Practical Religion — Riches and Poverty Part 2
IV.
Let us observe, in the next place, _how precious a believer's soul is in the sight of God_.
The rich man, in the parable, dies and is buried.
Perhaps he had a splendid funeral,--a funeral proportioned to his expenditure while he was yet alive.
But we hear nothing further of the moment when soul and body were divided.
The next thing we hear of is that he is in _hell_.
The poor man, in the parable, dies also.
What manner of burial he had we know not.
A pauper's funeral among ourselves is a melancholy business.
The funeral of Lazarus was probably no better.
But this we do know,--that the moment Lazarus dies he is carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom,--carried to a place of rest, where all the faithful are waiting for the resurrection of the just.
There is something to my mind very striking, very touching, and very comforting in this expression of the parable.
I ask your especial attention to it.
It throws great light on the relation of all sinners of mankind who believe in Christ, to their God and Father.
It shows a little of the care bestowed on the least and lowest of Christ's disciples, by the King of kings.
No man has such friends and attendants as the believer, however little he may think it.
Angels rejoice over him in the day that he is born again of the Spirit.
Angels minister to him all through life.
Angels encamp around him in the wilderness of this world.
Angels take charge of his soul in death, and bear it safely home.
Yes!
vile as he may be in his own eyes, and lowly in his own sight, the very poorest and humblest believer in Jesus is cared for by his Father in heaven, with a care that passeth knowledge.
The Lord has become his Shepherd, and he can "want nothing."
(Ps.
xxiii.
1. ) Only let a man come unfeignedly to Christ, and be joined to Him, and he shall have all the benefits of a covenant ordered in all things and sure.
Is he laden with many sins?
Though they be as scarlet they shall be white as snow.
Is his heart hard and prone to evil?
A new heart shall be given to him, and a new spirit put in him.
Is he weak and cowardly?
He that enabled Peter to confess Christ before his enemies shall make him bold.
Is he ignorant?
He that bore with Thomas' slowness shall bear with him, and guide him into all truth.
Is he alone in his position?
He that stood by Paul when all men forsook him shall also stand by his side.
Is he in circumstances of special trial?
He that enabled men to be saints in Nero's household shall also enable him to persevere.
The very hairs of his head are all numbered.
Nothing can harm him without God's permission.
He that hurteth him, hurteth the apple of God's eye, and injures a brother and member of Christ Himself.
His trials are all wisely ordered.
Satan can only vex him, as he did Job, when God permits him.
No temptation can happen to him above what he is able to bear.
All things are working together for his good.
His steps are all ordered from grace to glory.
He is kept on earth till he is ripe for heaven, and not one moment longer.
The harvest of the Lord must have its appointed proportion of sun and wind, of cold and heat, of rain and storm.
And then when the believer's work is done, the angels of God shall come for him, as they did for Lazarus, and carry him safe home.
Alas!
the men of the world little think whom they are despising, when they mock Christ's people.
They are mocking those whom angels are not ashamed to attend upon.
They are mocking the brethren and sisters of Christ Himself.
Little do they consider that these are they for whose sakes the days of tribulation are shortened.
These are they by whose intercession kings reign peacefully.
Little do they reck that the prayers of men like Lazarus have more weight in the affairs of nations than hosts of armed men.
Believers in Christ, who may possibly read these pages, you little know the full extent of your privileges and possessions.
Like children at school, you know not half that your Father is doing for your welfare.
Learn to live by faith more than you have done.
Acquaint yourselves with the fulness of the treasure laid up for you in Christ even now.
This world, no doubt, must always be a place of trial while we are in the body.
But still there are comforts provided for the brethren of Lazarus which many never enjoy.
V.
Observe, in the last place, _what a dangerous and soul-ruining sin is the sin of selfishness_.
You have the rich man, in the parable, in a hopeless state.
If there was no other picture of a lost soul in hell in all the Bible you have it here.
You meet him in the beginning, clothed in purple and fine linen.
You part with him at the end, tormented in the everlasting fire.
And yet there is nothing to show that this man was a murderer, or a thief, or an adulterer, or a liar.
There is no reason to say that he was an atheist, or an infidel, or a blasphemer.
For anything we know, he attended to all the ordinances of the Jewish religion.
But we do know that he was lost for ever!
There is something to my mind very solemn in this thought.
Here is a man whose outward life in all probability was correct.
At all events we know nothing against him.
He dresses richly; but then he had money to spend on his apparel.
He gives splendid feasts and entertainments; but then he was wealthy, and could well afford it.
We read nothing recorded against him that might not be recorded of hundreds and thousands in the present day, who are counted respectable and good sort of people.
And yet the end of this man is that he goes to hell.
Surely this deserves serious attention.
(_a_) I believe it is meant to teach us _to beware of living only for ourselves_.
It is not enough that we are able to say, "I live correctly.
I pay every one his due.
I discharge all the relations of life with propriety.
I attend to all the outward requirements of Christianity."
There remains behind another question, to which the Bible requires an answer.
"To whom do you live?
to yourself or to Christ?
What is the great end, aim, object, and ruling motive in your life?"
Let men call the question extreme if they please.
For myself, I can find nothing short of this in St. Paul's words: "He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them and rose again."
(2 Cor.
v.
15. ) And I draw the conclusion, that if, like the rich man, we live only to ourselves, we shall ruin our souls.
(_b_) I believe, further, that this passage is meant to teach us _the damnable nature of sins of omission_.
It does not seem that it was so much the things the rich man did, but the things he left undone, which made him miss heaven.
Lazarus was at his gate, and he let him alone.
But is not this exactly in keeping with the history of the judgment, in the twenty-fifth of St. Matthew?
Nothing is said there of the sins of commission of which the lost are guilty.
How runs the charge?
--"I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not."
(Matt.
xxv.
42, 43. ) The charge against them is simply that they did not do certain things.
On this their sentence turns.
And I draw the conclusion again, that, except we take heed, sins of omission may ruin our souls.
Truly it was a solemn saying of good Archbishop Usher, on his death-bed: "Lord, forgive me all my sins, but specially my sins of omission."
(_c_) I believe, further, that the passage is meant to teach us that _riches bring special danger with them_.
Yes!
riches, which the vast majority of men are always seeking after,--riches for which they spend their lives, and of which they make an idol,--riches entail on their possessors immense spiritual peril!
The possession of them has a very hardening effect on the soul.
They chill.
They freeze.
They petrify the inward man.
They close the eye to the things of faith.
They insensibly produce a tendency to forget God.
And does not this stand in perfect harmony with all the language of Scripture on the same subject?
What says our Lord?
"How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God!"
(Mark x. 23, 25. ) What says St. Paul?
"The love of money is the root of all evil; which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."
(1 Tim vi.
10. ) What can be more striking than the fact that the Bible has frequently spoken of money as a most fruitful cause of sin and evil?
For money Achan brought defeat on the armies of Israel, and death on himself.
For money Balaam sinned against light, and tried to curse God's people.
For money Delilah betrayed Sampson to the Philistines.
For money Gehazi lied to Naaman and Elisha, and became a leper.
For money Ananias and Sapphira became the first hypocrites in the early Church, and lost their lives.
For money Judas Iscariot sold Christ, and was ruined eternally.
Surely these facts speak loudly.
Money, in truth, is one of the most _unsatisfying_ of possessions.
It takes away some cares, no doubt; but it brings with it quite as many cares as it takes away.
There is trouble in the getting of it.
There is anxiety in the keeping of it.
There are temptations in the use of it.
There is guilt in the abuse of it.
There is sorrow in the losing of it.
There is perplexity in the disposing of it.
Two-thirds of all the strifes, quarrels, and lawsuits in the world, arise from one simple cause,--_money_!
Money most certainly is one of the most _ensnaring and heart-changing_ of possessions.
It seems desirable at a distance.
It often proves a poison when in our hand.
No man can possibly tell the effect of money on his soul, if it suddenly falls to his lot to possess it.
Many an one did run well as a poor man, who forgets God when he is rich.
I draw the conclusion that those who have money, like the rich man in the parable, ought to take double pains about their souls.
They live in a most unhealthy atmosphere.
They have double need to be on their guard.
(_d_) I believe, not least, that the passage is meant to _stir up special carefulness about selfishness in these last days_.
You have a special warning in 2 Tim.
iii.
1, 2: "In the last days perilous times shall come: for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous."
I
believe we have come to the last days, and that we ought to beware of the sins here mentioned, if we love our souls.
Perhaps we are poor judges of our own times.
We are apt to exaggerate and magnify their evils, just because we see and feel them.
But, after every allowance, I doubt whether there ever was more need of warnings against selfishness than in the present day.
I am sure there never was a time when all classes in England had so many comforts and so many temporal good things.
And yet I believe there is an utter disproportion between men's expenditure on themselves and their outlay on works of charity and works of mercy.
I see this in the miserable one guinea subscriptions to which many rich men confine their charity.
I see it in the languishing condition of many of our best religious Societies, and the painfully slow growth of their annual incomes.
I see it in the small number of names which appear in the list of contributions to any good work.
There are, I believe, thousands of rich people in this country who literally give away nothing at all.
I see it in the notorious fact, that few, even of those who give, give anything proportioned to their means.
I see all this, and mourn over it.
I regard it as the selfishness and covetousness predicted as likely to arise in "the last days."
I know that this is a painful and delicate subject.
But it must not on that account be avoided by the minister of Christ.
It is a subject for the times, and it needs pressing home.
I desire to speak to myself, and to all who make any profession of religion.
Of course I cannot expect worldly and utterly ungodly persons to view this subject in Bible light.
To them the Bible is no rule of faith and practice.
To quote texts to them would be of little use.
But I do ask all professing Christians to consider well what Scripture says against covetousness and selfishness, and on behalf of liberality in giving money.
Is it for nothing that the Lord Jesus spoke the parable of the rich fool, and blamed him because he was not "rich towards God"?
(Luke xii.
21. ) Is it for nothing that in the parable of the sower He mentions the "deceitfulness of riches" as one reason why the seed of the Word bears no fruit?
(Matt.
xiii.
22. ) Is it for nothing that He says, "Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness"?
(Luke xvi.
9. ) Is it for nothing that He says, "When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee.
But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: and thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee; for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just"?
(Luke xiv.
14. ) Is it for nothing that He says, "Sell that ye have and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth"?
(Luke xii.
33. ) Is it for nothing that He says, "It is more blessed to give than to receive"?
(Acts xx.
35. ) Is it for nothing that He warns us against the example of the priest and Levite, who saw the wounded traveller, but passed by on the other side?
Is it for nothing that He praises the good Samaritan, who denied himself to show kindness to a stranger?
(Luke x. 34. ) Is it for nothing that St. Paul classes covetousness with sins of the grossest description, and denounces it as idolatry?
(Coloss.
iii.
5. ) And is there not a striking and painful difference between this language and the habits and feeling of society about money?
I appeal to any one who knows the world.
Let him judge what I say.
I only ask my reader to consider calmly the passages of Scripture to which I have referred.
I cannot think they were meant to teach nothing at all.
That the habits of the East and our own are different, I freely allow.
That some of the expressions I have quoted are figurative, I freely admit.
But still, after all, a principle lies at the bottom of all these expressions.
Let us take heed that this principle is not neglected.
I wish that many a professing Christian in this day, who perhaps dislikes what I am saying, would endeavour to write a commentary on these expressions, and try to explain to himself what they mean.
To know that alms-giving cannot atone for sin is well.
To know that our good works cannot justify us is excellent.
To know that we may give all our goods to feed the poor, and build hospitals and cathedrals, without any real charity, is most important.
But let us beware lest we go into the other extreme, and because our money cannot save us, give away no money at all.
Has any one money who reads these pages?
Then "take heed and beware of covetousness."
(Luke xii.
15. ) Remember you carry weight in the race towards heaven.
All men are naturally in danger of being lost for ever, but you are doubly so because of your possessions.
Nothing is said to put out fire so soon as earth thrown upon it.
Nothing I am sure has such a tendency to quench the fire of religion as the possession of money.
It was a solemn message which Buchanan, on his death-bed, sent to his old pupil, James I. : "He was going to a place where few kings and great men would come."
It is possible, no doubt, for you to be saved as well as others.
With God nothing is impossible.
Abraham, Job, and David were all rich, and yet saved.
But oh, take heed to yourself!
Money is a good servant, but a bad master.
Let that saying of our Lord's sink down into your heart: "How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God."
(Mark x. 23. ) Well said an old divine: "The surface above gold mines is generally very barren."
Well might old Latimer begin one of his sermons before Edward VI by quoting three times over our Lord's words: "Take heed and beware of covetousness," and then saying, "What if I should say nothing else these three or four hours?"
There are few prayers in our Litany more wise and more necessary than that petition, "In all time of our _wealth_, good Lord deliver us."
Has any one little or no money who reads these pages?
Then do not envy those who are richer than yourself.
Pray for them.
Pity them.
Be charitable to their faults.
Remember that high places are giddy places, and be not too hasty in your condemnation of their conduct.
Perhaps if you had their difficulties you would do no better yourself.
Beware of the "love of money."
It is the "root of all evil."
(1 Tim.
vi.
10. ) A
man may love money over-much without having any at all.
Beware of the love of self.
It may be found in a cottage as well as in a palace.
And beware of thinking that poverty alone will save you.
If you would sit with Lazarus in glory, you must not only have fellowship with him in suffering, but in grace.
Does any reader desire to know the remedy against that love of self which ruined the rich man's soul, and cleaves to us all by nature, like our skin?
I tell him plainly there is only one remedy, and I ask Him to mark well what that remedy is.
It is not the fear of hell.
It is not the hope of heaven.
It is not any sense of duty.
Oh, no!
The disease of selfishness is far too deeply rooted to yield to such secondary motives as these.
Nothing will ever cure it but an experimental knowledge of Christ's redeeming love.
You must know the misery and guilt of your own estate by nature.
You must experience the power of Christ's atoning blood sprinkled upon your conscience, and making you whole.
You must taste the sweetness of peace with God through the mediation of Jesus, and feel the love of a reconciled Father shed abroad in your heart by the Holy Ghost.
_Then_, and not till then, the mainspring of selfishness will be broken.
_Then_, knowing the immensity of your debt to Christ, you will feel that nothing is too great and too costly to give to Him.
Feeling that you have been loved much when you deserved nothing, you will heartily love in return, and cry, "What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits?"
(Ps.
cxvi.
12. ) Feeling that you have freely received countless mercies, you will think it a privilege to do anything to please Him to whom you owe all.
Feeling that you have been "bought with a price," and are no longer your own, you will labour to glorify God with body and spirit, which are His.
(1 Cor.
vi.
20. ) Yes: I repeat it this day.
I know no _effectual_ remedy for the love of self, but a believing apprehension of the love of Christ.
Other remedies may palliate the disease: this alone will heal it.
Other antidotes may hide its deformity: this alone will work a perfect cure.
An easy, good-natured temper may cover over selfishness in one man.
A
love of praise may conceal it in a second.
A self-righteous asceticism and an affected spirit of self-denial may keep it out of sight in a third.
But nothing will ever cut up selfishness by the roots but the love of Christ revealed in the mind by the Holy Ghost, and felt in the heart by simple faith.
Once let a man see the full meaning of the words, "Christ loved me and gave Himself for me," and then he will delight to give himself to Christ, and all that he has to His service.
He will live to Him, not in order that he may be secure, but because he is secure already.
He will work for Him, not that he may have life and peace, but because life and peace are his own already.
Go to the cross of Christ, all you that want to be delivered from the power of selfishness.
Go and see what a price was paid there to provide a ransom for your soul.
Go and see what an astounding sacrifice was there made, that a door to eternal life might be provided for poor sinners like you.
Go and see how the Son of God gave Himself for you, and learn to think it a small thing to give yourself to Him.
The disease which ruined the rich man in the parable may be cured.
But oh, remember, there is only one real remedy!
If you would not live to yourself you must live to Christ.
See to it that this remedy is not only known, but applied,--not only heard of, but used.
(1) And now let me conclude all by _urging on every reader of these pages, the great duty of self-inquiry_.
A passage of Scripture like this parable ought surely to raise in many an one great searchings of heart.
--"What am I?
Where am I going?
What am I doing?
What is likely to be my condition after death?
Am I prepared to leave the world?
Have I any home to look forward to in the world to come?
Have I put off the old man and put on the new?
Am I really one with Christ, and a pardoned soul?"
Surely such questions as these may well be asked when the story of the rich man and Lazarus has been heard.
Oh, that the Holy Ghost may incline many a reader's heart to ask them!
(2) In the next place, _I invite_ all readers who desire to have their souls saved, and have no good account to give of themselves at present, to seek salvation while it can be found.
I do entreat you to apply to Him by whom alone man can enter heaven and be saved,--even Jesus Christ the Lord.
He has the keys of heaven.
He is sealed and appointed by God the Father to be the Saviour of all that will come to Him.
Go to Him in earnest and hearty prayer, and tell Him your case.
Tell Him that you have heard that "He receiveth sinners," and that you come to Him as such.
(Luke xv.
