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###### Get Good from the World and the Things in It

{Since the Heavenly Trade Is the Best Trade…

Exhortation and Counsel to Professors of Christianity

Use Everything for Heavenly Advantages

Get Good from the World and the Things in It}

Get good from the world and the things in it by seeing its wiles and deceitfulness, and its vanity and emptiness (Mark 4:19).1096 The world is a fading thing; the ways of it are always passing away with time and are soon gone. Merchants do not care much for those goods that are soon out of fashion (Ecclesiastes 1:2).1097 Do not care too much for the world; the present form of it is passing away (1 Corinthians 7:31).1098 The world is a dirty thing and it is hard to touch it and not be defiled. Christian, do not be like pigs; they love to wallow in the mud. If you would keep yourself unspotted, take heed of the world. The world is a very heavy, unwieldy thing; by faith, make it portable and easier to bear (2 Corinthians 4:17),1099 so that it may not clog your feet and stop your race toward glory. Faith will soon lessen your burden and improve your pace. It will turn brass, even clay, into gold and make it easy to carry. The world is a strange country to the citizens of Heaven. Get good from it by living as strangers in the world, by longing the more for your true home, and by converting the world to the service of your souls and portion of glory. The scorpions in Caria, when they sting, kill homebred people, not strangers.1100 Be a stranger to the world and it will not hurt you. The world is a subtle whore; shun her embraces, do not lie in her bosom, stop your ears against her charms, and shut your eyes from her allurements. The world is an enemy; beware if it. When it promises, do not believe it and when it kisses you, take heed of the sword in its hand (2 Samuel 20:9–10).1101 When it cries “Peace, peace,” then fear swift destruction. Plant your feet on its fair neck to keep it down; get it nailed to the Cross of Christ and pierced to death with the sword and spear of the Spirit. Get good from every state and condition God puts you into, whether high or low, rich or poor. If you are above others in social or official position, be above them in grace. If you enjoy more than others, labor to do more than others (Matthew 5:47).1102 The higher you are in the world, be that much lower in your own eyes. The tallest cedar trees bow most. Ships with the greatest cargo capacity displace the most water and float deepest in the water. Exalted angels rejoice to be ministering spirits. Yes, even the Son of God delighted in being the servant of people. Israel [Jacob] was a prince and prevailed with God, yet deemed himself beneath the least of all God’s mercies (Genesis 32:10).1103 “By how much the greater I am,” said Maximinus, “so much more I labor; and the more I labor, the greater I am.” Paul was the chief apostle, yet was the least of all the saints in his own eyes (Ephesians 3:8).1104 Humble yourselves when God exalts you, and when you humble yourselves, God will exalt you.

Do you have much benefit from the world? Then take heed of being puffed up. The more you have, the more you owe, and the more you have of earth, the less you might have of Heaven. The poor in the world might be rich in faith and the rich in the world might often be poor in faith. If God gives you much plenty here, be fearful lest He give you your all here [instead of Heaven]. When someone offered Luther much gold, he protested that God should not put him off with these things.1105 It is said of Gregory the Great1106 that he could never read the words, “Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things” (Luke 16:25)1107 without horror and astonishment, lest having such dignities he should be excluded from his portion in Heaven. Do you have little in the world? You have less for which you must give account, have lesser temptations, and fewer briars and thorns to go through. Are you an “unknown” who lacks social standing? You are so much the safer and beneath envy. “It is more difficult for you,” said Mr. Rutherford to the Lord Keeper, “to win Heaven. You are like a large ship in the open ocean. Smaller vessels [in rivers and inland waters] are not so much at the mercy of frightful storms.” Are you low in the world? You have more reason to lie low in your own spirits. A prince’s heart and a beggar’s purse do not well agree. Are you in want? Make more use of Christ’s fullness. It is blessed misery that brings souls to Christ for mercy. Had it not been for affliction, Christ would have had only a little company while on earth. The well do not need a physician. The sick, blind, deaf, dumb, and demon-possessed could have blessed God for their maladies, which maladies were the means to bring them to the physician of their souls as well as bodies. It was well for the poor Canaanite that her daughter was ill and was seeking crumbs; when she asked for them, she got children’s bread to boot (Matthew 15:26–28).1108

1096“But the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful” (Mark 4:19 ESV).

1097“Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 1:2 ESV).

1098“And those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away” (1 Corinthians 7:31 ESV).

1099“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17 ESV).

1100A legend either invented or propagated by Pliny the Elder (23–97 AD). It is barely possible that an inbred population might have had a genetic mutation, making them susceptible to the venom.

1101“And Joab said to Amasa, ‘Is it well with you, my brother?’ And Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him. But Amasa did not observe the sword that was in Joab’s hand. So Joab struck him with it in the stomach and spilled his entrails to the ground without striking a second blow, and he died. Then Joab and Abishai his brother pursued Sheba the son of Bichri” (2 Samuel 20:9–10 ESV).

1102“If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?” (Matthew 5:47 NASB).

1103“I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant; for I crossed over this Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two companies” (Genesis 32:10 NKJV).

1104“To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8 NASB).

1105This sentence is given verbatim. Ashwood’s exact meaning is unclear to the editor, but it is clear that Luther did not consider the gold to be a blessing. The gold may have been a bribe. Luther also may have seen it as a source of temptation that lacked spiritual worth, an attitude that fits the context of Ashwood’s text.

1106Pope from 590 to 604 AD.

1107“But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented’” (Luke 16:25 NKJV).

1108“But He answered and said, ‘It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.’ And she said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.’ Then Jesus answered and said to her, ‘O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.’ And her daughter was healed from that very hour” (Matthew 15:26–28 NKJV).

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