Godliness : being reports of a series of addresses delivered at James's Hall, London, W. during 1881Booth, Catherine Mumford
Religion
Godliness : being reports of a series of addresses delivered at James's Hall, London, W. during 1881
Booth, Catherine Mumford
Salvation Army -- Sermons; Sermons, English
This Divine Charity makes everything else subservient to the
salvation of souls; it uses everything else to save and bless the
inner and spiritual man. Do you remember, on one occasion, when the
Master had fed the multitudes, and when they came to Him again to be
fed, He said, "Ye seek Me, not because ye saw the miracles, but
because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled." You would have
said, "Quite right; the people want to be fed; they are hungry." But
do you hear the Divine lament that comes out in these words, that
they were so spiritually obtuse, that they valued the earthly bread
more than the heavenly! Give them as much temporal bread as you like,
but mind you give them the spiritual bread first, for this is
characteristic of true Charity.
Have you got this Charity? Every soul knows whether it has or not.
People are so unphilosophical in religion; they talk about not
knowing; but you can find out in two minutes whether you love God or
yourself best. Tell me that woman does not know whether she loves her
husband or herself best! Nonsense! What is the proof?--she seeks to
please him, and is willing to sacrifice herself for him--in fact,
merges her interests altogether in his. Do you love God best? Are you
willing to forego your interests, and to seek His? Have you this
Divine Charity, born of Heaven, tending to Heaven? If not, my friend,
resolve you will have it now. Begin to cry mightily to God, for the
Holy Spirit to shed it abroad in your heart; give up your quibblings
and reasonings, and go down at the foot of the cross and ask
Him,--"Come, Lord, and break up this poor, wicked heart of mine, and shed
this beautiful, pure, Divine Charity abroad in it," and then you will
not, henceforth, seek your own, but the things that are Jesus Christ's.
CHAPTER IV.
CHARITY AND REBUKE.
And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest
of these is charity.--1 COR. xiii. 13.
The second main point of difference between a true and a false
Charity, we want to remark, is, _Divine Charity is not only
consistent with, but it very often necessitates, reproof and rebuke
by its possessor_. It renders it incumbent on those who possess it
to reprove and rebuke whatever is evil--whatever does not tend to
the highest interests of its object.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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