SERMON XII.
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (I John 2:15)
In discussing this subject, I will pursue the
following:
I.
What does the love of the world mean?
II.
Who loves the world?
III.
Does the world love God?
I.
What does the love of the world mean?
1. The love of the world that the scripture talks about is not every kind or degree of desire for worldly objects. God has so created us, that we need a certain amount and certain kinds of worldly objects to live and survive in this world. We need food and clothing, tools to work with, implements of trade, and many other worldly things. The proper desire of these things is neither sinful nor inconsistent with the love of God.
To
love the world is to make worldly things the main goal of our desire and
pursuit.
To
love worldly things, and desire them more than to love God and our neighbor; to
be more anxious about obtaining worldly things, and spending more time getting
them, than glorifying God, and saving men’s souls, is to love the world in the
sense of today’s passage. Where the
love of God and of men is supreme in the heart, there may be a suitable desire
for worldly objects. But where an
individual shows a passion for acquiring wealth or worldly objects, and aims to
obtain worldly things rather than to glorify God and to do good to others, it
is certain that the love of the world is supreme in his heart.
II.
Who loves the world?
1.
All who cheat and defraud to obtain the things of the world, love the
world. Anyone, who cheats and defrauds
his neighbor, does not love his neighbor as he loves himself. Isn’t this obvious? A man who will disobey God so he can obtain
possessions, does not love God supremely. The fact that he loves the things of the world more than anything
else is a simple matter of fact.
2.
All those whose anxieties and cares are mostly about worldly things love the
world. If they are more careful about
the things of the world and more anxious and earnest in pursuing those tings
than in glorifying God and in doing good to others, they love the world
supremely.
But, you might ask, can a man be anxious to
obtain worldly things so he can do good with money? A man may desire to obtain money so he can glorify God with it;
but, in that situation the principal anxiety, care, and desire, would not
terminate on obtaining money, but on the end that he hopes to accomplish
through the use of that money. To
believe that anyone, whose supreme goal is to glorify God and do good to his
neighbor, should primarily concern himself with worldly things, is just as
absurd as it is to believe that he is more anxious about the means than about
the goal that he hopes to accomplish using those means. The end, or goal, makes the means
valuable. The goal is the main object
of one’s thought and of desire; and to think that a person’s anxieties and
cares would focus on the means of accomplishing the goal, rather than on the
goal itself, is plainly absurd and impossible.
Suppose
a man was engaged to marry a young woman halfway around the world. Now he must begin a long journey to attend
his wedding. His heart is set on the
goal he has in view. Is it likely that
the delights and worries of his journey will occupy most of his thoughts, and
absorb more of his affections than his goal of getting to his wedding? Who does not know that if his heart was set
on obtaining his bride, he would travel from city to city hardly noticing the
incidents that took place during his travels?
His bride and his marriage would fill up his thoughts every day, and be
the subject of his dreams at night; and all his cares and desires would be that
the trains and boats would carry him as fast as possible to accomplish his
heart's desire.
Can
someone who loves God supremely, and whose desire for money and possessions is
such that he may glorify God and benefit humanity thereby, be so anxious and so
busy about the means that he loses sight of his goal or his purpose in life? Can his interest in the goal he desires to
accomplish be swallowed up in his efforts to obtain the means? This can’t happen. Now I appeal to the two groups of people I am talking about. You who practice fraud, take advantage of
the ignorance of men, and cheat them in little or great things; do you pretend
to love God? If so, you are an arrogant
hypocrite.
And
you, who are so worried about worldly things, whose time, thoughts, and
affections are swallowed up in efforts to obtain them, you know for sure that you
love the world, and that the love of God is not in you.
3.
All those who consult only their own interest in the transaction of business
love the world.
God
requires you to love your neighbor as yourself. He says, “Let each of you
look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of
others”. (Phil 2:4) “Let no one seek his own, but each one the
other's well-being.” (I Cor 10:24) These are simple requirements of God. These requirements are the very spirit and
substance of the Gospel. True unselfish
love is a desire to do good to others.
A willingness to deny self, so you can promote the interest of your
neighbor is the very spirit of Christ.
It is the heart and soul of His Gospel.
Now,
suppose a man, in his business dealings with others, aims only to promote his
own selfish interest. He only seeks his
own wealth. He does not look after the
welfare of others, but his eye and his heart is only on his own side of the
bargain. He does not aim at benefiting
the individual that he transacts business with. His only goal is to take care of himself. This is the very opposite of the spirit of
the Gospel. Does this man love his neighbor
as himself? Does he love God
supremely? Has he prohibited all
selfishness, on pain of eternal death?
No! If he loved God, he won’t
disobey God, so he could make some money.
If he loved his neighbor as himself; if he felt that it was more blessed
to give than to receive; if he had the spirit of the Gospel, he would, of
course feel, and manifest just as much desire for the interest of those he
deals with as he has for his own interest.
He would be as anxious to give, as to get a good bargain; in fact, he
would be more willing to give than to receive.
Self-denial to promote the happiness and the interest of others would be
his joy. It would constitute his
happiness, and would be his heart’s desire.
Now, let me ask all you who are here, can you deny this principle? What then is your spiritual state? Do you have the love of God in you? How do you transact business? Do you consult the interest of those with
whom you deal, as much as you do your own?
Or, in all your bargains, do you aim simply to secure a profit for
yourself? If you do, the love of God is
not in you. You do not even have the
beginning of piety in your heart.
4.
All those who feel chagrined and grieved when they discover that the person
they have dealt with has got the best of the bargain and has made a greater
profit than they have, love the world supremely.
Now,
if a man had the spirit of Christ, he would rejoice in this. It would be his heart’s desire to benefit
the individual that he deals with as much as possible. And if he later learns that the individual
made a good bargain and greatly benefited from it, it would make him all the
happier.
Now,
how about you, my listeners? Do you
find yourselves gratified and delighted when you find that you have greatly
contributed to the interest of those with whom you deal, in having given them
the best side of the bargain? Be
honest. Try yourself by this rule; see whether you love your neighbor as
yourself; see whether you love God supremely.
He requires you to seek not your own, but your neighbor's wealth, to
look not on your own interest, but on the interest of others.
Do
you have the spirit of these requirements?
Do you have the spirit and temper of the God who lays down this rule of
action? If not, you do not have the
love of God in you?
5.
All those who will make bargains only when they can profit by it, love the world
supremely.
Many will never trade unless it promotes their own interest, no matter how much it might benefit anybody else. The interest of the person, who desires to make the bargain with them, is not taken into account at all. They do not think of making a bargain to benefit others, and will turn away from any such proposal instantly, unless it can promote their own selfish ends. They will stand and bow, and be very accommodating, kind, and attentive, as long as there is a chance to make a healthy profit on their goods; but the negotiation is broken off immediately, without courtesy or good manners, as soon as they realize that they can make nothing by the bargain. This shows that they do not consult the interests of those they deal with, and this shows that the world is their God.
6.
All those who will take advantage of the ignorance of those they deal with, to
make a lot of money off of them, love the world supremely.
Cases
like this often occur. A customer comes
in. He is instantly measured from head
to foot by every eye. They survey him
all over to see whether he understands the value of the things he wants to buy,
whether it will be difficult or easy to make a lot of money off of him, whether
they can keep the price of goods high and whether it is likely that he will buy
a lot. And if he wants to buy a lot,
some of the first articles that he asks about are deliberately priced low to
lead him on, from purchase to purchase under the idea that all the prices are
low. Management like this is supremely
selfish. They are frauds, and the very
opposite of the spirit of Christ. For
such a person to claim he loves God is bold hypocrisy.
7.
Those who will sell useless articles to people so they can make a profit do not
have the love of God in them.
A
man that does this cannot be consulting the interest of his neighbor at
all. He must be acting on principles of
pure selfishness. He takes the money
without giving him his money’s worth, and consents that they should “spend
money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy.” (Is. 55:2)
This is the direct opposite of the spirit of Christ.
8.
All who sell unsafe articles, so they can make money, do not have the love of
God in them.
The
man that will sell articles that they know may be harmful to his fellow man for
the sake of personal gain, has the very spirit of hell. A person, who is willing to sell rum, or
make whiskey, or sell drugs, and deal out death and damnation to others and make
others pay for it, not only poison them to death, but also rob them of their
money. Shall that person pretend to
love God? Shame on you, you hypocrite! You wretch!
You enemy of God and man! You
are a wolf sheep’s clothing! Take off
your mask, and write your name, Satan, on your forehead.
There
are those that will sell articles that are not only useless, but also
harmful. Their only purpose is to
promote the pride and vanity of others, and to take their hearts away from God,
and fasten on them the shackles of the pleasures of this vain world. They tempt the deceitful hearts of men, and
enlist them in chasing after of fashion, and gaiety, and worldliness. Now, instead of being pious, those who do
this take the devil's place, and tempt mankind to sin.
9.
All those who transact business on principles of commercial justice, rather
than on principles of unselfish love, love the world supremely.
Business
principles, called the principles of commercial justice, are selfish
principles. Selfish people have
established these principles for selfish purposes without any thought of
conforming to the law of love. These
principles neither demand, nor expect, that any one should seek another's
wealth; but every one should take care of himself, buy as low as possible and
sell as high as he can; take advantage of the state of the market and the
scarcity of the articles that he deals in.
In short, everyone should apply those principles of business that are
designed to promote self-interest. Can
a man love God supremely and his neighbor as himself, who daily and habitually
transacts business on the principles of commercial justice, when those
principles are based on requirements which are the direct opposite of the
requirements of God? Many people today
are engaged in business transactions every day, that are designed to promote
self-interest and don’t even pretend to aim at promoting the interest of
others. Self is the beginning, the
middle, and the end of everything that they do.
10.
All those who engage in business, and neglect spiritual exercises, love the
world supremely. Many professing
Christians seem to have just about as much interest in doing good with their
money, as unrepentant sinners have to repent.
They claim that they engage in business for the glory of God, but instead
of using their money for God's glory, they enlarge their capital, and their
business, and transact business using the principles of worldly men. Instead of laying out their money as they go
along for building up the kingdom of Jesus Christ, they add their yearly
profits to their capital, until nearly their whole time, thoughts, and
affections are engrossed with moneymaking.
Now,
do you who practice this not see that you are deceiving yourselves?
The
only way, in which money can be used for the glory of God and the good of men,
is to promote the spirituality and holiness of men. If you pursue business in a way that is inconsistent with your
own spirituality, you might as well talk of getting drunk or swearing for the
glory of God, as of making money for His glory. For you to neglect communion with God, under the pretense of
making money for Him, is sheer hypocrisy.
If you prefer business to prayer, if you busy yourselves in your office
or shop, and neglect your prayer closets, the love of God is not in you. To pretend that you love God is just as
absurd as to believe that your eagerness to make money for the glory of God,
leads you to neglect communion with Him; or that your great zeal to serve Him,
and great love for Him leads you to neglect communion with Him, and spend all
your time making money.
11.
There are those who make their business an excuse for not attending meetings
and using the available means to convert sinners. It is obvious that such people are not transacting business for
God. The only possible use of making
money for the glory of God is, to use it for the conversion and sanctification
of sinners. This is the reason for
doing business for God. But to be so
busy making money that you neglect to make direct and personal efforts to
convert sinners is absurd. It
demonstrates that the object of making money is not to convert, and sanctify,
and save sinners. In such situations,
it is obvious, that money is sought for the love of it, and not for building up
the kingdom of Jesus Christ.
12.
All those whose business draws their thoughts and affections away from God do
not have the love of God in them. If
they were transacting business for God, the busier they were in His service, in
doing His will and in making money for Him, the more God would be present in
all their thoughts, and the deeper and more mellow their piety would be.
13.
All rich men love the world supremely.
Jesus Christ has said that it is easier for a camel to go through the
eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Yes, you say, this is true if he sets his
heart on his riches. Now, what I say,
is that, according to the Gospel, every rich man sets his heart on riches. If he did not he would not be rich. If he loved the kingdom of God supremely, he
would give his riches to promote that kingdom.
We always do that which we generally choose to do. If you have money, and see an article of
furniture, or dress, or anything else that you want to buy if you have enough
money, you will certainly buy it, if you get the chance. This is just as certain as it is that your
choice governs your conduct. Now, if a
persson loves the Lord Jesus Christ and the souls of his neighbors more than he
loves his money, if he prefers the glory of God and the salvation of men to his
own selfish interest, it is certain that he will stop seeking riches and give
his money to promote those interests because it is his will that controls his
actions. According to the Gospel, a man
is rich when he knows that his money can be used for the glory of God and the
conversion of souls. A wealthy person
demonstrates with his mountain of money that he loves the world supremely. To say that he is rich, but does not set his
heart on riches; that he continues to accumulate his wealth, and yet does not
set his heart on wealth, is obviously absurd and false. For, certainly, nothing but a supreme
attachment to wealth could cause him to hold on to it, when every wind is
loaded down with cries and pleas to send the bread of life to those that are
ready to perish.
But,
perhaps some will say that a lot depends on the instructions that rich people
receive. They may have been erroneously
led to believe that they may lawfully retain and enjoy their wealth. My answer is that this does not eliminate
the problem, for the question is not what they may lawfully do, but what they
are inclined to do. Suppose an
affectionate wife has a husband who is a slave whom she tenderly loves. The price of his freedom is fixed, and she,
by her earnings and savings, is determined to pay the price. Look how she is going to behave. What use would it be to tell her that she
can purchase fancy clothes, pearls and expensive perfume, and that there is
nothing wrong for her to have the comforts of life? What good would it do to tell her that she could spend her
money? No. She will scarcely allow herself a pair of shoes. She will save every penny she possibly can,
and take satisfaction in denying herself everything but the absolute
necessities of life, until she has saved up enough money to pay the amount
needed for her husband's ransom. It is
useless to preach to her that there is nothing wrong for her to spend her money
on other things. She has one
all-absorbing goal in mind. She values
money only as it will contribute to the promotion of her goal. No false instruction, nor right instruction,
concerning the lawfulness of using her money for other purposes will alter her
practice. Every penny that she can
spare is laid out to promote the object of her heart's desire.
Therefore,
if a man loves God supremely, if he longs for the coming and prosperity of His
kingdom more than anything else, the question with him will not be whether he
may lawfully enjoy an estate. The truth
is, he prefers to build up the kingdom of Christ with his money, and considers
his money as being worthless unless it can contribute to the cause of
Christ. Therefore, if a man is rich and
continues to be rich under the Gospel, there can be no other reason than that
he prefers wealth to promoting the kingdom of Jesus Christ.
Do
any of you object and say, that Abraham, Job, David, and Solomon were
rich? I answer: the command had never
been given in their day to preach the Gospel to every creature, and there is no
reason to believe that they so much as dreamed that the world could be
converted in the way in which we now know that it can and must be
converted. Therefore, they could not
have had the same motives for using their wealth for the conversion of the
world that we have. We have no reason
to believe that their property could have been used for the conversion of the
world, in the sense in which we can use ours.
Therefore, keeping their wealth was no indication that they preferred it
to the kingdom and glory of God.
14.
All those who hoard their surplus income do not have the love of God in
them. By surplus income, I mean income
that is not necessary for the support of them and their families. If they hoard it, it must be because they love
it. If they preferred the kingdom of
Jesus Christ, they would immediately use what they could spare after providing
for the needs of their families, to build up God’s kingdom. Suppose an individual was stranded on the
coast of Africa, and desperately longed to return to his home, but he had no
way to pay for his trip. If some one
should give him a purse of gold, would he keep it, or would he immediately
spend it to gratify the all-absorbing desire of his heart and pay for his
ticket back to his native country. This
would be the very reason why he would prize the gift. It would be valuable to him because by it he might accomplish the
object of his heart's desire. Can it be
that a man loves supremely the kingdom of Christ, longs exceedingly for its
coming and extension, and yet hoards up his money, instead of spending it for
what he desires the most?
15. You do not practice self-denial when you
give from your surplus income. You give
to God something that costs you nothing.
There is no substantial evidence in such an act that you love God. If you gratify all your desires and the
desires of your family, if you provide for them all the comforts and
conveniences of life, and simply give whatever is left over, you do not
practice self-denial. You enjoy all
that you can possibly enjoy from your wealth, and all you are doing is simply
getting rid of the trouble of taking care of the extra money by giving the
balance of your yearly income to the cause of Christ. This is like a safety valve that lets off the surplus steam that
would otherwise burst the boiler.
Perhaps
some of you object and ask, “Should every man give up all his capital and means
at once to promote the cause of Christ?”
I answer, No, this might not be good Christian economy. A man’s capital, if it is not more than is
necessary for the wisest transaction of business, is to be considered in light
of the tools he has to serve God and his generation with. In such situations, if he gives his income,
after deducting the necessary expenses of his family, I cannot see that using
his money this way is inconsistent with the love of God. But for a man to live and die rich, to hoard
up his income, to enjoy his wealth, and leave an inheritance to his offspring,
is the Psalmist's definition of a wicked man who has his portion in this
world.
16.
All those who are more interested in the stock market and news reports that
relate to money transactions, than in the accounts of religious revivals, and
in those things that pertain to the kingdom of Christ, love the world
supremely.
Show
me a man that is looking over the Wall Street Journal, studying the stock
prices, and excited about bank questions and money speculations, but who does
not read or take an interest in reports of revivals, and the onward movements
of the church, if he claims to love God, his profession is hypocrisy.
17.
All those who become more depressed over commercial and financial losses, than
they are over the low state of religion and the state of dying sinners, love
the world supremely. This is too
obvious to need either proof or illustration.
18.
All those who would rather invest their time buying products low and reselling
them at a higher price when the demand rises, than they would in revivals of
religion, love the world supremely.
Some
people who claim they are religious get all excited when products are bought
and sold for a profit. They get excited
when stocks are high, real estate is on the rise, or any opportunity of making
money comes their way. But, if an effort
is made to promote a revival of religion, they are much too busy with financial
matters to give their time and hearts to God's work. They pretend that they are making money for God. They may also pretend to promote revivals of
religion, and pretend to appropriate money to the cause of Christ.
If the great goal of
embarking in financial speculations is to promote religious revivals, and build
up Christ's kingdom, it doesn’t make sense that if in the use of means they
should have no heart to engage in directly promoting the end that they are
supposed to be aiming for. The fact is,
that if they prefer buying and selling to revivals of religion, they love
money, and love the world supremely.
19. All those who
disobey the commandments of God for the purpose of making or saving money, love
the world supremely. Anyone, who would
avoid fellowship so he could travel on Sunday to collect a mortgage payment or
a debt owed to him, certainly loves money supremely. Could he think, if he knew that the property in his possession
belongs to God, that it would be better for him to forsake the assembling of
the brethren, than to wait until Monday to collect his money?
20. All those who are
not happier spending money for the cause of Christ, than for anything else,
love the world supremely.
Lets take another look
at the woman who is earning money to free her husband from slavery. How else could she spend that money that
would satisfy her heart as much? Her
money is valuable to her because of the importance of setting her husband
free. Should an individual give her a
purse of gold, would she say, “Now I can buy a nice dress, now I can furnish my
house and live comfortably?” No, but
bursting into tears of joy and gratitude, she would exclaim, “Now I can redeem my
husband!” In the same way, a man who
loves God and longs for the coming of His kingdom, will feel most satisfied
setting aside money to promote that object so near to his heart. Jesus Christ said, “It is more blessed to
give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35) The
truly unselfish man has the highest and holiest pleasure in dispensing his
possessions in the best way possible to promote the glory of God and the good
of his fellow men.
Instead of giving to
God's work grudgingly to promote Christ's kingdom he will unsparingly pour out
of his treasures with the fullest, readiest heart. For this, his heart yearns.
His spirit longs with unutterable desires. He therefore considers nothing a sacrifice that is given to
advance the kingdom.
Does the miser consider
his hoarding money a sacrifice or a grievance?
No, he considers his hoarding the best thing he could do with his
money. He gives sparingly to everything
else, and he is not satisfied when he has to spend money. His heart is set on accumulating treasures. Every dollar he saves and puts back into his
account adds to his heart’s desire. Now
the Christian’s heart is just as truly set on building up the kingdom of Jesus
Christ as a miser’s heart is set on hoarding up his wealth. Therefore, he will naturally be sparing in
other expenditures. However, in
promoting the great object of his heart's desire, he will be liberal and
bountiful, and enjoy every dollar invested towards his goal.
21. All those who prefer
investing to contributing to the interests of Christ’s kingdom, love the world
supremely. If they loved God supremely,
they would want to invest in worldly financial matters to enable them to
contribute to His work. If they made a
hundred or a thousand dollars, they would say, “Oh for an opportunity now to
invest this money in the cause of Christ”.
But if they love investing, and are not ready and joyful in contributing
to the cause of Christ, they love the world, and the love of God is not in
them.
22. All those who would
rather see a customer come in to pay them money, than a Christian laborer to
receive a donation to promote Christ’s kingdom, love the world supremely. Here is a person who smiles and appears delighted
when a customer comes in, but when an agent who is collecting funds for
building up Christ’s kingdom calls on him, he turns sour, and dry, and formal,
and perhaps, he becomes uncivil. This
demonstrates beyond all doubt, where his heart is at, and it shows that he
loves his money more than he loves his God.
23. All those who do not
really enjoy giving more than receiving, love the world supremely. If they loved God supremely, their supreme
goal and joy in receiving would be that they might immediately turn around and
give more to promote the desire of their heart. But if their constant cry is give, give, while they always want
to receive, and they do not enjoy giving money as much as they do receiving it,
it must be because they love the world.
24. All those who are
more miserly in what they spend for the kingdom of Christ, than in what they
spend on themselves and their families, love the world supremely. There are many so called pious people who
seem to think it is a Christian duty to have everything connected with the
worship and service of God as cheap as possible, while their home, their
personal appearance, and the appearance of their families demonstrate that they
practice a very different principle.
If
a church is to be furnished, everything must be done dirt-cheap. If there are carpets, they must be the
cheapest. If there are stoves, or
cushions, or lights, or other conveniences, almost anything will do, as long as
it is cheap. Things are allowed to
remain broken. Filth is allowed to
accumulate, and the house of God is allowed to deteriorate; and all this is
done under the pious pretense of Christian economy. Many churches in this country have poor interior lighting, and
some of them are too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter. Others have broken windows. The doors of others are so dilapidated that
they won’t close properly. Other
churches have rotten windowsills, and the church is either not painted at all,
or the paint is so old that if it were a dwelling, you would think that a drunk
lived there. Many churches in this
country have no carpets; and in churches carpets are needed more than any place
else, to prevent disturbances that always occur where people are going in and
out on an uncarpeted floor. This is
especially true in the city where there are many who are unwilling to pay to
furnish the house of worship as comfortably as they furnish their own
houses. Now, it is clear, no matter
what they may say or do in the name of Christian economy, this conduct has its
foundation in the love of the world, and in supreme selfishness. Men are always very free when it comes to
appropriating their money to promote the things that are dearest to their
hearts. This is a simple matter of
fact. Therefore, if our heart is set
supremely on honoring God with what He has provided us, it will certainly be
that if we are bountiful and liberal with our money, we will spend it on
decorating and maintaining a place for His worship, and in all those things
that are essential to decency, to comfort, and enjoyment in His service.
III. Having noticed some of the principal
evidences of supreme attachment to the world, I will now give several reasons
why such people cannot love God.
Our text today is a form
of expression that expresses a very strong negative. “If any man love the world”, says John, “the love of God is not
in him”. This is clear and
straightforward. As far as the
testimony of Scripture goes, the proof is conclusive. But
there are several considerations that relate to us that will
demonstrate, beyond all doubt, that individuals upon whom these marks of
worldliness are found do not have the love of God in them. The argument runs like this, and is very
brief.
1. It is impossible that
someone should have two supreme objects of affection. If he has any acceptable love for God, it must be supreme; and to
say that a man loves the world in the sense of today’s passage, and that he
loves God with any acceptable love, is a contradiction. It is the same as saying, that he loves both
God and the world supremely.
2. A man cannot love two
objects that are entirely opposite to each other at the same time. John immediately adds to today’s passage,
For all that is in the world the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and
the pride of life is not of the Father but is of the world.” (I John 2:16) The love of the world and the love of God, are direct opposite
states of mind, so that to exercise both of them at the same time is impossible.
3. Loving the world is
minding the flesh, which John says is enmity against God.
4. Finally. Loving the world is supreme selfishness,
which is the direct opposite of the love of God and man. Just mentioning these considerations is
enough to prove that “if any man loves the world, the love of God is not in
him”.
REMARKS
1. Can you see from what
I have shared with you, that if men would transact worldly business on Gospel
principles, it would be infinitely better for the world? If everyone sought to promote the happiness
and interest of others, the amount of property, and of every other good, would
be greatly increased. Some people
believe that unless they consult their own interest, it is impossible that
society should exist. “What”! They say, “Would you have us all seek not
our own interest, but the interest of others?
What then would become of our own interests”? Your interest would be secured, if, while you were benefiting
others, they were benefiting you. The
secular interests of men would be just as highly, in fact, even more highly
advanced, than under the present arrangement of society. At the same time, the spirit that would be
cherished and cultivated by this course of conduct would shed a sweet, healing,
and refreshing influence over all the discords and disquietudes of selfishness;
and peace, love, and heaven, would reign on earth in the hearts of men.
But does any one object
and say, that because worldly people will not practice these principles, then Christians
couldn’t practice these principles without turning all the business of the
world over into the hands of worldly people?
This is a radical and ruinous mistake.
Suppose it became known that Christians all over the world decided to
eliminate all selfishness from their business, and acted on principles of pure
unselfish love; that in all their dealings, they sought the interest of those
they deal with, equally with their own interest. No sooner would this fact be known, than worldly men would be forced
to transact business on these same principles, or to place all the business of
the world into the hands of Christians.
After all, who would deal with a man who acted on principles of supreme
selfishness, when he might just as easily transact business with someone who
would not only treat him fairly, but would treat him with complete unselfish
love. So, it is perfectly within the
power of the church to compel worldly men to transact business on Gospel
principles, or not transact business at all.
And woe to the church, if she does not reverse and annihilate our whole
system of doing business based on selfish principles.
II. Perhaps some of you
will say, “If the doctrine of this sermon is true, who then can be saved”? I answer, certainly not those who manage
their affairs on principles that are directly opposite to Gospel love. Certainly not from those who let commercial
justice, which is based on selfishness, rule their lives. Certainly not those who are satisfied with
being honest, according to commercial justice, instead of being governed by the
law of love. Certainly not those who
seek their own, rather than their neighbor’s wealth; who mind earthly things,
and consider it more blessed to receive than to give. If there is any truth in the word of God, all such men are in
their way to hell.
III. But, will any one
object and say, that what I am saying is very uncharitable? If my words are true, then the church is
loaded with hypocrites. Dear brothers
and sisters in Christ; this scripture is true, no matter what you may think it
means. I do not pretend to be more
charitable than God is by hoping that those people are pious when God says that
His love is not in them. I will not be
charitable enough to throw away my Bible, or to suppose that the lovers of the
world are the friends instead of the enemies of God. Multitudes of people who claim that they are Christians are
deceived. The fact that they love the
world supremely is as obvious as if they had taken a public oath of it; and
because the great majority of professing Christians give evidence that they
still love the world, we must not disagree with our Bibles, and charitably hope
that they are saved.
IV. Do you see from this
subject why it is that so few professing Christians today have a spirit of
prayer? The truth is, the love of God
is not in them. Look around this great
commercial nation. Look around this
community. Nearly the entire population
is here for worldly gain. The principle
on which almost the entire business of this nation is transacted is one of
supreme selfishness. How then can a
spirit of prayer prevail in such a community as this? This same principle prevails almost universally throughout the
country. Farmers, mechanics, merchants,
and men and women of every occupation, without hesitation, transact their
business on selfish principles, and supremely seek their own good and not their
neighbor's wealth. It is impossible
that the love of God should prevail in the church, or in any heart, while they
are motivated by such principles.
V. Do you see from this subject why it is
that young converts grow spiritually cold so quickly? Let any individual pass through one business season, acting on
today’s business principles, and it is impossible that the love of God should
remain alive in his heart. He is
continuously cultivating and cherishing a spirit of selfishness; and in all his
daily activities, he does not so much as intend to seek the good of others. He only seeks his own good. Why are we surprised when we see all the
backsliding that is going on in the Church today?
VI. From this subject you can see that the
religion of most of the church is not a religion of love, but a religion of
fear. They fear the Lord, but they
serve their own gods. Their consciences
drag them along to dryly perform what they call their duty. They have a dry, legal, earthly spirit; and
their pretended service is hypocrisy and utter wickedness.
VII. You can see from
this subject why so little fruit is produced from all the means that are used
for building up the kingdom of Jesus Christ.
Men would much rather give their money than to live holy lives and walk
with God. A movement seems to be taking
place today to convert the world with money.
So-called pious men avidly pursue trading and investing. While their heart, and soul, and lives are
absorbed in the spirit of this world, they are trying to persuade themselves
that their money will be a substitute for a holy life, and compensate for the
neglect of personal efforts to save the souls of men; but, rely on it, God will
show them the error of their ways.
VIII. The spontaneous conduct of the early
church shows what true piety will do in leading men to renounce the world; and
while the love of God pervaded the church, men were clearly moved by different
principles from those of commercial justice.
They sought not their own, but the things of Jesus Christ.
IX. But do you ask, “is
most of the church wrong”? I answer,
that on this subject they are wrong. In
most things, the church of today is orthodox in theory, but vastly heretical in
practice. Nor is it anything new for
the church to be nearly all wrong. More
than once or twice, nearly the entire body of the church departed from God, and
satisfied themselves with the religion of selfishness.
Finally, I beg you who
are convicted of worldliness, not to go away and say that you hope that you
love God, knowing that some, or perhaps all of these evidences are against
you. I ask to you before God and the
Lord Jesus Christ, that if these marks of worldliness are evident in your
lives, the love of God is not in you.
And oh, “do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows,
that he will also reap. For he who sows
to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit
will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.”
(Gal. 6:7-8)