Jehoshaphat

Worldliness, Book 17

By: C. H. Mackintosh

Narrated by: Alex Wyndham

Length: 55 mins

Publisher's Summary

Jehoshaphat: Worldliness looks at the life of this Old Testament king of Judah and encourages us to examine ourselves in the light of his mistakes. When a Christian enters into connection with the world, he lays himself open to be "persuaded" by the world - to enter upon an unchristian course of action. "Keep thyself pure" is a valuable admonition for us all.

"Come out from among them, and be ye separate." Let us ask ourselves, can our association with the world go hand in hand with our fellowship with God? This is really the question.

The man who conforms to the world will be the enemy of Christ and the enemy of Christ's people. It cannot be otherwise. "The friendship of the world is enmity with God; whosoever, therefore, will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."

How fully was this proven in the case of King Jehoshaphat! He became the friend and companion of Ahab, one of the most evil kings in history. The beginning of evil is like the letting out of water. Small beginnings lead to fearful results.

Dear Christian listener. Let us, with the Lord's help, endeavor to shake off the world's influence and purge ourselves from its ways. We have no idea how insidiously it creeps in upon us. "Take heed what ye do." "Come out, and be separate." We cannot, by any possibility, mix ourselves up with the world and allow ourselves to be governed and led by its maxims and principles without suffering in our own souls and marring our testimony.

©2015 eChristian (P)2015 eChristian

Worldliness and popularity..

If only it were better understood that worldliness in this context includes the problem of people seeking to please 'the world' in telling others what their "ears want to hear" rather than the actual truth.

Aescetism in itself in not the answer, as we are assured in scripture, but we have been told things for too long, even by 'science' that make out as if we 'decide the terms' of how we are to see the creation, and all our relations to it, and to all others, when we simply do not.

Even the term 'childish wonder' is confused for us by others speaking of 'science'.

Being childish includes qualities of ignorance and arrogance, (eg reductionist thinking and over-simplifications) whereas childlike wonder is the quality, as we have been told, that we should strive to keep, including humility, as it does.

It is in these critical things that we stand or fall. Thinking carefully for oneself is so important, as we will each still have to give account for ourselves, each of us, alone.