Quote: “Whenever love of self (humanism) is your religion, your god will be money (materialism) and your lifestyle will be given over to pleasure (hedonism).The inevitable product of these three is nihilism, a fancy philosophical word for despair. ” – David Reagan. Do you see the sequence? People bewildered by the self-harm and suicides of the rich and famous will ask, “But why? They had everything going for them; money, fame, adoration. Why?” Answer: Reject God, reject His universal law and moral principles and life becomes empty and meaningless. Despair is a primary reason why people take their lives, rich and famous or otherwise.
Despair – ‘hopelessness, desperation, distress, anguish, unhappiness, dejection, depression, despondency, gloom, melancholy, misery, discouragement, pessimism.’ What a list! That’s not life, that’s death! These are all the things Jesus came to set us free from. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly John 10:10b. Abundantly – ‘superabundant in quantity, superior in quality, beyond measure.’ One pays a high price indeed for their rejection of God, His law and moral principles. Why the rejection of God? One answer: we are born possessing such rejection. That’s why Jesus said we must be born again – spiritually. Because the carnal (natural, human) mind is enmity (hostile, opposed, hatred) against God Romans 8:7a.
The above Scripture explains why people are ever so quick to declare, “I’m not religious,” when the name of Jesus Christ is mentioned. “Religion is the cause of all wars and suffering,” they’ll say. Ask them to elaborate and they’ll do what people have done for generations; they’ll cough or splutter, shuffle or squirm as they say, “I don’t talk about religion!” In a sense they are right; religion has been and is a cause, but it is a cause related to humanism, not Jesus Christ. Christian definition of religion: Religion is human-centred, Christianity is Christ-centered. Human-centred religionists do kill, Christ-centered people do not, unless for the defence of people unable to defend themselves and, in times of war. Communism is humanism; its adherents have killed nearly 100 million people to date.
“Money is the root of all evil,” so say the biblically uniformed, plus the envious. Not so. It is the love of money 1Timothy 6:10. Love meaning: ‘avarice, covetous, greed.’ If people are trapped in such, that’s when money is god and that’s when all kinds of evil might show up. When we learn of people lying for it, stealing it, embezzling it, casting everyone and everything aside for it, we know they’re not far from fighting for it and killing for it. Money god is their ruler and materialism is their primary “doctrine”! “This is MY house!” the 40’s-something woman was heard screaming in desperation at her husband. It turned out to be not so. The marriage fell apart and a “For Auction” sign was displayed out front a couple of months later. If only both believed, “This is God’s house.” Money god takes no prisoners!
Materialism – ‘to consider material possessions and physical comforts as more important than spiritual values.’ Such a false “doctrine” materialism truly is. Just like false religious doctrines, materialism imprisons those who subscribe to it, spiritually, mentally, morally and physically. Walking the immediate streets of my suburb, as I do daily for 40 minutes, I get to see some very pricey homes and motorcars; but I sense no spirit of peace and joy over the majority of them. Gloom is what I sense. “These are not happy homes,” said a fencing contractor to me some time ago. He’s right. Peace, joy, happiness – this is what the “doctrine” of materialism promises, but because it’s false, it cannot deliver. Despair is what it delivers in the end. It is true what is said about “all that glitters.”
No, God is not against pricey homes and motorcars. Neither is He a one-size-fits-all God. God is a Creator, not a Communist, not a Socialist! He places the creative gift in people who design lovely homes and motor cars, who make the materials for them and who build them. But God is a realist, not a materialist. If the pricey home and motorcar is outside of one’s price range, then realism says settle for those which are not; then aim and save for something better down the track. Even if one is not a believer, a certain level of peace, joy and happiness is guaranteed to those who live according to that principle. This is what’s spoken of as the common grace of God. For He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous Matthew 5:45.
Hedonism – ‘the pursuit of pleasure; sensual self-indulgence, self-gratification.’ Quote: “The moral effects of this exorbitant and over-mastering love of pleasure are very awful. In cases of the greatest excess, the very body gives way under it. Gluttony, drunkenness, licentiousness, not only eclipse the mental lights and scorch the moral sensibilities of the soul, but they hasten the body to dissolution; they dig many a dishonoured grave. But apart from these physical consequences, and even in those cases where they do not follow, the moral effects of the love of pleasure are very sad. Take a tree that needs firm rooting and fresh air and put it in a hothouse, or in some steamy vaporous place where no winds reach it, and where light is dim, and see how weak and how faded it will become.”
Continued: “Such is the man who has blotted out the word “duty” from the plan of his life and written “pleasure” there in its stead; who feels life no longer to be a moral strife, with God and goodness as its end, but only a low and ignoble endeavour to snatch enjoyment and secure comfort. That man must wither even while he seems to bloom; he must fall, however he may appear to rise; to him there are no stirrings of noble impulse, no victories of the will, no clear light of supreme law. Life is a song, a play, a picture, a feast, a superficial shallow thing—for the man is a lover of pleasure more than a lover of God. And when men sink thus far, it is very hard to raise them. The worm is at the heart of the tree—the corrosive stain is beneath the surface—it is eating the metal through and through.”
Continued: “She (and he) that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth.” Dead in this sin, the love of pleasure. The noblest things have gone now. There is nothing left to which we can appeal.” – Alexander Raleigh. That’s it! How sad, but how foolish! Nothing to follow now but despair and all the above meanings of it; and if not in this life then certainly the one following. No wonder God calls it the second death Revelation 2:11. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power …. ….. Revelation 20:6. Biblically, physical death is the separation of the soul from the body, spiritual death is the separation of the soul from God. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal through Jesus Christ our Lord Romans 6:23.
It is not the will of God for anyone to be imprisoned by despair and all its meanings. But it is the natural outcome of rejecting Him, His universal law and moral principles. Do that and you’re on your own. God has given each of us free will; free to choose, free not to choose. It is His desire that people would choose His will but if He forced them do so He would be a dictator, a tyrant, a despot! And all too sadly, that’s what many who claim to represent Him are – religious dictators, religious tyrants, religious despots, self-lovers, money-lovers, etc. That’s why Jesus personally says, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest Matthew 11:28. “Rest” – that’s what Christ has on offer for all who choose Him, not despair!
True, many there are imprisoned by despair who are not self-lovers, money-lovers and pleasure-lovers. But neither are they God-lovers. I recall to mind a few such people; life was good up until they lost their marriage partner. They would talk of their despair and all its meanings. Those who acted on the Scripture above received a glorious release and rest; those who did not, remained imprisoned. One man I recall came here from Eastern Europe. His nation was occupied by Germany during WW2 and he was forced into in the German Army. He was frightened of God. He said he, “did some bad things.” I didn’t ask what he did, I told him to humble himself to Jesus Christ, repent and ask for forgiveness. He did so and received his rest before he died.
As this current age winds down, despair and all its meanings will escalate. Rejection of God, His universal law and moral principles will remain the primary reason for this, but there will also be victims who know nothing about such rejection – the children under the care and influence of these rejecters. “Be whoever you want to be; be whatever you want to be,” they’re told. That’s a lie! That’s not how it works. It is a violation of universal law. That’s why despair and all its meanings is rampant among young people the world over. They have no-one to turn to, no-one to correctly advise and guide them so they turn to booze and drugs, then finally to suicide. Such a needless tragedy! Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life John 5:24.