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The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 55, No. 3

THE DANGER OF RICHES

The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald

January 15, 1880

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · January 15, 1880

THE DANGER OF RICHES.

By Ellen G. White

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
When the lawyer asked what he should do to inherit eternal life, Jesus told him that obedience to God’s commandments was necessary for his salvation. But mark the answer returned: “Master, all these have I observed from my youth.” Jesus looked upon this deceived young man with pity and love. He was about to show him that he had failed to keep from his heart the commandments that he confidently asserted he was obeying. Jesus said unto him, “One thing thou lackest; go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in Heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow me.”
After calling attention to his own self-denying, cross-bearing life, Jesus entreated the young man to come and imitate his example, telling him that he should thus lay up treasure in Heaven. Did the young man’s heart leap with joy at the assurance? Oh, no. His earthly riches were his idol, and they eclipsed the value of the eternal inheritance. He turned from the cross and from the self-sacrificing life of the Redeemer, to this world. He had a lingering desire for the promised reward, and reluctantly turned from the prospect. It cost a struggle to decide which he should choose; but he finally decided to continue his love for his earthly possessions.
Very few realize the strength of their love for money until the test is brought to bear upon them. Many who profess to be Christ’s followers then show that they are unprepared for Heaven. Their works testify that they love wealth more than their neighbor or their God. Like the rich young man, they inquire the way of life; but when it is pointed out and the cost estimated, and they see that the sacrifice of earthly riches is demanded, they decide that Heaven costs too much. The greater the treasures laid up on the earth, the more difficult it is for the possessor to realize that they are not his own, but are lent him to be used to God’s glory. Jesus here improves the opportunity to give his disciples an impressive lesson: “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of Heaven.” “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.”
Here the power of wealth is seen. The influence of the love of money over the human mind is almost paralyzing. Riches infatuate, and cause many who possess them to act as though they were bereft of reason. The more they have of this world, the more they desire. Their fears of coming to want increase with their riches. They have a disposition to hoard up means for the future. They are close and selfish, fearing that God will not provide for them. This class are indeed poor toward God. As their riches have accumulated, they have put their trust in them, and have lost faith in God and his promises. The faithful, trusting poor man becomes rich toward God by judiciously using the little he has in blessing others with his means. He feels that his neighbor has claims upon him that he cannot disregard and yet obey the command of God, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” He considers the salvation of his fellow-men of greater importance than all the gold and silver the world contains.
Christ points out the way in which those who have wealth, and yet are not rich toward God, may secure the true riches. He says: “Sell that ye have, and give alms;” and lay up treasure in Heaven. The remedy he proposes is a transfer of their affections to the eternal inheritance. By investing their means in the cause of God to aid in the salvation of souls, and by relieving the needy, they become rich in good works, and are “laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.” This will prove a safe investment. But many show by their works that they dare not trust the bank of Heaven. They choose to trust their means in the earth, rather than to send it before them to Heaven. These have a great work to do to overcome covetousness and love of the world. Rich poor men, professing to serve God, are objects of pity. While they profess to know God, in works they deny him. How great is the darkness of such! They profess faith in the truth, but their works do not correspond with their profession. The love of riches makes men selfish, exacting, and overbearing.
To obtain wealth by unjust dealing, overreaching in trade, oppressing the widow and the fatherless, or hoarding up riches and neglecting the wants of the needy, will eventually bring the just retribution described by the inspired apostle: “Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth; and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.”
The humblest and poorest of the true disciples of Christ who are rich in good works, are more blessed and more precious in the sight of God than the men who boast of their great riches. They are more honorable in the courts of Heaven than the most exalted kings and nobles who are not rich toward God. The admonition which the apostle Paul exhorted Timothy to give the rich is applicable to very many who profess to believe the truth for these last days. He says: “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.”
Those who hoard up means, or invest largely in lands, while they deprive their families of the comforts of life, act like insane men. They do not allow their families to enjoy the things God has richly given them. Notwithstanding they have large possessions, their families are frequently compelled to labor far beyond their strength to save still more means to hoard up. Brain, bone, and muscle are taxed to the utmost to accumulate. Religion and Christian duties are neglected. Work, work, work, is the ambition, from morning until night.
Many to whom God has intrusted wealth do not consider that they are working against their own eternal interests by selfishly retaining their money. The apostle shows them that by being rich in good works, they are working for themselves. They are providing in Heaven an enduring treasure, and laying hold on eternal life. In helping the cause and relieving the wants of the needy, they are faithfully doing the work that God has assigned them; and their self-denial and generous, loving acts will be written in the book of Heaven. Every deed of righteousness will be immortalized, although the doer may not feel that he has done anything worthy of notice.
God has intrusted many with means to use in his cause, which they have employed for selfish purposes only; and when the Master comes to require an account of their stewardship, what report will they make? Have they made hearts glad by their liberalities? Have they given of their means to assist in the work of converting sinners? What fruit have they borne? If such could but stop one moment, and look back upon their past life, they would readily see how destitute it has been of good, noble, and generous actions. Opportunities for doing good have been lost, that can never be regained, while selfishness has marred the entire life-work. Against all such, “unfaithfulness” is entered in the records above.

PRAYER

By Eliza H. Morton

BY ELIZA H. MORTON.
In youth’s fair morn the soul is light, The world seems clothed in garments bright; But even then, though free from care, There’s need of loving, thankful prayer. Bowing low, oh, comfort sweet! Resting at the Saviour’s feet!
Amid the bustling scenes of life, Amid its noisy, restless strife, A holy calm, a golden hour, Awaits us with an unseen power. Bowing low, oh, comfort sweet! Resting at the Saviour’s feet!
When mortal flesh shrinks back with fear As clouds of blackest hue appear, A light gleams down the shining stair Of earnest, heartfelt, pleading prayer. Bowing low, oh, comfort sweet! Resting at the Saviour’s feet!
When earthly treasures fade away, And shadows mark the close of day, Though bent the form and white the hair, There’s refuge still in humble prayer. Bowing low, oh, comfort sweet! Resting at the Saviour’s feet!
When hand of death the heart-strings chill, And darkly flows “Siloam’s rill,” All this, aye more, the soul can bear, If upward borne on wings of prayer. Bowing low, oh, comfort sweet! Resting at the Saviour’s feet!
Battle Creek, Mich.

THE LAMB OF GOD.

By James White

BY ELDER JAMES WHITE.
TEXT: Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. John 1:29.
The circumstances which called forth these words mark an important era in the history of the ages. The world's Redeemer had appeared in humility, as predicted by the prophets, and had been baptized of John, when the heavens opened, the Spirit like a dove descended upon him, and there came a voice from Heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Mark 1:10, 11. Two persons of note are introduced in the text; one is John the Baptist, who is the speaker, the other is Christ, of whom he speaks.
The mission of John was to prepare the way for Jesus. His baptism was the great event of his time. “Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan,” went out to be baptized of him. Matt. 3:5. John was not a settled pastor; but as the herald of Christ, to prepare the way for his mission, the field of John's labors and the range of his influence were extensive. “He came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.” Luke 3:3.
The life and habits of John were humble and simple, yet he was a mighty man of God. The prophetic description of his mission and of the greatness of his work is given thus: “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain; and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” Isa. 40:3-5.
John was a plain and practical preacher. He appealed to the multitude that came to be baptized of him in these cutting words: “O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance.” Matt. 3:7, 8. And while he boldly and faithfully rebuked the sins of the people, he pointed them to the great remedy as expressed in the words of the text: “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”
In the typical system the sacrificial lamb pointed to the great Sacrifice for the sins of the world. The people whom John addressed were familiar with this service. The time was at hand when the shadowy sacrifice was to be lost in the death of Christ. And as He who was soon to die for the sins of the world stood before the anxious multitudes, who were smarting under the lashes of truth by the unsparing hand of the Baptist, and were trembling on account of their sins, John raised his voice in that vast assembly, and pointing to Christ, said, “Behold the Lamb of God.”
Christ is called the Lamb of God because the Father has given him as a sacrifice for the sins of a lost world, and because a lamb is an appropriate symbol of the meekness of our adorable Redeemer. The prophet speaks of him in these touching words: “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.” Isa. 53:7.
When all was lost in Adam, the plan of redemption through Jesus Christ was immediately instituted; hence he is represented as the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Rev. 13:8. In the patriarchal and Jewish ages, Christ was slain in figure. In the Christian age he is slain in fact. The Scriptures reveal but one plan by which fallen men may be saved. It is true that in the development of the plan of grace through Christ there has been in each dispensation an increase of light. But there is no intimation in all the Bible of three plans, one for the patriarchal age, one for the Jewish, and one for the Christian age.
Jesus Christ is the Redeemer of sinners in all the ages of human probation. “Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12. It was not possible for sinful man in the ages past to secure a fitness for the inheritance of the saints in light by the divine law alone. There is no ability in law to redeem the transgressor. It is not the province of law, human or divine, to pardon the transgressor of law. The moral law is a rule of right action, condemning the transgressor, and holding him as such until he shall suffer the penalty. The divine law can do no more for the sinner. It is the gospel alone that offers pardon and salvation. And without the gospel of the Son of God none of the men of the patriarchal and Jewish ages could be saved.
The gospel is the joyful message of redemption through Jesus Christ. We inquire, How early in the sad history of the fallen race was the gospel proclaimed? Was it first given in the days of Christ? of Moses? of Abraham? or of Adam? We distinctly trace the faith and hope of the gospel of the Son of God in that early denunciation of wrath upon Satan, that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head. Gen. 3:15. In this decree against the author of sin and death, we hear the gospel of the Redeemer as verily as in the song of the angels over the plains of Bethlehem, to the shepherds as they watched their flocks by night, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Luke 2:8-14.
And when the first sons of Adam brought their offerings to the Lord, Cain in unbelief brought of the first-fruits of the ground. But Abel, in faith of the great Sacrifice for sin to be manifested in the distant future, brought of the firstlings of his flock. Through that lamb, Abel saw the Lamb of God, the Redeemer of the world, and set his hope upon him. In the blood of that firstling, Abel saw the blood of Jesus Christ as truly as we see the dying Saviour in the broken bread and the fruit of the vine at the Lord's supper. In these emblems we see Christ shedding his blood on the cross for our sins. Abel saw the same in the bleeding, dying firstling which he offered.
“And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering; but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect.” Gen. 4:4, 5. The sacred narrative states that while Abel's act of faith in the Redeemer to come sealed his righteous character, cost him his life, and placed him at the head of the holy martyrs of Jesus, Cain's infidelity was regarded as sinful, and was the stepping-stone to the high crime of the murder of his brother, which sealed his character as a vagabond in the earth.
The apostle places Abel at the head of the faithful worthies. He speaks of his righteous act of faith in offering to the Lord in sacrifice the type of the Redeemer to come, in these emphatic words: “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and by it he being dead yet speaketh.” Heb. 11:4. Abel laid hold of the hope that was set before him of the Redeemer to come, and in type embraced Christ. And as he set the seal to his faith in presenting before the Lord the most fitting emblem of the dying Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world, high Heaven bestowed the signal witness that he was righteous. And for nearly six thousand years this eminent preacher of the gospel, though dead, has been speaking of his faith in Christ.
The beloved John, in contrasting the infidelity and murderous spirit of Cain with the confiding faith, pure love, and obedience, of those who revere the commandments of God and lay hold of the faith of Jesus Christ, says, “Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.” 1 John 3:12. Abel formed a righteous character, not only in laying hold of the Redeemer to come, by faith through the figure of the firstling of his flock, but by perfecting that saving faith in the act of presenting the sacrifice before the Lord his God.
We pass down the sacred record of the fallen race to Abraham, and there we find the joyful news of redemption through Jesus Christ, to be extended to the nations of the earth, proclaimed to the trusting, obedient patriarch. Paul speaks of the gospel to the father of the faithful thus: “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.” Gal. 3:8. The apostle here quotes from the promise of God to Abraham, where the same promise is extended to his seed: “All the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever.” Gen. 13:15.
The gospel of the Son of God was proclaimed to Abraham in this promise, in that it is really a promise of Christ, as argued by the apostle in Gal. 3:16: “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ.” The promise to Abraham, that in him all the families of the earth should be blessed, embraces Jesus Christ as the only hope of salvation for men from all the nations, as stated by the apostle in verse 14: “That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ.” The faith of Abraham embraced Christ as its glorious object. This is seen in Christ's reply to the Jews, who boasted in Abraham as their father: “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad.” John 8:56.
The gospel was preached to the children of Israel in the days of Moses as truly as in the days of the apostles of Christ. That the gospel of the Son of God has been preached since the days of John the Baptist is a settled fact in all Christian minds, while but few take in the idea that it was preached in the patriarchal and Jewish ages. But Paul, in his epistle to the Hebrews, treats the matter as settled beyond all doubt, that the gospel was preached to the Hebrews, and then states that it was preached to the Christians of his day, as well as unto them. He says: “Unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them,” Heb. 4:2, making it appear that the gospel of the Son of God was common to the Jewish and Christian ages.
Moses and the believing Jews had the faith and hope of the gospel. Through the blood of the sacrificial offerings, they saw Christ, and by faith embraced him. Their hopes of the future life were not in the law, but in Christ. The typical system was but the shadow of good things to come, of which Christ, as a sacrifice and mediator, is the center. These good things are the body that casts its shadow back into the Jewish age. The bleeding sacrifices of the former ages were but the shadow, while Christ bleeding on the cross was the great reality. The blood of beasts offered by the Jews, understandingly, and in faith, as clearly pointed forward to the blood of Christ as the Lord's supper and baptism point back to his sufferings, death, burial, and resurrection.
Christ was with Moses, in the wilderness, the invisible leader of the children of Israel. This appears evident from the remarkable statements of the apostle: “Brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and did all eat the same spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual drink; for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.” 1 Cor. 10:1-4.
Notice these points:—
1. It was important that the matter of which the apostle speaks should be understood by the church at Corinth—“Brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant.” The lesson taught is no less important to the Christian church of our time.
2. Christ is declared to be “that spiritual Rock” that followed the Hebrews. The marginal reading—“that went with them”—makes the point stronger.
3. The apostle did not regard the ministration of the visible leader of the children of Israel as void of the spiritual light and life of Christ, as popularly held in our day. He says that they “did all eat the same spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual drink; for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.”
4. Paul exhorts: “Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.” 1 Cor. 10:9.
Continue reading: TITHES AND OFFERINGS