a supreme privilege.
it is indeed a privilege beyond measure to belong to a church founded upon divine revelation, presided over by the lord jesus himself and conducted by a divinely appointed priesthood, and regulated by the gospel of jesus christ—the divine plan of salvation. not many people appreciate fully what a priceless blessing is within their reach. they clamor and struggle, sometimes, for membership in some secret brotherhood or other, which will avail them nothing when they shall pass into that other world; and they neglect—nay, ignore—membership in the open brotherhood of jesus the christ, which might be made to profit them much upon the earth, and which would give them hereafter free access into the larger kingdom of god. is not the vision of man imperfect?
the true worth of membership.
jesus, however, recognized the true worth of membership in the kingdom of heaven. "the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field," he declared; "the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: who when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it."
these are pretty parables, but what do they mean? why, simply, that a man who has found the church of christ should be willing, if necessary—indeed, he {168} will be willing, if necessary—to give up every material possession in order to attain membership therein. it is a blessing, of course, to possess sufficient of this world's goods; but it is far better to have secure one's place in the kingdom of god.
conditions of membership.
this lesson jesus taught always. to gain entrance into the kingdom, one must forsake all personal, unworthy ambitions. "the time is fulfilled," jesus cried on his preaching tours, "and the kingdom of god is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel." and when the disciples of jesus would stop the parents from bringing their children to the master, jesus said, "suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of god. verily i say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of god as a little child, he shall not enter therein." this all teaches that to secure the coveted membership, we must not only renounce all the evils of our past, but we must put ourselves in the attitude of little children, eager to receive the divine word of god, and to help in its establishment upon the earth.
single-minded loyalty.
now, it needs no long explanation to show that those who have succeeded in placing themselves in the attitude of little children, are also in an attitude of single-minded loyalty to god. jesus insisted that men must be loyal to god, and that, too, with singleness of purpose and singleness of thought. you have learned in your daily lives which associates you can trust and which you cannot trust. you know very well that if a boy's thoughts are always good, he is not very likely to become guilty {169} of any seriously wrong act. you know that if a girl's motives are good, she is not likely to become guilty of evil. jesus knew these truths, too. he was anxious, therefore, that the minds of men should become filled with thoughts of god—that the dominating motive in their minds should be to serve god. for he knew very well that a man dominated by the motive of godly service would be arrayed against sin; whereas, one not so dominated might easily be overcome by the wily suggestions of the tempter.
no man can serve two masters.
"lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is there will your heart be also."
when we learn that, in the jewish belief, the heart was the seat of thought and intelligence, then this saying of the teacher becomes plain indeed. it is impossible for anyone to have two chief centers of interest. if a man devote his thought and intelligence to the laying up of wealth, he will of course neglect his duty to god. for, said jesus, "no man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other, or he will hold to the one, and despise the other. ye cannot serve god and mammon."
a simple application.
everyone knows how true this saying is. let us apply it to some of our own likes. all boys and most girls like baseball. every boy and every girl should like {170} to keep the sabbath holy. now, if a boy begins to yield to the temptation to play baseball on sunday, it is not long, ordinarily, before his surrender is complete, and the playing of baseball on sunday becomes for him a regular practice. what has then happened to his attendance at the sunday school and the sacrament service? the boy is scarcely if ever seen there. do you ask why? this boy started by trying to serve both god and mammon. but the things of god are displeasing to mammon; and the things of mammon are displeasing to god. oil and water, you know, will not mix. as the boy grew in his love for baseball on the sabbath, he grew also in his hatred for the duties he owed to his god. as he held tenaciously to his baseball on the sabbath, he despised the service of the great king. truly, one cannot have two chief centers of interest. "ye cannot serve god and mammon."
a parable in point.
and the folly of the worship of mammon is so clear, that it is surprising that men will ever fall into error. jesus illustrated this truth with an excellent parable. "the ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: and he thought within himself saying, what shall i do, because i have no room where to bestow my fruits? and he said, this will i do: i will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will i bestow all my fruits and my goods. and i will say to my soul, soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. but god said unto him. thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things {171} be, which thou hast provided? so is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward god."
the light of the body.
again, jesus said when speaking of laying up treasure in heaven, and serving god and mammon, "the light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. but if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. if therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!" in the old testament, the evil eye stands for avarice and greed, the good eye for generosity. is there anyone, then, who does not see that if a man fosters thoughts of selfishness and greed, he blinds himself, to all the better and higher things, and gropes in darkness.
a summary.
in this way, then, jesus taught that men should serve god with single-minded loyalty. in his sayings and parables, he presents four reasons: (1) the life of man is in the hands of god. he gave it and he will take it away. no one is sure how long he may be privileged to enjoy worldly pleasures. but the life of the spirit is everlasting. its joys shall never end. (2) worldly goods and pleasures are perishable and fleeting. we may lose them when we think we have them most securely. the things of the spirit are eternal. they can not be taken from us, so long as we worship in spirit and in truth. (3) it is impossible for man to hold two equally important and equally cherished objects of interest. one of the two will inevitably be neglected. (4) if a man's motives are selfish and worldly, his soul becomes darkened to truth, and to spiritual things.
{172} a paraphrase.
for these excellent and sufficient reasons, man should cultivate an attitude of single-minded loyalty to god. instead of toiling and sweating for things of passing value only, man should strive for the things of permanent joy and satisfaction. jesus's message, as has been aptly said, may be paraphrased thus:
"look up. get a goal before you that is worth while. let the one passion of your life be loyalty to god. then your joys will be wholesome and permanent, and you shall walk in the light, not in darkness."
the references
matt. 13:44-46. matt. 6:13-21.
mark 1:13, 14. matt. 6:24.
mark 10:13-16. luke 12:13-15.
matt. 6:22-23.
the questions
1. how does man show himself short-sighted when considering the things of god?
2. what is the significance of the parable of the treasure and the pearl of great price?
3. what do we learn from jesus's attitude toward little children?
4. name and discuss the first two reasons given by jesus why we should cultivate single-minded loyalty to god.
5. name and discuss the second two reasons why we should cultivate single-minded loyalty to god.
6. name as many instances as you can in which we might practice single-minded loyalty in our own lives.
