In previous articles we have been drawing upon the writings of other brethren to demonstrate how we might gain the proper attitude of mind which is so necessary for our entry into the Kingdom: that mind which is “the mind of Christ.” We called upon the apostle Paul to emphasize that the works of flesh will keep us out of the Kingdom just as surely as will belief in wrong doctrine. But as thought precedes action; as the mind is the only part of our being which can be changed or transformed, so it is the thoughts of our minds which determine what kind of people we are: “as a man thinketh in his heart. so is he.” We tried to outline the course of action which every member of the One Body must institute in his own self-discipline if he or she is to gain that necessary control of thought.
Now we would like to turn our attention to the Scriptures to examine some very well-known passages wherein we might find these same principles of conduct. You will have to get your Bible and read for yourself: Matthew 12:43-45.
“The Unoccupied House”
The obvious and traditional meaning attributed to these verses is of course to the nation of Israel. But in the Story of the Bible Bro. H. P. Mansfield gives a present-day application: “Nobody is spiritually safe whose life is empty. To ‘do’ no harm, is to do nothing. We might break bad habits but unless we replace them with good habits, we leave but a void that must be filled with either good or bad, for we cannot exist without any habits at all” — which gives us food for thought! The late Bro. John Carter also has a rather delightful passage on these verses in his Parables of the Messiah: Writing of the “unclean spirit” he says: “We have to think of something intangible, evil and repellent, something to be disliked. The ‘spirit’ tenants a man who is the expression of the evil thing. It then leaves him, and roams homeless in the wilderness. In its absence the house is cleaned and made wholesome, but remains unoccupied. The spirit meanwhile is seeking rest and be thinks itself of its old home. It creeps towards it, peeps within, and finding no occupant rushes away to gather other boon companion to share the house with it. The one tenant which originally required an eviction order has now become eight; and as Jesus said: the last state is worse than the first!”
This is the point we endeavored to make in our last article: we make up our minds not to think unkind, evil thoughts of our brethren when suddenly we are antagonized! All our old, bitter thoughts rush back in again — together with a lot more — and truly our last state is worse than the first! Bro. Carter concludes: “the parable is the story of many a man who sought with some success to exorcise an evil habit, but instead of developing and enthroning the opposite, good side (that’s the secret!) has stopped short at the first step.” Passion must be evoked to cast out passion. And if once heart and mind be filled with strong positive interests, the rest will come of itself. ”A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things; and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things” says Jesus in Matthew’s same passage at verse 35.
A Convert To The Truth
Possibly the same parable may be used to describe one who has come into the Truth? In Zech. 13:2 an “unclean spirit,” in association with false “prophets,” describes those who teach false doctrine who will be non-existent in the Kingdom. Again, John warns us to “try the spirits whether they are of God because many false prophets are gone out into the world,” I John 4:1-3. We would expect to find an unclean spirit in a “dry place” (Mat. 12:43) because a dry place is one where there is no living water: no truth. The psalmist writes: “my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is,” Psa. 63:1. False prophets, or teachers, are described by the apostle Peter as “wells without water” or as the Revised has it: “water less springs,” II Peter 2:17. An unclean spirit is the opposite to the Spirit of truth.
And so verse 44 of Matt. 12 may describe a believer whose mind has been cleared of all false doctrine: he attends all the meetings, does all of the daily readings, breaks bread regularly — but his mind is still a long way from being filled with divine principles. The false doctrine has been cleaned out, but nothing positive has been put in its place. One might argue that his mind has been filled with new principles of truth: with first principles, and therefore his mind is not empty, as this man’s was in Jesus’ parable. But the point we have been trying to make all along, is that we may have minds filled with principles of truth, but still not gain the Kingdom because our minds are also filled with negative thoughts about others! Let us not confuse principles of faith with principles of conduct. And neither let us assume that because we believe Truth we shall automatically have the proper attitude of mind. It is those who have Truth whom Paul exhorts to gain the mind of Christ! Jesus didn’t say “Blessed are the Christadelphians for they shall inherit the earth:” he said: “blessed are the meek . . .” — which is a state of mind.
All of us begin our walk in the Truth with our minds cleansed of false doctrine; in a sense. At baptism we stand on the starting line in the race for eternal life with our minds in neutral (like Adam and Eve we have a potential for good or evil): all set to go. The race does not go to the swift (those who amass a tremendous amount of Scriptural knowledge which is never applied in their conduct) but to the tortoise: to the one who patiently endures in filling his mind with love.
The key to Matt. 12:44 is the last word: “garnished.”
Empty Minds And Cosmetics!
In the Greek it is the word from which we get our English: cosmetics. It means basically to arrange, to set in order, to beautify. We find it again in Matt. 23: 29 where Jesus says: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you build the tombs of the prophets and garnish the sepulchers of the righteous.” And we see the sepulchers all beautiful and orderly in their outward appearance –covered with a veneer of holiness and purity; but inside: filled with dead men’s bones or — empty.’ Either way unclean.
The same word is used in another very well-known passage: that of the parable of the ten virgins: Matt. 25:1-13. In verse 7 we read: “Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.” They “garnished” their lamps. Their torches were all neat and orderly in their outward appearance: they had been cleaned and polished and the wicks trimmed — but five of the virgins had no oil! They may have attended all the meetings faithfully, conformed to all the rules of the meeting (even subscribed to the Statement of Faith without reservation), they had dutifully done the daily readings, but there was no serious application of the mind to the Word of God, and so their torches had gone out — no oil! Beautifully appointed in the exterior yes: garnished to the nth degree; but their minds: empty! And here please note: the only way one’s mind can be transformed so that the conduct is governed by divine principles of love, is by application of that same mind in study of, and meditation upon. the Word of God.
And so we see a close parallel between the man whose mind was like An Unoccupied House, and the 5 Virgins: all had expelled false doctrine; all were in the Truth. But none of them had filled their minds with divine principles of conduct and so all were in danger of losing the Kingdom. In the words of Islyp Collyer again: “You have ruthlessly rooted out the weeds — what have you planted in the ground thus cleared? If nothing is planted, the weeds grow back in, even thicker than before!” Those of us who have gardens will appreciate the wisdom of this.
We can contrast the man with the empty mind and the five virgins with those in Luke 12:35-36 to whom the exhortation is given: “Let your loins be girded about and your lights burning.” The “lights” were lamps and in contrast to the five virgins these men were prepared for the coming of their Lord. Why were they prepared? What is the significance of having their lamps burning? Was it because they were preaching the Truth — or living the Truth — or both? Next issue, God willing, we shall consider the answers to these questions.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One