Abstaining from Evil

OBEDIENCE

I Thessalonians 5:22

The Apostle here gives us one of the greatest Scriptures in the whole library of Divine truth. In it we have a command, a prayer and a promise. and upon obedience to this command hinges the destiny of mankind. To disobey this injunction, is to go down with the wicked and defeated; to obey, is to have success, and the presence of the Triune God. To disobey is to be driven by frightful impressions, and the agents of Hell, into the pit; to obey is to have the angels of God encamp around about you, to have vital communion with the Father, to be master of every circumstance, and to come off more than conqueror through Christ Jesus.

"Abstain from all sights of evil." Had David obeyed this injunction, he would have escaped that awful crash, that multiplied defeat, that awful murder, the disgracing of his own daughter, the killing of his own son by a brother, the dying of the illegitimate child, and his crying, "The pangs of hell have gat hold upon me," under the blazing sermon sent by the Holy Ghost through that fiery preacher Nathan, from that memorable text, "Thou art the man!"

Had Samson obeyed this command, he would never have gotten up a flirtation with Delilah, lost connection with the skies, lost his locks and his eyes, and pulled the mill-sweep like an ox. Look once at Samson, the mightiest preacher God ever pitted against Hell's artillery. No doubt angels crowded the galleries of the skies and watched Samson with the jawbone of an ass clean up a thousand devils and put to flight the armies of Hell. What a preacher! What a soul-saver and power for good! How the Spirit did at times swoop down upon him! He was the army, the infantry, the cavalrymen, the captain, the major, the general; and when this mighty man of God went on the warpath others trembled. But, alas! oh, how sad! I can hear the sobs and sighs now when that awful message went through to the skies, "Samson has fallen." The devil chuckled and laughed; all Hell ha! had!

Why did it happen? First, because Samson did not "abstain from all sights of evil;" Samson did not resist the first glance, the first look. Second, because Samson did not walk in the light God had given. Third, because Samson did not fortress his weak point. Fourth, because he doubtless went on past success. Fifth, because he failed to live wholly in the will of God. Sixth, because he got out of Divine order. When a man gets out of Divine order, defeat is his sad fate. God cannot and will not endorse covering up sin. "Be sure your sin will find you out." "Abstain from all sights of evil."

One's thought life must be pure, for "as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." The heart is the seat of government, hence if the government is not pure every channel will become more or
less corrupted. Tell me your thoughts, and quickly I can tell you your life. Abstain from devilish fancied imaginations. The imagination is a fruitful channel, and if dedicated to God, sanctified to His glory, will become a very useful channel through which God may be glorified, and you become a fruitful tree in His vineyard; but if the imaginations are turned over to the devil, and allowed to harness up these God-given channels, woe be unto you! Look out! David will hang his harp upon the willow; Samson will lose his locks. One ounce of prevention is worth tons of cure; a stitch in time will save nine, These are true old adages. They are brimful of truth, and had mankind heeded their admonition, David would not have gone down with a crash, Samson would not have committed suicide. When one fails to walk in the light, when one fails to obey God, there is danger ahead, for if one gets out of Divine order and becomes disconnected from the skies, what will the end be? Look at Samson! Look at Saul! If we are not in Divine order, we must be disobedient, and how can God bless and sanction a disobedient child?

"Abstain from all sights of evil." This means fleeing from wrong. A good run is much better than a bad stand. If one should see a rattlesnake crawling toward a precious baby sitting out in the grassy yard, there would be one of two things to be done; we could rush and pick the child up in our arms and flee, or grab up a hoe and kill the snake; but if we knew we could not kill the snake, we could grab the child up and skip. Why wait? why watch and see just how close you can allow that snake to get to the child before you grab the child? If you see a mad dog coming into your yard, will you wait until it comes within a few short feet of the child? Will you wait until it fastens its teeth in the child's clothes? No, you flee to the child, grab it and run back into the house, locking the door and screaming for help.

We must not, under any circumstances, look upon sin long. We mean by long, gaze upon it. You cannot keep from seeing things, but you can keep from gazing. David doubtless could not have

kept from seeing Mrs. Uriah, but he could have kept from peeping and gazing through the window. The second he saw her, if he would only have turned and said, "O Lord, keep this thy servant," angels would have flown thick and fast around him, unctuous power would have come upon him, and a great victory would have been his to enjoy. But perhaps David stood a bit and gazed until the animal nature took possession of him, and he committed the awful sin of adultery, and brought the awful, withering, blasting disapproval of God upon his household.

You should remember and never forget that the iniquities of the parents are visited down to the second, third and fourth generations. Here is where the innocent must suffer with the wicked. Therefore, how carefully ought parents to live, Their thoughts should be clean, their imaginations pure, their language chaste, and their lives above reproach. If you want a good, robust child, a child of character, begin seventy-five years before it is born, Character is not made in a day; character is what men are.

If we should "abstain from every sight of evil," what experiences we would enjoy! what beautiful, perfect love would leap through our hearts on its musical, triumphant course! what singing birds would flit through the woodland of our soul, warbling their beautiful songs of joy! Our hearts would be laden with the fragrant odors from God's promises. One cannot keep these ugly imaginations from flitting through the mind. None of us can keep the birds from flying over our heads, but who need be so foolish as to let them build a nest in his hair? When these ugly thoughts come, keep them on the run. Do not take their hat and coat; do not give them a chair; do not furnish them a bed. They are rebels; and you must conquer and put down a re-bellion.

Paul is praying for the Thessalonians, who were abstaining from all sights of evil, who were rejoicing all the time, and constantly in the spirit of prayer, to be wholly sanctified. Paul is praying for a wide-awake, regenerated crowd; a crowd that had peace with God; a crowd that had family prayer, and grace at their table; a crowd that lived right moment by moment. They spoke to everybody; there was no hatred in their hearts, no malice or strife, no bickering or backbiting, no tongue-lashing.
Remember, folks who are cold, lukewarm, careless, indifferent, in reclamation or regeneration, are not the ones who enter into sanctification, but those who are walking in all the light He has given them. Remember, the work of sanctification is wrought by God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. It is a definite work in the heart of the true believer who has abandoned his all and presented his body a living sacrifice. How easy for one who is right with God, living in the sunshine of God's will, to look up and believe. "Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you."

Sanctification does not only qualify one for service, but places that beautiful grace of perfect love in the heart; and it eradicates the "old man," destroys the works of the devil, and places one in that beautiful relationship to God that none but the pure in heart enjoy, and then we have peace with all men.