Better than life itself!
(Charles Simeon) LISTEN to Audio! Download Audio
“The kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls. Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it!” Matthew 13:45-46
Worldliness is the besetting sin of most professing Christians! It is certain that very many of them are as eager in the pursuit of wealth as the heathen.
This accounts for the little influence of the Word of God upon them. The seed is good, but the soil is bad! And the noxious weeds of worldliness, by their speedy and incessant growth, keep down the feebler plants of piety in the soul.
“The cares of this world,
and the deceitfulness of riches,
and the lust for other things,
choke the Word, and it becomes unfruitful.” Mark 4:19
But please note that it is not the overt act of covetousness or creature-dependence that is condemned, but the inward disposition of the mind and heart. The supreme delight of mind that arises from the possession of wealth, is itself a denial of the sufficiency of Christ to be our desired portion and treasure.
O, brethren, enter into your own bosoms, and judge yourselves in relation to this matter. Inquire whether Christ has such a full possession of your hearts, as to render all earthly things relatively vain, empty, and worthless, in your estimation. If not, then how can you call Christ your desired portion, or imagine that you have formed a proper estimate of the immeasurable blessings of salvation? Know assuredly, that if you have proper views of Christ, you will regard Him as your Pearl of Great Price!
Can you sincerely say from your inmost soul,
“Whom have I in Heaven but You?
And earth has nothing I desire besides You.
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength
of my heart and my portion forever!” Psalm 73:25-26
A true profession of Christ does not consists in a mere assent to some particular truths of Scripture, but in a practical and experimental sense of His love to us, overpowering all inferior desires.
To love the Lord Jesus,
to cleave to Him with full purpose of heart,
to count him as “all our salvation and all our desire”
–this is what He requires.
This is also what our blessed Savior deserves from each of His redeemed people.
If we do not despise worldly trifles, when standing in competition with His will, His presence, and His glory–then He shall regard us as denying Him, and we must expect to be denied by Him in the judgment day!
Would a man who had scraped together a great heap of dust, rejoice because he had gathered so much dust? Surely not! In the same way, does not the foolish satisfaction which a man feels from the attainment of riches, show that he has formed an erroneous estimate of their value?
God has called Himself “the Fountain of living waters,” and has pronounced all creatures to be “broken cisterns that will hold no water.” Just so, an undue regard to wealth denies that God is the ultimate source of happiness, and that He is all-sufficient for our real happiness. See to it then, brethren, that it is not thus with you!
If you are disposed to ask, “Who will show me any good?” Then learn immediately to add: “Lord, lift up the light of Your countenance upon me, and that shall fill my heart with greater joy than any amount of wealth could ever do!”
For as, on the one hand, “A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things that he possesses.” So, on the other hand, “In God’s favor is life, and His loving-kindness is better than life itself!“
