The World rushes on

“…for the world is at present in a mighty hurry, and being in many places cast off from all foundations of steadfastness, it makes the minds of men giddy with its revolutions, or disorderly in the expectation of them.”

John Owen – ‘The Grace and Duty of being Spiritually Minded’

The Puritan John Owen wrote these thoughts in the Preface to his book on being Spiritually Minded in 1681. If he perceived the world to be in a ‘might hurry’ in those days whatever would he make of the world of 2024?  Life in the 17^th century was lived at a much slower and some would say gentler pace.  The media as we know it today was non-existent; transport and travel were restricted to the speed of either two or four legs; daily work and domestic routines were governed by the rising and the setting of the sun. Yet, even in those days of ‘slowness’ Owen, and men of similar persuasion, could see that something was wrong.  Mankind was chasing after things which seemed to be continually out of their reach and was prepared,  even then, to jettison anything which got  in their way or warned them of the dangers of pursuing such a lifestyle.

In this ‘mighty hurry’ men were becoming even more eager to ‘cast off from all foundations of steadfastness’ in their pursuit of attaining their goal of satisfaction and happiness.  What they failed to realise is that any satisfaction or happiness they attained was transient and short lived and bore with it consequences both in this life and beyond.

These ‘foundations of steadfastness’ were like great weights chained to their legs holding them back in the quest.  As a result these chains had to be broken so that mankind could be free to pursue whatever seemed right to them as long as it fulfilled their lusts and desires.

Any building or structure must have a solid and steadfast foundation if it is to survive any forces which are liable to destroy it.  The foundations referred to here are not physical but spiritual and which pertain to the life and life eternal.  They cannot be enacted by laws or man’s philosophies – these are all subjective and changeable.  Who is to say that any man-made foundations for life are better or truer than someone else’s?

The only place we can find true, steadfast foundations is in the One who is unchangeable, eternal and all truth – the living God.  He has not left us ignorant or confused as to what these foundations are, He has revealed them to us in His word – the Bible.  God by very definition is both unchanging and immoveable and above all all powerful – Omnipotent.  In casting off these foundations mankind is in fact wanting to cast off God, their Creator, the One before who all men must one day stand.

God did not give us these foundations by which we should live because He is some kind of kill-joy, but rather out of love because He who created us knows what is best for us.  However, mankind is not content with what God has provided for us and in our arrogance and pride, in our ‘mighty hurry’ think otherwise.  In the Garden of Eden our first parents Adam and Eve lived in a world of perfect foundations where everything both material and spiritual was provided for them by a loving God, but even that didn’t satisfy them – they wanted more and wasted no time in chasing after their desires.  The consequences were disastrous not just for themselves but for all mankind ever since – ‘For as by one man’s disobedience (the disobedience of Adam and Eve to God’s word) many (all mankind down through the ages) were made sinners (rebels against God)…’ Romans 5 v 19.

God hasn’t changed and mankind hasn’t changed so whether it be 1681 when Owen wrote this book or 2024 we see this ‘mighty hurry’ to cast God and His word aside and the consequences are all around us.  War torn countries; famine in the midst of untold greed and opulence; broken homes and weeping families, dysfunctional parents and children; the misery evidenced by the discarded syringe in the gutter; the aborted baby lying dead in the hospital sluice room, corruption and lies at the highest levels of society; injustice and poverty and so the list goes on and on.

‘There is a way that seemeth right unto man, but the end thereof are the ways of death’ Proverbs 16 v 25.

If in the 17^th century Owen could describe this madness as a ‘mighty hurry’ what would he call it today?  A headlong rush into supersonic sin!  Things that are the norm today would have been unimaginable some 30 or 40 years ago.

This past Sunday our preacher made the following comment –‘sin is a word that seems to have disappeared from our vocabulary’.   How true!  The concept of sin and its consequences have no meaning to the average man or woman, boy or girl.  Like the foundations of God’s truth sin and its consequences have been cast aside in mankind’s relentless pursuit of satisfying their own desires, whatever the cost.

But in the midst of this madness even the voices of those who may have little time for God in their lives are crying out “What can we do?”  Some 3000 years ago the Psalmist, King David asked a similar question “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” Psalm 11 v 3. The answer comes in the opening words of the following verse 4 “The LORD is in His holy temple. The LORD’s throne is in heaven…”

Our Creator, the LORD who laid the foundations of the earth, who gave us the foundations on which we were to build our lives, our families, our society, our nations still reigns.  He is the same yesterday, today and forever and His foundations for this life and life to come remain as solid and as immoveable as ever.

If we would turn back to Him in repentance confessing we are sinners and put our trust in Jesus Christ, the one who did no sin but willingly sacrificed His life on the cross in our place, then there is still hope in this dying world.  He alone can restore your peace with God and despite all the sin and misery we see around us He will give you hope both for now and all eternity.

It is time to seek the LORD.