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The Pathway of Safety; or, Counsel to the Awakened By the Right Rev. Ashton Oxenden, D.D. CHAPTER VIII – DANGERS FROM WITHOUT THE WORLD—LOOSE AND UNGODLY FRIENDSHIPS--PERSECUTION If you have ever read Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, you will remember that ‘Christian’ had not a very easy path on his way to the ‘celestial city.’ He had to toil up many a hill, and to encounter many a danger, as he journeyed onward. And so, dear reader, must it be with you and me. If we would ‘enter the kingdom,’ it must be ‘through much tribulation.’ The way is ‘narrow’ along which we must travel, and the gate ‘strait’ through which we must pass. Some of these dangers I am going to set before you in this and the next chapter. Not that I would wish to alarm or discourage you. God forbid! But I should be but a poor guide, if, while I pointed out to you the pathway of safety, I did not tell you of the dangers on every side, and show you how to meet them. It has been truly said, that ‘to be fore-warned is to be fore-armed.’
1. One of your chief dangers will be from THE WORLD. How should you feel and act towards it? You have perhaps hitherto loved the world. Its ways, its pleasures, and its followers, have been all to your taste. The word of God cautioned you, ‘Love not the world;’ but you did love it; for you had nothing better on which to set your affections. But now a purer love fills your heart—the love of God—the love of that dear Savior, of whom you can say, ‘He is all my salvation and all my desire.’ If He has indeed taken up His abode within you, then I am sure that there is no longer any room for the world; and much, that once was so sweet to you, you ave now no relish for. ‘How then am I to act?’ you will ask. ‘Am I to flee from my fellow-men? Am I to give up the occupations of life? Must I run out of the world, as I would escape from some plague-house? Must I wander afar off, and remain in the wilderness? Must I lead a hermit-life? Is this the only way to escape “the pollutions that are in the world?”’ Many have done so, and yet the world has followed them to their lonely cells. In our Lord’s last prayer for His people, we see that He would have them kept in the world, and yet preserved from the evil of it. ‘I pray (He says) that Thou would keep them from evil.’ (John 17.15) He would not have them run away from the world, as from an enemy which they could not master; but He asks for them that God would keep them safely while they are in it, and that He would deliver them from its many entanglements. While, then, you are in the world, take care that you are not of the world. Try and live above it. If you were dressed in a garment of pure white, and you had to travel along some miry road, would you not walk carefully, picking your way at every step, lest you should soil your snow-white robes? Or if you were passing through a city, where some dreadful and infectious disease existed, would you not be careful to avoid those streets where the disease was raging? Act so with the world. While you mix in its needful employments, endeavor to avoid its snares, and ‘keep yourself unspotted from the world.’ If, for example, you are a Poor man or woman, you must needs follow the worldly occupation allotted to you. This is your duty, and you should try and discharge it with honest industry. Endeavor to avoid a worldly spirit. And let your one great aim be to glorify God in your humble calling. I find it written in the Bible, that ‘if any man will not work, neither shall he eat.’ (2 Thess. 3.10) Idleness was one of the sins of Sodom. Religion must be no pretence for slothfulness. Instead of giving up your worldly occupations, let it be your endeavor to carry them on in a Christian spirit. Use this world; but do not abuse it. Use it for God. Look upon it as a wilderness on your way to the promised Canaan; as the mariner regards the sea, not as a dwelling-place, but as a passage to His desired port. Or of you are a Trades-person, try and act on the gospel rule in all your transactions. Be strictly honest, even in the smallest matter; and let the world see that a high principle guides you, and that your religion does not consist in bare words, but that it runs through all the sections of your life. Or, if you are a Servant, let the powerful influence of grace show itself in all you do. Be as careful of your master’s interests as of your own; and seek to win his confidence by your evident desire always to act rightly. Be kind, cheerful, and obliging to your fellow-servants; and let it be clearly seen that yours is a religion which gives you joy and peace, and which produces a holy and consistent walk. Or, again, if you are a Person of rank and influence, use these talents in your Master’s service; lay them out for the good of your fellow-creatures, and for His glory. In almost every station of life we must of necessity be often thrown in with persons of a worldly character, and engaged in matters of an entirely worldly nature. Much reason then have we to be watchful, and to pray earnestly that we may be enabled to let our light shine brightly in whatever circumstances we are placed. It is not necessary to go out of the station in which God has placed you in order to serve Him. Joseph of Arimathea did not cease from being ‘an honorable counselor,’ when he became a Christian. Neither did Cornelius, the Roman officer, feel it necessary to quit the service of his country, when he joined the ranks of Christ. But there was this marked change in each of them—the one became a Christian counselor, and the other a Christian soldier. They acted thenceforth as religious men, with the fear of God before their eyes, and the love of God in their hearts. And does not St. Paul say, ‘Let every man abide in the same calling, wherein he was called?’ (1 Cor. 7.20) It is clearly then our duty to try and glorify God in our several stations, whatever they be, and to carry the spirit of a Christian with us into our daily life. But perhaps you will feel that this is no easy matter. I know your difficulties, and how little able you are of yourself to meet them. But remember Him who said, ‘My grace is sufficient for you; for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ (2 Cor. 12.9) The charge of being singular will probably be brought against you. But if you are Christ’s servant this is no more than you may expect; for His people have always been ‘men wondered at.’ In fact, the true Christian must needs be in many respects very different from other men. There is a broad line, as it were, which marks off the path of each. The servant of Christ must not fall in with the corrupt ways of a sinful world. The Word of God warns of this, when it says, ‘Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds.’ (Rom. 12.2) To use a familiar phrase, you must not cut the coat of your profession according to the fashion of those around you. It is said of a certain great Courtier, that being once asked how he managed always to keep favor amidst great changes, when at one time a Popish king, and at another time a Protestant king, was on the throne—he replied, that ‘he was not born a stubborn oak, but a bending willow.’ And shall this be your character? No; there must be no wavering about you, no bending this way or that way to suit your own interest. You must be fixed in your principles, and not be blown about by every gust of wind. I would not, however, have you aim at singularity, either in your manner or in your conduct. This often does harm, and brings religion into contempt. To be singular in little and unimportant things, as a rule, is wrong. But in important matters, where the soul’s interests are at stake, a stand should be made; there should be a ‘coming out, and being separate,’ a determination not even to ‘touch the unclean thing.’ (2 Cor. 6.7) But there are some points connected with our intercourse with the world which are of vital importance. There are certain practices which the world sanctions, but which are positively hurtful to the Christian, positively hateful to God, and clearly sinful in His sight. These you must carefully avoid, if you would be a candidate for heaven: you must resolutely, and at once, set your face against them. For instance, there are amusements, which are in themselves harmless, but they lead to sin. These must be given up. Some will perhaps say to you, ‘Only partake of such amusements moderately, and they will do you no harm.’ But I am bound to tell you that they are evil, and must be altogether shunned; for ‘what fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion has light with darkness?’ Such pastimes can no longer be fit for you; such pleasures cannot be congenial to a Christian’s spirit. Were you once fond of dress? Did you seek to be admired? Was the praise of your fellow-men sweet to your taste? Such must no longer be your feelings. They are altogether unsuited to a changed and sanctified heart. They are of the world, and not of God. Were you once, not actually dishonest perhaps, but a little too sharp about a bargain? Such a character would now but ill become you. You must be just, straightforward, honest, and upright in all your dealings. And here let me meet a question which often perplexes a beginner in the Christian life—‘What ought I to give up? Is this or that thing lawful?’ ‘Is it right to go here or there—to do this or that?’ It is by no means easy to lay down one general rule to meet every case. Many things, not wrong in themselves, may be hurtful to particular persons. Other things again are lawful, but not profitable. The best rules I can lay down for you are these— a. Consult your Bible, and see if God says anything there on the matter you are doubting about. b. Ask God to direct every step you take, and to guide your judgment, so that you may see clearly what is the right course. c. Go nowhere, where you cannot ask God to go with you. Engage in nothing, on which you cannot entreat His blessing. Do nothing, which is likely to unfit you afterwards for religious exercises. d. Whenever you doubt about a thing being lawful, remember, it is the safer course to avoid it. But, after all, we must bear this in mind, that it is much easier to talk about giving up the world than to carry the resolution into effect. Our attachment to it is not laid aside in a moment. When we think we have done with it, it appears in some fresh shape. Like a wounded serpent, that we have set out foot upon, it presently creeps in again, when we imagine that we have utterly cast it out. And if we so not take care, it will sting us yet, though it seems so harmless. It requires indeed much grace to enable us to overcome the love of the world. Oh that we could reach that height which St. Paul had attained, when he said, ‘The world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.’ (Gal. 6.14) Again and again, as the Christian journeys on, here one difficulty, and there another, besets his path. He would be glad indeed to have some clear rule to guide him in every case, and under every circumstance. But God gives us no such precise rules. He often calls upon us to consider each case by itself. We must take each particular emergency, and do what we believe to be best, and most in accordance with God’s Word. ‘Every day (says a Christian writer) does the seaman on his voyage take his observations, that he may rightly direct his course. He compares his position with his charts. He considers the direction of the wind, and the set of the tide. And from all these together he judges how to steer his vessel. And is not this an image of our own condition? We cannot have a guide at our right hand to tell us exactly what we should do, and where we should go, and how we should act, in every particular instance. What is right for one may be wrong for another. Our duty is, to try and act as we believe God would have us act; and our comfort is, that if at the same time we honestly commit our ways unto the Lord, He will, according to His promise, direct our steps.’ **************************************************** The Pathway of Safety; or, Counsel to the Awakened, Ashton Oxenden **************************************************** PREVIOUS CHAPTER -- NEXT CHAPTER ©God’sGWG
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