Jesus said once, Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal… (Mt. 6:19)" Our text for today expresses the principle underlying this exhortation and numerous others like it in the scriptures. Nothing in this present world is permanent; everything is subject to change—and decay.
Our text emerges rather abruptly and unexpectedly in the midst of a discussion about marriage. There are few things in this world more gratifying than a happy marriage, but this, too, is sustained by a very slender thread which can be broken in a moment by the operations of the tragic "law of sin and death." Life offers no certainties in this world except the inevitability of change. If you watch television you have seen, no doubt, aging fashion models or entertainment "stars" struggling to keep up appearances against the relentless attack of the aging process. Riches carefully hoarded "…make themselves wings: they fly away as an eagle toward heaven (Prov. 23:5)," if not eaten by moths or destroyed by corrosion. Things, both great and small, can be swept away in a moment by fire, flood or stormy wind. Health is at risk from a horde of diseases, and if the world as we know it, or as we would like it to be, does not leave us, we will soon leave it.
The apostle Peter declared, "For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away… (I Peter 1:24-25)." Through the apostle James the Holy Spirit admonishes, "Go to now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away (James 4:13-14). And John, in his classic commentary on the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life observes, "And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof …(I Jn. 2:17)."
The design of this is not to depress us, but to impress those with the intelligence to receive it, of the reality of our situation in this present evil world, and to motivate us to pursue life from a different perspective than those whose philosophy is "Let us eat , drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die." There is more to life than just going through (and if there were not, it would not be worth going through.) Consider the counterpoint in the texts referred to above. Peter: "…but the word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you." John: "…but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever." And James identifies the proper perspective, "For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that." Add it up; the Word of God is the proper compass by which to steer the ship of life in the uncertain waters of this world, and the will of God will be the wise man's quest.
"The fashion of this world passeth away," whether it be external or internal. No relationship is secure, no achievement enduring, no acquisition permanent. Only in and through the Lord Jesus Christ can we find that which will survive every crisis, out ride every storm, surpass every goal of the oft deceived human heart. And what He has to offer is not anchored to the transitory "here and now," but to eternity. The apostle wrote, "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept (I Cor. 15:19-20)." It is His resurrection that certifies the believer's tomorrow, surmounting every uncertainty of life on planet earth. To paraphrase a wise man, "He who has everything , and has not Christ, in the end will have nothing. He who has Christ and nothing else, in the end will have everything!"
What are you pursuing—the fads and fashions of this world, or the unchanging word and will of God?
"Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day;
Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see:
O Thou who changest not, abide with me!"
H. F. Lyte
"But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out." (I Tim. 6:6-7)
For our good,
"Pastor" Frasier
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