LECTURE 12
ON HOW TO DISPOSE OF HEAVY POSSESSIONS BEFORE DEATH
One thing that normally hinders men from dying peacefully and gloriously unto the Lord, is their inability to impoverish the spirit; by means of disposing of, or dispossessing their hard earned wealth, assets, titles and etc from the heart. The earthly treasures and honors we carry, put so much burden on our shoulders. And the soul who does not learn to dispossess them now, or betterstill, uproot them from the heart, will find death even more bitter and frustrating.
Oftentimes, we think that the best way to dispose of our assets, prior to death, is to will them to our loved ones; but that is untrue. Though a man may make a will for the distribution of his wealth and assets, he would still die in much pain and sorrow, should his heart be filled with love for those ‘things’. What do I mean by that? I mean, until the human heart is emptied of its affection towards ‘things’ and ‘people’, it will hardly find solace in death.
Actually, the trouble and restlessness of many dying souls, is partly because, their heart is heavily attached to the ‘things’ and people they love. Most of their pains and sighings, has to do with they neglecting to emancipate their heart from the love of creatures; of ‘things’ and people.
But one question is worth asking; how can a man taking his last gasp of air, impoverish his spirit so much, by disposing of great wealth, which perhaps took years to acquire? Well, you know and I know, and we all know that, it would be no easy lesson for that man. He will find it very rough and crude. To this end, we understand the blessedness Jesus proclaims over the ‘poor in Spirit’. For he says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). And truly, if there is any solace in death, the man with a poor spirit possesses it all; I mean, the man with no affection to creatures possesses it. That man will die a happy man, and his last gasp in anguish will herald the enchantment of melodious voices of Angels.
“Blessed are they who divest themselves of all”, says Francis Fenelon, “and even of their own will, in order to belong no longer to themselves.”
“O, how poor”, declares he in earnest, “are we in spirit and in our innermost depths, when we belong no longer to ourselves, and when we have despoiled ourselves to the point of losing every right to ourselves!”
Friends, to be sincere with you, the reason why the majority of people fear death, is because of the tyranny of ‘things’ they’ve laid up in the heart. We may cast back our eyes, and look at the rich man who came to Jesus to inquire of his salvation and perfection. As to what he did at the very last, we all are in the know; he simply turned away in sorrow, when the voice of the exhorting Christ thundered down upon him, “ . . . go and sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor”
The cloud of self-renunciation that came over his head, occasioned by the thundering voice of the Messiah, was the reason for his gloominess. He couldn’t believe the Lord was in earnest, and will thus demand such act of piety from him. But should he have tarried a little longer, or should he have consented to the counsel of He who declares the end from the beginning, He would have smiled back at him and said, “Son, I do not mean to say that you should actually go and sell all your physical wares, and give the proceeds thereof to the poor. All I actually want, is for you to remove those treasures from the temples of your heart, the sanctuary I made for myself, and to renounce your love for those triffles. For your love for them has inflated your heart and has made you heavy in possession.”
Therefore “If thou wilt be perfect”, Jesus did say, “go and sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor . . .” Which is to say, “if you seek to attain perfection, go and emancipate your heart from the love of creatures; of ‘things’ and people.”
Yours truly, the man who has renounced his self, and has uprooted from his heart those things which we call ‘things’, has sold all that he has, and has given to the poor. He has perfectly impoverished his Spirit. Before God and the throne of His grace, that man is the poorest of all creation; even if he were to own the whole treasuries of the universe.
There are actually two things that makes a man rich. The first is his ‘I’, and the second is his love and affection for ‘things’. The man in either of these estates is reckoned, before God, the richest of all creation, though that man may not even own a fowl or a raven.
What do I mean by a man’s ‘I’? By a man’s ‘I’, I mean the reckless love a man has for himself. I mean, the self- idolatory with which he bows to himself; the self- confidence, the self-complacency, the self-vindication, the self-seeking, the self-will, the self-glorying, the self- consciousness, the self-importance, the self-righteousness and all the self syndromes you can think of.
Such was the composure of the rich man who came to Jesus; he loved to bow to his own greatness. He was filled with inordinate love and affection for the ‘things’ he possessed. His heart was heavy with love for them, and that was the whole composition of his wealth. It is of such men that Jesus says, “Verily I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:23).
But of men who exercise great diligence in keeping their heart pure from the corruption of ‘things’ and trifles, and are thus poor in spirit, at times also in flesh, he says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Great examples of such pious men are the Peter and the James and the John and all the saints, who forsook their all and followed Jesus. They were simply poor in Spirit. I mean, they were men who possessed nothing or rather say, knew how to dispose of ‘things’. Consequently, they, with wide arms, joyfully embraced the crude death that was marshalled against them by their persecutors. It is the footsteps of these great men we should trace.
In this lecture, I only seek to teach, by way of practice and exercise, a diligent way to liberate the heart from the love of ‘earthly things’, even as the great saints of God did.
But before proceeding, I feel pressed to clarify that there is NO SIN in having abundance; be it riches or wealth. They only become sin unto us, when we allow them to creep into our heart, or rather say, when we inflate our heart with love for those ‘things’. Actually, what the heavens reckon ‘wealth’, is not those ‘things’ we carry in our hands, but rather, the ‘things’ we carry in our heart.
Notice, for example, that Abraham was not at fault in having a son, Isaac. His only sin was when he allowed that son a seat in his heart, God’s sanctuary, and became obsessive in his love towards him. Apparently, with the coming of that promised child, Abraham totally altered the whole configuration of his heart and made a monstrous substitution; he turned from The Perfect, The Lord Almighty, to that which was in part. But not stated in too many words, we are enlightened by the scriptures on how God repossessed His sanctuary. We are told how God regained the kingdom, for which Abraham was eager to usurp for Isaac. How did he do that? Very simple. He asked Abraham to sacrifice that boy unto him. Though it was just a test and a trial by fire, He declared it unto Abraham as though He was in earnest.
What happened thereafter? Simple! Abraham obeyed and journeyed with the boy he loved to the Mount of Moriah; to sacrifice him there. As he bound and laid him on Moriah’s Altar, and as he drew his sword, The Lord Himself intercepted the sacrifice, calling out unto Abraham and saying, “Son, I have no delight in the blood of this little lad. And it was also not my wish that you should actually kill him. It is the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts I desire of men; not the blood of little boys. All I actually wanted, was for you to fix the ‘corruption’ of your heart, and to repair that inner temple which lies in decay. I only wanted the little boy out of the place of my abode, your heart, so that I can continue my reign therein.” By this, God taught the father of many nations a lesson, wherewith he learnt to stay single-hearted for the rest of his life.
Abraham learnt his lesson very well. Though Isaac was yet alive, safe and sound by his side, he became altogether dead unto him. For the things and people which abide not in the heart are dead unto us. Abraham lost his son completely. That little lad he bound and fastened unto Moriah’s Altar was no longer his Isaac. He became the Lord’s Isaac. In point of fact, Abraham lost his son that very moment he tied a rope over his wrist and feet. He lost him the very instant he lifted and laid him on the wooden altar. The Isaac he fastened unto the altar was his own Isaac. But when God had finished dealing with him, the Isaac he unfastened and unbound was the Lord’s Isaac. Although, God restored the same boy to him, He rendered him in a version that Abraham couldn’t own. He somewhat altered the relationship between father and son, and He made them altogether dead unto each other.
Therefore friends, if you are very zealous to have all ‘things’ dead unto you, I may assist your effort by proposing two lucid ways to do that. The first is by stripping of all your affections to them, and by bind them on Moriah’s Altar. By Moriah’s Altar, I mean the altar or place where you lose your dearest “I”. I mean, the place bereft of affection, where you see the true nature and miserableness of ‘things’ and ‘people’.
The man who succeeds in binding his ‘things’ on this altar, will gain back his God. That man will have those treasures safely by his side, just as Abraham had Isaac by his side: but they will altogether be dead unto him.
However, should this path seem so rough for your feet to tread on, then I’ll urge you to look diligently on this other trail, wherewith you may attain unto the same end. It is the path of CHARITY.
On this path, all you have to do is to willfully give all your ‘things’ to the poor. As you physically let go your ‘all’ to that poor neighbor, guess what? You lose that tenderness to stick up your head in pride. You simply procure true humility for yourself, wherewith the heart is cleared of all carnal affections. With this single act of devotion, you render your heart ‘broken and contrite’, and of such hearts, ‘The Lord will never despise’.
The man who has his heart in this estate will also lose his ‘I’, and he will in no wise lose his God. But to this man, the ‘things’ and ‘people’ he loved would be physically gone from him, as they would be in the hands of a neighbor. This, I must say, is undoubtedly the hardest interpretation of Matthew 19:21, Mark 10:21 and Luke 12:33.
Yes! This, I say, is the rich man’s interpretation of Jesus’ statement, “go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor . . .” But should you uphold yourself, and not turn away in sorrow, like that rich man did, and will embrace that appeal with joy, it’ll surely profit you like the first.
Recall that Abraham lost his son by binding him on Moriah’s Altar, whilst Hannah lost his son by lending him to Eli. Though they all had their sons dead unto them, which is to say uprooted from their heart, Abraham still had control over his son, whilst Hannah lost his control to another man, a Priest.
Even so friends, on account of these two, you may choose the means wherewith you seek to purify your heart from the undue love of creatures; Either by binding them on Moriah’s Altar, or by giving them out with the zeal of Hannah’s charity or liberality.
LOWLY
By Ingolsteller, translated by Sarah Findlater
Christ's path was sad and lowly,
But yet thou, in thy pride,
Wouldst climb the highest summit,
And on the hight abide!
Wouldst thou to heaven arise?
Thy Lord the way will show thee;
For who would climb these skies,
Must first with Him be lowly.
Lowly, my soul, be lowly--
Follow the paths of old:
The feather riseth lightly,
But never so the gold!
The stream, descending fast,
Has gathered, quietly, slowly--
A river rolls at last--
Therefore, my soul, be lowly.
Lowly, my eyes, be lowly:
God, from His throne above,
Looks down upon the humble,
In kindness and in love.
Still, as I rise, I shall
Have greater depths below me,
And haughty looks must fall--
Therefore, mine eyes, be lowly.
Lowly, my hands, be lowly:
Christ's poor around us dwell,
Stoop down, and kindly cherish
The flock He loves so well.
Not toiling to secure
This world's fame and glory--
Thy Saviour blessed the poor,
Therefore, my hands, be lowly.
Lowly, my heart, be lowly:
So God shall dwell with thee;
It is the meek and patient
Who shall exalted be.
Deep in the yalley rest
The Spirit's gifts most holy,
And they who seek are blest--
Therefore, my heart, be lowly.
Lowly, I would be lowly!
This frame, to earth allied,
Must first to dust be humbled
Ere it be glorified!
My God, prepare me here
For all that lies before me;
I would in heaven appear,
And so I would be lowly.
OUR SOUL SHALL MAGNIFY THE LORD
By James Montgomery
Our soul shall magnify the Lord,
In Him our spirit shall rejoice;
Assembled here with sweet accord,
Our hearts shall praise Him with our voice.
Since He regards our low estate,
And hears His handmaids when they pray,
We humbly plead at Mercy's gate,
Where none are ever turn'd away.
The poor are His peculiar care,
To them His promises are sure;
His gifts the poor in spirit share:
O may we always thus be poor!
God of our hope, to Thee we bow,
Thou art our refuge in distress;
The Husband of the widow, Thou,
The Father of the fatherless.
May we the law of love fulfil,
To bear each other's burdens here;
Suffer, and do Thy righteous will,
And walk in all Thy faith and fear.
Didst Thou not give Thy Son to die,
For our transgressions, in our stead?
And can Thy goodness aught deny
To those for whom Thy Son hath bled?
Then may our union, here begun,
Endure for ever, firm and free;
At Thy right-hand may we be one,
One with each other, and with Thee.