Lachlan Mackenzie
The people of God escape the pollution that is in the world through lust. Before the prodigal returned to his father’s house, he longed for the husks the swine did eat; but after he was re-admitted to his father’s table, he did not envy them any longer. The reason why people have such a relish for the pleasures of the world is that they do not taste the sweetness of the promises.
Moses had it in his power to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, and enjoy the benefit of his adoption. He might enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. But he saw more in the promises made to the people of God. Abraham, at the call of God, left the land of his nativity and came to the land of Canaan to sojourn there. He received it in a promise as a type of heaven. He did not seek his ultimate happiness in the land of Canaan, for he looked for a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
Now, what kept such holy men from plunging into all the irregularities they saw in the world around them? It arose from this: they embraced the promises as their portion and believed firmly in that future state of happiness which is reserved for the people of God. The world around them might look upon them as a set of well-meaning enthusiasts; the purity of their conduct and the holiness of their lives they could not call in question. But the world would consider their happiness as rather visionary when they spoke of a kingdom and country to be enjoyed after death. They would consider Abraham, the father of the faithful, as a person who had a religious craze when he made himself believe that an old woman, long past child-bearing, would have a child, and that the children to spring from this son were to inherit Canaan. His view of a future state, in their opinion, might be as ideal as the notion of his children by Sarah possessing all the country from the Mediterranean Sea to the River Euphrates. Their principle was, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die”; and they acted accordingly.
If people who have the benefit of revelation live like brutes, is it a surprise that blind heathens should abandon themselves to all sorts of debauchery? And what hinders the people of God from following the example of infidel Christians? They believe the promises, and thus escape the pollution of lust. The victory that overcomes the world is their faith; it shows them the glory of heaven, the grace and power of Christ, and the danger of yielding to the foe.
1This is the third head of a sermon on 2 Peter 1:4, by the noted minister of Lochcarron (1754-1819). It is taken with slight editing from the volume, The Happy Man. Earlier heads were: (1) The exceeding greatness and preciousness of the promises. (2) The character of the children of the promises – they are partakers of the divine nature.