The Conqueror of the World
"In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."--JOHN xvi. 33.
It was the road between Jerusalem and the Gate of the Garden. Behind, lay the city bathed in slumber; before, the Mount of Olives with its terraced gardens; above, the Passover moon, pouring down floods of silver light that dropped to the ground through the waving branches of the trees. The Lord was on His way to betrayal and death, along that path flecked by checkered moonlight.
The farewell talk had been prolonged until the disciples had grasped something of the Master's meaning. With many a comforting assurance it had borne them forward to the magnificent but simple declaration, "_I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world; again, I leave the world, and go to the Father_" (ver. 28). At that announcement light seems to have broken in upon their hearts, and they said unto Him, "_Lo, now speakest Thou plainly, . . . by this we believe that Thou camest forth from God._" Jesus replied, not as translators render it, "_Do ye now believe_"; but as it should be rendered, "_At last ye believe_"; and He proceeded to formulate three paradoxes:
First, That within an hour or so He would be alone, yet not alone.
Secondly, That they would have tribulation, and yet be in peace.
Thirdly, That though He was going to His death, He was certainly a conqueror, and had overcome the world, whose princes were about to crucify Him.
That word _overcome_ appears to have been used only this once by our Lord; but it made a lasting impression on the Apostle John, who constantly makes use of it in his Epistle. We meet with it _six_ times in his brief first Epistle, and _sixteen_ times in the Book of Revelation. Who can forget the sevenfold promise spoken by the risen Lord to those who overcome; or the sublime affirmation concerning the martyrs, that they overcame by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony?
I. CHRIST AND HIS DISCIPLES HAVE A COMMON FOE--"The world."--And what is the world? _It is well to take the inspired definition given in 1 John ii. 16_. After enumerating her three daughters--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--the apostle goes on to say: "All that is in the world is not of the Father," _i.e._, does not originate or proceed from Him, but has its source in the world itself. We might reverse this proposition and say: "All that does not emanate from the Father, which you cannot trace back to His purpose in creation, is that mysterious indefinable influence or spirit which makes the world." The world, in this sense, is not primarily a thing, or a collection of people, but a spiritual influence poured out into the very atmosphere of our lives.
The spirit of the world insinuates itself everywhere. It is what we call society; the consensus of fashionable opinion; the spirit which finds its satisfaction in the seen and transient; the ambition that is encircled by the rim of an earthly horizon; the aims, plans, and activities which are comprehended, as the Preacher says, "under the sun." You meet it in the school, where little children judge each other by their dress and the number of horses their fathers keep; in the country town, where strict lines are drawn between the professional or wholesale man and the retailer; in gatherings of well-dressed people, stiff with decorum and the punctilious observance of etiquette.
The world has formulated its _Beatitudes_, thus:
"Blessed are the rich, for they shall inherit the earth."
"Blessed are the light-hearted, for they shall have many friends."
"Blessed are the respectable, for they shall be respected."
"Blessed are they who are not troubled by a sensitive conscience, for they shall succeed in life."
"Blessed are they who can indulge their appetites to the full, for they shall be filled."
"Blessed are they who have no need to conciliate their rivals, for they will be saved from anxiety."
"Blessed are they who have no poor relations, for they shall be delivered from annoyance."
"Blessed are they of whom all men speak well."
The world's code says, "Do as others do; don't be singular; never offend against good taste; have a tinge of religiousness, but remember too much is impracticable for daily life; whatever you do, don't be poor; never yield an inch, unless you are going to make something by the concession; take every advantage of bettering your position, it matters not at what cost to others--they must look after themselves, as you to yourself."