LECTURE LX. THE DANGER OF WORLDLY THINGS. 1 JOHN ii. 16-17. 16. 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. Here the apostle gives his reason for the injunction which he had before laid down so forcibly, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world." The lust of the flesh: all that gratifies our animal nature: the lust of the eyes, all that gratifies the eyes, and the eyes delight in: the pride of life: all that elates the mind with vanity and selfcomplacency:--is not of the Father: the natural tendency of these things is not to conduct us towards God, but away from God: they are "of the earth, earthy," and lead the heart to be satisfied with this present world, rather than to look beyond. And this is agreeable to all experience. We know, for example, the danger which attends the lust of the flesh: the indulgence of the appetites and passions. Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of 66 away. eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine." It is when "the harp and the viol, the tabret and the pipe, and wine are in their feasts, that men forget the works of the Lord, neither regard the operations of his hands." 2 We know what injured the character of David : caused him to remain, through many months, in utter forgetfulness of God's commands; and has left a stain upon his memory which can never be wiped We know also that through the same habits of self-indulgence Solomon was drawn aside from the wise and safe path which he had chosen. As Nehemiah warned his countrymen, (Neh. xiii. 26,) "Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless, even him did outlandish women cause to sin." These are left unto us for examples: examples which too truly prove, that if the heart is to retain its love towards the Father, the body must be " kept under and brought into subjection." When the soul ventures to think within itself, "Soul, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry;" it has already departed from the love of the Father, and chosen this present world. And so the desire of the eyes, and the pride of life: that which it is rare to possess, and therefore which is coveted; the magnificence of wealth: this is too pleasing to the natural man, to be safe for the renewed mind. There was much danger in what the queen of Sheba admired in the court of Solomon: 3 1 Prov. xxiii. 30. 2 Isa. v. 3 1 Kings x. 5; 2 Chron. ix. 4. "the houses that he had built, and the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cup-bearers." All this belongs to rank and station: the Scripture does not condemn it, in itself: but still we feel, that it is not of the Father, but of the world: that a constant effort must be maintained, lest in the end it should detach the heart and withdraw the affections from objects of real worth and lasting interest. Even one of the best of the kings of Judah, Hezekiah, was not proof against this danger. When the ambassadors came from the king of Babylon, (2 Kings xx. 13,) congratulating "him on his restoration from the bed of death, he showed them all the house of his precious things, the silver and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures; there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not." We know, from what follows, the spirit in which he showed these things: with that pride and self-complacency which too often attends the possession of what few are able to obtain, and all are accustomed to admire. He received a severe rebuke from God. And Scripture has left it on record for our instruction, that even a good man was thus betrayed into error: that he rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him, for his heart was lifted up :" that "in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart." 66 The apostle has furnished us with a warning. He 42 Chron. xxxii. 25-31. also supplies us with a motive to enforce that warning. 17. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof : but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. It is by obtaining a proper sense of this acknowledged truth, that we may overcome our desire of those things which we so naturally love. It is by cherishing an affection for things worthy of it, that we produce a distaste for things unworthy. We are not to become insensible: but alive to the object deserving our regard, and only dead to that which has no true value. Therefore St. John reminds us, the world passeth away, and the lust thereof. The time will soon arrive to every one, when all that has been acquired, and all that has been enjoyed, must lose its power to benefit or please. It will not mitigate a pain, or soothe an anxious thought, to have enjoyed, like Solomon, all that most gratifies the senses, or, like Hezekiah, all that excites the admiration of mankind. One thing only will avail: to have set before us the will of God: to have fixed our affections on things above: to have laid up treasures in heaven: to have sought an inheritance which does not pass away. This, then, is the sentiment which ought to be impressed upon us. We desire to possess some present gratification. We desire to improve our temporal estate: to raise our worldly condition. We should remember, at the same time, that in a few years, or even in a few months or days, the pleasures we have enjoyed, the condition we have attained, will no more signify to us than the wind which has blown, or the sound which has passed by. But whether we have loved the Father or For mammon; whether we have sought first the kingdom of God, or the things of the world this will signify to us not only then, but for ever. though the world and its treasures pass away, there is that which never passes away. An example may illustrate this. We read of a young ruler who visited our Lord, and inquired concerning eternal life: but when the invitation was given him to part with all he had, and join the company which was following Christ, " he went away sorrowful, for he had many possessions." 5 Now, how long did these possessions profit him? We know not how long his life may have been spared it may have been twenty, thirty, forty years but what are these years in comparison with eternity? Death certainly came at last and whenever death came upon him, there was an end of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life: they passed away: one thing alone remained; the regret, the sorrow, the remorse of conscience, to reflect on what he had forfeited for the sake of vanity and self-indulgence. Conceive, then, that you could ask this young ruler, what he thinks now of his foolish preference: what he would choose now, if it were possible for him to choose again. Be assured, what he would do, we ought to do, we on whom the day of salvation is still shining; and he would advise to leave anything, renounce anything, suffer anything, rather than forfeit the prize of that high calling to which we are called in Christ Jesus. For the world passeth away, and the lust thereof. They may last us but a few days: they can last us but a few years, 5 Matt. xix. 22. |