For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 6:12
“Spend most of your studies in confirming your belief of the truth of the gospel, the immortality of the soul, and the life to come, and in exercising that belief, and laying up your treasure in heaven; and see that you content not yourselves in talking of heaven, and speaking for it; but that your hopes, your hearts, and your conversation be there; and that you live for it, as worldlings do for the flesh.
Flatter not yourselves with the hopes of long life on earth, but make it the sum of all your religion, care, and business, to be ready for a safe and comfortable death; for till you can fetch comfort from the life to come, you can have no comfort that true reason can justify.
Live as in a constant war against all fleshly lusts, and love not the world, as it cherisheth those lusts. Take heed of the love of money, as the root of manifold evils: think of riches with more fear than desire; seeing Christ hath told us, how hard and dangerous it maketh our way to heaven. When once a man falls deeply in love with riches, he is never to be trusted, but becomes false to God, to all others, and to himself.”
Richard Baxter (1615-1691) in “Farewell Sermon at Kidderminster” in Practical Works of Richard Baxter, ed. by Rev. William Orme (London: James Duncan, 1830) 233.
I’ve turned my attention to Puritan writers for the next week or two. In a conversation with our daughter, Sophie (with whom I will spend this weekend in a car, driving her back from completing her second year at San Diego Christian College) earlier this year, she asked about my favorite Puritan writers. I started the list with John Owen (whom I cited yesterday) and Richard Baxter. Others will follow in the coming days.
The “world” is the word used throughout Scripture as the embodiment of fleshly lusts which can cause a person to miss “heaven” and all God desires for us. It is fitting then, that in Baxter’s “Farewell Sermon at Kidderminster” (about 40 pages at the link above and worth reading), he would exhort us to focus on belief in the truth of the gospel and laying up treasure in heaven. He urges us to live for heaven while the “worldlings” live for the things of this world.
Baxter reminds us of this because we won’t be here on this earth long and while we are here we must be preparing for a “safe and comfortable death” which of course is our peaceful entrance to eternity with Christ. So while we are here, we are living in a constant war. As the Apostle Paul proclaimed in today’s Scripture, “our struggle is not against flesh and blood.” We are bombarded with lies calling us to love the world and to love money, which offers tangible power in the world.
Baxter then rightly and soberly reminds us of how truly dangerous money is for those who desire to make their way to heaven, and makes this strong statement: “When once a man falls deeply in love with riches, he is never to be trusted, but becomes false to God, to all others, and to himself.” Jesus said we can’t serve two masters and those who try, become false to God, others, and themselves.
Let’s live not as “worldlings” but as citizens of heaven and show it by how we handle money! Let’s talk about this with those we love, with those we serve, and with our neighbors, lest any of us be overcome in this constant war that is going on all around us!