The Scripture tells us to “Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor” (1 Cor 10:24) and that true love “does not seek its own” (1 Cor 13:5). In contrast to that, Paul had no one to send as a minister “For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus” (Phil 2:21). The Word of God tells us not to seek our own and to seek the good of our neighbor (Phil 2:3-4). That is in line with the two Greatest Commandments. It is in light of the Greatest Commandments that we can see the great evil of seeking our own interests. When a minister seeks his own interests rather than the glory of God and the good of human beings, that minister prefers self to the glory of God and the good of the people of God. That is a wicked sin and shows that the minister loves self rather than God Himself. That is a clear violation of the Great Commandments and is the idolatry of self.
In comparing these texts of Scripture we can see the selfishness and self-centeredness of our own hearts. The reason that only believers have true love is because only believers are born of God and know God. The heart that does not know God is a heart that is full of self and pride. The hearts of those that know God are full of the love of God to differing degrees. Only believers have God Himself dwelling in their hearts and so have the love of God in their souls which is the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22). Those that do not have this love of God in their souls have nothing to move them but their love for self. All that they do, even the best of their religious actions, are things that come from the love of self. All that they do, therefore, are acts of hate toward God because they have no love of God in them but instead are full of self which is opposed to God.
Preachers are commanded to be like Paul who said this in II Corinthians 4:5: “For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake.” On the other hand, we are told in Philippians 1:15 that some, “to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife.” We also see from John 10:12-13 that there are hirelings as well: “He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 “He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep.” This is what a man does that preaches error or truth for self. One can be as orthodox as a man can possibly be and yet do all for self. One can teach great things and yet the heart still be devoted to self. One can do all the work of the ministry and yet do it all for self. Paul tells us that if we “speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love,” we have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal” (I Cor 13:1). He goes on to tell us in verse 2 that if we “have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge…but do not have love,” we are nothing.
In the verses in the paragraph above we can see how those in the ministry can be at enmity with God. When the ministry is about self, whether it is about money or about status and honor, then it is self that is being served. We simply must see that this is to be at enmity with God. The ministry is not a place where we can assume that God is served at all times, but it is also a place where self can be put on display. When this is done, regardless of the person’s orthodoxy, it is hatred of God. Judas was a disciple of Christ in name, but he loved the money that was found in the moneybag. Judas was most likely one of those sent out by Christ to preach and to do miracles. But all that he did was for self and he was eventually found out to be a hypocrite.
It is a terrible shame when ministers serve self. It is nothing short of a cosmic crime when these ministers of self take the name of God on their lips and do it for self. Each and every time they read the Bible they are taking the name of God in vain as they are doing it for self. Each time they preach a sermon they are adding to their condemnation because they are preaching for self and as such they are at enmity with God who does all for His own glory. A minister that seeks the interests of self, even if he is a nice and gracious man, is one that is at enmity with God in all that he does. It is a terrible thing to be a minister if that minister does all he does for self. But it is also a terrible thing to profess the name of Christ and to serve self by using His name. This should awaken us to understand and see that we can be very religious and yet use that religious activity for the sake of self. All that we do for the sake and love of self is to be at enmity with God. When even our religious actions are considered by Christ to be lawlessness (Mat 7:21-23), we can know that our sin is truly far greater than we can know. As David says in Psalm 51:4: “Against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight.” All of our sins are acts of enmity against God, but our religious sins are especially heinous as seen by the fact that Jesus was the hardest on the Pharisees. Could it be that the modern version of Christianity is the most wicked thing in the eyes of God since it is a greater abuse of His truth? The Pharisees would not believe that either.
God Loves... Himself 
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