Consider this terrible declaration—

I. As it regards man. 1. As a revelation of the degradation of which he is capable. History may be said to be a manifold revelation to this effect; the Bible alone gives hope for man, by disclosing his capabilities of development and exaltation. 2. As a remindal that no earthly empire is in and of itself secure against utter overthrow. 3. As a remindal that what are called national disasters, are made up of sufferings endured by a vast number of individuals.

II. As it regards God. So considered, it should be remembered—1. That His permission of such things is, when viewed comprehensively, only part of the great mystery of the permission of evil. 2. That this is an instance of the working of one of the great natural laws by which God governs the universe—the law of retribution. 3. That in the heart of this terrible prediction there is a bright ray of hope. When you see a surgeon performing a terrible operation on a patient, you are sure that he is confident that the patient will be restored to health. So when we look at the world as it is, we are certified that there is a better world to be. God would never have permitted the world to be, if He did not see how out of this present misery He could educe eternal and triumphant blessedness. Towards that better future God is leading on the world (H. E. I., 3421–3423). The revulsion of feeling with which we read this prediction is one proof of it; there was a time when such incidents in the prosecution of a war would have been regarded as a matter of course. That it should not be so now marks an advance, and is a prophecy of further advances.

The Love of Money.

xiii. 17. The Medes . . . shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.

I. One of the most universal and powerful of all passions is the love of money. Consider—1. How wide-spread is this passion. The instant men rise above utter barbarism, it manifests itself. Paradoxical as it may sound, it is one of the first signs that civilisation has begun. In every civilised land, and among all classes, it constantly manifests itself.[1] It is one of the inspiring and moulding forces that are always at work. 2. How powerful it is in its operation! It leads them to face appalling dangers. It persuades them to endure distressing privations. It betrays them into the basest crimes. Up to a certain point, it may be said to be a useful servant; it works to promote our welfare, by overbalancing other tendencies that would degrade and ruin us; but when once that limit is overpassed, it transforms itself into a tyrannical master. Like many an Eastern tyrant, it destroys all other lawful passions that might dispute with it the throne (H. E. I., 400, 402).

II. But this passion, powerful as it is, may be controlled and conquered. “The Medes . . . shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.” This means, not that they should be exempt from the influence of this worldwide passion, but that in thee it would be temporarily overborne by another more powerful passion—the passion for revenge. For years the dominion of Babylon over them had been maintained by the most relentless rigour and frightful cruelties; and when the hour for successful revolt came, the one thought of the Medes would be—Revenge! That one intense longing would consume all others; the men on whom it had laid hold would forget their thirst for riches.

This really is only an instance and illustration of what Dr. Chalmers used to call “the explosive power of a new affection.” Many other affections come up to the human heart, and expel avarice; e.g., love of wife or children, ambition, vanity, &c. We see, therefore, that the love of money can be conquered, and as reasonable men always in danger of being overcome by it, we should ask by what passion or principle it can be conquered most nobly. That principle and that passion is the love of Christ. Of those who are truly possessed by it, it may be truly said that they do not regard silver; and as for gold, they do not delight in it. They may have much money, and by their splendid genius for business may be constantly gaining much more; but they possess it, it does not possess them; they are its masters. By the use of it they are ennobled. Let us pray that our hearts may be garrisoned by this more powerful and noble passion; then all the assaults of avarice upon them shall be made in vain. We shall meet them as Christ Himself met the offer of all the wealth and glory of the world; and the result will be, that we shall possess the true riches which will be valuable in the eternal world (Matt. iv. 8–10, vi. 19–21).

FOOTNOTES:

[1] In many of those who seem utterly free from the love of money, it is only dormant; like the thirst for blood in that tiger which, captured when a cub, was brought up as a household pet, but showed itself to be a tiger indeed when, licking a slight wound in its master’s hand, it first tasted blood. So, many who appear to be utterly free from the love of money are so simply because they have never possessed more than sufficed for their bare necessities. Let them possess more, and avarice will show itself. This is the explanation of the familiar fact, that many who become prosperous become niggardly; they may continue to give, but it is always in a steadily diminishing proportion to their income (H. E. I., 4013; P. D., 3068, 3488).