RELIGION IN OUR SOCIAL INTERCOURSE.
When the Word of God has obtained its true place in any man's heart,
it disposes at once of a hundred questions which were difficult or
perplexing before. On the one hand, when we have the divine standard
of right and wrong set up, it becomes immediately apparent that one
class of actions are right, are just, are necessary, on the part
of all who would make God's will their rule. On the other hand, it
becomes no less apparent that another class of actions are distinctly
prohibited. No man who believes the Word of God to be his word can do
these things.
But between these two, or the decidedly right and the decidedly
wrong, there are some actions whose moral character it is not so
easy to adjust. They are not so exactly described in the Word of God.
They lie on the debateable territory between the right and the wrong.
They may partake of the one character or the other, according to the
circumstances in which they are performed. They may be right, for
example, for me in sickness, but wrong for me in health; or the
reverse.
Now, it is generally among these undecided cases that a man's
principles are exposed to the greatest strain. No one who professes
to respect[*15] the Word of God can refuse to do what is decidedly
right, and as little can he refuse to shun the decidedly forbidden.
If he do not shun it, he is detected as offering to the Bible only
the mockery of respect--to its God only the semblance of homage.
He has extinguished the lamp of life, and deliberately walks in
darkness.
THE SABBATH LAW.
In regard, for example, to the Sabbath law, certain things are
distinctly commanded, and other things are as distinctly forbidden.
There can be no doubt in any mind which has bowed to the supremacy
of God, or recognised his right of property in us and ours, that he
claims a seventh part of our time as his own, to be employed in his
service and in preparing for his abode for ever. Our blessedness here
and hereafter is thus involved in that law; and all objections to
spend the Sabbath with God, are suggested by ignorance of what is
at once our chief good and our chief end--GOD.
But it is equally certain that works of necessity and mercy are not
prohibited; and it is regarding /these/ that a man's principles are
put to the most decisive test. It is not possible to lay down any
rule applicable to every case, for what is necessity at one time
may be no necessity at another; or what is mercy in one case--for
instance, to the aged and the feeble--may be indolence and sloth in
others. Between the unvarying right, then, and the unvarying wrong,
lies the territory where men are tried as moral agents. Will they
use their liberty, or will they abuse it? Will they grasp at feigned
reasons for violating the Sabbath law? Will they be guided by
the necessity which God creates, or will they fabricate pleas and
pretences for themselves, under cover of which the law of God may
be broken, and the consciences of men entangled or defiled?
THE EXCELLENT OF THE EARTH.
Now, our ordinary Social intercourse belongs to the class for which
it is difficult or impossible to lay down rules which are applicable
to all occasions. It is a divine maxim from which we cannot swerve,
that our "speech should be always with grace, seasoned with salt."
Whatever is offensive or unholy should not be once named among us;
but still it is difficult to lay down any rules which apply to every
case. On the one hand, there are men with whom intercourse the most
cordial may be cherished, nay, earnestly coveted. Where "they that
fear the Lord speak often one to another, while the Lord hearkens and
hears," the man of God may expect to find what will gladden his soul.
"The excellent of the earth" can impart blessings of the highest
order, for the law of the Lord is on their lips. But, on the other
hand, there are the profane, the godless, who walk through the world
trampling on the laws of the Eternal, and with these we can hold no
willing intercourse, unless we would catch their spirit, and at last
share their doom--"The companion of fools shall be destroyed." But
between these two classes there are various shades of character; and
it is in reference to /these/ that our difficulties in life actually
occur.
THE ASSEMBLY OF THE UNGODLY.
There is one passage in the Word of God[39] which may throw light
upon this subject. A patriarch is speaking of certain cruel deeds,
which he contemplates with strong emotion. Aware that man cannot
be much in contact with what is immoral without being polluted,
or associate with the profane without learning profanity, he thus
expresses, in graphical language, the recoil of a pure or an upright
mind: "O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their
assembly, mine honour, be not thou united." He is referring to his
own sons, but he feels that his honour would be laid in the dust were
he associated with them in some of their doings; and he therefore
plants a beacon over the spot of danger, to warn us away from what
may end in death. He enforces the words, "Have no fellowship with the
unfruitful works of darkness." He, in substance, asserts what Paul
asserted seventeen centuries thereafter, "Evil communications corrupt
good manners." He takes up the language of John, and says in effect,
"He that bids God-speed to an ungodly man becomes a partaker of his
evil deeds;" and thus we have, at least, a general rule for universal
guidance--The godly cannot /choose/ the godless for their associates.
To illustrate this point, we observe: Enter some societies. Listen
to the conversation which excites; notice the amusements which
exhilarate--the pleasures which impart the greatest gladness. Might
they not all exist in a world where the Son of God is unknown--where
no need of him is felt, and no reference to him made? It could not be
discovered from such social intercourse, that men are sinners, that
they need a Saviour, or that there is one pressed on their acceptance
by the God whom they have offended; nay, a single reference to these
things would cast a cloud over the scene, would turn its mirth into
muteness, and be regarded as an offence.
FORBIDDEN INTERCOURSE.
Now, wherever that is common, the earnest Christian cannot prosper;
his soul must pine; it is deprived of what is to it like vital air,
and plunged into an atmosphere of azote. There may be cases where
duty compels some humble believer to witness such things, and
at the sight his heart must be sore pained within him; but where
the language of Canaan is not spoken, where the things of God are
not relished, where He, the soul, and eternity do not obtain the
prominence which heavenly wisdom has assigned to them, a child of God
will not willingly go; he will never go of choice; duty may compel,
but the feelings of the soul even in that case must be like those of
the Jews by the rivers of Babylon, when they said, "How shall we sing
the Lord's song in a foreign land?" Children are reared--friends are
entertained--sometimes the dead are buried, amid unequivocal proofs
that God is forgotten; and should not a believer in Jesus "flee these
things?"
LIKE ATTRACTS LIKE.
Wherever we look in the wide domain of nature, we may notice that it
is an universal law--Like attracts like. We do not find a timid bird
associating with its natural enemy, a bird of prey. They fight.--We
do not find the gentler animals seeking to associate with the beasts
of prey.--We do not see the men of high civilization associating, in
common life, with the savage or the gross--there is always something
monstrous or unnatural where that universal law is outraged. Such a
thing is commented on as a marvel, a departure from the established
order of nature. Just as the fishes of the deep have their element,
and the birds of the air have theirs, there is a broad unvarying line
separating the different orders of creatures in the world which God
has made.
REPULSIONS.
Now, to apply this to our present subject, that law reigns with more
than common force in the domain of grace. Has the truth of God taken
possession of any man's soul? Has the wisdom which comes from above
been consulted? Is God's revealed mind placed high above the highest
of all authorities? Then from that day, that man cannot repose, with
the confidence of cordial friendship, upon him who turns the truth
of God into a lie, or the authority of God into a name: there must
be a separation, however painful it may be. Does the love of Christ
constrain any heart and soul? Under that constraining power, do
old things pass away, and all things become new? Then, "unto the
assembly of the ungodly, mine honour, be not thou united," becomes
the language of that soul. Has any man felt that salvation must take
precedence of all besides, in the mind of a rational being? Then that
man cannot consent, or choose to consort, with those who are ripening
their souls for an undone eternity, in spite of the warnings of their
God. Has any man felt that the high concerns of an infinite futurity
demand instant attention, and adjustment on the earliest possible
day? Then that man can be no willing party to the wide conspiracy
formed by worldly men against that futurity, and all that is
momentous there. Has any man discovered that, to live only for the
present hour and its pleasures, is to sink to the level of the beasts
which perish? or that to be a coward before man's frown, and to have
no fear of God's, is to act an impious part? Then the man who has
made such a discovery will take up the language of the patriarch;
he will shun the company of men who prefer what debases to what
ennobles, for he clearly sees, or deeply feels, that their company
is contamination.
Since these things are so, the general law in grace is established
--There can be no friendship, /of choice/, between a godly and a
worldly man. Their hearts, their feelings and sympathies, cannot
coalesce upon the most momentous of all topics--God, eternity, and
the soul; and just as water repels fire, or fire water; just as the
vulture cannot and does not choose the dove for its mate, the soul
of a man who loves God, who believes in the Saviour, and who would
grow in holiness, is repelled and chilled by the assemblies where
these great realities are ignored. He cannot, without self-inflicted
degradation, walk in the counsel of the ungodly, or stand in the way
of sinners, or sit in the seat of the scorner.
THE WISDOM OF SCRIPTURE.
But it has already been noticed, that there is nothing strained,
nothing extreme or overdone, in the Word of God. Whether it be
giving a command, or issuing a prohibition, it is always wise,
always considerate as to man's condition--if we may presume with
such a word, it is always judicious. We are more and more struck
with that fine peculiarity of the Bible the longer we study its
ever-blessed pages.
Now, in connection with our Social intercourse in common life with
men not godly, we have an instance of this considerate care in the
Word of God. In writing to one of the churches,[40] Paul had occasion
to lay down rules for their dealings with unholy men. He prohibits
such intercourse; and in giving the prohibition, he points to some
of the impious by name. After indicating their crimes--too gross to
be lightly mentioned--he adds, "Yet not altogether must ye refuse to
company with such men, /for then must ye needs go out of the world/."
In other words, the believer has duties to do in the world; and these
he must discharge. His principles may be put to the test; his heart
may be pained and vexed; what he hears and sees may distress or
imperil him; but still, even amid such trials, duty, /when it is
duty/, must be done. A man is not merely not at liberty--he is
forbidden, to flee from his post. He is to lean the more on God when
temptation meets him in the path of duty; but he may not forsake the
path. He has duties perhaps to unconverted kindred, and to those who
depend on him in life. He has duties to discharge to the Church and
to God, and these no man is free to forsake. On the one hand, the
most lovely earthly affection is to be put aside whenever it opposes
the will of God; but, on the other, we are to remember, that wherever
God has placed us, He will keep us--as our day is, so our strength
will be. But do we rush into danger unsent? Do we meet it while we
are in pursuit of pleasure, and not in the path of duty? Then we may
expect to fall; nay, we have fallen already. By tempting God, we have
unnerved ourselves, and shame and confusion may be the result.
THE YOUNG CONVERT.
In connection with this, we observe that perhaps there never was
a young convert, who, during the first days or weeks after his
conversion, had not thoughts of fleeing from the post where the
renewing Spirit found him. Aware of its dangers, perhaps groaning
under its temptations, that young soul would flee, and seek that
in change which can be found only in the unchanging One.
Now, are the engagements of that young convert really sinful? Is he
violating God's law? Is he, for the sake of gold, or honour, or any
selfish end, sojourning near some focus of sin? Then all that must
be abandoned; conversion, while these things are retained, is a
thing impossible.
But, on the other hand, are the lines of that young convert cast only
amid trials, and not actual sins? Has He who appoints the boundaries
of our habitations, appointed ours where faith is put to the proof,
and the need of Almighty grace more clearly demonstrated? Then, by
that grace, that young Christian must stand; even there it may be
with him as it was with the three children in the tyrant's furnace
when it was heated seven times. The highest display of the power of
truth, the brightest trophy to the triumph of grace, is to see some
devoted believer holding fast the faith without wavering at the post
of duty, alike against the scorn of the money-worshipper and the
grossness of the unblushingly profane; and, blessed be God, his
grace is sufficient even for that.
THE WORLD AN OBJECT OF PITY.
But farther: While the Christian, in his social intercourse, tries
to shun the society of godless men, he is to make it plain that /he
shuns, because he loves them/. We assume that that Christian /will/
shun them; for he is bound to that by a law both in nature and in
grace. But his motive is not that of spiritual pride. It has nothing
akin to the feeling which dictated the words, "Stand by, for I am
holier than thou;" nay, he is to show that he withdraws, because he
cannot countenance what is ruinous to man and opposed to the mind of
God. While we try to make religion felt, it must be the religion of
love, and not of haughtiness or of bigotry. We should remember that
the world is a poor jaded world, and calls for pity rather than for
wrath: its men have no resting-place either for the body or the soul;
it has no antidote for its misery, no remedy for its disease. It
is the shipwrecked seaman on his raft, trying to quench his burning
thirst with the water of the ocean, only to make that thirst more
burning still. It is the body weighed down with dropsy to the grave's
edge, yet seeking relief in what only augments its misery. And all
that should awaken pity for the world in our intercourse with it.
Be it made plain, that we can be no parties to the world's ruin; we
cannot trample on the Word of God to gratify the sinner's love of
sin. Nay, if we be Christians indeed, if we have in us the spirit
of Him who died for the ungodly, we must love the sinner too well to
countenance him in his ways. Our shunning of him, wherever duty will
permit, is to be our silent protest against what the holy God so
emphatically describes as "drowning men in perdition." Love, wisdom,
God, all demand that course.
THE WORLD'S DEADENING POWER.
And, to re-enforce all this, let it be remembered that we cannot
associate of choice with wicked men without bringing our own religion
into doubt. Our relish for communion with God is blunted. Our love
to the holy and the pure is lessened. The world to come fades away
into dimness, and even a child of God is thus prone to catch the
world's spirit by intercourse /of choice/ with worldly men. All this
is notorious in regard to those haunts where the pride of life is
pampered, and where the children of folly squander in frivolity or
guilt the hours which are given to prepare for eternity and its joys.
But it is true also of more ordinary social intercourse; and the man
who loves his own soul will guard, by the grace of God, against the
first approach to the world's godless ways, as he would against the
first drop in a poisoned cup, or the first inch of a stiletto.
THE TRUE LIGHT.
We feel, however, that we must repeat the warning--Be sure that you
display the religion of love, not of bigotry, in separating from the
world. Let your light shine before men, but be sure that it is the
true light--Heaven's.--There is a vessel sweeping across the deep. It
is night, and her hundreds on board are locked in the insensibility
of sleep. But suddenly there is a collision, a crash; her timbers
are breaking up; and the hundreds who slept so securely a few breaths
before, are now screaming out their agonies as they sink to rise no
more. And what caused that disaster and these watery graves? The man
at the helm just mistook the light, and, in doing so, hurried some
hundreds into eternity. In like manner, we may exhibit a false phase
of Christianity which shall tend only to ruin. It may not be God's
light, but sparks which we ourselves have kindled, and these may
only drive men nearer to destruction.
But hitherto we have done little more than attempt to show how and
why they that fear God should separate from those who have no fear
of Him before their eyes. We have endeavoured to show that a godly
man cannot go down to the world's level without dragging Christ's
religion along with him. We have been urging the followers of the
Saviour never to let the world think that the Christian and it
are the same in their likings and pursuits. If we leave the world
under that conviction, we have given an uncertain sound, and we
have therefore endeavoured to make it plain that there is a broad,
clear, deep line drawn by the Eternal God between the world and the
church--between the converted and the unconverted--the man who lives
for earth and the man who lives for God. They do not pass into each
other by imperceptible shades, like the colours of the rainbow;
they are separated like mid-day and midnight; they are different
in nature, in liking, in pursuits, and in end.
THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS.
All this, however, is only preparatory to telling how the godly
should proceed in their intercourse with each other.--A prophet has
said that "they who fear the Lord speak often one to another;" he has
added, that "the Lord hearkens and hears," and assured us, moreover,
that "a book of remembrance is kept before the Lord for them that
fear him and think upon his name." Now, amid such employments, what
can be the topics but the common salvation? What can engross the
mind more than the death which Christ accomplished at Jerusalem,
when he finished transgression, made an end of sin, and brought in
an everlasting righteousness? What but the love of the Redeemer, and
the mercies to which that love opened the way, can occupy such men's
souls? Holiness, and its author, the Spirit; grace, and its fountain,
God; its channel, the Redeemer; glory, and the Almighty One who made
it sure by his blood; that which is perfect "when the former things
shall have passed away;"--these and kindred topics may well animate
the souls and strengthen the faith of the people of God. It is amid
employments like these that their hearts may burn within them, like
the hearts of the disciples while they walked with the Saviour to
Emmaus. It is thus that foretastes of the heavenly joys are obtained,
thus that clusters are brought from Eshcol, and thus that the earnest
of the purchased possession is at once secured and rejoiced in. To
have a relish for such holy and hallowing employments, is a proof
that we are born from above; our soul's native land is there; and to
have no such relish is a proof that the soul is dead to the holiest
and the noblest things.
TRUTH IN THE HEART.
But enough to have indicated this; none can completely fill up the
sketch, for "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered
into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them
that love him." Still, however, where the truth of God is in the
heart, it will well up. Attempts may be made to repress a gushing
spring; but it will rise at another place, and another, and another,
spreading verdure and fertility wherever it flows. Now, the truth
in the heart is a well of water springing up unto eternal life. It
waters the waste, it purifies the vile, and fits us for that home
where nothing that defiles can enter.
MARRIAGE.
There is one sphere, that of married life, regarding which we offer
a closing sentence. Considering the importance which is attached to
that relation, and its mighty influences for good or ill, alike on
our time and our eternity, nothing can surprise us more than the
recklessness with which it is often formed. How rarely is the
guidance of the Holy One sought! How little is his will consulted!
How limited is the influence which eternal things are allowed to
exert in the choice on either side! And who will marvel, then, if
not a few make shipwreck of the faith and a good conscience, just
at the threshold of their marriage-chamber? Who will wonder to see
so many hearts broken, so many wives worse than widowed, so many
children worse than orphans, the promise of godliness given in youth
all blighted--the book, the house, the day of God, deserted? When
He himself has been left out of view, it is as easy as the downward
current of a stream, to abandon all besides.
But wherever the lamp of life illumines a soul, this relation should
be peculiarly directed by it. The results are for life, nay, they
are for eternity; and they who leave the Eternal God out of view in
forming such a bond, are digging a pit into which they are sure to
fall, or laying a snare in which they will assuredly be taken. The
grace of God may win such parties after all; but that can only be
in His own holy sovereignty, according to his word, "I was found of
them that sought me not," for the man who ventures here without the
guidance of the Wonderful, the Counsellor, is gambling with a stake
which may be eternal death.--Marriage was meant to double man's
happiness, and, when contracted in the fear of God, it accomplishes
his purpose; on other terms, its misery is unspeakable.
THE HEROES OF TRUTH--LUTHER.
CALVIN--KNOX--CHALMERS.
One closing sentence more. The difficulty and delicacy which
are often felt in ordering our Social intercourse, makes a wise
decidedness essential. To follow the right path implies self-denial;
and, what is often worse, it may compel us to shun those whom we
perhaps fondly love in the bonds of nature. Now, to arm us for this,
we should call to mind that all the men who have signally served
their God have been remarkable for decision--they were everywhere
spoken against; their names were often a hissing and a byword,
because they were decided for the ways of God against the ways of
man. Paul was thus decided, and we know that, for his reward, he had
to fight with wild beasts, and contend with wilder men. Luther was
thus decided, and Romanists, in every age and land, have poured forth
their enmity against him. Calvin was decided, and men have piled
calumny upon calumny in their attempt to crush him. Knox was decided,
and shared the same portion--he is sharing it still. Chalmers was
decided, and had to live and die in armour. The truth, and nothing
but the truth of God, was their guide--
"Not the light which leaves us darker;
Not the gleams that come and go;
Not the mirth whose end is madness;
Not the joy whose fruit is woe."--
The banner which the Eternal gave to be displayed, these men held
up, that all might learn to rally round it; and the times on which
we have fallen are such as require a wise decision, a holy boldness,
a close walk with God, like the times of these heroes of the truth.