The Warfare and the Weapons
By Uriah Smith
BETWEEN the Christian and the world there is a deadly antagonism. The conflict between them is irrepressible. The contest is entered upon without any other thought than that it is to be carried on to the finish. One or the other of the parties to this contest is to win; and the other must be overcome. Considering that the issue is thus inevitable, and that the consequences are so important, involving the gain or loss of everlasting life, let us briefly survey the forces engaged, and ascertain by what means we are made sure of a favorable issue in the contest that is upon us. Here is the text that applies to the matter in hand: “Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world.” 1 John 5:4. What is meant by the expression “the world” in this text?—It includes all those influences that operate toward evil, and make the commandments of God grievous to society. “Know ye not,” says another passage, “that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be the friend of the world, is the enemy of God.” James 4:4. Paul had the same thought in mind when he said, “The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” Rom. 8:7. Thus the world plays a twofold part against the Christian; it is not only averse to him, to draw man's heart away from God, but it is adverse to him, by exciting feelings in his mind to turn him in active opposition against God. Those who would join worldliness to religion, seek to unite two of the most unsuitable things that can be connected in this world. James speaks of those who attempt to mingle the love of God and the friendship of the world, as “adulterers and adulteresses.” Worldliness in a Christian is a state most unsuitable. Christ said to his disciples, “Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” Matt. 6:24. But all that is in the world embraces more than mammon. The world has its possessions, lusts, honors, avarice, pleasure, and pride. These cannot consist with the love of the Father. 1 John 2:15, 16. In James 4:4 the governing principle is laid down that the “friendship of the world is enmity with God;” that is, a man, in the very act of becoming a friend of the world, thus constitutes himself the enemy of God. “It is not necessary,” says W. Roberts, “for God to pronounce such a friendship to be an act of hostility to him; it decides itself to be such, by the very nature of the case; that is to say, a disposition to join in alliance with the world, and to be like the world, is itself enmity toward God.” Once more, here in James 4 we have a distant echo from the sermon on the mount. Matt. 6:24; Luke 16:13. Here also, as in James 1:8, stress is laid on the fact that the neutrality of a divided allegiance is impossible. In such a warfare, therefore, we must choose sides. The mere wish or inclination to be on one side in opposition to the other, is proved by that very fact to be in antagonism to the other. The consequences that result to the individual life of the Christian, from a friendship with the world, are deplorable. They are (1) ungodly unions,—marriages, partnerships, and companionships; (2) these unions corrupt the heart, and depress spiritual life; (3) they often lead to utter apostasy and ruin. In the “Schonberg Cotta Family” we read, “The profession which will not offend the careless, cannot teach the earnest. If the salt have lost its savor, it cannot heal the bitter waters.” To illustrate: If a ship is lightly loaded, it will pass more safely over the waters; but if it is loaded down with too great a burden, it cannot stand the blast of angry storms. In this conflict with the world, we are provided with associates which are sure to prevail. “Whatsoever is born of God,” says the text, “overcometh the world.” By this connection with God, we receive a new nature. It is not a mere amendment of the former creation, but it is “a new creature.” 2 Cor. 5:17. The Creator cannot be overcome, nor what is thus connected with him. Nor can Jesus, the firstborn, be overcome. He has never been defeated; nor will the Holy Spirit, in whom we are victorious, suffer us to be separated from God. John 10:29. John at last brings to view our conquering weapon: “And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” In the Scriptures faith is continually exhibited under the character of power. It is that by which, if it is great, we may turn all things to our advantage; that alone by which we may be sure to overcome the world, instead of being slaves to the world. In Rom. 6:13, 14, we are instructed what it is our privilege to maintain, in this controversy with the world: “Yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”