The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-02-29
MANY good Christian people

right in a man who has succeeded in
accumulating wealth. But l find no
evidence that God has set his seal of
condemnation upon worldly gain. In
fact. the Bible assures us that right
eousness shall be rewarded with
abundance. Says the Psalmist:
Crust in the Lord and do good, SO
shalt thou dwell in the land, and
verify thou shalt be fed" Again he
says: "The upright shall have good
things in possession" One of the
Proverbs of Solomon reads: Honor
the Lord with thy substance, and
with the first fruits of thine increase;
so shall thy barns be filled with
plenty, and thy presses shall burst
out with new swine" And it was
Christ who said BLESSED are the
meek, for they shall inherit the earth. !"
And again: "Give, and it shall be
given unto you; good measure,
pressed down, and shaken together,
and running over, shall men give I'M
to your bosom"
It is not riches in themselves which
Christianity condemns, but rather
the mean and selfish spirit which
men sometimes manifest in securing
and holding them. We read that
"The love of money is the root of all
evil" not money itself, but the love
of it; the so centering ones affections
upon it that he becomes miserly,
tight listed, mean and sordid; his
soul 30 bound up in riches that he
has no time nor inclination to culti-
vate his better nature and do good to
the world. To accumulate riches
simply that one may be rich-have
gold in abundance to love and hug to
the heart lis poor, miserable way
to spend ones days. 1t is this class
of men that the Bible denounces so
severely. 1t is wonderful how gold
will sometimes shrivel up mans
soul; how selfish, tight-fsted and
little it will make him; to what mean
and dirty tricks he will resort that he
may have money.
I rejoice that riches do not make
all who secure them thus sordid and
mean. Many of the noblest men and
women the world ever saw have been
rich in this worlds goods. The
means which God has given them
they have employed to advance the
best interests of humanity. 1t is
blessing to the world to have riches
fall into the hands of the noble
hearted, generous-spirited, kind and
merciful men and women of the
world, like George Peabody and
Peter Cooper. And then aside from
aiding works of reform and benevo-
lence, money makes business lively,
builds up towns and cities, carries on
the great enterprises of the world,
stimulates discovery and invention,
gives employment to the laboring
classes, builds our homes, our schools
and our churches, and adds ten
thousand comforts and blessings to
the human race. God be praised for
money. We could not conduct the
enterprises of the world without it.
It is indispensable to the best inter-
ests of mankind.
What are the ways by which men
can secure money and become richa
There are several ways.
l. Men often become rich by in
heritance. Sometimes it proves a
blessing to them, and sometimes it
does not. We usually place values
on things according to what they
cost us.
Young people who inherit wealth
can never appreciate its real worth as
those can who earn it by their own
hands and brains. And so too often
it slips away from their grasp in fool
ish speculations, or is spent in luxu-
ries or in dissipation and wantonness.
There are honorable exceptions to
this rule. Some CT the solid, sub
stantial business men of the world
have inherited vast riches. They
have been taught the value of money,
and used it to a good and noble pur-
pose.
q Another way by which men have
occasionally become rich is through
some lucky hit, or fortunate invest
ment of small funds, or some specu-
lation. Men, by some chance throw
of the dice, or through some keen
foresight, have gone to bed at night
poor and walked up in the morning
rich. But these opportunities to be-
come suddenly rich, and without the
sacrifice of long and wise planning
and hard toiling, are extremely
scarce, and like hasty marriages, they
seldom issue we'll.