LivePrayerSermon 1864. First Things First
(No. 1864)
[This address has been lengthened a little in order to fill the usual number of pages. It has also been revised sufficientlyto make it read much the same as it was heard. There were passages which depended so much upon the voice and tone that theycould
not be reproduced by letterpress.]
AN ADDRESS BYC. H. SPURGEON, DELIVERED AT THE MONTHLY MEETING OF THE LONDON BANKS' PRAYER UNION, HELD AT THE EGYPTIAN HALL,MANSION HOUSE, LONDON,
ON MONDAY AFTERNOON, SEPTEMBER 28, 1885, THE RIGHT HON. THE LORD MAYOR, M.P., IN THE CHAIR.
MY LORD MAYOR AND GENTLEMEN-I was asked to give an address to the members of the Banks' Prayer Union and to others occupiedin banking, but I beg to warn you all that an address from me is very much like a sermon. I am so in the habit of preachingthat almost of necessity my talk drops into sermon form. I have heard a story of a painter of signboards in Harp Alley inthe olden times which illustrates the force of habit. An innkeeper selected an angel as the sign of his house and asked thisknight of the brush to produce one, but the painter replied, "You had better have a lion. I have been painting lions so longthat they are more in my line than angels." My host answered that there were three or four lions of different colors in thestreet, already, and that he must have an angel. "Well," said our artist, "if you must have an angel, you shall have an angel,but it will be dreadfully like a lion." Thus it comes to pass that when I am compelled to give an address, it is extremelylike a sermon! I pray you have patience with me now that I have confessed my weakness.
A philosopher has remarked that if a man knew that he had 30 years of life before him, it would not be an unwise thing tospend 20 of those years in mapping out a plan of living and putting himself under rule, for he would do more with the 10 well-arrangedyears than with the whole 30 if he spent them at random, There is much truth in that saying. A man will do little by firingoff his gun if he has not learned to take aim.
Possibly I address myself to some who have, up to now, lived haphazardly and, if so, I invite them to a more hopeful methodof living. To have a great many aims and objectives is much the same thing as having no aim at all, for if a man shoots atmany things, he will hit none, or none worth hitting. It is a grand thing to know what we are living for and to live for aworthy objective with the undivided energy of our being. Shall we, when the end comes, have made a success of life? Has ourobjective been a right one and has it been wisely pursued? Are the results of our conduct such as we shall wish them to havebeen when the conflict of this mortal life is over? These questions deserve immediate consideration.
Another question arises out of them-What position should religion occupy in reference to a man's life? That is a questionwhich naturally arises in the arranging of life for, whatever we chose to think of it, there is such a thing as religion inthe world-and there is within us some yearning after spiritual things. We cannot help feeling that we need somewhat more thanthis visible world can offer us. Many of us find our greatest joy in the cultivation of that feeling, for it is to us thetoken of our spiritual nature and the prophecy of immortality. To us, this life is mainly worth living because it promisesto be the introduction to a better life-
"Alas for love, if you were all, And nothing beyond, O earth!"
Alas for life if this were all and there were not a higher and better state of existence! No knell would be more doleful thanthat which signified the death of man's hope of immortality.
What position should religion occupy in your life and mine? The answer must depend very much upon another ques-tion-What isreligion and what does religion, itself, demand? What are the requirements of the great God and of the soul and of eternity?This question has suggested to me the text upon which I shall speak this afternoon-
"Seek you first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6:33.
I shall not trespass beyond the appointed time. However prosy I may be during the time allotted to me, I shall stop when thehour is complete.
HERE IS AN ACCOUNT OF WHAT TRUE RELIGION IS. According to the Words of Christ Jesus our Lord, it is "The Kingdom of God andHis righteousness." Just now I read to you a portion of Scripture, Matthew 6:24-34, and I read it to you that you might note that our text occurs in the midst of a warning against undue anxiety. Undue anxietyis very common among city men and it is not rare anywhere. Certain of us are nervous, timid, doubtful and prone to fear. Thereare plenty of pessimists about, although they will hardly recognize themselves by that title. To them, evil is always impending-weare about to take a leap in the dark. All their birds are owls or ravens. All their swans are black. If it rains today, itwill rain tomorrow-and the next day and the next-and, in all probability, there will be a deluge! Or if it is fine today,it will be dry tomorrow and so on, for months-and the earth and all the meadows that are therein will perish with drought.As to the sun, they observe with pleasing despondency that he has spots. His light they hardly notice, but they dote uponhis spots with amiable horror! Minds of this sort-
Find poisons in trees, deaths in the running brook Dirges in stones and ill in everything. I suppose they cannot help it-yetChristian men must help it, for the Lord's precept is plain and binding-"Be not, therefore, anxious."
Fretful anxiety is forbidden to the Christian. In the first place, it is needless. Matthew 6:26-"Behold the fowls of the air," said Christ, "they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenlyFather feeds them. Are you not much better than they?" If you have a Father in Heaven to care for you, are you not put toshame by every little bird that sits upon the bough and sings, though it has not two grains of barley in all the world? Godtakes charge of the fowls of the air and thus they live exempt from care-why do not we?
Our Lord also taught that such anxiety is useless as well as needless, for, with all our care, we cannot add a cubit to ourstature. Can we do anything else by fretful care? What if the farmer deplores that there is no rain? Do his fears unstop thebottles of Heaven? Or if the merchant sighs because the wind detains his laden ship-will his complaining turn the gale toanother quarter? We do not better ourselves a bit by all our fret and fume. It were infinitely wiser to do our best and thencast our cares upon our God. Prudence is wisdom, for it adapts means to ends, but anxiety is folly, for it groans and worriesand accomplishes nothing.
Besides, according to our Savior, anxiety about carnal things is heathenish-"After all these things do the Gentiles seek."They have no God and no Providence and, therefore, they try to be a providence to themselves! As for the man of God who cansay, "God's Providence is my inheritance," why should he pine away with trouble? Let the heir of Heaven act a nobler partthan the mere man of the world who has his portion in this life and lives without God and without hope! Our distrust of ourGod is childish and dishonoring. I was going through these streets one day, driven by a friend in a four-wheeled chaise, andhe, being a good driver, must necessarily drive into narrow places where it seemed to me that we should be crushed by thevans and omnibuses. I shrank back in my timidity and expressed my unwise alarms so freely, that with a smile he laid the reinsin my hand, and said, "If you cannot trust me, would you like to drive yourself?" From that ambition I was wholly free andI assured him that he might drive as he liked, rather than make me the charioteer. Surely, the great God might well put thesame proposal to those who are complaining of His Providence. If we cannot trust Him, could we manage better, ourselves? Ifwe are men in Christ, let us believe in our God and leave the governance of the great world outdoors, and of the little worldwithin our own gates, to the Lord God, our heavenly Father, who will surely cause all things to work together for good tothem that love Him!
It is plain that within us there is a propensity to be anxious. Can we not utilize it? Can we not turn it to good account?I think so. Some are naturally thoughtful and careful-can they not transform this tendency into a benefit? We have a tendencyto be anxious. Very well, let us be anxious, but let our anxiety run in the right direction. Here is a mental heat-let usapply it to some useful purpose. Our text sets before us the true sphere of Christian carefulness. "Seek you first the Kingdomof God and His righteousness." Seek that with all your care! Seek that with all your energy. Be anxious about that. Let yourwhole mind run in that direction with eagerness and thought. You cannot be too careful or too energetic when God and righteousnessare concerned.
In our text there is a description of true religion. What is it? "The Kingdom of God." Without using a single superfluoustheological term, I may say that the great God has always had a Kingdom in this world. In the olden times He set up a kingdomamong His people, Israel, to whom He gave laws and statutes. But now the Lord is King over all the world-"The God of the wholeearth shall He be called." "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein." Godhas a Kingdom in this world, but it is too much neglected and forgotten of men. The first thing to be done by us is to enterthat Kingdom. Blessed is that man who has the Lord God to be his King and has learned to order his life according to DivineLaw. The highest liberty comes from wearing the yoke of God. The servant of men who dares not call his soul his own is a serfto be pitied. But the servant of God who fears nothing but sin, is a man of princely mold. We must stoop before God, thatwe may conquer among men! If we determine to yield ourselves wholly unto the Lord, we shall become influential among our fellowmen.
We can only enter into this Kingdom of God by being born again of His Spirit, for, "except a man be born again, he cannotsee the Kingdom of God." In that new birth we learn to submit ourselves to the Lord Jesus Christ and to find in Him, eternallife. God has appointed the Lord Jesus heir of all things. By Him, also, He made the worlds. He says of Him, "Kiss the Son,lest He be angry and you perish from the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little." Faith in Christ casts our sins at thefoot of His Cross and brings us an inward life unto holiness. We must believe in Jesus and trust in His great Atonement forsin, for apart from His full Atonement, there is no salvation and no true service to God. This faith puts us into the Kingdomof God for, to "as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on Hisname." The first anxiety of every man should be to be a loyal subject of the Kingdom of
God.
And when we feel that we are reconciled to God and are under His supreme sway, our next objective should be to continue thereand to become more and more completely obedient to Divine rule-so that we may more fully enjoy every privilege of the Kingdom.In the Kingdom of God every man is a king and a priest. He that serves God reigns. He that serves God is the possessor ofall things! All things are ours when we are Christ's-
"This world is ours, and worlds to come: Earth is our lodge, and Heaven our home." Let the Christian seek to know to the fullestwhat is the heritage of the saints in Christ Jesus.
Our next business should be to spread that Kingdom-to try to bring others under the dominion of Christ. It should be the lifeworkof each man to bring others to acknowledge the Sovereignty of the Lord Jesus. What opportunities most of you possess! Yourstation, your education, your wealth-all give you advantages for serving the Lord. Are you using them? It is a great joy tothe Christian minister to have about him a people who are missionaries in their daily lives. With great joy have I listenedto some poor girl who has confessed her faith in Christ and then has added very timidly, "There is another girl waiting outsidewho would like to speak to you. She works with me in a warehouse in the City and I spoke to her and she sought Jesus. AndI believe she is converted." I fear that many men of position are less diligent in winning souls than the poor workers theyemploy. Should it be so? He lives most and lives best who is the means of imparting spiritual life to others! May not someof you, at the last, come to a lonely end from lack of usefulness? We heard, not long ago, of the shipwreck from which a motherwas washed on shore, but found all her children drowned. She telegraphed to her husband two words. The first was very pleasantto his eyes-"Saved." The next was full of misery-"Saved alone." Ah me! Would you or I like to have it-"Saved alone"? God forbid!When we reach Heaven's gate, may we be able to say, "Here am I, and the children that You have given me."
This is the meaning of that first word-"Seek the Kingdom of God." The reign of our Lord is to be our main objective if wewould lead a well-ordered, useful, happy, and honored life.
Our text has a second word-"Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness," by which I understand the practical partof true religion. Seek to have the imputed righteousness of Christ, by all means, but seek, also, to exhibit the infused righteousnesswhich comes of sanctification. Brothers in Christ, let us aspire after a high degree of holiness! We are called to be saintsand saints are not miraculous beings to be set up in niches and admired-they are men and women who live, trade, do righteousnessand practice charity in the streets of a city, or the fields of a village! Those who are washed in the blood of the Lamb shouldnot be satisfied with the common cleanliness of morality-the garment of their life should be whiter than any fuller can makeit! Purity becomes the disciples of Jesus. In spirit, soul and body we
ought to be holiness to the Lord. Our righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees! It should be a reproductionof the Character of our Lord!
By the phrase, "His righteousness," I understand that power in the world which is always working, in some form or other, forthat which is good, true and pure. Everything in this world which is holy, honest and of good repute may count upon the Christianas its friend, for it is a part of God's righteousness. Does drunkenness eat out the very life of our nation? Do you wantmen of temperance to battle with this evil? The Christian man cries, "Write down my name!" When the slave had to be freed,the subjects of God's Kingdom were to the front in that deed of righteousness. And today, if oppression is to be put down,we dare not refuse our aid. If the people are to be educated and better housed, we hail the proposal with delight. If thehorrible sin of the period is to be denounced and punished, we may not shrink from the loathsome conflict! Let each man inis own position labor after purity and, as God shall help us, we may yet sweep these streets of their infamies and deliverour youth from pollution! Every Christian man should say of every struggle for better things, "I am in it, cost what it may."Hosts of your professors of religion forget to seek God's righteousness and seem to suppose that their principal businessis to save their own souls-poor little souls that they are! Their religion is barely sufficient to fill up the vacuum withintheir own ribs where their hearts should be! This selfishness is not the religion of Jesus! The religion of Jesus is unselfish-itenlists a man as a crusader against everything that is unrighteous. We are Knights of the Red Cross and our bloodless battlesare against all things that degrade our fellow men, whether they are causes social, political, or religious. We fight foreverything that is good, true, and just.
True religion is diffusive and extensive in its operations. I see people drawing lines continually and saying, "So far isreligious, and so far is secular." What do you mean? The notion is one which suits with the exploded notions of sacred places,priests, shrines and relics! I do not believe in it. Everything is holy to a holy man! To the pure, all things are pure. Toa man who seeks, first, the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, his house is a temple, his meals are sacraments, his garmentsare vestments, every day is a holy day and he, himself, is a priest and a king unto God! The sphere of Christianity is co-extensivewith daily life. I am not to say, "I serve God when I stand in the pulpit," for that might imply that I wished to serve thedevil when my sermon was over! We are not only to be devout at Church and pious at Prayer Meetings, but to be devout and godlyeverywhere! Religion must not be like a fine piece of medieval armor, to be hung upon the wall, or only worn on state occasions.No, it is a garment for the house, the shop, the bank! Your ledgers and iron safes are to be made, by Grace, "holiness untothe Lord." Godliness is for the parlor and the drawing room, the counting house and the exchange. It can neither be put offnor on. It is of the man and in the man if it is real! Righteousness is a quality of the heart and abides in the nature ofthe saved man as a component part of his new self. He is not righteous who is not always righteous!
Undefiled religion is a vital matter-it is in the life of the man. I am afraid that the religion of some people is like theshell of the hermit crab. At sea, the dredge brings up innumerable creeping things and among them, creatures which have theirown natural shells to live in. But here comes a fellow who has annexed the shell of a whelk and bears it about as if it werehis own. He lives in it while it suits him and he gives up the tenancy when it becomes inconvenient. The shell is not partof himself. Avoid such a religion! Beware of a Sunday shell and a weekday without the shell! That religion which you can partwith, you had better part with! If you can get rid of it, get rid of it! If it is not part and parcel of yourself, it is goodfor nothing! If it does not run right through you like a silver thread through a piece of embroidery, it will not be of anyuse for your eternal salvation.
I said, just now, that true godliness must be diffusive and I return to the statement. I remember a remark of John Newton,once rector of St. Mary Woolnoth, across the road. He was a thoroughly Calvinistic preacher, but when one asked him whetherhe believed in Calvinism, he replied, "I am a Calvinist, but I do not take it as children eat lumps of sugar. I use it toflavor all my preaching, as men use sugar in tea or food." Hypocrites swallow religion in lumps- inviting all to admire thequantity-but sincere seekers after righteousness quietly dissolve their godliness in their lives and sweeten all their commonrelationships with it. The real saint flavors his ordinary life with Divine Grace so that his wife and his children, his servantsand his neighbors are the better for it. Mr. Rowland Hill used to say that a man was not a true Christian if his dog and hiscat were not the better off for it. That witness is true.
A man's religion ought to be to him what perfume is to a rose, or light to the sun-it should be the necessary outcome of hisexistence. If his life is not fragrant with the Truth of God and bright with love, the question arises whether he
knows the religion of our Lord Jesus. The division between sacred and secular is most unhappy to both divisions of life- weneed them united! In the days of Queen Mary, a foolish spite dug up the bones of the wife of Bucer. Poor woman! She had doneno ill except that she had married a teacher of the Gospel-but she must be dragged from her grave to be buried in a dunghillfor that grave offense! When Elizabeth came to the throne, her bones were buried again-but to make the body secure from anyfuture malice of bigots, our prudent forefathers took the relics of a certain Popish saint who was enshrined at Oxford andmixed the remains of the two deceased persons past all chance of separation! Thus Mistress Bucer was secured from furtherdisrespect by her unity with the body of one of the canonized! I want the secular to be thus secured by union with the sacred!If we could only feel that our common acts are parts of a saintly life, they would not so often be done carelessly. If welay our poor daily life by itself, it will be disregarded, but if we combine it with our holiest aspirations and exercises,it will be preserved. Our religion must be part and parcel of our daily life and then the whole of our life will be preservedfrom the destroyer. Does not the Scripture say, "Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all in the name of the LordJesus"?
"But," says one, "are we not to have amusements?" Yes, such amusements as you can take in the fear of God. Do whatever Jesuswould have done. This is liberty enough for one who aspires to be like Jesus. There is happiness enough in things which arepure and right-and if not, we will not do evil to find more! We find pleasure enough without hunting for it in the outskirtsof sin. There are joys which are as far above the pleasures of folly as the feasts of kings are above the husks of swine.At times our inner life flames up into a blaze of joy and if usually it burns lower, there is at least a steady fire of peaceupon our hearth which makes our life such that we envy no one. It is not slavery that I set before you when I say that weare, first of all, to seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness-there is a present recompense which justifies the choice.And as for the eternal future, it pleads for it with a voice of thunder.
It is time that I changed the subject and dwelt upon a further theme. HERE IS AN ACCOUNT OF THE PROPER
POSITION OF TRUE RELIGION. "Seek you first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness."
Let the word, "first," indicate to you the order of time. You know those venerable city gentlemen. I hope you reverence themas I do, since they are the embodiment of wisdom. One of these said to his son, "William, I am pleased to see you inclinetowards religion. But take my advice and be reasonable. I have been in business, now, for 40 years, and my advice is-stickto trade and make money and then attend to religion." Now, the young man, as young men are apt to do, had begun to think forhimself and, for a wonder, his thoughts ran in the right groove and, therefore, he replied, "Father, I am always gratefulto you for your good advice, but this time you must excuse me if I differ from you, for the Scripture says, 'Seek you first,the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness' and, therefore, I cannot go in for making money first, but I must at once serveGod, and yet, I hope I may be none the less attentive to business." It is a good rule to begin as you mean to go on. Thatson was wiser than his counselor!
My Lord Mayor will not say that he was wrong, I am quite sure. Nor will anybody here who has tried what it is to seek first,the Kingdom of God, while engaged in business. True godliness is as good for this life as for the next. If I had to die likea dog, I would still wish to be a Christian! Place religion first in the order of time. Begin each week by carefully consecratingthe first day to rest and holy worship. Begin each day by giving the dew of the morning to communion with Heaven. Begin yourmarried life by seeking the blessing of the great Father and choosing for a partner one that will agree with you in the fearof God. In opening a new business, sanctify the venture with the supplications of godly friends and in all fresh enterprisesbe guided of the Lord. If we begin, continue and end with God, our way will be strewn with blessings.
Seek, also, the Kingdom of God first in order of preference. If it should ever become a choice between God and Mammon, neverhesitate. If wealth and righteousness run counter to each other, let the gold perish and hold fast to righteousness. FollowChrist, however dear it costs you. Blessed is that man who never deliberates because his mind is made up, rather, to "sufferaffliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season." Blessed is the man who knows no policybut that of thorough consecration to God and righteousness-who is not careful to answer in this matter, but has his mind decidedonce and for all. This is his motto-
"Tis done! The great transaction's done- I am my Lord's, and He is mine!" We have lifted our hands unto the Lord and we cannotgo back.
"Well," cries one, "But, you know, we must live." I am not sure about that. There are occasions when it would be better notto live. An old heraldic motto says, "Better death than false of faith." I am, however, quite clear about another necessity-wemust die-and we had better take that, "must," into consideration and not quite so often repeat the cant phrase, "We must live."
But we shall live, Brothers! We shall live without grinding the poor, or stooping to questionable finance, or lying to thepublic by a false prospectus. We shall live without dishonor. We young men-we shall live without lowering our colors to pleasethose who jest at godliness. Here stands one who has run the gauntlet of public criticism for more than 30 years and he hasnot suffered thereby-certainly he has not been forced to hide his faith, or recant his teachings. Silly stories, jests andsarcasms, have not killed us, nor even robbed us of our sleep! Younger Brethren, never fear-if you are right, nothing canharm you! Stand your ground and keep it. Say, "I shall do what I feel it right to do, God helping me." Any little difficultieswhich now arise will soon come to an end if you are firmly conscientious. Never be a coward-
"I had as lief not be, as live to be In awe of such a thing as I myself." Let none of us ever raise a question about whetherwe shall please or displease by doing right, but let us "seek first the Kingdom of God."
Let godliness be first in intensity. It is to be feared that many give their force to their worldly pursuits and their feeblenessto their religion. They are "all there" during banking hours, but they are not "all there" at the hour of prayer. They remindme of one whose voice in our assemblies for prayer was exceedingly low and well near inaudible. But in the shop he could beheard almost too well. Should it be so, that self should have our energies and Christ should have our lukewarmness? If everwe grow ardent and enthusiastic, it should be in the noblest of all causes, in the service of the best of Masters! In thatwork, we cannot be too earnest! Seldom enough do we meet with a person who verges upon excess of zeal in this matter. ForHim who has redeemed us with His precious blood, we cannot do too much! Our heart complains that we cannot do enough! Alas,the comparative sizes of the Bible and the ledger are frequently symbolical-a neat little Bible is buried under a huge ledger.I claim for things Divine a different place-let that be first which is first-throw your whole soul into the love and serviceof the Lord!
"Is your father a Christian?" said a Sunday school teacher to a child. The girl answered, "Yes, I believe that Father is aChristian, but he has not worked much at it lately." No doubt there are many of that sort. Their religion has taken a holidayand they, themselves, have gone up to a sluggard's bed. Let them be awakened, for it is high time to awaken out of sleep!
Seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness first, by giving to true religion a sovereignty over your lives. The helm bywhich life is steered should be in the hands of God. To glorify God and promote righteousness should be our master passion.This Aaron's rod should swallow up all other rods! Be first a man of God-after that a banker, or a merchant, or a workingman. I like to see our public men, first Christians, then Englishmen, then Conservatives, or Liberals, or Radicals, as theirconvictions sway them-but in any case, let a man be first a man of God. I would to God that our politics, our merchandise,our literature, our art were all saturated with this idea-"First a Christian." Then the secondary character would rise inexcellence and nobility! Science, social laws, trade usages, domestic life would all be the better for coming under the supremacyof living religion. The fear of God should be the foundation and the top stone of the social edifice. "Christ first" and otherthings in their due order! Over and above all, let consecration to God shine forth even as the pillar of fire in the wildernesscovered and illuminated the entire camp of Israel.
I may honestly claim five minutes more to complete the hour allotted to this service and I will spend it by TAKING
ACCOUNT OF THE PROMISE HERE MADE TO THOSE WHO "SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD, AND
HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS." Does anyone demand, "What will become of our business if we place godliness first?" The answer is in thetext-"All these things shall be added unto you." A young man beginning life resolving that he will do everything in the fearof God and that as God helps him, he will do nothing that is contrary to the mind of the Lord Jesus Christ-shall he prosper?He shall get on so far as this-he shall have bread to eat and raiment to put on-all that is necessary for this life "shallbe added to him."
"Alas!" sighs one, "I am out of place and I know not how to provide for myself and my household." Are you sure that this trialhas come without your own fault? Then be not of doubtful mind, for the Lord will provide for you. He has
said, "Trust in the Lord and do good; so shall you dwell in the land, and verily you shall be fed." David's experience was,"I have been young and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken." The drunk, the vicious, the idle, the dishonestmay suffer hunger and it will be well for them if such discipline amends them. But to the upright there arises light in thedarkness. They that serve God shall not have to complain of His deserting them. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, a certainmerchant of this great city was desired by her Majesty to go abroad for her upon affairs of State. He pleaded that his ownbusiness would suffer, whereupon her Majesty replied, "Sir, if you will mind my business, I will mind your business." Restassured that God will care for you if you make His service your delight! "All these things shall be added unto you."
The blessings of this life come to gracious men in the best shape and form, for they come by Divine promise. Suppose thatit were now put into the power of each one of us to be rich? I suspect that the most of us would be eager to avail ourselvesof the opportunity and yet it is a moot point whether it would be best for certain of us to have the burden of wealth. Itis a question whether some people, who behave splendidly where they now are, would be half as good, or a 10th as happy ifthey were lifted to higher positions. I have seen heroes drivel under the influence of luxury. Many are the creatures of circumstancesand make but poor creatures when their circumstances allow of self-indulgence! We do not know what is best for us. It is sometimesvery much better for us to suffer loss and disappointment than to obtain gain and prosperity.
When that eminent servant of God, Mr. Gilpin, was arrested to be brought up to London to be tried for preaching the Gospel,his captors made mirth of his frequent remark, "everything is for the best." When he fell from his horse and broke his leg,they were specially merry about it, but the good man quietly remarked, "I have no doubt but that even this painful accidentwill prove to be a blessing." And so it was, for, as he could not travel quickly, the journey was prolonged and he arrivedat London some days later than had been expected. When they reached as far as Highgate, they heard the bells ringing merrilyin the city down below. They asked the meaning and were told, "Queen Mary is dead and there will be no more burnings of Protestants.""Ah!" said Gilpin, "you see, it is all for the best." It is a blessing to break a leg if thereby life is saved! How oftenour calamities are our preservatives! A less evil may ward off a greater. Many a man might have soared into the clouds offolly if his wings had not been clipped by adversity. Better struggle and be honorable than become wealthy by disgracefuldeeds. Agur's prayer, "Give me neither poverty nor riches," was a wise one, but our Lord's is still better, "Not as I will,but as You will."
"All these things shall be added unto you," and the measure of the addition shall be arranged by Infallible Wisdom. Temporalthings shall come to you in such proportion as you would, yourself, desire them if you were able to know all things and toform a judgement according to Infinite Wisdom. Would you not prefer a lot selected by the Lord to one chosen by yourself?Do you not joyfully sing with the Psalmist, "You shall choose my inheritance for me"?
Does not the promise also imply that necessary things shall come to the Believer without vexatious worry and consuming labor?While others are worrying, you shall be singing! While others rise in the morning and cry, "How shall we live through theday?" you shall wake to a secure provision and you shall have a happy enjoyment of it. Your place of defense shall be themunitions of rocks. Your bread shall be given you and your water shall be sure. Contentment with your lot and confidence inGod will make life peaceful and happy-a dinner of herbs with content will yield a flavor of satisfaction unknown to thosewho eat the stalled ox. It is better to be happy than to be rich-and happiness lies in the heart rather than in the purse.Not what a man has, but what a man is will decide his bliss or woe in this life and the next. Oh yes, if God Himself addsto you the things of this life while you are serving Him, the lines will fall to you in pleasant places and you will havea goodly heritage.
The wording, of the text, "All these things shall be added unto you," reminds me that the acquisition of property often decreasesa man rather than adds to him. Have you not seen a man become visibly smaller as his riches grew greater? It is a wretchedsight which has often pained me. I have distinctly seen a man become "the architect of his own fortune" and the destroyerof himself! He has built up a palatial estate upon the ruins of his own manhood. It is a pity when a man bricks himself upwith his growing gains. Look at that hole in the wall. The man stands in it and greedily cries for bricks and mortar! He musthave golden bricks and silver mortar. They bring him the materials. He cries eagerly for more! He cannot be content unlesshe builds himself in. The wall which shuts him out from his fellow men and from the light of peace and true joy, rises higherand higher, month by month and year by year. His sympathies and charities are bricked
up, for the wall is more than breast high. Still he pines for more metallic material! At last he is built in, buried beneathhis own gatherings, lost to all manhood through his accumulations. You see his house; you see his carriage and his horses;you see his broadcloth and his broad acres, but you cannot see the man. Heart, soul, aspiration, spirituality- they are allgone-and nothing remains but a vault of greed and care to be buried, itself, under a monument bearing these words, "He diedworth half a million."
A far more desirable idea is for a man to rise above his possessions, elevating life upon steppingstones of these dead gains;building with them a pedestal above which the inner manhood rises!
This is what God intends to do in Providence to the man who serves Him heartily. He will add to him the things of this life.These shall be thrown in as supplements to the Divine heritage. I incur certain little outlays in connection with my study.We need a few matters which may be paid for out of petty cash, but I have never seen, as far as I recollect, a single pennyfor string and brown paper because, as a reader and writer, I buy books and then the string and brown paper are added to me!My purchase is the books, but the string and brown paper come to me, added as a matter of course. This is the idea of ourtext-you are to spend your strength on the high and noble purpose of glorifying God-and then the minor matters of, what shallwe eat? And, what shall we drink? And, how shall we be clothed? are thrown in as supplements! Earthly things are but the brownpaper and string-and I pray you never think too much of them.
Some people get so much of this brown paper and string that they glory in them and expect us to fall down and worship them.If we refuse this homage, they are foolish enough to adore themselves. It must not be so among the servants of God. To us,the man is the man, and not the guinea's stamp. "All these things" are, to us, small matters. The real life of the soul isall in all. Do not slice pieces out of your manhood and then hope to fill up the vacancies with bank notes. He who loses manlinessor godliness to gain gold is a great cheater of himself. Keep yourselves entirely for God and for His Christ-and let all othermatters be additions, not subtractions! Live above the world. Its goods will come to you when you do not bid high for them.If you hunt the butterfly of wealth too eagerly, you may spoil it by the stroke with which you secure it. When earthly thingsare sought for as the main objective, they are degraded into rubbish and the seeker of them has fallen to be a mere man witha muckrake, turning over a dunghill to find nothing! Set your heart on nobler things than pelf!
Cry with David, "I will lift up my eyes to the hills where comes my help." Men and brethren, let us so live that it will besafe for God to add to us the blessings of the life that now is, but that can only be done with safety when we have learnedto keep the world under our feet. May the Lord enable us to live to high and noble purposes, so that we may meet in the GloryLand and hear the approving voice of Jesus, our Savior and Captain, saying to us, "Well done, good and faithful servants."