Selected From: David Black, Sermons on Important Subjects, Sermon 14, (Edinburgh: Turnbull and Gall, 1808), 411-461.
For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s. —Philippians 2:21
We can be at no loss to understand the apostle’s meaning in the passage before us, whether we consider its connection with the context, or attend to the common use of language. A proposition may sometimes be stated in universal terms, when only a great number or the greater part are meant. Such a mode of expression is usual in the gravest writings, as well as in ordinary and familiar discourse.
We cannot suppose that the apostle intended by these words to characterize all his fellow Christians—the whole multitude of believers—many of whom were conspicuous for a spirit and temper the very reverse of that which the apostle here condemns. He speaks in the context of Timothy as one who, “as a son with a father,” served with him in the gospel (Phil. 2:22). And a little after, of Epaphroditus, his “brother and companion in labour,” who, “for the work of Christ, was nigh unto death, not regarding his life to supply their lack of service” towards him (Phil. 2:25, 30). And in the foregoing chapter, he tells us that “many of the brethren, waxing confident” by his bonds, “were much more bold to speak the word without fear” (Phil. 1:14).
But from this, as well as many other parts of Paul’s epistolary writings, it appears that even at this early period of the church, a selfish and worldly spirit had begun to manifest itself among those who bore the Christian name. And in particular we have reason to think that the apostle had occasion to witness the prevalence of this spirit among many real or pretended friends of Christianity at the time when he wrote this epistle. And if such were the case in this purest age of the church, when the temptations to a false and hypocritical profession of religion were so much fewer than they are at present, is it any wonder that, in these corrupt and degenerate times in which we live, we should have still greater cause to complain that “all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.”
Selfishness, or inordinate self-love is the common character of mankind. While men are strangers to the regenerating power of divine grace, they are almost wholly guided by it. Even their boasted benevolence, uninfluenced by the principles and motives which the gospel inspires, is little better than refined selfishness. The world they pursue is their chief good—its honours, its riches, or its pleasures, are, in their estimation, of the highest importance, so that regardless of the glory of their maker, and of the ultimate end of their being, they only consult the means of present selfish gratification. Nor is this temper (alas!) wholly confined to those who are living without God and without hope in the world. It is too often found in a certain degree in men who are, on the whole, actuated by nobler principles. The cursed leaven has spread itself through the church of Christ and infected the minds even of its genuine members. I do not mean to affirm that a prevailing worldly or selfish spirit is compatible with real religion—no, let God be true, though every man should prove a liar. The tree is known by its fruits, and if any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his. But as Christians are only sanctified in part, there may remain a considerable mixture of selfishness, even in those whose hearts the love of God is supreme. Hence have arisen the envies, jealousy, and party spirit which have tarnished the character and marred the usefulness of many wise and good men.
To trace the nature and point out the causes of this criminal temper would open up a very wide and perhaps not unprofitable subject of discourse, and such a train of reflection is naturally suggested by the words of the text. But this is not my purpose at present. My design, in the choice of this text, is not so much to expose the sinfulness and mischievous consequences of a selfish and worldly spirit in the professors of Christianity, as to recommend a temper opposite to it, to show the dignity, excellence, and unspeakable advantages of public spirit and disinterested Christian zeal, that I may, if possible, rouse a generous emulation in the breasts of those who, possessing the means and opportunities of doing good, have not been so active as they might have been in improving the talents committed to them. With this end in view, and looking up to God for his blessing, I shall endeavor:
I. To state and explain the principles by which true Christians are led to seek the things which are Jesus Christ’s, in preference to their own. And then,
II. Recommend the cultivation and exercise of this divine temper by some motives and arguments.
I. The principles by which true Christians are led to seek the things which are Jesus Christ’s, in preference to their own.
I am to state and explain to you the principles by which true Christians are led to seek the things which are Jesus Christ’s in preference to their own. The things which are Jesus Christ’s are the things pertaining to the kingdom and glory of Jesus Christ, with the means of promoting them. These are opposed to our own things, that is, to our own ease, reputation, or worldly interest, which duty to God and a regard to the honour of our Lord Jesus Christ will often require us to sacrifice. It is not possible indeed to divest ourselves of a regard to our own happiness, nor does the gospel require it. On the contrary, in the summary which Christ has given us of the second table of the law, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,” it is plainly supposed that self-love, under due regulations, is a natural and proper principle of action, since it is the measure by which we are to regulate the love which we owe to our neighbor. Pious men have sometimes uttered rash and unscriptural sentiments upon this subject, supposing it possible to be so far divested of all selfish regards as to be willing to be eternally miserable if the glory of God and the good of others might be thereby promoted, and have, in support of this opinion, cited Moses and Paul as examples of this high degree of disinterested zeal and charity. But this sentiment is as opposite to the whole tenor of Scripture doctrine, as it is repugnant to the common feelings of mankind. Nor do the examples that have been mentioned, when properly understood, give the smallest countenance to this idea. The glory of God is certainly the highest and noblest end at which a creature can aim, since it is the great end for which all things were made—but this, so far from being incompatible, is inseparably connected with the happiness of all the dutiful subjects of God’s moral government, and it never can be for his glory that any creature should be eternally miserable, who does not for his own willful rebellion and impenitence deserve to be so. The self-denial which the gospel requires implies nothing of this kind. But still it occupies a very wide and extensive province, and they who are possessed of the genuine spirit of Christianity will discover in their general temper and conduct a superiority to those selfish views which actuate the rest of mankind. Let us attend then to the principles upon which such a character is formed, contrasting the selfishness of a worldling or mere formalist in religion with the enlarged and disinterested benevolence of a faithful disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ.
1. The grand principle upon which the Christian character is formed, and that which gives birth to every other gracious disposition, is faith.
Faith, as the apostle tells us, is “the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1). It gives a kind of present subsistence to things future and invisible, representing them to the mind, not as bare probabilities, but as absolute certainties to which we may attach the firmest credit, and on which we may rely with the most unsuspicious confidence. Faith has respect to the testimony of God as the ground upon which it rests. It embraces the whole system of revealed truth and yields an implicit and unqualified assent to everything which bears the undoubted mark of divine authority. The faith of a Christian does not indeed require him to believe without evidence, for the sacred Scriptures which contain the revelation of God’s will are accompanied with many infallible proofs of their divine origin. But when satisfied upon clear and convincing evidence that the Scriptures are the Word of God, the Christian does not consider himself at liberty to choose or to refuse certain parts of the divine testimony, according as they may appear to him to be more or less conformable to his corrupt prejudices or sinful inclinations. He considers himself equally bound by every word which God has spoken, and cordially acquiesces in all his revealed will, as holy and just and good.
Such is the faith of divine operation—the faith which is inseparably connected with salvation. But it is too evident that all men have not this faith (2 Thess. 3:2). Many openly oppose and deride it, while others who esteem themselves and would be esteemed by others—Christians—are satisfied with a cold formal assent to the truth of divine revelation in general, without understanding its nature, examining its contents, or feeling any particular interest in the doctrines which it reveals. The consequence is that, with all their pretended veneration for the sacred Scriptures, they receive no serious lasting impression from them, nor do they at all experience their practical influence. Naming the name of Christ, they depart not from iniquity, but walk after the course of this world, and mind only earthly things. Hence it is that so many professors of Christianity, especially in the age in which we live, when a mere outward profession of religion is attended with little danger to a man’s worldly interest, seek their own things in preference to the things which are Jesus Christ’s. It is far otherwise with the man who is possessed of genuine faith in the gospel. Inspired with this divine principle, the true Christian is taught to form a proper estimate of the unspeakable value of spiritual blessings, and the comparative insignificance of all earthly pursuits, while he looks “not at the things which are seen” and temporal, “but at the things which are not seen” and “are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:18). “Risen with Christ,” he seeks and sets his “affections on things above, not on the things on the earth” (Col. 3:1-2). According to the measure of his faith is his superiority to low earthly schemes and selfish considerations. These, it is true, may mingle with his religious duties and debase his purest services, which cannot fail to humble him deeply in the sight of God, but they do not form his predominant character—they arise from the weakness of his faith and are neither allowed nor indulged, but powerfully resisted and mourned over before the Lord. With all his acknowledged imperfection, an habitual regard to the things which are Jesus Christ’s, in preference to his own things, is abundantly manifest in the prevailing temper of his mind, as well as in the general tenor of his conduct.
In nothing, perhaps, is true spiritual religion (the religion, I mean, which flows from a living faith in the gospel) more distinguished from a form of godliness than in this respect. The stream can rise no higher than the fountain from which it flows. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; but that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6). A worldly man’s religion is regulated by worldly principles—his fear of God is taught by the precepts of men (Isa. 29:13). A stranger to the faith which overcomes the world, not realizing the things of an unseen and everlasting state, he is always afraid of venturing too far, of being righteous overmuch, of hurting his worldly interest, and incurring the censure and reproach of those whose good opinion he wishes to preserve. But the simple-hearted, genuine disciple of Christ has learned to deny himself, to take up his cross, and follow his blessed Lord. He has counted the cost and is made willing to sell all that he has, that he may buy the treasure hid in the gospel field—the pearl of great price (Matt. 13:45–46), which faith has taught him to prize above everything which this world can bestow.
2. Connected with this principle, and naturally flowing from it, is another gracious disposition which has a powerful influence in forming the Christian character: a supreme love to the Lord Jesus Christ.
No temper or disposition of mind is more frequently spoken of in Scripture, as characteristic of a real Christian, than love to Christ. It is of the very nature and essence of true religion. “If any man,” says the apostle, “love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha” (1 Cor. 16:22), but on the other hand, “Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity” (Eph. 6:24). Love to Christ proceeding from faith in him is something more than a transient glow of affection. It is something more than saying unto Christ, “Lord, Lord,” which many do who in works deny him. Genuine love to Christ is a powerful, operative, abiding principle. It is the spring of all acceptable obedience, the grand incentive to the practice of everything that is true, and honest, and just, and pure, and lovely, and of good report (Phil. 4:8)—“for the love of Christ constraineth us” (2 Cor. 5:14), it impels us forward and bears us on in its own course like a mighty current which carries all before it. But how is this gracious principle brought into action, or in what way is its existence in the soul manifested in the outward conduct? Our Lord Jesus Christ is not now personally present upon earth to receive from his friends any visible tokens of regard. The heavens have received him till the time of the restitution of all things. But he has a cause, a kingdom, an interest in the world, and what is done for the advancement of his kingdom and interest among men, out of love to his name, he considers as done to himself. Here then, brethren, is the test of the sincerity of our love to Christ—a test which he himself requires as indispensably necessary to the character of his disciples. “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Matt. 10:37). And again, in still stronger terms, “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26). The meaning of both these passages is the same. They evidently refer to the supreme affection of the soul, and to that decided preference which the things of Jesus Christ ought to have in our minds above our own things. Our Lord, in the words just now recited, cannot be supposed to require us absolutely to hate our brethren and kinsmen according to the flesh, for this would be as contrary to the plainest principles of religion, as to the common dictates of humanity but in a comparative view, we are commanded to act as if we hated them so as to be willing to renounce our dearest friends when duty to Christ demands such a sacrifice—that is, when we must either forsake them or forsake our blessed Lord.
This doctrine, which appears to many a hard saying, is strikingly illustrated by an apposite1apposite – appropriate, fitting. (Ed.) example which occurs in the history of our Savior’s personal ministry. We read of a certain ruler who came to Christ professing great respect for his character, and an earnest desire to be instructed by him (Luke 18:18–23). “Good master,” said he, “what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Our Lord, who knew what was in man, perceived that, with all his professions of regard, the love of the world was predominant in his heart, and therefore he put his boasted virtue to the trial by telling him, “Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me.” The event was such as might have been expected, in the case of one whose heart was not right with God. “He went away very sorrowful, for he was very rich.” For the same reason, one of Paul’s fellow-labourers deserted him in the hour of trial. “Demas hath forsaken me,” says he, “having loved this present world” (2 Tim. 4:10). And many (alas!) in every age, who are called by the name of Christ and with their mouths show much love, plainly discover by their conduct that the world has the chief place in their hearts, preferring their own ease, credit, and interest to the honour of Christ and the advancement of his kingdom, whenever they happen to come in competition with each other. The genuine disciples of Christ who are possessed of a supreme love to him are men of another spirit. To them the honour of Christ and the advancement of his kingdom are matters of the most serious concern. They rejoice in Zion’s prosperity and are filled with the deepest regret when the interest of the Redeemer’s kingdom appears to be in a low and declining state. Nor are they satisfied with indolent wishes and unmeaning compliments when they have it in their power to give more substantial proofs of regard to the Savior, but constrained by his love, present their bodies and spirits as living sacrifices and cheerfully consecrate their time, and talents, and substance, and influence to his service and glory.
3. Another principle arising from the two former, which has a powerful influence in forming the Christian character, is love to the souls of men, or true Christian benevolence.
The origin of this divine temper is to be traced to the love of God displayed in the redemption of the world by his Son, Jesus Christ. For as the apostle John informs us, “Love is of God, and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God” (1 John 4:7). “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1 John 3:16). The character of man as a fallen apostate creature is the very reverse of this—“hateful, and hating one another” (Tit. 3:3), exhibits a no less just than melancholy picture of his history in all past ages, with but few exceptions. Nor is this difficult to be accounted for. While everyone pursues his own apparent interest without regard to the welfare or happiness of others, various will be the occasions of mutual strife and contention. Pride and covetousness, these two evil demons which haunt the smaller as well as the larger societies of men, have produced innumerable mischiefs in the world. Hence have arisen wars and fightings, discord and jealousy, peevishness and discontent, which, in ten thousand instances, have broken the peace of nations, of churches, and families. There is, I acknowledge, a sort of benevolence which, greatly for the benefit of society, is to be found among those who are strangers to the saving power of the gospel, though even on persons of this description, Christianity has no inconsiderable influence. In proof of this, it may be observed that a spirit of humanity and liberality is chiefly to be found in those places where the purest system of religion prevails, and where the greatest number of real Christians are to be seen adorning the doctrine of God their Savior. Their influence and example cannot fail to stir up others to acts of beneficence and to diffuse a spirit of general philanthropy, which gradually and insensibly raising the standard of morals, contributes in a high degree to meliorate2meliorate – to make better (Ed.) and improve the state of society. But however useful this sort of benevolence may be in its own place, it falls short of that love to mankind, which is the fruit of a living faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ. The common benevolence which springs from mere natural principles, refers chiefly to men’s bodily wants and temporal distresses, whereas true Christian love, while it does not overlook these, aims at higher objects and, deeply sensible how infinitely superior the concerns of the soul are to those things which relate only to a present life, directs its principal efforts to the spiritual interests and eternal salvation of mankind.
While the Christian philanthropist then mourns over the countless calamities of suffering humanity, he is still more deeply affected with the spiritual distresses of his fellow creatures. While his heart bleeds at every tale of woe, his compassion is roused in a still higher degree by beholding the ignorance and wickedness of multitudes around him. While he labours to the utmost of his power to relieve the wants and alleviate the miseries of the poor and afflicted, he is no less active and zealous in promoting every scheme for spreading the light and blessings of the gospel, especially in those “dark places of the earth,” which in the emphatical language of Scripture, “are full of the habitations of cruelty” (Psalm 74:29).
The gospel, when properly understood and believed, cannot fail to produce these effects, being admirably fitted to enlarge and elevate the mind, and to destroy that sordid selfishness which is so universally prevalent in the world. It teaches us to consider every man as our brother. It breaks down the middle wall of partition between Jew or Gentile, “Barbarian, Scythian, bond, and free” (Col. 3:11). It disposes us to regard with interest and affection the African negro, the American Indian, the wandering Tartar, the South Sea Islander, the half-starved Greenlander, the untutored savage of every clime, as well as the inhabitant of more favored regions. It shows that in point of acceptance with God, all men, notwithstanding the distinctions of country, climate, colour, and even character, stand upon a footing that all are sprung from the same stock, descended from the same apostate parents, involved in the same circumstances of guilt and misery, indebted for their hope to the common salvation, and equally capable subjects of redeeming power and grace. By holding up to our view the great pattern of divine benevolence, exhibited in the gift of God’s own Son, the gospel has a tendency to inspire universal goodwill, to expand the soul with the most enlarged and generous sentiments, and to beget and cherish, in particular, an ardent love to the souls of men, as of unspeakable value, being destined for immortality, and redeemed by the blood of the Son of God. The great rule of Christian charity is expressed in these Scriptural exhortations: “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others” (Phil. 2:4); “Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep” (Rom. 12:15); “For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; or whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live, therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s” (Rom. 14:7–8).
These then are the principles which contribute to form in the Christian that pure and disinterested zeal for the glory of the Redeemer, and the advancement of his kingdom, which constitutes the brightest ornament of his character. Faith, working by love, is the true spring of all that is great or amiable or excellent among men.
II. The cultivation and exercise of this divine temper by some motives and arguments.
Suffer me now, my Christian brethren, by a few plain motives and arguments, to recommend to you the cultivation and exercise of this divine temper.
1. The superior importance of the things of Jesus Christ to our own things should determine our preference.
How poor and trifling in comparison are all those objects which so much engross the time and attention of the great bulk of mankind! What a bauble is wealth compared with the unsearchable riches of Christ! How insignificant the honour that comes from man compared with the honour that comes from God! And how contemptible the pleasures of sin, which are but for a season—those short-lived enjoyments for which men barter their souls and eternal salvation, when set in competition with the high dignity and happiness of being workers together with God, in promoting the holy, wise, and beneficent purposes of his government! The things which are Jesus Christ’s, remember, are the things which pertain to the divine glory, for, “The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into his hand” (John 3:35). And can we conceive, Christians, a higher motive to exertion than the glory of him that made us? Has the Father committed to the Son the dearest interests of his own glory, and shall we not seek the things which are Jesus Christ’s, in preference to everything else? Our own things!—how do they dwindle into insignificance when contrasted with these! Shall we prefer a little ease, a little worldly interest or indulgence, a little praise or commendation from poor fellow mortals like ourselves, for these are the only things which can come into competition with the things which are Jesus Christ’s, to the glory of God and the honour of the Redeemer?
Take the things which are supposed to be of the greatest importance to mankind: the rise and fall of empires, the revolutions of states and kingdoms, the civil and political interests of the great bodies which divide the inhabitants of the globe. These, it will readily be granted, are justly entitled to regard, since they involve the temporal comfort and prosperity of thousands and millions of our fellow creatures. But bring them into competition with the things which are Jesus Christ’s, and what is their amount? Except insofar as they are connected with the advancement of the Redeemer’s kingdom, “of the increase of his government and peace of which there shall be no end” (Isa. 9:7), they will be found, comparatively speaking, light as a feather and insignificant as the small dust upon the balance. The salvation of a single soul is an event of greater importance than the conquest of a kingdom. The humble, self-denied followers of the Lamb, who are willing to hazard their lives for the sake of Christ and immortal souls, are far more worthy of being enrolled in the annals of fame—I will not say, than the Caesars and Alexanders, who have deluged the world with blood, whose memory is fitted to excite abhorrence rather than applause, but than the most renowned patriots or illustrious benefactors of the human race, who have promoted in the highest degree the temporal interests of their fellow creatures. Little as the preaching of the gospel and the effects produced by it are regarded by many, it is followed with consequences infinitely more momentous than those which arise from the deliberations of senates or decrees of princes. And are Christians then the only men who are justified in the indulgence of sloth? Are all others active and diligent in promoting, in different ways, what they conceive to be their interest, while they who call themselves disciples of Christ are careless and indifferent about the honour of their Master, and the success of his glorious gospel! How true the saying of our blessed Lord, “the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light” (Luke 16:8)! The merchant in quest of gain braves the dangers of the deep and exposes himself to all the variety of climates; the scholar who aspires after literary fame grudges no time and spares no labour that may add to the stock of his knowledge; and the crafty politician who seeks to rise into power by the favour and good services of those around him, thinks no condescension3condescension – lowering himself (Ed.) too great which may lead to the accomplishment of his wishes. Let us blush for shame that we who profess to have such superior objects in view should be so far outstripped in activity and zeal by the votaries4votaries – worshippers (Ed.) of mammon, who aim at nothing higher than the attainment of blessings which perish with the using.
2. Gratitude to the Redeemer for the inestimable benefits he has procured for us should excite us to seek the things which are Jesus Christ’s in preference to our own.
“Even Christ,” we are told, “pleased not himself” (Rom. 15:3). He sought not his own things, but the glory of his heavenly Father and the happiness of his people. He “became poor” that we, “through his poverty might be rich” (2 Cor. 8:9). He emptied himself of his glory, though possessed of all the fullness of the Godhead, took upon him the degraded form of a servant, submitted to shame and sufferings, and death itself, that he might deliver us from endless inconceivable misery and raise us to the possession of immortal glory and blessedness. In this view, how astonishing is the history of Christ’s personal ministry! Well might it be said of him that “the zeal of God’s house” had eaten him up (John 2:17), for it was his meat and drink to do the will of his heavenly Father, and to finish his work (John 4:34). Often did he deny himself the ordinary refreshments of nature that he might be serviceable to the souls of men. Upon one occasion, when faint and weary, he sat on Jacob’s well and asked of the woman of Samaria a little water to quench his thirst. Denied, as he was at first, this trifling boon5boon – benefit (Ed.), he seems from the conversation that follows to have forgotten his thirst in his ardent concern for the salvation of this poor woman’s soul (John 4:6–26). And once and again we read of his retiring to a mountain to pray, and spending whole nights in prayer, after having employed the day in public instruction and acts of beneficence (Mark 6:46; Luke 6:12).
What a pattern to his followers! And how powerful a motive likewise to deny ourselves for him who, for our sakes, laboured, and watched, and wept, and prayed, and at last shed his precious blood! How poor the returns which we can possibly make for his marvelous love to us! But surely, if one spark of gratitude remain in our breasts, we cannot fail to judge with the apostle, “that if one died for all, then were all dead; and that Christ died for all, that they who live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but to him who died for them and rose again” (2 Cor. 5:14–15). We must be irresistibly led by this endearing consideration to seek the things which are Jesus Christ’s, accounting the honour of his name and the advancement of his kingdom in the world of infinitely greater moment and far more desirable than any little separate interest of our own. “If I forget thee, O Jerusalem,” said the captive Jews in Babylon, “let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy” (Psalm 137:5–6). In like manner will the pious Christian say, If ever I forget thy dying love, oh bleeding Immanuel! If ever I lose the sense of my infinite obligations to thy matchless grace, let my right hand forget her cunning, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth. Sooner let me die than not live to thee; sooner let me lose the powers of my rational nature, than fail to employ them in thy service. Henceforth thy glory shall be my constant aim, thy will my only rule, and the advancement of thy kingdom, in the particular station in which thy providence hath placed me, the great business of my life.
Cherish, my Christian friends, such sentiments as these. Muse upon the great things which God hath done for your souls, till the fire of divine love burn within you and you feel yourselves constrained to say, “Lord what wilt thou have us to do” (Acts 9:6), to be, or to suffer? We are ready, through thine all-powerful grace assisting us, “not to be bound only, but also to die for the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 21:13). We are ready to renounce kindred, country, friends, comforts, everything, in short, which the world holds dear, at the command of him whose we are, and to whom we owe our everlasting all. Only let the grace of Christ be sufficient and his strength made perfect in our weakness, and love will make pain easy and labour delightful.
3. To animate us to the exercise of pure and disinterested zeal, let us recall to our minds the example of the best and holiest men who have lived in past ages.
“All seek their own,” says the apostle, “not the things which are Jesus Christ’s,” and too much cause has there been for the same complaint in every period of the church. But, blessed be God, there have been and still are many noble examples of the contrary spirit. The Lord has not lacked faithful witnesses to his truth, from the earliest ages of the world, through all succeeding generations, to the present times. Moses, the renowned lawgiver of the Jews, was a man on whom the Spirit of God rested in no common measure, and for no quality was this eminent servant of God more distinguished than for a noble superiority to narrow and selfish views. Among many proofs of this that might be mentioned, it is recorded of him upon one occasion that when Eldad and Medad, two men who “were of them that were written, but went not out unto the tabernacle: and they prophesied in the camp” (Num. 11:26), Joshua, the servant of Moses, offended at their presumption, proposed that they should not be allowed to prophesy any longer. “My lord Moses,” said he, “forbid them.” But Moses, better instructed in the spirit of true religion, nobly replied, “Enviest thou for my sake? Would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them” (Num. 11:26–29). In the same temper, John the Baptist, the forerunner of our blessed Lord, spoke and acted, when some of his disciples came to him, telling him by way of complaint, “Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness; behold the same baptizeth, and all men come to him.” Greatly superior to all their little jealousies, John answered and said,
A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy, therefore, is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease. (John 3:25-30)
But in none was this blessed temper ever more conspicuous than in Paul himself, the apostle whose words we are now considering. How ardent and disinterested was the zeal of this great apostle, for the honour of his Master! From the time that his Lord met him on his way to Damascus, to the close of his life, a period of more than thirty years, his whole soul was engaged in devising and carrying into execution schemes for the Redeemer’s kingdom. Nor did he seem to think he had done anything, while anything remained to be done in this glorious warfare. He spoke, he lived, he acted, he breathed for no other purpose. Sometimes the apostle met with ungrateful returns from those whose best interest he laboured to promote, but even ingratitude itself could not dampen the generous ardor of his love. Speaking to the Corinthians, he says, “I will very gladly spend and be spent for you, though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved” (2 Cor. 12:15). And to show how far this great man was superior to those narrow, selfish views which operate so strongly upon little minds, he informs us in this epistle that some preachers of the gospel had so far departed from the true spirit of their office as “to preach Christ even of envy and strife, supposing to add affliction” to his bonds (Phil. 1:15–18). The apostle does not commend their spiteful spirit, but insofar as he himself was concerned, he shows that he was not in the least affected by it. “What then,” continues he, “notwithstanding every way, whether in pretence or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.” In the prosecution of this arduous work, the apostle was sometimes exposed to incredible dangers and hardships. But none of these things moved him, neither did he count his life dear to himself, that he might finish his course with joy. “Yea,” says he, a few verses before the text, “and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy and rejoice with you all” (Phil. 2:17).
In these examples, brethren, we see the power of genuine magnanimity—we behold the effects of the grace of God upon men of the same nature and of like passions with ourselves, and by these and similar examples, we ought to be excited and encouraged in the strength of God to aim at the same excellence and dignity of character.
4. In the fourth and last place, let a regard to our own best and eternal interests determine us to seek the things which are Jesus Christ’s in preference to our own.
This, at first view, may appear paradoxical that we should be exhorted to consult our own interest by seeming to overlook and neglect it. But this difficulty vanishes at once if we recollect that the highest interest of man is the salvation of his immortal soul, which forms a part of the things which are Jesus Christ’s, and that even with regard to our temporal interest, if we “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,” all other things which are truly good and necessary for us, will be added unto us (Matt. 6:33). This seems to be the import of our Lord’s gracious promise, “Verily, I say unto you, there is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God’s sake, who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come, life everlasting” (Luke 18:29–30).
If we simply follow the Lord in the path of duty, devoting our time and talents to his service and glory, and minding the interest of his kingdom above every other concern, the power and promise of God are engaged for our temporal support. We may be brought into difficult and trying circumstances, former friends may frown or forsake us, adverse dispensations of providence may add to our perplexity and distress, the cruise6cruise – small vessel (Ed.) of oil, and barrel of meal may be nearly exhausted, and the means of future supply may seem to be cut off, but they that fear the Lord shall not lack anything that is good. Sooner will the Lord open windows in heaven than suffer any of his children to be utterly forsaken. Their “bread shall be given, and their water shall be sure” (Isa. 33:16). And though for the sake of Christ and a good conscience, they may be sometimes called to abandon the dearest earthly comforts, to take not only the spoiling of their goods, but what is much harder to bear, the loss of their good name, though they may be hated, reviled, and persecuted for Christ’s sake, yet the Lord who has the hearts of all in his hands, can in ten thousand ways restrain the wrath of their enemies, or if he allows it in any measure to break forth, he can, by his wonder-working wisdom, render it subservient to their greater good. In every case, and at all events, it shall be well with the righteous (Isa. 3:10). They shall receive manifold more in the present time—a well-grounded sense of the divine favor, peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, fellowship with him in the ordinances of his grace, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the testimony of an approving conscience, and the joyful reviving hope of heaven. These are sufficient to compensate the loss of all earthly comforts, and to preserve the soul steady and serene amidst the raging billows of adversity. If God be for us, who can be against us? If the Almighty be our friend, our protector, and our guide, what have we to fear from the malice of men or the rage of devils? In foreign lands and distant climes, as well as when surrounded with our families and friends, our compassionate Savior will be near to comfort us. His presence can cheer the gloom of solitude, remove the apprehension of danger, strengthen under the severest suffering, and overcome the dread of dying.
And no sooner shall our connection with things seen and temporal be dissolved, then we shall find in the world to come, life everlasting. Them that honour Christ, he will honour. Our seeming losses for his sake will then be found to be unutterable gain. “They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever” (Dan. 12:3). Even a cup of cold water given to a disciple in the name of a disciple shall in no wise lose its reward (Matt. 10:42). Our gracious Redeemer will not forget our work of faith and labour of love. His own infinite merit, it is true, will appear in that day to be the only ground of his people’s title to the heavenly inheritance; but the works which have been performed under the influence of his blessed Spirit, he will acknowledge and reward, not, indeed, as the cause of his love to them, but as the evidence of their love to him. The meanest and most despised of his humble followers he will welcome into his blissful presence with these transporting words, “Well done, good and faithful servant: . . . enter thou into the joy of thy Lord” (Matt. 25:21).
Animated by these glorious hopes, beloved, seek not great things for yourselves, but seek the things which are Jesus Christ’s. Be diligent that you are found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless at his coming. Occupy your talents till your Lord come. Be steadfast, immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord: forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord (Jer. 45:5; 2 Pet. 3:14; Luke 19:13; 1 Cor. 15:58).
Such then are the encouraging motives which ought to determine us to cultivate and exercise that noble and disinterested zeal, the nature and principles of which I have endeavored to explain. The application of this subject to the occasion of our present meeting is abundantly obvious. In seeking the things which are Jesus Christ’s, it is impossible to avoid turning our thoughts to the miserable condition of a great portion of the human race who are sitting in darkness, and in the region of the shadow of death—wretched slaves of the most abject superstition, and sunk in the most degrading vices. A benevolent mind cannot view this object with indifference. A Christian heart cannot think of it without the tenderest pity. The gospel is evidently fitted and designed to become a universal blessing. It has nothing in its nature local or limited. But its progress and extension have hitherto been lamentably retarded, not by the malice and wickedness of its open foes, but by the criminal sloth and negligence of its professed friends, by the almost universal prevalence of the spirit which the apostle here condemns, of seeking our own things, in preference to the things which are Jesus Christ’s.
Brethren, are we verily guiltless in this matter? If we except the Moravians, who have for many years patiently laboured in the field of missions, and some particular exertions made by respectable and long-established societies in England and in our own country, have not all denominations of Christians among us been shamefully deficient in employing the means which providence hath put into our hands, of spreading the gospel throughout the world? Instead of hastening with generous emulation, to the aid of the heathen, we have gone, one to his farm and another to his merchandise, or we have wasted our zeal in bitter contentions about the modes and forms of religion, while our poor fellow-sinners have been passing into the eternal world by hundreds and thousands, without one effort made to save them. Blessed be God, a more excellent spirit has of late appeared in the Christian world. May it continue and increase still more and more! The friends of the Redeemer of different denominations, pitying the condition of the millions around them who are perishing for lack of knowledge, have either among themselves or in conjunction with other Christians, formed associations for the purpose of sending the gospel to the heathen, and though partial failures and discouragements have attended their pious efforts, in no instance have they proved altogether unsuccessful. On the contrary, the dispensations of God’s providence have, in many cases, wonderfully concurred with his faithful promises to animate the zeal and stimulate the patient persevering endeavors of those who, out of love to Christ and perishing souls, have engaged in this noble cause. The Society, in whose name I now address you, has no separate interest in view. It most cordially cooperates with every society and every individual that holds the great essentials of Christianity, and desires to promote the salvation of the heathen. It seeks the advancement of no sect or party, but the common interest of the Redeemer’s kingdom. It apprehends no danger from any interference with those who are labouring in the same cause, for here there is employment for thousands and ten thousands more, could so many be found willing and qualified to engage in so glorious a service. The harvest indeed is great, for the field is the world. (Matt. 13:38)
With confidence therefore, I solicit your countenance and aid on this occasion. If you are seeking the things which are Jesus Christ’s, if you are anxious to know how you may contribute to the success of the gospel and the honour of Jesus’ name, embrace the opportunity which is now afforded you of promoting these objects. Devise liberal things. Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase (Isa. 32:8; Prov. 3:9). Many of you know that a favorable opening for the spread of the gospel has lately occurred in a distant part of the Russian Empire, whither two missionaries, sent out by this Society, have gone, in whose ability and zeal we have reason to place the most entire confidence. The Lord has hitherto smiled upon this undertaking. By means of the unexpected friendship of a Russian nobleman in a high official department, our missionaries have obtained not only the protection, but the favor of the Russian government. For this singular blessing, which under God cannot fail greatly to facilitate the object of our wishes, let our thanks this day ascend to the Father of mercies, who has thus far exceeded our most sanguine hopes. But in such a situation, the labours of one or two missionaries are not sufficient. The place is centrical7centrical – central part of a town (Ed.). The state of the surrounding countries, in a moral and religious view, is deplorably wretched. Their misery strongly solicits our aid—it cries, even from that distant region, “Come over and help us” (Acts 16:9). And for your encouragement, my friends, and to excite your thankfulness, I have the satisfaction to inform you that some have been found ready to obey the call, provided you will furnish them with the means of carrying their benevolent purpose into execution. And is there a love of Christ in this assembly who does not burn with the desire of lending his aid to this good work? How small a sacrifice is it to part with a little of your superfluous wealth—no, to deny yourselves in some lawful indulgence for the sake of Christ and the eternal salvation of your perishing fellow creatures. Show then the ardor of your love by the cheerfulness with which you give on this occasion, according as God hath prospered you (1 Cor. 16:2).
And let your prayers, as well as alms, ascend for a memorial before God. Pray for the extension of the Mediator’s kingdom. Pray for a blessing on the means employed for that purpose. Pray for the ministers of the everlasting gospel in every part of the world, and that the great Lord of the harvest would be pleased, from time to time, to send faithful labourers into his harvest (Matt. 9:38). “Finally, brethren, pray for us that the Word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified” (2 Thess. 3:1), that a great door and effectual may be opened for the preaching of the gospel in every land (1 Cor. 16:9), that men may be blessed in Christ, and all nations call him blessed (Psalm 72:17). “Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen” (Psalm 72:18–19).
