle Paul contentment was an actual experience, and one that must have been continuous, for he says, “in whatsoever state I am.”

How then did Paul enter into this experience, and of what did the experience consist?  The reply to the first question is to be found in the word, “I have learned … to be content.”  The apostle did not say, “I have received the baptism of the Spirit, and therefore contentment is mine.”  Nor did he attribute this blessing to his perfect “consecration.”   Equally plain is it that it was not the outcome of natural disposition or temperament.  It is something he had learned in the school of Christian experience.  It should be noted, too, that this statement is found in an Epistle which the apostle wrote near the close of his earthly career!

From what has been pointed out, it should be apparent that the contentment which Paul enjoyed was not the result of congenial and comfortable surroundings.  And this at once dissipates a vulgar conception.  Most people suppose that contentment is impossible unless one can have gratified the desires of the carnal heart.  A prison is the last place to which they would go if they were seeking a contented man.  This much, then, is clear: contentment comes from within not without; it must be sought from God, not in creature comforts.

But let us endeavor to go a little deeper.  What is “contentment?”  It is the being satisfied with the sovereign dispensations of God’s providence. It is the opposite of murmuring, which is the spirit of rebellion – the clay saying to the Potter, “Why hast Thou made me thus?”  Instead of complaining at his lot, a contented man is thankful that his condition and circumstances are no worse than they are.  Instead of greedily desiring something more than the supply of his present need, he rejoices that God still cares for him.  Such a one is “content” with such as he has (Heb. 13:5).

One of the fatal hindrances to contentment is covetousness, which is a canker eating into and destroying present satisfaction.  It was not, therefore, without good reason, that our Lord gave the solemn commandment to His followers – “Take heed, and beware of covetousness” (Luke 12:15).  Few things are more insidious.  Often it poses under the fair name of thrift, or the wise safeguarding of the future economy so as to lay up for a “rainy day.”  The Scripture says, “Covetousness, which is idolatry” (Col. 3:5), the affection of the heart being set upon material things rather than upon God.  The language of a covetous heart is that of the horseleech’s daughter, Give! Give!  The covetous man is always desirous of more, whether he has little or much.  How vastly different the words of the apostle – “And having food and raiment let us be therewith content” (1 Tim. 6:8).  A much needed word is that of Luke 3:14: “Be content with your wages!”

“Godliness with contentment is great gain” (I Tim. 6:6).  Negatively, it delivers from worry and fretfulness, from avarice and selfishness.  Positively, it leaves us free to enjoy what God has given us.  What a contrast is found in the word which follows – “But they that (desire to be) rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.  For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1 Tim. 6:9-10).  May the Lord in His grace deliver us from the spirit of this world, and make us to be “content with such things as we have.”

Contentment, then, is the product of a heart resting in God.  It is the soul’s enjoyment of that peace which passeth all understanding.  It is the outcome of my will being brought into subjection to the Divine will.  It is the blessed assurance that God doeth all things well, and is, even now, making all things work together for my ultimate good.  This experience has to be “learned” by “proving what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Rom. 12:2).  Contentment is possible only as we cultivate and maintain that attitude of accepting everything which enters our lives as coming from the Hand of Him who is too wise to err, and too loving to cause one of His children a needless tear.

Let our final word be this: real contentment is only possible by being much in the presence of the Lord Jesus.  This comes out clearly in the verses which follow our opening text; “I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and suffer need.  I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me” (Phil. 4:12-13).  It is only by cultivating intimacy with that One who was never discontent that we shall be delivered from the sin of complaining.  It is only by daily fellowship with Him Who ever delighted in the Father’s will that we shall learn the secret of contentment.  May both writer and reader so behold in the mirror of the Word the glory of the Lord that we shall be “changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Cor. 3:18).

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Not a little is written to the Christian in the New Testament about “the world” and his attitude towards it.  Its real nature is plainly defined, and the believer is solemnly warned against it.  God’s holy Word is a light from heaven, shining here “in a dark place” (2 Peter 1:19).  Its Divine rays exhibit things in their true colors, penetrating and exposing the false veneer and glamour by which many objects are cloaked.  That world upon which so much labor is bestowed and money spent, and which is so highly extolled and admired by its blinded dupes, is declared to be “the enemy of God;” therefore are His children forbidden to be “conformed” to it and to have their affections set upon it.

The present phase of our subject is by no means the least important of those that have already been before us, and the serious reader will do well to seek Divine grace to measure himself or herself by it.  One of the exhortations which God has addressed to His children is, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby” (1 Peter 2:2), and it behooves each one of them honestly and diligently to examine himself so as to discover whether or not this be the case with him.  Nor are we to be content with an increase of mere head‑knowledge of Scripture: what we need to be most concerned about is our practical growth, our experimental conformity to the image of Christ.  And one point at which we may test ourselves is, “Does my reading and study of God’s Word make me less worldly?”

1. The World Is A System Opposed to God. We profit from the Word when our eyes are opened to discern the true character of the world.  One of the poets wrote, “God’s in His Heaven—all’s right with the world.”  From one standpoint that is blessedly true, but from another it is radically wrong, for “the whole world lieth in wickedness” (1 John 5:19) but it is only as the heart is supernaturally enlightened by the Holy Spirit that we are enabled to perceive that which is highly esteemed among men is really “abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:15).  It is much to be thankful for when the soul is able to see that the “world” is a gigantic fraud, a hollow bauble which must one day be burned up.

Before we go farther, let us define that “world” which the Christian is forbidden to love.  There are few words found upon the pages of Holy Writ used with a greater variety of meanings than this one.  Yet careful attention to the context will usually determine its scope.  The “world” is a system or order of things, complete in itself.  No foreign element is suffered to intrude, or if it does it is speedily accommodated or assimilated to itself.  The “world” is fallen human nature acting itself out in the human family, fashioning the framework of human society in accord with its own tendencies.  It is the organized kingdom of the “carnal mind” which is “enmity against God” and which is “not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” (Romans 8:7).  Wherever the “carnal mind” is, there is “the world;” so that worldliness is the world without God.

2. The World Is An Enemy to Be Resisted and Overcome. The Christian is bidden to “fight the good fight of faith” (1 Timothy. 6:12), which implies that there are foes to be met and vanquished.  As there is the Holy Trinity—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—so also there is an evil trinity—the flesh, the world, and the devil.  The child of God is called unto a mortal combat with them; “mortal” we say, for either they will destroy him or he will get the victory over them.  Settle it, then, in your mind, my reader, that the world is a deadly enemy, and if you do not vanquish it in your heart then you are no child of God, for it is written “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world” (1 John 5:4).

Out of many, the following reason may be given as to why the world must be “overcome.”  First, all its alluring objects tend to divert the attention and alienate the affections of the soul from God.  Necessarily so, for it is the tendency of things seen to turn the heart away from things unseen.  Second, the spirit of the world is diametrically opposed to the Spirit of Christ, therefore did the apostle write, “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God” (1 Corinthians 2:12).  The Son of God came into the world, but “the world knew Him not” (John 1:10), therefore did its “princes” and rulers crucify Him (1 Corinthians 2:8).  Third, its concerns and cares are hostile to a devout and heavenly life.  Christians, like the rest of mankind, are required by God to labor six days in the week; but while so employed they need to be constantly on their guard, lest covetous interests govern them rather than the performance of duty.  “This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4).  Naught but a God‑given faith can overcome the world.  But as the heart is occupied with invisible yet eternal realities, it is delivered from the corrupting influence of worldly objects.  The eyes of faith discern the things of sense in their real colors and see that they are empty and vain and not worthy to be compared with the great and glorious objects of eternity.  A felt sense of the perfections and presence of God makes the world appear less than nothing.  When the Christian views the Divine Redeemer dying for his sins, living to intercede for his perseverance, reigning and overruling things for his final salvation, he exclaims, “there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee.”  And how is it with you, dear reader?  You may cordially assent to what has just been said in the last paragraph, but how is it with you actually?  Do the things which are so highly valued by the unregenerate charm and enthrall you?  Take away from the worldling those things in which he delights, and he is wretched: is this so with you?  Or, are your present joy and satisfaction found in objects which can never be taken from you?  Treat not these questions lightly, we beseech you, but ponder them seriously in the presence of God.  The honest answer to them will be an index to the real state of your soul and will indicate whether or not you are deceived into supposing yourself to be “a new creature in Christ Jesus.”

3. Christ Died to Deliver Us from “this Present Evil World” (Gal. 1:4).  The Son of God came here not only to “fulfill” the requirements of the law (Matthew 5:17), to “destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8), to deliver us “from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:10), to save us from our sins (Matthew 1:21), but also to free us from the bondage of this world, to deliver the soul from its enthralling influence.  This was foreshadowed of old in God’s dealings with Israel.  They were slaves in Egypt and “Egypt” is a figure of the world.  They were in cruel bondage, spending their time in “making bricks” for Pharaoh.  They were unable to free themselves.  But Jehovah, by His mighty power, emancipated them, and brought them forth out of the “iron furnace.”  Thus does Christ with His own.  He breaks the power of the world over their hearts.  He makes them independent of it, that they neither court its favors nor fear its frowns.

Christ gave Himself a sacrifice for the sins of His people that, in consequence thereof, they might be delivered from the damning power and governing influence of all that is evil in this present world: from Satan, who is its prince; from the lusts which predominate in it; from the vain conversation of the men who belong to it.  Now the Holy Spirit indwelling the saints cooperates with Christ in this blessed work.  He turns their thoughts and affections away from earthly things to heavenly.  By the working of His power, He frees from the demoralizing influence which surrounds us, and conforms to the heavenly standard.  And as the Christian grows in grace, he recognizes this and acts accordingly.  He seeks yet fuller deliverance from this “present evil world” and begs God to free him from it completely.  That which once charmed him now nauseates.  He longs for the time when he shall be taken out of this scene where his blessed Lord is so grievously dishonored.

4. Our Hearts Should Be Weaned from the World.  “Love not the world neither the things that are in the world” (1 John 2:15).  “What the stumbling block is to the traveler in the way, the weight to the runner, the lime twigs to the bird in its flight, so is the love of the world to a Christian in his course—either wholly diverting him from, greatly enticing him in, or forcibly turning him out of it” (Nash Hardy, 1660).  The truth is that until the heart be purged from this corruption the ear will be deaf to Divine instruction.  Not until we are lifted above the things of time and sense can we be subdued unto obedience to God.  Heavenly Truth glides off a carnal mind as water from a spherical body.

The world has turned its back upon Christ, and though His name is professed in many places, yet will it have nothing to do with Him.  All the desires and designs of worldlings are for the gratification of self.  Let their aims and pursuits be as varied as they may, self being supreme, everything is subordinated to the pleasing thereof.  Now Christians are in the world and cannot get out of it; they have to live their Lord’s appointed time in it.  While here they have to earn their living, support their families, and attend to their worldly business.  But they are forbidden to love the world, as though it could make them happy.  Their “treasure” and “portion” are to be found elsewhere.

The world appeals to every instinct of fallen man.  It contains a thousand objects to charm him: they attract his attention, the attention creates a desire for and love of them, and insensibly yet surely they make deeper and deeper impressions on his heart.  It has the same fatal influence on all classes.  But attractive and appealing as its varied objects may be, all the pursuits and pleasures of the world are designed and adopted to promote the happiness of this life only—therefore, “what shall it profit a man if he should gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”  The Christian is taught by the Spirit, and through His presenting of Christ before the soul, his thoughts are diverted from the world.  Just as a little child will readily drop a dirty object when something more pleasing is offered to it, so the heart which is in communion with God will say, “I count all things but loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord … and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ” (Philippians 3:8).

5. We Should Walk in Separation from the World.  “Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?  Whosoever will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4).  Such a verse as this ought to search every one of us through and through, and make us tremble.  How can I fraternize with or seek my pleasure in that which condemned the Son of God?  If I do, that at once identifies me with His enemies.  Oh, my reader, make no mistake upon this point.  It is written, “If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15).

Of old it was said of the people of God that they “shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations” (Numbers 23:9).  Surely the disparity of character and conduct, the desires and pursuits, which distinguish the regenerate from the unregenerate, must separate the one from the other.  We who profess to have our citizenship in another world, to be guided by another Spirit, to be directed by another rule, and to be journeying to another country, cannot go arm in arm with those who despise all such things!  Then let everything in and about us exhibit the character of Christian pilgrims.  May we indeed be “men wondered at” (Zechariah 3:8) because we are “not conformed to this world” (Romans 12:2).

6. When We Love Not the World, We Will Evoke the Hatred of the World.  What pains are taken in the world to save appearances and keep up a seemly and good state!  Its conventionalities and civilities, its courtesies and charities, are so many contrivances to give an air of respectability to it.  So too its churches and cathedrals, its priests and prelates are needed to gloss over the corruption which seethes beneath the surface.  And to make good weight “Christianity” is added, and the holy name of Christ is taken upon the lips of thousands of those who have never taken His “yoke” upon them.  Of them God says, “This people draweth nigh unto Me with their mouth and honoreth Me with their lips; but their heart is far from Me” (Matthew 15:8).

And what is to be the attitude of all real Christians toward such?  The answer of Scripture is plain: “from such turn away” (2 Timothy 3:5).  “Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord” (2 Corinthians 6:17).  And what will follow when this Divine command is obeyed?  Why, then we shall prove the truth of those words of Christ: “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you” (John 15:19).  Which “world” is specifically in view here?  Let the previous verse answer: “If the world hate you, ye know it hated Me before it hated you.”  What “world” hated Christ and hounded Him to death?  The religious world, those who pretended to be most zealous for God’s glory.  So it is now.  Let the Christian turn his back upon a Christ‑dishonoring Christendom, and his fiercest foes and most relentless and unscrupulous enemies will be those who claim to be “Christians” themselves!  But “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you—for My sake.  Rejoice, and be exceeding glad” (Matthew 5:11-12).  Ah, my brother, it is a healthy sign, a sure mark that you are profiting from the Word, when the religious world hates you.  But if, on the other hand, you still have a “good standing” in the “churches” or “assemblies,” there is often grave reason to fear that you love the praise of men more than that of God!

7. We Should Be Elevated above the World.  First, above its customs and fashions.  The worldling is a slave to the prevailing habits and styles of the day.  Not so the one who is walking with God: his chief concern is to be “conformed to the image of His Son.”  Second, above its cares and sorrows: of old it was said of the saints that they took joyfully the spoiling of their goods, knowing that they had “in heaven a better and an enduring substance” (Hebrews 10:34).  Third, above its temptations: what attraction has the glare and glitter of the world for those who are “delighting themselves in the Lord?”  None whatever.  Fourth, above its opinions and approvals.  Have you learned to be independent of and defy the world?  If your whole heart is set upon pleasing God, you will be quite unconcerned about the frowns of the godless.

Now, my reader, do you really wish to measure yourself by the contents of this article?  Then seek honest answers to the following questions.  First, what are the objects before your mind in times of recreation?  What do your thoughts most run upon?  Second, what are the objects of your choice?  When you have to decide how to spend an evening or the Sabbath afternoon, what do you select?  Third, which occasions you the most sorrow, the loss of earthly things, or lack of communion with God?  Which causes greater grief (or chagrin), the spoiling of your plans or the coldness of your heart to Christ? Fourth, what is your favorite topic of conversation?  Do you hanker after the news of the day, or to meet with those who talk of the “altogether lovely” One?  Fifth, do your “good intentions” materialize, or are they nothing but empty dreams?  Are you spending more or less time than formerly on your knees?  Is the Word sweeter to your taste, or has your soul lost its relish for it?

From Profiting from the Scriptures, “The Scriptures and the World”

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