The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1894-03-01
CHRISTIAN LOVE.
A GREAT LECTURE OF A MAS
TER MIND.

n UNEAl LEC URE VI "A MAO-
TER MIND.
Benevolence as Taught by Prac-
tical Christianity---Selecte
From Presid't Finney's Works
Helpful, Inspiring Thoughts
for the Thoughtful.
Christian love is disinterested in the
highest well-being of God and the uni
verse is chosen, not upon condition of
its relation to self, but for it's own in
trinsic and infinite value. Selfish love
makes the relation of good to self the
condition of choosing it. The good of
God and the universe, if chosen at all,
is Only chosen AS a means or condition
of prompting the highest good of self.
''Charity Qove) seeketh not her own
1t grasps in its comprehensive embrace
the good of being in general, and of
course OF necessity, secures a cores
ponding outward life and inward feel
ing. The interest will be employed in
devising ways and means for the pro-
motion of its end. The sensibilities
will be tremblingly alive to the good of
all; will rejoice in the good of others
as in its own, and will grieve at the
misery of others as in its own. 1t
''will rejoice with them that do rejoice,
and weep with them that weep
Christian love will not, cannot be
envious at the prosperity of others but
will rather manifest unfeigned joy
JOY as real, and often as exquisite as
in its own prosperity. Benevolence
enjoys every body's good things, while
selfishness is too envious at the good
things of its own. There is divine
economy in love. Each benevolent
soul not only enjoys its own good
things, but also enjoys the good things
of others SO far as he knows their hap
piness. He drinks at the river of
Gods pleasure. He sympathizes with
all joy and all suffering known to him.
1t is real luxury to sympathize with
others. Benevolent sympathy with
the woes of others is by no means in
consistent with happiness, and with
perfect happiness. God has this SYM
pathy. There is indeed a mysterious
and an exquisite luxury in sharing the
woes of others. Where this result of
love is not manifested, there love itself
is not.
Envy at the prosperity, influence,
or good of others, the absence of SEN
sible joy in view Of the good enjoyed
by others, and of sympathy with the
suffering of others, proves conclusively
that this love does not exist There
is an xpansiveness, an ampleness of
embrace, universality, and divine
disinterestedness in Christian love, that
necessarily manifests itself in tho de-
vising of liberal things for Zion. and in
the copiOus outpourings of the floods of
sympathetic feeling, both in joys and
sorrows, when suitable occasions pre-
sent themselves before the mind.
Love is no respecter Of persons. The
good of being is the end, and it seeks
to promote every interest according to
its relative value. Selfish love is par
tial. 1t seeks to promote self-interest
first, and secondly those interests that
sustain such relation to self as will
at least indirectly promote the gratifi-
cation of self. Selfish love has it's ia
yorites, its prejudices, unreasonable
and ridiculous; color, family, nation,
church denomination, and many other
things of like nature, modify it. But
benevOlence knows neither Jew nor
Greek, neitl er bond nor free, white
nor black, Barbarian, Syrian, Euro
pean, Asiat.c, African, nor American,
but accounts all men as men, and,
by virtue of their common man.
kind, calls every man a brother, and
seeks the interests of all and Of each
This love can have no fellowship with
those absurd and ridiculous prejudices
that are SO often rife among nominal
Christians. Benevolence recognizes
no privileged classes on the one hand
nor prescribed classes on the other. II
secures in the sensibility an utter
loathing of those determinations, sc
odiously manifested and boasted Of
and which are founded in selfish state
of the will. The fact that man is q
man, and not that he is of our party
or of our town, State or nation-that
he is creature of God, that he is ca
pable Of virtue and happiness, these
are the considerations that are seizeC
upon by this divinely impartial love
1t is the intrinsic value of his interests
and not that they are the interests OF
: one connected with self that the be
!: nevolent mind regards.
1t is important to remark that thu
economy of love demands, that whe1
two interests are, in themselves con
sidered, of equal value, in order to Sc
cure the greatest amount Of good, eacl
one should bestow his efforts where
they can be bestowed to the creates
advantage. For example: every mar
| sustains such relations that he can &C
complish more good by seeking to pro
mote the interests and happiness o
certain persons rather than of others
, his family, his kindred, his compan
ions, his immediate neighbors, an
, those to whom, in the providence Q
God, he sustains such relations as t
give him access to them, and intiuenc
: over them. Therefore while benevo
t lence regards every interest accordin
: to its relative value, it reasonably put
= forth its efforts in the direction wher
there is a prospect of accomplishing
the most good. This is not partiality
. but impartlality for be it understood
it is not the particular persons t
y whom good can be done, but tn