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.

True religion is of the heart and the heart is the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. Selfish religion is also of the heart but when the Spirit is absent and not working His fruit in the soul there is nothing left to motivate the sinner but self-love. Without the love of God being poured out in the soul of a human being the human being is given over to selfishness whether that is expressed in open sin or strict religion. People can spend hours in something they call prayer without really praying. Self can find things to say that it wants and even throw out some religious terminology, but it will always be motivated by self.

The second petition of the prayer that Christ taught His disciples is a prayer for the kingdom of God. This means that we are to pray specifically for the spreading and welfare of the kingdom of God and also that basic idea is to permeate all of our prayer. We are to seek His kingdom from the heart, and yet when our hearts do not desire His kingdom we are to seek Him to give us that desire. Our hearts and our prayers are to be for the kingdom (reign and rule) of God to expand and grow in the hearts of God’s people and for Him to bring others into the kingdom. It is true that God is absolutely sovereign and nothing happens apart from His sovereign hand, but we are praying for His spiritual kingdom to take over and for men and women to do His will from their hearts.

What is it that a selfish heart desires? What is the only thing a heart given over to self can desire? The selfish heart can only desire something of its own kingdom and if it prays for God’s kingdom it will only be from some selfish motive. Not only are sinners depraved, they are depraved in each part of them. Not only do they have some sinfulness, because of this sinfulness they have no ability to come to Christ in and of their own strength and power. Part of the reason for this is because a selfish heart hates God and will not come to Christ. Another reason is that a selfish heart will do nothing but seek self. Even when selfish hearts seek for Christ in some way, as the people in John 6 sought Christ for food so selfish hearts are unable to do anything but seek self. In other words, they have no ability to seek Christ for Himself but they will always have other reasons for doing so.

The third petition in the instructions of Christ on prayer is that we should see the Father for His will to be done and not our own. It is impossible for a selfish heart to pray that his or her own will not be done, though perhaps some would utter the words. A selfish heart longs for his will to be done and is angry at the sovereign will of God and is angry each time the smallest thing happens that s/he has no control over. Since God’s sovereign will is always done, we can know that we are to pray for His commanded will to be done. However, the key in this prayer is not so much praying for God’s will to be done, but in praying that His will be done and not my own.

This petition teaches us a lot about the heart that truly prays. It is not a heart that seeks the things of self and for the will of self to be done, but instead it is a heart that has been broken and it knows that the will of God is best. It is a heart that has been humbled and it desires Christ more than having the will of self be done. Oh how this is impossible for the selfish heart and so we can easily see that true prayer and true communion with God is far beyond the selfish heart. The selfish heart is opposed to God and the prayer of that heart could only be “my will be done as I please and not Yours unless you are helping me get what I want. The selfish heart cannot pray for salvation or anything else in truth and love. If it is not obvious by now that a selfish “Christianity” is an oxymoron, then I am not sure what could convince a person. If Christ came to deliver sinners, then sinners must be delivered from the heart sin of self if they are to be saved. This does not mean that Christians are completely unselfish, but it does mean that they are not under the complete control of self and are submitting to Christ more and more.

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.

True prayer is beyond the selfish heart as is all other things of true Christianity. Weeks says (not a direct quote) just above that when the truth of who God is and His Gospel are not presented correctly selfish sinners are pleased. When selfish sinners think that God is pleased with them as they are and that He is just waiting on them to pray (and perhaps say the name “Jesus” in the prayer) in order to give them what they want, this is greatly pleasing to the hearts of selfish sinners. What a burden it is to a selfish heart to pray for God’s name to be hallowed and for God to be glorified. Oh how this is not what the sinner truly desires, but a religious person can still say the words as a way of manipulating God (he thinks). What the selfish sinner is blinded to is that the heart must truly desire God’s glory in order for it to be true prayer.

True prayer is seeking God and His glory, but the religion of the selfish heart is to seek things for self. That religious person will do many religious things to either obtain a status in the church or will do many religious things in an effort to get God to do what s/he pleases. Selfish hearts hate the doctrine of sovereignty because it strips them of control, but a religious person can like the doctrine (not the reality) because it is something else that can be used for self in certain orthodox circles. A religious person may also deceive self into thinking that even though God is sovereign He will do what He is asked in prayer as long as the name of Jesus is used. Again it is so obvious that a selfish heart cannot truly pray to the true God and yet can be so blinded to the reality of that.

In another application of this (prayer and selfish hearts) we see in Scripture that sinners love those who love themselves. As long as sinners think that God loves them and gives them what they pray for, the sinner will “pray” and seek God (the god of his imagination) for the things that the selfish heart of the sinner desires. When sinners hear that God loves them and earnestly desires for them to be saved, they love Him back and do what they are told in order to be saved (they think). Now they are able to pray for what they want. Now they can give vent to their selfish hearts to God and expect Him to give them what they please. It seems to never occur to them that if they loved God they would seek the glory of God rather than their own selfish desires.

Where do people learn how to pray? We are told that prayer is the expression of the desires of the heart. However, for those who are deceived about salvation their true desires flow from selfish hearts which hate the true God. If they have any understanding of what it means to pray for God’s name to be hallowed and His name to be glorified, this will move the selfish heart to hatred. Selfish hearts hate God and are at enmity toward Him, so they will never truly pray (though they may give some lip service for appearances sake) in accordance with the teachings of Christ. The heart of a believer will be molded more and more like the heart of Christ and so Christ will teach that person in the inward man, but the selfish heart cannot be taught in the inward man how to pray.

When ministers or other leaders pray from the pulpit or from the front of the building, they are usually doing nothing but feeding selfish hearts what they want. Instead of selfish sinners being taught by the prayers of the leaders, they are simply encouraged to believe that God is there to supply their selfish wants and desires if only they ask in the right way. The prayers that are “offered” are usually as far from being God-centered as they can be. Not only that, selfish prayers of a selfish heart are prayers of hatred to the living God and they bring wrath upon the one who offers them. Those so-called prayers are far from seeking the true spiritual good of people and the glory of God. But again, a selfish heart can learn the words of true prayer and so use those true words in an effort to manipulate God and gain honor with the people. A selfish heart should be a burden to sinners as it ruins everything that they do, but that same selfish heart also blinds people to what a selfish heart really is and as such provides the interpretive lenses to view things. Oh how we need to be deeply humbled and then for God to send a true revival!

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.

William Weeks would not have been a popular man in our day. The highlighted words of his quote just above would cast him out of anything acceptable to the vast majority of professing Christians today. In the highlighted words, if we have ears to hear and eyes to see, we are given a lot of light about selfish hearts and of the bankrupt manner if which people are evangelized today. Not only that, we can see just how false the methods of preaching are today as well. People are to be approached with true love, that is, love for the glory of God and the spiritual well-being of those we are speaking or preaching to. When one approaches men one will approach them as those with selfish hearts and they need the sovereign God to change their hearts or one approaches them with niceness. This niceness is really not love, but it does pretend to. This niceness, however, approaches men as if they are the center of things and so God is changed to something He is not. Again, we will either tell men about the true God and so they will respond in anger and wrath toward us or we will make them the center of our message and so they are nice to us. In other words, a selfish heart doing evangelism will not tell the truth about God in order for men to love and honor the evangelist.

There has been a debate for centuries on the so-called “free offer” of the Gospel. Along with that is the idea that is the idea of the well-meant offer of the Gospel. This little Blog will clearly not settle the issue, but perhaps for a handful it will clarify the situation. The issue hinges on what was done at the cross, yes, but it also hinges on other things as well. It is vital to think of who God really is, but also who sinners really are. Selfish sinners love those who love them and yet they love them from selfish hearts full of self-love. When people “offer” salvation to sinners and told that God loves them and desires to save them if only they will believe, this is nothing that a selfish heart cannot do while remaining dead and lost in selfishness and self-love. What selfish sinner without the least desire to repent wouldn’t be glad to pray a prayer or make a choice from his selfish heart in order to be saved from hell? The problem, or course, is that the sinner does not see his sinful heart and just how helpless and hopeless he is. He still depends upon himself and his own selfish heart.

We simply must know and feel the weight of what Weeks is saying here. When people speak as if God loves sinners just as they are and desires their salvation just as they are, any selfish sinner will love that message and that false god. On the contrary, God loves the contrite and the humble, but of course and in contrast to the pleasing message of God loves you; the selfish heart must be broken and deeply humbled. Selfish hearts do not want to hear that God wants their hearts broken and even more, only He can break their hearts. The selfish heart needs to see that it is utterly unable to do one thing that is not full of selfishness and self love. The selfish heart needs to see that its selfish heart is at enmity with God and that it hates the true God. As Luther said, until the heart is humbled to where the sinner has no hope from his own will and his own power, the sinner is not ready to be saved.

Since the days of Finney sinners have been approached as if they only needed to be talked into something rather than that they are to seek the Lord for a broken heart. Sinners have been approached without a proper understanding of God or of the nature of sin. This truly changes everything. Is the Gospel worthy of all acceptation? Yes, or course it is. The problem, however, is that selfish sinners hate the true God and find Him and the Gospel of God very unacceptable to them. We must be confronted with the basic truth that sinners hate God and all things about Him just as they hated Jesus when He walked on the earth. As long as we don’t point out the wickedness of the natural man’s selfish heart and present a God who loves them and longs to show them mercy, they will be pleased with that God and in doing so their selfish heart is undiscovered to them.

Frankly, it is so sad to see people approached as if they were neutral and had the power to do what they are told needs to be done. The Great Commandment is to love God with all of our being, yet the natural man has a selfish heart and hates God. This basic truth needs to be pounded into our hearts over and over. Our own selfish hearts do not want to speak to people in that way, yet it needs to be done. Could it be that there are throngs of unconverted people in our day who think they love God when in fact they still have selfish hearts and hate the true God? Could it be that the true God is so rarely heard about and that the selfish nature of men’s hearts is so rarely spoken of that in fact true Christianity has been replaced by a selfish “Christianity” and those who stand for a true Christianity are thought to be haters? Jesus Christ did not come to save nice people; He came to save sinners who were at enmity with God. What is a true repentance if it is not from the deepest sin of the 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.

No one can seek Christ in truth and love who does not seek Christ for Himself. We should want Jesus for who He is and not just for what He gives, especially if we only think of what Christ gives as physical things or worldly things. Imagine the Christ who is the Beloved of the Father and the most beautiful Being in the entire universe and selfish hearts ignore Him and His glory and prefer worldly things and sin before Him. Then we see that there were ministers who preferred their own interests to Christ and as such had no true concern for the welfare of the people of Christ. We also see (from the verses on John above) that selfish hearts hated Christ when He spoke to them about their sin. Not only did they hate Christ, but they hated His Father. Yet, if a false Christ is preached then people will love that Christ and love the Father of that Christ. They may not seek Christ for true food as the people in John 6 did, but they still seek Him only for the things He gives.

Behold the horror and extreme wickedness of a selfish heart. A selfish heart is at enmity with God and it hates the true God when He is set before it, though a selfish heart will respond positively to a god that it thinks loves it and will give it what it wants. Behold the wickedness of a selfish heart in that since it does not seek the interests of Christ it does not seek the real good of the people of Christ. Behold the deep darkness and bondage of a selfish heart that will love a “god” to the degree it thinks that this “god” loves it and will do things for it. This is nothing but a selfish heart loving itself over and above God and all other human beings. A selfish heart is a heart that seeks itself in all it does even when it is doing outwardly good things for others. Can the evil of such a heart really be measured? What lengths would a heart do that was totally given over to selfishness?

Dwell upon the fact that most of the love, kindness, and outward morality in the world comes from selfish hearts. Dwell upon the fact that most of the religion (even a very great percentage) in the world comes from selfish hearts. Selfish hearts are one and all opposed to God, hate God, and hate His people. Selfish hearts in reality, despite their outward love and apparent niceness and kindness, hate all people. This is the gist of Titus 3:3, which says, “For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.” Those who do not love God and therefore do not have true love in their hearts from God seek themselves in all they do and in reality they hate all those around them. Paul, speaking of the unbelieving heart, said that the lives of unbelievers are spent in malice and envy. They are hateful and live hating one another. That is a selfish heart on display. Regardless of how nice and loving this heart appears, it is a selfish heart and in reality it hates all around it.

The selfish heart is in a prison and it cannot escape doing all it does out of love for self and hatred for God. The selfish heart cannot keep one command of God since all the commands can only be kept out of love for God and neighbors. It is a profound error to think that people have a free-will and can just decide to believe in Christ and love Him. No selfish heart can ever love at all. Before one that has a selfish heart can love that selfish heart must be crushed, humbled, and driven into the dust of nothingness. It is only when God deeply humbles the heart and regenerates it that a heart can love. A selfish heart constantly looks to self for the power to love, but all it can do is hate and hate more. Oh how we must have the power of grace to change our hearts.

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 power of self in the life of the world is rarely noticed except in extreme cases of blatant selfishness in doing harm to others. The power of self in the activities and functions of the churches seem to be even more rarely noticed. The power of self is not noticed in the ministry and not noticed by those in the pews. It is largely a neglected subject if not virtually unknown, so the power of self remains hidden in the darkness of hearts. It takes the light of Christ to shine in the hearts for people to really see the nature and power of sin.

I Cor 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

When we see that the text says that love is not jealous, if we even think for a moment we will remember that the Scriptures teach that God is love and that God is jealous. Spouses are told that they don’t love their spouse if s/he is jealous. Yet this really misses the point. There is a godly jealousy which is the opposite of a selfish jealousy. God, being perfect in love, is perfect in His jealousy as well. God, being perfect in love, has not the least tint of wrong in His jealous. True love, then, is not jealous in certain ways and is jealous in others. True love is jealous for the glory of God and true love is jealous for the spiritual good and holiness of others. True love is not jealous if God gives other people spiritual gifts and is not jealous when God gives others blessings.

Self, however, is the exact opposite; self is not truly concerned for the glory of God, but is instead jealous for its own glory. Self is not truly concerned about the spiritual good of others, but instead is jealous of others if one person appears to have more spiritual gifts. Self always wants to be the best preacher and the best elder and the best of whatever it wants. Self is jealous when others get the attention and honor. Self is jealous if another appears in a higher spot than it does. Self is jealous when another says something that is not wholly positive. Self is jealous when another is spoken well of and it is not. Clearly, self brings a lot of trouble when multiple people are around.

Self, being jealous as well, if it cannot in false humility get others to brag on self, will find a way to brag on self. True love, however, has true humility and wants others to be built up in the truth. True love, which can only come from God, is not arrogant and lifted up against God and His people. True love wants God to be manifested in and through His people, so this requires death to self. An arrogant person, even if that person is very religious, is one that is all for self and the religious person that is arrogant will try to hide that arrogance before others. It will feign humility and it will feign lowliness in order to hide the real arrogance of the heart. The love of self is arrogance against God and others, but true love is humble before God.

The selfish heart by sheer definition is a heart that is full of pride and arrogance. This self can be hidden beneath the rubbish of false humility and false religion, but it cannot be hidden from the all-seeing God. When God beholds the selfish heart, even if it is a very religious heart, He beholds Satan himself who is full of pride and arrogance in his hatred of God. As true love in the heart can only be from God’s work and as such God beholds His own glory in that heart, so the arrogant heart is the work of the evil one. A selfish heart that is full of self-love and pride is a heart that is like its father, and that father is the devil. Oh what a stench in the nostrils of God is the religious self who pretends to love God, pretends to do good works, pretends to preach orthodox sermons; but in the end it is nothing but the devil wanting to be like 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.

In light of who God is, that is, the God who exists in and of Himself and lives in perfect and supreme love for Himself within the Trinity, surely we can see how obnoxious our selfish hearts that are full of self-love are. As I Peter 1:15-16 graphically and powerfully sets out, we are to be holy because He is holy and our holiness is to be “as He is holy.” In other words, our holiness is to be like His holiness or it is not holiness at all. It is not enough to say we are holy because of things we don’t do, but our holiness is to be like His. It is not enough to say that we are holy because of things we do, but our holiness must be like His.

The problem with human beings, however, is that in the fall our first parents fell into hearts that desires to be like God. In other words, holiness can only be true holiness when we are like God and yet our unholiness is also in being like God. Our standard in all things is God. We are wicked when we try to be like God in His self-sufficiency and His perfect independence. We are wicked when we try to be our own standard and do all things out of self-love or selfishness. But again, holding to the strictest form of orthodoxy can be done out of a selfish heart. Notice the great warning from Weeks from his quote above. Our selfish hearts can have some raised affections and we can easily mistake those for true religion.

When the selfish heart hears that God loves it and desires spiritual good for it, that can raise the selfish affections of the heart and the person can be deceived. The heart that loves God loves to hear of the God who loves Himself and is only as holy as His love for Himself is. However, as with self-sufficiency, when we try to do all we do out of self-love that is a horrible sin. It is only when we love God out of a love that God puts in our hearts that we are holy at all. All that we do that comes from self-love is opposed to having God as our chief love. When we see all the descriptions in the Bible of love and what it really is, we should feel the weight of our selfish hearts in wanting to love ourselves rather than God. We should see that the best of our efforts at religion and our good works are nothing but filthy rags. It is only the truly humble (not the humility of the selfish heart) that God gives grace to, and even that humility is what He shares with His people in and through Christ.

Surely it is clear that true love is far different than selfish love. This is why true love is not thought of as true love by the world or by religious people. Self-love is always trying to convince itself that it has true love and it does things to convince itself that it has true love and at the same time it wants others to think it has true love. As the Pharisees come up with their own self-righteousness and hated the true righteousness of Christ, so in the modern day religious people are coming up with all kinds of standards that are based out of self-love.

I Cor 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Self-love has its own form of patience, kindness, and non-jealousy. Self-love will find ways to brag or get others to brag on it, but self-love cannot stand a word of correction and will accuse others of not having love when someone points out a flaw. Self-love does not want to appear arrogant, and so in its arrogance it will try to hide under a humility worked up by self-love. Self-love does not act unbecomingly out of self-love, which is very unbecoming the presence of God, Self love seeks its own no matter what it does. Self-love is the counterfeit of God and His love.

A selfish heart is simply longing to be like God, wanting the honor of others that belongs to God, and as such the selfish heart is a solitary being in the universe wanting all things to love it and honor it. The selfish heart will study hard to be a person of distinction in the pulpit and out. The selfish heart will put a great amount of self-effort into being religious. But only those who have been delivered from self can truly love God and others. The selfish heart can only preach, teach, and live from self and pretend to a form of religion.

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 is common to think of people as committing sins and think of the committing of those sins as the problem. However, while it is true that committing acts of sin is a problem, the bigger issue is where those sins come from and why they are committed. Another issue is that refraining from outward acts of sin can also be sinful. If we only refrain from sin from selfishness, then while it is better to refrain from sin than commit sin, even refraining from sin from selfish motives is not refraining from sin out of love for God. We are commanded to love God with our whole being and that would include why we refrain from sin as well. If we only refrain from stealing because of selfish motives, there is no love for God at all in that. Self would still be the chief love of the heart. This should show us something of what love is and how it is copied by self in I Corinthians 13.

4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

While many speak of love, it is usually something far different than the Bible teaches about. The text above tells us that love is patient. However, true love is not patient with sin. There are times when true love is not patient. We are also told that patience is a virtue, so striving for patience as a virtue can be nothing but what a selfish heart does. True love looks for the good of others in a spiritual sense as well as in other senses and true love is only communicated to the soul by God. Love is not so much as human activity as it is a sharing in the love of God. True love is patient with others for the right reasons and for the right heart, but there is a form of patience that comes from a selfish heart and that patience is nothing but sin. There are many who try to convince themselves that they have love when in fact their supposed love is the love of self and their patience is from a selfish heart.

Love is also kind, but this is something that is far different from being nice to people. Niceness and so-called good manners has replaced love in our day. When niceness is confused with love, then the ability to love others is within the human will rather than what comes from Christ. True kindness, however, at the very least includes a looking for the true welfare of the souls of others. Virtually anyone, even hardened criminals, can do acts that appear to be kind. But once again we can see that outward kindness can come from a selfish heart. A person can want to appear to be kind to others or even to think of self as kind when in fact the heart operates from nothing but selfishness. Self-love has a way of counterfeiting all aspects of love so that it appears as love, but that is humanistic in the way of thinking and selfish in the motives.

We must know that true love and patience and kindness can only come from God, but their counterfeits come from a selfish heart. The great danger is when the counterfeits are confused with spiritual reality. In our day niceness is confused with love and acts of kindness toward people only have the appearance of kindness rather than the root of the matter which is Christ. Oh how we need to examine our hearts to look for the root of the matter. True love is often thought of as being rude or out of line. True love will have the appearance to the natural man as something other than love as indeed Jesus was hated. The selfish love of people in doing outward acts of apparent kindness, however, will be thought of as genuine by the natural man as well. The world will hate true love as indeed it hated Jesus. The world loves selfish love as that is simply a way worldly people loves self. It is how people love those who love them.