God Loves… Himself

John 6:26 Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.

Philippians 2:19 But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, so that I also may be encouraged when I learn of your condition. 20 For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. 21 For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus.

John 7:7 “The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil.

John 15:24 “If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well.

Romans 5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

And when, in addition to these measures, the general strain of what is said to sinners is adapted to work upon their selfish feelings and animal passions, as most of what I have heard has been, and some of it extremely well adapted to work up those feelings to a high pitch, it would be strange if some affections were not excited which they might readily mistake for true religion. When God is represented as desiring their salvation, without the least qualification, and that his desire for it is infinitely strong, what impenitent sinner, that has the least seriousness of mind, is not prepared to be pleased? If “sinners love those that love them,” as our Lord assures us, they can love such a being as God is represented to be, without any change of heart. A God of all mercy, is just such a God as sinners desire. Will it be said that his justice is also brought into view, and that the terrors of hell are exhibited? True; but in what light are they exhibited? Is it not commonly in a light to which the selfish heart will as readily accord?             WILLIAM R. WEEKS.

It may be thought of as something of an over kill, but the nature of a selfish heart is so destructive to true Christianity that it must be exposed in differing ways even if it is repetitive. The selfish heart is a heart that is opposed to the true God and true Christianity which is a reflection of the true God. The selfish heart is always looking for things it can do on its own and things that are in its own power. The selfish heart is not just opposed to certain things here and there; it is specifically opposed to the sovereignty of God and His sovereign rights over man. However, a selfish heart can still preach and teach about a sovereign God as long as it thinks (deep down) that the sovereign God is pleased with its false religion and human traditions.

The Pharisees thought that they were biblical experts and they certainly had all the traditions on their side. They could quote the human teachers (expert rabbis) on the laws and as such they build their hope on the traditions of men thinking that they were building their views on the Bible. The same thing was true during the time of the Reformation with Roman Catholicism. They built their views on traditions and as such thought that their traditions were biblical traditions. They were deceived by their traditions even when they were built by learned men.

The same thing is true today. We have much of Christianity today that is believed because some human author wrote it and it has become a tradition. While a human author may have been correct in what he wrote, we must not believe it is true just because that author wrote it. Traditions abound today, yet again traditions can be nothing more than a lie that a human wrote about God and that tradition was passed on. That tradition that we have may just be partially wrong and the selfish hearts of others have interpreted it according to their own selfish hearts. When this is done, we will follow the traditions of men rather than the truth of God. When that is done, what we have is religious men following their own selfish hearts that follow the teachings of other selfish hearts.

We are taught not to be taken captive by the traditions of men rather than Christ, and what we must realize is that when we do follow traditions rather than Christ we often think of them as following Christ. We can follow a traditional interpretation of the Bible and not realize that our own selfish hearts love a traditional interpretation because the selfish heart of the interpreter is in line with my own selfish heart. We must always remember that all men are born with selfish hearts that are at enmity with God and will always lie about God in some way. The selfish heart will tell the truth about God in one sense in order to bring out a lie in another sense. The devil quoted Scripture and even said something true of the verse and yet he did so in order to twist the truth into a lie. His children do the same thing.

The ninth commandment is violated over and over again by selfish hearts and by religion. It is violated by selfish hearts that are confessing Christians and are religious leaders. A selfish heart has violated that commandment by those in the past and continues to be violated by those in the present. A selfish heart will take the Bible and true Christian tradition and twist just a little in order that it can be palatable to self and to the self of others. Conservative and orthodox Christians can be just as selfish as anyone else and perhaps be bigger liars than others because they are closer to the truth of God and still abuse those truths for selfish purposes.

John 6:26 Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.

Philippians 2:19 But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, so that I also may be encouraged when I learn of your condition. 20 For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. 21 For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus.

John 7:7 “The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil.

John 15:24 “If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well.

Romans 5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

And when, in addition to these measures, the general strain of what is said to sinners is adapted to work upon their selfish feelings and animal passions, as most of what I have heard has been, and some of it extremely well adapted to work up those feelings to a high pitch, it would be strange if some affections were not excited which they might readily mistake for true religion. When God is represented as desiring their salvation, without the least qualification, and that his desire for it is infinitely strong, what impenitent sinner, that has the least seriousness of mind, is not prepared to be pleased? If “sinners love those that love them,” as our Lord assures us, they can love such a being as God is represented to be, without any change of heart. A God of all mercy, is just such a God as sinners desire. Will it be said that his justice is also brought into view, and that the terrors of hell are exhibited? True; but in what light are they exhibited? Is it not commonly in a light to which the selfish heart will as readily accord?              WILLIAM R. WEEKS.

The concept of selfishness gets to the very heart and essence of sin, though indeed people are so blinded to it because they are blinded by it. A proud heart is blind to its own pride, but the proud heart is a selfish heart and is also blinded to how selfish it is. The selfish heart is full of self in terms of motives, intents, and loves and is its own standard. The selfish heart can justify anything it does because it justifies what it does by the standard of self. In other words, it is as simple in one sense as saying I am justified in doing what I did because it is good for me (self).

The power of self is what drives the whole world in its lusts and in its insatiable desires for things. Ephesians 2:3 shows us this when we see it in light of the selfish heart. “Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind.” What are the lusts of the flesh? They are the lusts and desires of self. What are the desires of the mind? They are the desires of the self in always craving and reaching for things that it thinks will satisfy it and make it happy. The self is the craving eye that is always looking for things to satisfy it. The self is the love that craves for others to love it and has loves that always wants to be fulfilled.

It is easily seen that the proud self will always seek self and justify self. The proud self lifts up itself and seeks itself regardless of those around it. Thus we see what happens when Christianity (in name) is taken hostage by those who want the doctrines of Christianity for the mind and the outward morality of Christianity (in a sense) for its own self-righteousness. The craving self (selfish heart) is always looking for ways to fulfill self and many times it lands upon religion to do so. The selfish heart will become a minister and it will become a leader in a denomination and it will do so in the name of Christ though it is self that is actually desired and loved. When a local church or a denomination has replaced the truth of Christ by the religion of self, things are remarkably different. This cannot be stated too strongly.

The selfish preacher wants a bigger church membership and a bigger building, so the selfish preacher will set out to find spiritual ways to convince people that a bigger building is needed. The selfish preacher will use selfish motives to convince people that they need to give more money and be more spiritual, though the selfish preacher is blind to what he is doing. There is nothing that a selfish heart will not do if it thinks that it is best for self. The selfish heart will always do what appears to be best for self and it will be religious when it thinks that religion is best for self. The selfish heart will be a preacher, a music minister, a youth minister or whatever it can be as long as it thinks that it is doing what is best for self.

What happens when this is done? One thing that happens when self rules in the churches and in the denominations is that God is lied about. True Christianity is to glorify God, but selfish “Christianity” is when each self seeks the good of self (sinful self). This selfish heart (sinful self, proud self, self-love) is the very opposite of true Christianity even when it is as religious as it can be. This wicked and sinful self seeks self while in the pulpit, while leading the singing, and while leading denominations and when it does so it is as opposite of true Christianity as it can be and as such it is a horrible lie. The selfish heart that is very religious is at heart a lie about God and a lie about true Christianity. The selfish heart lies to others and to God about all that it does.

The truth of Christianity teaches us that we are to love God and do all for His glory and pleasure, but the selfish heart lives with self at the center and as such loves self and does all for its own glory and pleasure even when it does so in the name of God. While it sounds extremely arrogant, it certainly appears that self is the chief ruler of the vast amount of visible Christianity today. As such we have ministers and churches who lie to self and others about the truth of God and Christianity. As such the worst liars (violators of the ninth commandment) are those who are very religious and yet when self is in control it always lies about God.

John 6:26 Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.

Philippians 2:19 But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, so that I also may be encouraged when I learn of your condition. 20 For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. 21 For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus.

John 7:7 “The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil.

John 15:24 “If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well.

Romans 5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

And when, in addition to these measures, the general strain of what is said to sinners is adapted to work upon their selfish feelings and animal passions, as most of what I have heard has been, and some of it extremely well adapted to work up those feelings to a high pitch, it would be strange if some affections were not excited which they might readily mistake for true religion. When God is represented as desiring their salvation, without the least qualification, and that his desire for it is infinitely strong, what impenitent sinner, that has the least seriousness of mind, is not prepared to be pleased? If “sinners love those that love them,” as our Lord assures us, they can love such a being as God is represented to be, without any change of heart. A God of all mercy, is just such a God as sinners desire. Will it be said that his justice is also brought into view, and that the terrors of hell are exhibited? True; but in what light are they exhibited? Is it not commonly in a light to which the selfish heart will as readily accord?           WILLIAM R. WEEKS.

Love, as the world defines it, is okay with adultery. The selfish heart hates it when it is told that it is sinful and wicked for lusting in the heart and looking at others with lust in the heart.. The selfish heart hates it when it is told that it should dress in such a way so as not to be a stumbling block to others and be a cause for another to lust. The seventh commandment is for people not to commit adultery, but the selfish heart will commit adultery with thousands in the heart and not think anything is wrong. The selfish heart will make many excuses and justify itself in all ways as it fights the heart of the seventh commandment.

The seventh commandment teaches us that God is always faithful and that His people are to be faithful as well. It teaches us that not only are we to be faithful physically, but with the heart as well. Not only are we to be faithful physically and with the heart, but we are to be faithful spiritually as well. In the book of Hosea God called the nation of Israelite whores for their lack of faithfulness to Him. This is to say that they were spiritual prostitutes in that they went after other gods and sold themselves to the other gods. The nation of Israel tried to do the outward things that God had commanded them like keeping certain rituals, but they also gave themselves to idols. In this they were judged to be spiritual prostitutes.

The selfish heart is an active, aggressive, and constant adulterer against God. It will be very religious in even orthodox ways, but it does all those things out of love for self rather than love for God. The selfish heart is like a spouse that loves other people and gives self to those others in the presence of the spouse. It is spiritual adultery in the face of God. For example, an orthodox minister can preach with precise orthodoxy and yet have a heart that loves self and does all out of love for self. While it is hard to imagine, a very orthodox minister can preach Sunday after Sunday with orthodox teaching and do it all out of an adulterous and wicked heart toward God. A selfish heart is by definition an adulterous heart toward God constantly roving around committing adultery with self in His presence at all times.

Ezekiel 6:9 “Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations to which they will be carried captive, how I have been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes which played the harlot after their idols; and they will loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations.

God hates adultery and we must not water it down. Adulterous hearts are not a light thing to Him even when the outward duties toward God are done. Even orthodox religious people have eyes which play the harlot after the idol of self and He is not pleased when the hearts of people turn away from Him. Outward faithfulness does not cover up and cover over adulterous hearts and outward faithfulness does not excuse adulterous eyes. A selfish heart is without excuse before God as it is an adulterous heart toward God in His very presence.

John 6:26 Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.

Philippians 2:19 But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, so that I also may be encouraged when I learn of your condition. 20 For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. 21 For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus.

John 7:7 “The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil.

John 15:24 “If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well.

Romans 5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

And when, in addition to these measures, the general strain of what is said to sinners is adapted to work upon their selfish feelings and animal passions, as most of what I have heard has been, and some of it extremely well adapted to work up those feelings to a high pitch, it would be strange if some affections were not excited which they might readily mistake for true religion. When God is represented as desiring their salvation, without the least qualification, and that his desire for it is infinitely strong, what impenitent sinner, that has the least seriousness of mind, is not prepared to be pleased? If “sinners love those that love them,” as our Lord assures us, they can love such a being as God is represented to be, without any change of heart. A God of all mercy, is just such a God as sinners desire. Will it be said that his justice is also brought into view, and that the terrors of hell are exhibited? True; but in what light are they exhibited? Is it not commonly in a light to which the selfish heart will as readily accord?           WILLIAM R. WEEKS.

The God of all glory is the God that loves Himself within the Trinity and does all out of love for Himself and His own glory. It is that love for His own name and glory that a believer can find solid rest in. When God in His great mercy and grace takes a sinner and breaks the heart of that sinner from his selfish heart and grants that sinner life in Christ, God has given Himself to a sinner in Christ. It is God acting for the sake of His own name and glory that is the bedrock of confidence for the true believer. While a selfish heart wants things to be done for self for the sake of self, which is nothing but idolatry. The true believer who longs for God to be glorified and is learning to pray in accordance with the glory of God now has the confidence to come to the throne of grace. The heart that has learned from God knows that prayer is not just asking for things, it is asking for a heart to be changed so that it will be changed to be like God and so it will pray for the sake of His name rather than self.

The sixth commandment taught the Israelites not to kill other human beings for selfish reasons, though there were legal reasons that the death of others was permissible. The sixth commandment teaches us to love others based on love for Christ. This is a dramatic change in outlook. Christ gave His disciples a new commandment and it was to love others as He had loved them. This is quite powerful. The standard for love is not how we love ourselves, but how Christ has loved His people.

John 13:34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

If we think of the sixth commandment as meaning only not to kill others for selfish reasons, then the commandment only appeals to our selfish hearts. But when we begin to understand that we are not only to refrain from killing others but that we are to love them as Christ loved them, the concept of murder and killing takes on a different idea. This commandment teaches us to love the souls of others as well as not kill them. This commandment teaches us to give ourselves for the well-being of others regarding their bodies and souls.
This commandment, then, takes direct aim at the selfish heart which wants to kill others for selfish reasons and yet will not kill others for selfish reasons. This commandment (as found in Christ) teaches us to love the souls of others for the sake of Christ and the name of God. The selfish heart only wants to do anything out of love for self and its own honor. We should not kill others because of the life of Christ in us working true love in our hearts. We should want the best for others spiritually out of love for God and His glory. The selfish heart is guilty of murder when it hates and it hates all people all the time because that is what a fallen human with a selfish heart does. When the selfish heart only loves others for the sake of self, it is trying to be God to itself and to others. When the selfish heart finds out that it may be more useful for self not to do something for others, it will not do it. The selfish heart, then, violates this commandment virtually every moment of every day as it does all for its own selfish honor and pleasure. Only Christ and His grace can change such a wicked heart.

John 6:26 Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.

Philippians 2:19 But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, so that I also may be encouraged when I learn of your condition. 20 For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. 21 For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus.

John 7:7 “The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil.

John 15:24 “If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well.

Romans 5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

And when, in addition to these measures, the general strain of what is said to sinners is adapted to work upon their selfish feelings and animal passions, as most of what I have heard has been, and some of it extremely well adapted to work up those feelings to a high pitch, it would be strange if some affections were not excited which they might readily mistake for true religion. When God is represented as desiring their salvation, without the least qualification, and that his desire for it is infinitely strong, what impenitent sinner, that has the least seriousness of mind, is not prepared to be pleased? If “sinners love those that love them,” as our Lord assures us, they can love such a being as God is represented to be, without any change of heart. A God of all mercy, is just such a God as sinners desire. Will it be said that his justice is also brought into view, and that the terrors of hell are exhibited? True; but in what light are they exhibited? Is it not commonly in a light to which the selfish heart will as readily accord?       WILLIAM R. WEEKS.

The nature of grace shines forth in contrast to selfishness, but we can also see the true nature of a selfish heart and sin as well. Grace is opposed to a selfish heart and selfish hearts are opposed to grace. Grace comes from a self-sufficient God who does all He does out of love for Himself and His own glory, but that is more or less what a selfish heart in sinful men does. The man with a selfish heart is moved out of love for self and does all for his own glory, but the man with a selfish heart is a wicked man and has a very narrow and confined love as his love for self is opposed to the greatest good in terms of God and other human beings. The love of God for Himself is triune and it moves Him to do what is best for His glory which includes His children among human beings.

When am unregenerate human being is told that he should honor his father and mother, the motives for doing so have to do with self. The regenerate heart, however, is to love God in this way. The Ten Commandments stood against Israel and condemned them, but in the New Covenant they point to the life of Christ in the soul and His grace in sharing His love for His Father with human beings. The Law does not stand against regenerate souls who are beloved of God in Christ, but it is what God shares with them through Christ. Holiness is not something that human beings can work up in the strength of fallen nature, though indeed fallen nature can follow rules and laws to some degree despite the heart being opposed to them. Holiness is not just following rules, holiness is a way of life and that is what eternal life is. Eternal life is a holy way of life.

The command to honor father and mother also points to how men should love their Father who is in heaven. In one sense He is the Father (source and origin) of all human beings, but He is not the Father of the natural (unregenerate) man in the sense that the sinful nature and sinful desires do not come from Him. The living God who exists in and of Himself and shows grace according to His good pleasure brings sinners to Himself and gives them a new heart in which they may honor Him as their Father. The selfish heart does not want to honor its human parents or the Father in heaven unless there is benefit for it. The selfish heart is opposed to true grace and wants to do what it does on its own. The selfish heart hates the true God and will be opposed to any kind of righteous regulations as such over it.

In the modern day where selfishness is given license to operate freely in the modern culture the parents are no longer those to be honored and obeyed. This is precisely what is expected from selfish hearts. In the modern culture God is not in the thoughts in most, but where He is given some space (in the mind) He is not the supreme and living God who does all for His own glory. The selfish heart of man has relegated God to Someone you call upon when you need Him. The selfish heart of man does not want to live in dependence upon God and as such will not honor Him as Father.

As our culture crumbles and is falling into a wasteland (so to speak), part of this is the refusal of human beings to honor their parents and especially to honor the Father who is in heaven. As the selfish hearts of men tried to build a tower to heaven in the Old Testament, so today men are busy trying to build ways to heaven or to bring heaven down. The selfish hearts that tried to build the tower in the Old Testament are the same hearts with the same motives in our day. The selfish heart continues to oppose God as Father and it opposes Him in all ways and at all times. The selfish heart opposes true grace in “religion” and legalism reigns where selfishness reigns. Free-grace is opposed by free-will which is to say that God and His glory are opposed by selfish hearts who want to make decisions for themselves and to have the ability to carry out what they want.

John 6:26 Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.

Philippians 2:19 But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, so that I also may be encouraged when I learn of your condition. 20 For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. 21 For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus.

John 7:7 “The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil.

John 15:24 “If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well.

Romans 5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

And when, in addition to these measures, the general strain of what is said to sinners is adapted to work upon their selfish feelings and animal passions, as most of what I have heard has been, and some of it extremely well adapted to work up those feelings to a high pitch, it would be strange if some affections were not excited which they might readily mistake for true religion. When God is represented as desiring their salvation, without the least qualification, and that his desire for it is infinitely strong, what impenitent sinner, that has the least seriousness of mind, is not prepared to be pleased? If “sinners love those that love them,” as our Lord assures us, they can love such a being as God is represented to be, without any change of heart. A God of all mercy, is just such a God as sinners desire. Will it be said that his justice is also brought into view, and that the terrors of hell are exhibited? True; but in what light are they exhibited? Is it not commonly in a light to which the selfish heart will as readily accord?        WILLIAM R. WEEKS.

The selfish heart is opposed to all things that are truly centered upon God. The selfish heart will fight all things that glorify God and how men are to be utterly dependent upon Him. The selfish heart depends upon self and on self it rests. The selfish heart loves self and lives for self and the honor of self and loathes to be dependent upon God, though it will admit that it needs help from Him at times. The selfish heart can even preach and teach on how much we need God and depend on God, but that selfish heart is not broken from self and preaches for the sake of self.

The fourth commandment is certainly thought of in different ways, but one way we should think of it is how it points to Christ and the need to rest in Christ alone. In the Old Testament Sabbath the people were to have a day of complete rest and they were not even to pick up sticks on that day. It was to be a day of complete rest, but one point of it was that they were to totally depend on God on that day for all things. It is in Christ that this day is fulfilled and it is in Christ that we are to have complete and total dependence as we rest in Him and His righteousness.

There is a Sabbath rest found in Christ and it is that rest that the selfish heart resists each and every day. The selfish heart will refuse to look to Christ alone but will look to self for something. The selfish heart may say that it trusts in Christ alone so that it can appear to be orthodox, but in the depths of the heart it refuses to rest in Christ alone. It will think of self as having some form of righteousness for trusting in Christ alone. The proud heart that is full of pride and self will not find rest in anyone or anything. It will always trust in itself and it will always seek nothing but itself. In doing this, the selfish heart shows that it is not resting in Christ alone.

The grace of God is such that all spiritual blessings are found in Christ and come to sinners on the basis of grace alone. The grace of God is such that it comes to sinners in a way where all the glory is seen to be of God and all glory is to be aimed toward God. The selfish heart cannot stand that way of thinking and that approach. The selfish heart longs for the attention of people and it longs for glory. The selfish heart will not rest in Christ alone and will not have a true grace alone as it is always looking to self for some reason for God to show favors. The selfish heart is opposed to God receiving all the glory though it may be blind to that and as such it will not rest in Christ alone and in the true notion of grace. The selfish heart opposes the Sabbath found in Christ each day of the week and all day long.

John 6:26 Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.

Philippians 2:19 But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, so that I also may be encouraged when I learn of your condition. 20 For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. 21 For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus.

John 7:7 “The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil.

John 15:24 “If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well.

Romans 5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

And when, in addition to these measures, the general strain of what is said to sinners is adapted to work upon their selfish feelings and animal passions, as most of what I have heard has been, and some of it extremely well adapted to work up those feelings to a high pitch, it would be strange if some affections were not excited which they might readily mistake for true religion. When God is represented as desiring their salvation, without the least qualification, and that his desire for it is infinitely strong, what impenitent sinner, that has the least seriousness of mind, is not prepared to be pleased? If “sinners love those that love them,” as our Lord assures us, they can love such a being as God is represented to be, without any change of heart. A God of all mercy, is just such a God as sinners desire. Will it be said that his justice is also brought into view, and that the terrors of hell are exhibited? True; but in what light are they exhibited? Is it not commonly in a light to which the selfish heart will as readily accord?         WILLIAM R. WEEKS

The great teaching of the Scriptures regarding how we are to treat the name of God is repeated over and over in many ways. For example, the first petition of the Lord’s Prayer teaches us that we should pray for God’s name to be hallowed and glorified. The third commandment teaches us that God treats His own name as holy and we are to treat His name as holy. True love and reverence for God teaches us that the nature of holiness is for people to treat God and His name as holy. There is no morality or holiness apart from treating the name of God as holy.

The modern day is marked in many ways as the time of treating the name of men with reverence. We are told that we should treat people in such a way that will leave their self-esteem high or perhaps we are even to elevate that. We are told that we are to treat people with such niceness that we are not to disturb their view of themselves. We are told that we are to view all men as equal and that we are never to speak such words as the world deems as offensive or that might be viewed as preferring one set of people over another.

If we look at the previous paragraph in light of the biblical teaching, what we see is that men are in pursuit of treating the name of men as holy and we are not to treat the name of men in a vain way. In other words, men could care less how God’s name is treated but they are very concerned of how the names of men are treated. The hearts of selfish men want to be treated with reverence and cannot stand for their own name to be treated in a vain way, but they don’t care how the name of God is treated. The old profanity laws that deal with how God’s name is treated is thought to be outrageous. However, we now have laws about how we are to treat the race and religion of others. God’s name is now open for any profanity and blasphemy, but man’s name is now to be treated with reverence. What a difference a few years can make.

It is the selfish heart of man that is the problem. The selfish heart of man wants to be treated as a sovereign and wants others to speak highly of him and to treat him with respect. The selfish heart of man thinks of self as his greatest love and as such wants his own name to be treated highly. The selfish heart of man has replaced God in his own thoughts and love and now lives in a way that seeks his own glory and honor and seeks respect for his name. This is so obvious once we begin to think in this direction. We can see this all around us of how men and women are offended, their feelings are hurt, they are angry that people will treat them in such a way. Once we get even a small understanding of the nature of the fallen heart and its selfish nature, we can see what is actually going on. The selfish heart loves self and lives for the honor of its own name. The selfish heart that fights for the honor of its own name is willing to allow the name of God to be profaned and trampled on.

We can see the selfish heart put on display in the modern political world as well. On the one hand the candidate is very sensitive about his own name, but the candidate is so concerned about political correctness that he will not say anything about homosexuality or of false religions. Behind so many news stories and the selfish hearts of the news anchors is that man wants the honor for self and does not care for the honor of God. While God treats His own name as holy and does all for His own glory, man treats his own name as holy and does all for his own glory. God commands men to use His name with reverence and awe, but man treats his own name with reverence and desires for others to treat him and his name with reverence.

The religious heart can still be full of self as it goes about its religious duties. The religious and selfish heart can be religious and do its duties out of love for self and reverence for its own name. The religious and selfish heart can preach with orthodox words and yet only do so wanting honor and glory for preaching in an orthodox way. The selfish heart can be satisfied as long as its own name is honored and treated reverently, but the selfish heart can also seek to have God’s name treated rightly in its presence so that it (the selfish heart) can be treated with honor as one that seeks for the name of God to be honored. The selfish heart is its own god, its own idol, and it seeks the honor and glory of self in worldly things and in religious things. It is no wonder that Scripture speaks so clearly of the need of the heart to be broken and humbled. Until self is taken off of the throne by divine grace, it does nothing but serve self in full enmity to God.

John 6:26 Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.

Philippians 2:19 But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, so that I also may be encouraged when I learn of your condition. 20 For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. 21 For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus.

John 7:7 “The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil.

John 15:24 “If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well.

Romans 5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

And when, in addition to these measures, the general strain of what is said to sinners is adapted to work upon their selfish feelings and animal passions, as most of what I have heard has been, and some of it extremely well adapted to work up those feelings to a high pitch, it would be strange if some affections were not excited which they might readily mistake for true religion. When God is represented as desiring their salvation, without the least qualification, and that his desire for it is infinitely strong, what impenitent sinner, that has the least seriousness of mind, is not prepared to be pleased? If “sinners love those that love them,” as our Lord assures us, they can love such a being as God is represented to be, without any change of heart. A God of all mercy, is just such a God as sinners desire. Will it be said that his justice is also brought into view, and that the terrors of hell are exhibited? True; but in what light are they exhibited? Is it not commonly in a light to which the selfish heart will as readily accord?        WILLIAM R. WEEKS.

The statement “selfish Christianity” is truly an oxymoron. It is like saying that I just took a hot bath in the coldest possible water. The life of self is directly opposed to the life of Christ in the soul and the selfish heart is opposed to all things that are truly Christian. This is so clearly seen when the Ten Commandments are seen as revealing how God is within Himself and then how man is to be like God. The living and true God has no other gods in His own presence but instead He does all for His own glory. This means that human beings, in light of that, are to live for His glory and have no other gods in His presence. It is not that any human being as the strength or ability to do this, but this shows us our inability to keep this commandment and as such we see our utter need of Christ to both save us from the power and guilt of sin but also to be our life.

The self does all for self and nothing for God. The self will seek God, but it will only seek Him in order to obtain some selfish purpose. The selfish heart serves self in all it does and as such it is in a state of constant enmity with the second commandment of God which is to have no idols. The self is the great idol that man serves. Self loves self and worships self in all it does. Self seeks self whether it is living in open sin or in a very religious way of life. When self uses Christianity as a means for self, the self is actually worshipping self using the things that are meant to humble man and bring him to worship God.

Perhaps the most horrible display of idolatry, then, is when men preach for the glory and honor of self. Instead of preaching out of love for God and for His glory, they preach out of love for self and for the glory of self. Instead of preaching in a way that manifests God with a goal of loving others that they may love God, they preach in a way that displays their own talents and they do this so that others may appreciate their preaching and laud them for their preaching. The same is true of music leaders and so on. The self is the great idol in the church when God is not truly loved and His glory is not sought in truth.

The Israelites were told that they were to take the noise of their songs away and their sacrifices were to be taken away when their hearts were not right. If so, then we must realize that a lot of religion may be nothing but a stench in the nostrils of God. If so, it may be that the best preachers (in terms of gifts and speaking ability) may be the greatest idolaters in that they are in the service of self in a greater way than others. They are using the gifts that God gave them to serve self for the glory of self. What an appalling picture this presents to us. It is not safe inside the doors of professing churches, but instead we must seek God for grace to truly worship Him and truly be those His glory shines through.