1 Corinthians 7:29-31 But this I say, brothers, the time is short: it remains, that both they that have wives be as though they had none;… 1. Christ had said of His disciples, "They are not of the world." It was a question therefore, Can a Christian lawfully enter the married state? Can he remain a slave and be a Christian too? &c. The apostle says in effect, You may, but I cannot judge for you; you must judge for yourselves. All that I lay down is, you must in spirit live above the love of earthly things. 2. Christianity is a spirit; it is not a mapping out of the chart of life, with every shoal and rock, and the exact line of the ship's course laid down. It does not say, Do not go to this, abstain from that, wear this, &c., &c. A principle is announced; but the application of that principle is left to each man's own conscience. 3. Herein Christianity differed from Judaism. Judaism was the education of the spiritual child, Christianity that of the spiritual man. You must teach a child by rules, but a man governed by rules is a pedant or a slave. Note — I. THE MOTIVES FOR CHRISTIAN UNWORLDLINESS. 1. The shortness of time. That mysterious word "time," which is a matter of sensation, dependent on the flight of ideas, may be long to one and short to another. The butterfly's life is long compared with the ephemeron's, short compared with the cedar's. An hour is long to a child, a year little to a man. Shortness a term relative — (1) To the way in which we look on Time. Time past is a dream, time to come seems immense; the longest night, which seemed as if it would never drag through, is but a speck of memory when it is gone. At sixty-five a man has on an average five years to live; yet his imagination obstinately attaches stability to them, though the sixty-five seem but a moment. To the young life is an inexhaustible treasure. But ask the old man what he thinks of the past. (2) To opportunities. Literally these words mean — "The opportunity is compressed — narrowed," i.e., every season has its own opportunity, which never comes back. The autumn sun shines as brightly as that of spring, but the seed of spring cannot be sown in autumn. The work of boyhood cannot be done in manhood. There is a solemn feeling, in beginning any new work, in the thought, shall I ever complete it? (3) To eternity. The great idea brought out by Christianity was immortality. With-this the Corinthian Church was struggling. The thought arose, "Oh! in comparison of that great Hereafter, this little life shrivels into nothingness!" All deep minds have felt this at some period or other of their career. Let but a man possess his soul with this idea of Time, and then unworldliness will be the native atmosphere he breathes. 2. The changefulness of the external world: "The fashion of this world passeth away." The word refers here to all that has form, and shape, and scenery; the visible in contradistinction to the invisible. (1) God has written decay on all around us. On the hills their outlines changing within the memory of man. On the sea-coast. On our own frames. Even in the infant the progress of dissolution has visibly begun. We stand amidst the ruins of other days, and as they moulder before our eyes they tell us of generations which have mouldered before them, and of nations which have crossed the theatre of life and have disappeared. We join in the gladness of the baptism, and the years roll on so rapidly that we are almost startled to find ourselves standing at the wedding. But pass on a few years more, and the young heart for which there was so much gladness in the future drops silently into the grave to make way for others. One of our deepest thinkers has told us, "All the world's a stage," &c. Look at our own neighbourhood. Those with whom we walked in youth are gone and others have filled their places. Every day new circumstances are occurring which call upon us to act promptly; for the past is gone. (2) "The fashion of the world" passes away in us. Our very minds change. All except the perpetually repeated sensations of eternity, space, time, alters. There is no affliction so sharp, no joy so bright, no shock so severe, but Time modifies and cures all. Our memories are like monumental brasses: the deepest graven inscription becomes at last illegible. Of such a world the apostle seems to ask, Is this a world for an immortal being to waste itself upon? II. ITS NATURE. 1. The spirit or principle of unworldliness; to use this world as not abusing it. The worldly spirit says, "Time is short; take your fill; live while you can." The narrow religious spirit says, "All pleasure is a snare; keep out of it altogether." In opposition to the one, Christianity says, "Use the world," and to the other, "Do not abuse it." Unworldliness is not to put life and God's lovely world aside with self-torturing hand. It is to have the world, and not to let the world have you; to be its master, and not its slave. 2. The application of this principle — (1) To domestic life. The idea was just then beginning to be discussed, which was the higher state, the single or the married. In after ages this question was decided in a very disastrous way; for it was taught that celibacy was the only really pure and angelic life. Marriage was regarded as earthly and sensual, unfit for those who were to serve as priests. Now observe the apostolic wisdom. He does not say celibacy is the saintly, and marriage the earthlier state. He says, "In whatever state you can most undistractedly serve God, that is the unworldly one to you." God made man for domestic life, and he who would be wiser than his Maker is only wise in appearance. He is not the highest Christian who lives alone and single, but he who, whether single or married, lives superior to this earth. (2) To sorrow. This unworldliness consists of two parts:(a) The duty and the right of sorrow. "Weep?" Christianity does not sear the human heart; it softens it. If joy be felt in the presence of the loved object, grief must be felt in its absence. Christianity destroys selfishness, makes a man quick and sensitive for others. Moreover, it imparts something of its own infinitude to every feeling.. The Master wept. We may admire the stern old Roman heart; but we must not forget that the Roman stoicism is not of the spirit of Christianity. (b) The limitation of sorrow, "as though they wept not"; that is, as though God had already removed their grief. Familiarity with eternal things subdues grief, gives it a true perspective. Have you lost a dear relative? Well, you may weep; but even while weeping Christ comes to you and says, "Thy brother shall rise again."(3) To joy — earthly joy; for, if it had been spiritual joy, the apostle could not have put any limitation to it. Therefore Christians may have earthly joy. Christ had no sympathy with that tone of mind which scowls on human happiness: His first manifestation of power was at a marriage feast. Look round this beautiful world of God's. You cannot, except wilfully, misread its meaning. God says, "Be glad!" But now everlasting considerations are to come in, not to sadden joy, but to moderate its transports. We are to sit loose to all these sources of enjoyment, masters of ourselves. Respecting worldly amusements, the apostle does not say, You must avoid this or that, but he lays down broad principles. If your enjoyments are such that the thought of passing Time and coming Eternity presents itself as an intrusive thought, which has no business there; if you become secularised, excited, and artificial; then it is at your own peril that you say, All is left open to me, and permitted. Unworldly you must become — or die. (4) To the acquisition of property. Unworldliness is not measured by what you possess, but by the spirit in which you possess it. It is not said, "Do not buy," but rather "Buy — possess." You may be a large merchant, &c., if only your heart be separate from the love of these earthly things, with God's love paramount within. The amount of property is purely a relative consideration. You go into a regal palace, and perhaps, unaccustomed to the splendour, you say, "All this is worldliness." But the poor man comes to your house, and to him this seems worldliness too. No! we must take another test. The Christian is one who, if a shipwreck or a fire were to take all luxury away, could descend, without being crushed, into the valley. He wears all this on the outside, carelessly, and could say, "My all was not laid there." Conclusion: 1. Let there be no censoriousness. How others live, and what they permit themselves, judge not. It is work enough for any one of us to save his own soul. 2. Let there be no self-deception. This subject gives large latitude, and any one may abuse it if he will. "Remember, however, that worldliness is a more decisive test of a man's spiritual state than even sin. Sin may be sudden, the result of temptation, yet afterwards hated — forsaken. But if a man be at home in the world's pleasure and pursuits, happy if they could but last for ever, is not his state, genealogy, and character clearly stamped? Therefore does St. John draw the distinction — "If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father"; — but "If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (F. W. Robertson, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none; |
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