Inordinate Love of Gain
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ignorance, you would not be as guilty. But you have had great light,
you have heard much truth; but you are not a doer of the word.
Christ’s life is the pattern for us all. His example of self-denial, self-
sacrifice, and disinterested benevolence is for us to follow. His entire
life is an infinite demonstration of His great love and condescension
to save sinful man. “Love one another, as I have loved you,” says
Christ. How will our life of self-denial, sacrifice, and benevolence bear
comparison with the life of Christ? “Ye are,” says Christ, addressing
His disciples, “the light of the world.” “Ye are the salt of the earth.” If
this is our privilege and also our duty, and we are bodies of darkness
and of unbelief, what a fearful responsibility we assume! We may be
channels of light or of darkness. If we have neglected to improve the
light that God had given us, and have failed to advance in knowledge
and true holiness as the light has directed the way, we are guilty and
in darkness according to the light and truth we have neglected to
improve. In these days of iniquity and peril the characters and works
of professed Christians will not generally bear the test nor endure
the exposure when examined by the light that now shines upon them.
There is no concord between Christ and Belial; there is no communion
between light and darkness. How, then, can the spirit of Christ and the
spirit of the world be in harmony? The Lord our God is a jealous God.
He requires the sincere affection and unreserved confidence of those
who profess to love Him. Says the psalmist: “If I regard iniquity in
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my heart, the Lord will not hear me.”
You have stood directly in the way of the salvation of your children.
You lay their indifference to religious things to other causes than the
true. Your example is a stumbling block to them. They know by your
fruits, by your words and works, that you do not believe in the near
coming of Christ. Some of them do not hesitate to make sport of the
idea of the near coming of Christ and of the shortness of time. They
take great satisfaction when you drive a sharp bargain. They think
that father is keen in a trade and that nobody can get the better of him,
and they are following in your footsteps. Faith without works is dead,
being alone. Money has given you power, and you have used that
power to take advantage of the necessities of others. Your speculations
in business life have not been honest, you have not been just with your
fellow men. By your trades you have sacrificed your reputation as a
Christian and as an honest man. By fair trading, means did not come