The Art of Divine Contentment: An Exposition of Philippians 4:11 by Thomas Watson. Excerpt 70

Watson closes his book with three final warnings. Here is the first part of the second of these:

2d. Though, in regard of externals, a man should be in every estate content, yet he must not be content in such a condition wherein God is apparently dishonoured. If a man’s trade be such that he can hardly use it, but he must trespass upon a command, and so make a trade of sin, he must not content himself in such a condition; God never called any man to such a calling as is sinful; a man in this case, had better knock off and divert, better lose some of his gain, so he may lessen some of his guilt. So, for servants that live in a profane family, the suburbs of hell, where the name of God is not called upon, unless when it is taken in vain, they are not to content themselves in such a place, they are to come out of the tents of these sinners; there is a double danger in living among the profane.

1. Lest we come to be infected with the poison of their ill example. Joseph, living in Pharaoh’s court, had learned to swear “by the life of Pharaoh.” (Ge. 42. 15) We are prone to suck in example: men take in deeper impressions by the eye than the ear. Dives was a bad pattern, and he had many brethren that seeing him sin, trode just in his steps, therefore saith he, “I pray thee send him to my father’s house: for I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.” (Lu. 16. 27,28) Dives knew which way they went; it is easy to catch a disease from another, but not to catch health. The bad will sooner corrupt the good, than the good will convert the bad. Take an equal quantity and proportion, so much sweet wine with so much sour vinegar; the vinegar will sooner sour the wine than the wine will sweeten the vinegar. Sin is compared to the plague, (1 Ki. 8. 37) and to leaven, (1 Cor. 5. 7) to show of what a spreading nature it is. A bad master makes a bad servant.  We do as we see others do before us, especially those that are above us. If the head be sick, the other parts of the body are distempered. If the sun shines not upon the mountains, it must needs set in the valleys. We pray, “lead us not into temptation:” Lot was the world’s miracle, who kept himself fresh in Sodom’s salt water.

Thomas Watson lived from 1620-1686, in England. He wrote several books which survive. This blog, God willing, will post excerpts from his The Art of Divine Contentment: An Exposition of Philippians 4:11, over a number of weeks, on Sundays.

My source for the text is here, and I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this text (and many others) available. The previous excerpt is here.
  
Philippians 4:11 Not that I speak because of lack, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content in it. (World English Bible, public domain.) 

Sunspots 695

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity: Relevant, and other sources, report that China is attacking Christians and churches, and other religions, too. In another report, China is blocking on-line Christian services.

Richard Mouw, in Sojourners, argues against uncritical support for Israel, and claims that the Bible does not teach such support.

Some prominent Christians have recently argued that Christians have no business trying to work for social justice. Russell Moore, of the Southern Baptist Convention, begs to differ.


Food: Listverse has posted 10 little-known facts about Avocados.

In case you didn't know it, cacao (the plant that chocolate comes from) is susceptible to plant diseases. Scientific American reports on attempts to find resistant cacao plants.

Gizmodo on whether breakfast cereal is good for us or not.

Politics: Not a surprise. Scientific American reports that more people are killed by active shooters when they are using semi-automatic weapons.

Earther reports that, as Hurricane Florence neared landfall, President Trump called the government's response to Hurricane Maria, in Puerto Rico, an "unsung success," in spite of plenty of contrary evidence. Then, later, he claimed that the death toll, about 3,000, was a figure made up by Democrats, to make him look bad.

The Trump administration is in process of relaxing regulations on institutions that lend money to military personnel, and has done so without consulting the Pentagon, which is opposed to these changes, according to National Public Radio.

Relevant reports that the number of Christian refugees entering the US has fallen sharply under the Trump administration.

(Not really politics, I hope) Gizmodo reports that a system is being developed to allow the President to send a warning text message to every cell phone in the US, in case of terrorist attacks, weather disasters, and the like.

Science: Barrier islands in the Atlantic Ocean, which protect North and South Carolina from some hurricane damage, are disappearing, says Scientific American.

Gizmodo reports that there is a plan in place to sequence the DNA of all living vertebrate species, about 66,000.

Earther reports on a typhoon that was stronger than Florence, at about the same time.

Scientific American reports on a study that indicates that people who are new to us dislike us less than we think they do.

Thanks for looking!

Warning passages in Hebrews: Table

Warning Passages in Hebrews (All Scripture quoted from the World English Bible, public domain.)	Persons warned	Punishment predicted
Hebrews 2:1 Therefore we ought to pay greater attention to the things that were heard, lest perhaps we drift away. 3a how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation [?]	“We”	Not specific
Hebrews 3:12 Beware, brothers, lest perhaps there be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God	“Brothers” (and sisters)	Not specific
Hebrews 4:11 Let us therefore give diligence to enter into that rest, lest anyone fall after the same example of disobedience.	“Us”	Not entering “rest”
Hebrews 6:4 For concerning those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify the Son of God for themselves again, and put him to open shame.	Enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, partakers of the Holy Spirit, tasted God’s word, and powers of the age to come	Won’t be able to repent
Hebrews 10:26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more a sacrifice for sins, 27a but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, 29 How much worse punishment do you think he will be judged worthy of who . . . has counted the blood of the covenant with which he was sanctified an unholy thing, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?	“We,” if we sin willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth; and have been sanctified	No more sacrifice for sins, but judgment and punishment
Hebrews 12:14 Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man will see the Lord, 15a looking carefully lest there be any man who falls short of the grace of God;. . . like Esau, who sold his birthright for one meal. 17 For you know that even when he afterward desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for a change of mind though he sought it diligently with tears.	“Any man (or woman) who falls short of the grace of God”	Falling short of the grace of God, can’t repent.

The above chart is an attempt to show the "warning passages" from Hebrews in a single table.

Who was Hebrews written to? (In other words, who are “we” and “us”?) The NIV Study Bible indicates that it was written primarily to Jewish Christians. So do these verses from the book: (World English Bible, public domain)

Hebrews 1:1 God, having in the past spoken to the fathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 has at the end of these days spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds.

2:3 how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation—which at the first having been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard; 4 God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders, by various works of power, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will?

You may want to see this post, on the characteristics that Christians should have, according to the Bible.

The warning passages in Hebrews aren't the whole story. There are warning passages elsewhere in the Bible. There are also indications that God is able to keep Christians from falling, as in 7:25 Therefore he is also able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, seeing that he lives forever to make intercession for them.

Some people believe that the warning passages in the Bible indicate that a person who is saved can become lost, and the warning passages in Hebrews are evidence for that. They believe that, although God is able to keep us from falling, we can still choose to disobey and fall away. The warnings in Hebrews 6 and 10 seem to be speaking to mature believers, sanctified believers.

Those who don't believe that a believer can become lost argue that the warning passages were not really written to Christians, but to some who associated with Christians, perhaps thought they were Christians, but really were not. Here's a scholarly example of such an argument.

I am not going to settle the question of whether believers can fall away or not. (There's a Wikipedia article on the Perseverance of the Saints, which covers the subject pretty well.) Many people, smarter than I, have been unable to settle the question over several centuries of Christian thought. But there is a much more important question, namely, "am I really committed to following Christ now, do I have a relationship with Him, and, with the help of the Holy Spirit, am I doing my best to keep from sinning?"

Thanks for reading!