Philippians 2:4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. 1. It is true that our own things have the first claim on our regard (Proverbs 27:23; Romans 12:17). Persons without wealth cannot be generous without first seeking their own profit. Nay, attention to a lawful calling where nothing is given away benefits the community. The carpenter and the mason may have exclusive regard to their earnings, but the house they build is not less valuable. The mariner who handles dexterously the tackling of a ship, may aim only at promotion, but he is the undesigned benefactor of all on board. So with the vessel of state. 2. On these grounds some have ridiculed all philanthropy, and have pronounced a vigorous selfishness the best disinterestedness. With this the text remonstrates. Let no man look on his own things "only." This exclusive looking is — I. MEAN IN ITSELF. The effect of such action may be magnificent, but that does not alter its inglorous character. Each of the lower animals in satisfying its immediate wants tenders some service to the whole economy of life. Nay, insensible matter has comprehensive usefulness. The eye is affected by its colours, the ear by its vibrations, etc., and each molecule has its share in imparting the stability of attraction to the stellar universe. For a man to tell us, then, that he is doing good when it is not his aim is to appropriate a praise due equally to brutes and vermin. You must do good with an intent to do it, and find your motive and reward in communicating bliss. II. RUINOUS TO SOCIETY. 1. How far is the adage, "Every man for himself," to he carried? (1) Is not a man to act for his family? Then the brutes he scorns will be his censors. (2) But if a wife or child is to be cared for, why not an aged father, or widowed mother, or dependent sister? (3) And if relation create claim in one case, why not in all? (4) And if obligation extend to all the members of a family connection, how shall it disown neighbourhood and country? for one God hath made us, and we are all His offspring. 2. To think or act otherwise will leave countless evils without remedy, and create manifold disasters. The landed proprietor will look only to his rents, the manufacturer think only of the number of his "hands," the railway contractor strive only to make the most of his navvies without the least care for evils which may entail ruin and death. The neglect of superiors foments dislike, and induces all those jarrings which marked the decline of ancient commonwealths. 3. The man who cares for none but himself does harm by his very presence. He is like an iceberg, which, straying into warmer latitudes, reduces instantly their temperature, replaces their pure air by fogs, the bright sun by gloom, and a luxuriant vegetation by decay. III. OPPOSED TO THE WHOLE SPIRIT OF THE GOSPEL. Scripture associates the conceptions of God and goodness. He did not need to give His bounties for His own happiness. He does not confine them to friends; His foes share them. But He is more than good; He "so loved the world," etc., and He who was sent in love, came and suffered in love, to teach us not to look on our own things, but also on the things of others. (D. King, LL. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.WEB: each of you not just looking to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others. |
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