Sword & Trowel 2017: Issue 1
love of the Father is not in him.’ The opposite is implied as true –
if we no longer love the world, the love of the Father is in us, and this is surely confirmed by the very next verses (vv 16-17): ‘For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.’ We may be in doubt about our sal- vation, but if we have seen through the world something radical has hap- pened to our tastes and perceptions. That world which we unreservedly loved, and was our consuming pas- sion, which we were so optimistic about, has somehow fallen to pieces before our eyes. We have seen that its culture is vain, shallow and godless, set against God, and bent on promot- ing selfishness, immorality and pride, and that it delights in coarseness and uncleanness. We may still be tempted to some aspects of the world. Its music, for example, may still have an addic- tive hold on a part of us. It may take time for the addictive element of longstanding habits to be overcome. The world’s rhythms may continue to strum in our heads and maintain a hold for a while. But overwhelm- ingly we are finished with this godless world system and its ways. We feel for souls, yearning for individuals to be saved, but the world has become John Bunyan’s Vanity Fair, and it no longer fools us. We want to do good while in it, and to help people, but the world itself is iniquitous, fallen
page 12 The Dissolving of Doubts
and against God. All this marks a tre- mendous change in us, and is a sure sign that there has been a work of God within.
As far as lingering temptations are concerned we may turn to Proverbs 1 for direction. When tempted to unite with worldlings we listen to Solomon who wrote: ‘My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. If they say, Come with us…cast in thy lot among us…my son, walk not thou in the way with them’ (Proverbs 1.10-15, selected portions). ‘We want you,’ the world will say.
‘We like you. We are your friends. You are a great person with gifts and abilities that we admire. Fraternise with us; be one with us.’ It can be so tempting, especially when we are young, but at all ages if we are lonely. ‘Come with us,’ calls the world. We may say, ‘I cannot be a Chris-
tian because I have been drawn back to worldly friends.’ Of course you have. You must know the race you are running in. You will be tempted and drawn away. At the same time, you know that you are no longer a comfortable worldling, because you have a new view of the world. Satan will ensure that temptations back to the old life will be powerfully attrac- tive, but James 4.7 will always prove to be true – ‘Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.’ 1 John 2.18 reads: ‘Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.’ We may have, even in the midst of our doubts, a deep sense of the last days. These are the very last
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