Godly Companions # 1

Godly Companions # 1

"I am a companion to all who fear You - to all who follow Your precepts" (Psalm 119:63).

In the above verse we have a description of God's people according to the course of their lives and conduct. They are a people marked by two things: fear and submission, the latter being the fruit of the former. Regenerated souls obey God conscientiously out of reverence to His majesty and goodness, and from a due regard to His will as made known in His Word. The same description is given to them in Acts 10:35, "In every nation he who fears God and works righteousness is accepted with Him." It is a filial fear which is awed by God's greatness, and is careful not to offend Him, which is constrained by His love and is anxious to please Him. Such are the only ones fit to be a Christian's "companions."

A "companion" is, properly speaking, one whom I choose to walk and converse with in a way of friendship. Inasmuch as the companions we select is an optional matter, it is largely true that a person may be known by the company he or she keeps; hence the old adage, "Birds of a feather flock together." Scripture asks the searching question, "Can two walk together except they be agreed?" (Amos 3:3). A Christian, before his conversion, was controlled by the prince of darkness and walked according to the course of this world (Eph. 2:2, 3), and therefore did he seek and enjoy the company of worldlings. But when he was born again the new nature within him prompted new tastes and desires - and so he seeks a new company, delighting only in the saints of God. Alas, that we do not always continue as we began.

The Christian is to have good will toward all with whom he comes in contact, desiring and seeking their best interests (Gal. 6:10). But he is not to be yoked to (2 Cor. 6:14), nor have any fellowship with (Eph. 5:11) those who are unbelievers, nor is he to delight in or have delight toward those who despise his Master. "Should you help the ungodly, and love those who hate the Lord?" (2 Chron. 19:2).

Would you knowingly take a viper into your bosom? "The wicked is an abomination unto the righteous" (Proverbs 29:26).

So said David, "Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord, and abhor those who rise up against you? I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies" (Psalm 139:21, 22). That holy man could not be confederate with such. Evil company is to be sedulously avoided by the Christian, lest he become defiled by them. "He who walks with wise men shall be wise; but a companion of fools shall be destroyed" (Proverbs 13:20). Now is it only the openly lawless and criminal who are to be shunned - but even, yes especially, those professing to be Christians yet who do not life the life of Christians. It is this latter class particularly against which the real child of God needs to be most on his guard: namely, those who say one thing and do another; those whose talk is pious - but whose walk differs little or nothing from the ungodly. The Word of God is plain and positive on this point: "Having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them!" (2 Tim. 3:5). This is not merely good advice - but a Divine command which we disregard at our peril.

In selecting your "companions" let not a pleasing personality deceive you. The devil himself often poses as "an angel of light," and sometimes his wolfish agents disguise themselves in "sheep's clothing" (Matt. 7:15). Be most careful in seeing to it that what draws you toward and makes you desire the companionship of Christian friends - is their love and likeness to Christ - and not their love and likeness to you. Shun as you would a deadly plague - those who are not awed by the fear of God, that is, a trembling lest they offend Him. Let not the devil persuade you that you are too well established in the faith to be injured by intimacy with worldly "Christians!" Rather "follow righteousness, faith, love, peace, with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart" (2 Tim. 2:22).

"Do not be deceived: Bad company corrupts good character" (1 Cor. 15:33). Evil companionships "corrupt." All evil is contagious, and association with evildoers, whether they are "church members" or "open infidels," has a defiling and debasing effect upon the true child of God. Mark well how the Holy Spirit has prefaced His warning: "Do not be deceived." Evidently there is a real danger of God's people imagining that they can play with fire without getting burned. Not so! God has not promised to protect us when we fly in the face of His danger signals.

~A. W. Pink~

(continued with # 2)