A Fatal Self-Deception

From «Testimonies for the Church,»

volume 1, pages 477, 478.

Many flatter themselves that their desire for gain is that they may help the cause of God. Some promise that when they have gained such an amount, then they will do good with it, and advance the cause of present truth. But when they have realized their expectations, they are no more ready to help the cause than before. They again pledge themselves that after they purchase that desirable house or piece of land, and pay for it, then they will do a great deal with their means to advance the work of God. But as the desire of their heart is attained, they have far less disposition than in the days of their poverty, to aid in the advancement of the work of God. «He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.» The deceitfulness of riches leads them on, step by step, until they lose all love for the truth, and yet they flatter themselves that they believe it. They love the world and the things of the world, but the love of God or of the truth is not in them.