From Charity and It ' s Fruits Sermon 3 he Greatest Performances Or Sufferings In Vain Without CharityThough I bestow all my goods to feed the poor , and though I give my body to be burned , and have not charity , it profiteth me nothing . — 1 Cor . xiii . 3 IN the previous verses of this chapter , the necessity and excellence of charity are set forth , as we have seen , by its preference to the greatest privileges , and the utter vanity and insignificance of these privileges without it . The privileges particularly mentioned are those that consist in the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit of God . In this verse , things of another kind are mentioned , viz . those that are of a moral nature . It is declared that none of these avail anything without charity . And , particularly , First , that our performances are in vain without it . Here is one of the highest kinds of external performances mentioned , viz . giving all our goods to feed the poor . Giving to the poor is a duty very much insisted on in the Word of God , and particularly under the Christian dispensation . And in the primitive times of Christianity , the circumstances of the Church were such , that persons were sometimes called to part with all they had , and give it away to others . This was partly because of the extreme necessities of those who were persecuted and in distress , and partly because the difficulties that attended being a follower of Christ , and doing the work of the gospel , were such as to call for the disciples disentangling themselves from the care and burden of their worldly possessions , and going forth , as it were , without gold or silver in their purses , or scrip , or even two coats apiece . The apostle Paul tells us that he had suffered the loss of all things for Christ ; and the primitive Christians , in the church at Jerusalem , sold all that they had , and gave it into a common fund , and " none said that aught that he had was his own " ( Acts 4 : 32 ) . The duty of giving to the poor was a duty that the Christian Corinthians at this time had particular occasion to consider , not only because of the many troubles of the times , but by reason , also , of a great dearth or famine that sorely distressed the brethren in Judea : in view of which , the apostle had already urged it on the Corinthians , as their duty , to send relief to them , speaking of it particularly in this epistle , in the sixteenth chapter ; and also in his second epistle to the same church , in the eighth and ninth chapters . And yet , though he says so much in both these epistles , to stir them up to the duty of giving to the poor , still he is very careful to inform them , that though they should go ever so far in it , yea , though they should bestow all their goods to feed the poor , and have not charity , it would profit them nothing . Secondly , the apostle teaches , that not only our performances , but also our sufferings are of no avail without charity . Men are ready to make much of what they do , but more of what they suffer . They are ready to think it a great thing when they put themselves out of their way , or are at great expense or suffering , for their religion . The apostle here mentions a suffering of the most extreme kind , suffering even to death , and that one of the most terrible forms of death , and says that even this is nothing without charity . When a man has given away all his goods , he has nothing else remaining that he can give , but himself . And the apostle teaches , that when a man has given all his possessions , if he then goes on to give his own body , and that to be utterly consumed in the flames , it will avail nothing , if it is not done from sincere love in the heart . The time when the apostle wrote to the Corinthians was a time when Christians were often called , not only to give their goods , but their bodies also , for Christ ' s sake . For the Church then was generally under persecution , and multitudes were then or soon after put to very cruel deaths for the gospel ' s sake . But though they suffered in life , or endured the most agonizing death , it would be in vain without charity . What is meant by this charity , has already been explained in the former lectures on these verses , in which it has been shown that charity is the sum of all that is distinguishing in the religion of the heart . And therefore the doctrine that I would derive from these words is this : THAT ALL THAT MEN CAN DO , AND ALL THAT THEY CAN SUFFER , CAN NEVER MAKE UP FOR THE WANT OF SINCERE CHRISTIAN LOVE IN THE HEART . I . There may be great performance , and so there may be great sufferings , without sincere Christian love in the heart . And , 1 . There may be great performances without it . The apostle Paul , in the third chapter of the epistle to the Philippians , tells us what things he did before his conversion , and while he remained a Pharisee . In the fourth verse , he says , " If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh , I more . " Many of the Pharisees did great things , and abounded in religions performances . The Pharisee mentioned in Luke 18 : 11 , 12 , boasted of the great things that he had done , both towards God and men , and thanked God that he so exceeded other men in his doings . And many of the heathen have been eminent for their great performances : some for their integrity , or for their justice , and others for their great deeds done for the public good . Many men , without any sincerity of love in their hearts , have been exceeding magnificent in their gifts for pious and charitable uses , and have thus gotten to themselves great fame , and had their names handed down in history to posterity with great glory . Many have done great things from fear of hell , hoping thereby to appease the Deity and make atonement for their sins , and many have done great things from pride , and from a desire for reputation and honor among men . And though these motives are not wont to influence men to a constant and universal observance of God ' s commands , and to go on with a course of Christian performances , and with the practice of all duties towards God and man through life , yet it is hard to say how far such natural principles may carry men in particular duties and performances . And so , 2 . There may be great sufferings for religion , and yet no sincerity of love in the heart . Persons may undergo great sufferings in life , just as some of the Pharisees used themselves to great severities , and to penances and voluntary inflictions . Many have undertaken wearisome pilgrimages and have shut themselves out from the benefits and pleasures of the society of mankind , or have spent their lives in deserts and solitudes , and some have suffered death , of whom we have no reason to think they had any sincere love to God in their hearts . Multitudes among the Papists have voluntarily gone and ventured their lives in bloody wars , in hopes of meriting heaven by it . In the wars carried on with the Turks and Saracens , called the Holy Wars , or Crusades , thousands went voluntarily to all the dangers of the conflict , in the hope of thus securing the pardon of their sins and the rewards of glory hereafter . Many thousands , yea , some millions , in this way lost their lives , even to the depopulation , in a considerable measure , of many parts of Europe . And the Turks were many of them enraged by this exceedingly , so as to venture their lives , and rush , as it were , upon the very points of the swords of their enemies , because Mahomet has promised that all that die in war , in defense of the Mahometan faith , shall go at once to Paradise . And history tells us of some that have yielded themselves to voluntary death , out of mere obstinacy and sturdiness of spirit , rather than yield to the demand of others , when they might , without dishonor , have saved their lives . Many among the heathen have died for their country , and many as martyrs for a false faith , though not in anywise in such numbers , nor in such a manner , as those that have died as martyrs for the true religion . And in all these cases , many doubtless have endured their sufferings , or met death , without having any sincere divine love in their hearts , But , II . Whatever men may do or suffer , they cannot , by all their performances and sufferings , make up for the want of sincere love in the heart . — If they lay themselves out ever so much in the things of religion and are ever so much engaged in acts of justice and kindness and devotion , and if their prayers and fastings are ever so much multiplied , or if they should spend their time ever so much in the forms of religious worship , giving days and nights to it , and denying sleep to their eyes and slumber to their eyelids that they might be the more laborious in religious exercises , and if the things that they should do in religion were such as to get them a name throughout the world and make them famous to all future generations , it would all be in vain without sincere love to God in the heart . And so if a man should give most bounteously to religious or charitable uses , and if , possessing the riches of a kingdom , he should give it all , and from the splendor of an earthly prince should reduce himself to a level of beggars , and if he should not stop there , but when he had done all this , should yield himself to undergo the fiercest sufferings , giving up not only all his possessions , but also giving his body to be clothed in rags , or to be mangled and burned and tormented as much as the wit of man could conceive , all , even all this , would not make up for the want of sincere love to God in the heart . And it is plain that it would not , for the following reasons : — 1 . It is not the external work done , or the suffering endured , that is , in itself , worth anything in the sight of God . — The motions and exercise of the body , or anything that may be done by it , if considered separately from the heart — the inward part of the man — is of no more consequence or worth in the sight of God than the motions of anything without life . If anything be offered or given , though it be silver , or gold , or the cattle on a thousand hills , though it be a thousand rams , or ten thousands of rivers of oil , there is nothing of value in it , as an external thing , in God ' s sight . If God were in need of these things , they might be of value to him in themselves considered , independently of the motives of the heart that led to their being offered . We often stand in need of external good things , and therefore such things , offered or given to us , may and do have a value to us , in themselves considered . But God stands in need of nothing . He is all - sufficient in himself . He is not fed by the sacrifices of beasts , nor enriched by the gift of silver , or gold , or pearls — " Every beast of the forest is mine , and the cattle upon a thousand hills . If I were hungry , I would not tell thee , for the world is mine , and the fulness thereof " ( Psa . 50 : 10 , 12 . ) " All things come of thee , and of thine own have we given thee . O Lord our God , all this store that we have prepared to build thee an house for thine holy name , cometh of thine hand , and is all thine own " ( 1 Chr . 29 : 14 , 16 ) . And as there is nothing profitable to God in any of our services or performances , so there can be nothing acceptable in his sight in a mere external action without sincere love in the heart , " for the Lord seeth not as men seeth ; for man looketh on the outward appearance , but God looketh on the heart . " The heart is just as naked and open to him as the external actions . And therefore he sees our actions , and all our conduct , not merely as the external motions of a machine , but as the actions of rational , intelligent creatures , and voluntary free agents ; and therefore there can be , in his estimation , no excellence or amiableness in anything we can do , if the heart be not right with him . And so God takes no pleasure in any sufferings that we may endure , in themselves considered . He is not profited by the torments men may undergo , nor does he delight to see them putting themselves to suffering , unless it he from some good motive , or to some good purpose and end . We sometimes may need that our fellowmen , our friends and neighbors , should suffer for us , and should help us to bear our burdens , and put themselves to inconvenience for our sake . But God stands in no such need of us , and therefore our sufferings are not acceptable to him , considered merely as sufferings endured by us , and are of no account apart from the motive that leads us to endure them . No matter what may be done or suffered , neither doings nor sufferings will make up for the want of love to God in the soul . They are not profitable to God , nor lovely for their own sake in his sight . Nor can they ever make up for the absence of that love to God and love to men , which is the sum of all that God requires of his moral creatures . 2 . Whatever is done or suffered , yet if the heart is withheld from God , there is nothing really given to him . — The act of the individual , in what he does or suffers , is in every case looked upon , not as the act of a lifeless engine or machine , but as the act of an intelligent , voluntary , moral being . For surely a machine is not properly capable of giving anything ; and if any such machine that is without life , being moved by springs or weights , places anything before us , it cannot properly be said to give it to us . Harps and cymbals , and other instruments of music , were of old made use of in praising God in the temple and elsewhere . But these lifeless instruments could not be said to give praise to God , because they had no thought , nor understanding , or will , or heart , to give value to their pleasant sounds . And so , though a man has a heart , and an understanding , and a will , yet if when he gives anything to God , he gives it without his heart , there is no more truly given to God than is given by the instrument of music . He that has no sincerity in his heart , has no real respect to God in what he seems to give , or in all his performances or sufferings , and therefore God is not his great end in what he does or gives . What is given , is given to that which the individual makes his great end in giving . If his end be only himself , then it is given only to himself . and not to God . If his aim be his own honor or ease , or worldly profit , then the gift is but an offering to these things . The gift is an offering to him to whom the giver ' s heart devotes , and for whom he designs it . It is the aim of the heart that makes the reality of the gift . And if the sincere aim of the heart be not to God , then there is in reality nothing given to him , no matter what is performed or suffered . So that it would be a great absurdity to suppose that anything that can be offered or given to God , can make up for the absence of love in the heart to him . For without this , nothing is truly given , and the seeming gift is but mockery of the Most High . This further appears , 3 . From the fact , that this love or charity is the sum of all that God requires of us . And it is absurd to suppose that anything can make up for the want of that which is the sum of all that God requires . Charity or love is something that has its seat in the heart , and in which , as we have seen , consists all that is saving and distinguishing in Christian character . This love it is of which our Savior speaks as the sum of all required in the two tables of the law , and which the apostle declares is the fulfilling of the law . How can we make up for the defect , when , by withholding it , we do in effect withhold the sum - total of all that God requires of us ? It would be absurd to suppose that we can make up for one thing that is required by offering another that is required — that we can make up for one debt by paying another . But it is still more absurd to suppose that we can make up for the whole debt without paying anything , but by continuing still to withhold all that is required . As to external things without the heart , God speaks of them as not being the things that he has required ( Isa . 1 : 12 ) , and demands that the heart be given to him , if we would have the external offering accepted . 4 . If we make a great show of respect and love to God , in the outward actions , while there is no sincerity in the heart , it is but hypocrisy and practical lying unto the Holy one . — To pretend to such respect and love , when it is not felt in the heart , is to act as if we thought we could deceive God . It is to do as Israel did in the desert , after they had been delivered from Egypt , when they are said to have " lied unto God with their mouth , and to have flattered him with their tongues " ( Psa . 78 : 36 ) . But surely it is as absurd to suppose that we can make up for the want of sincere respect by flattery and guile , as to suppose we can make up for the want of truth by falsehood and lying . 5 . Whatever may be done or suffered , if there be no sincerity in the heart , it is all but an offering to some idol . — As observed before , there is nothing , in the case supposed , really offered to God , and therefore it will follow , that it is offered to some other being , or object , or end , and whatever that may be , it is what the Scriptures call an idol . In all such offerings , something is virtually worshipped ; and whatever it is , be itself , or our fellowmen , or the world , that is allowed to usurp the place that should be given to God , and to receive the offerings that should be made to him . And how absurd to suppose we can make up for withholding from God that which is his due , by offering something to our idol ! It is as absurd as it is to suppose that the wife can make up for want of love to her husband , by giving that affection which is due to him to another man who is a stranger ; or that she can make up for her want of faithfulness to him , by the guilt of adultery . In the application of this subject , it becomes us to use it , 1 . In the way of self - examination . — If it be indeed so — that all we can do or suffer is in vain , if we have not sincere love to God in the heart — then it should put us upon searching ourselves whether or no we have this love in sincerity in our hearts . There are many that make a profession and show of religion , and some that do many of the outward things which it requires , and possibly they may think that they have done and suffered much for God and his service . But the great inquiry is , has the heart been sincere in it all , and has all been suffered or done from a regard to the divine glory ? Doubtless , if we examine ourselves , we may see much of hypocrisy . But is there any sincerity ? God abominates the greatest things without sincerity , but he accepts of and delights in little things when they spring from sincere love to himself . A cup of cold water given to a disciple in sincere love , is worth more in God ' s sight than all one ' s goods given to feed the poor , yea , than the wealth of a kingdom given away , or a body offered up in the flames , without love . And God accepts of even a little sincere love . Though there be a great deal of imperfection , yet , if there be any true sincerity in our love , that little shall not be rejected because there is some hypocrisy with it . And here it may be profitable to observe , that there are these four things that belong to the nature of sincerity , viz . truth , freedom , integrity , and purity . And , First , truth . — That is , that there be that truly in the heart of which there is the appearance and show in the outward action . Where there is , indeed , true respect to God , the love that honors him will be felt in the heart , just as extensively as there is a show made of it in the words and actions . In this sense it is said in the fifty - first psalm , " Behold , thou desirest truth in the inward parts . " And in this view it is that sincerity is spoken of in the Scriptures as the opposite of hypocrisy , and that a sincere Christian is said to be one that is such indeed as he appears to be — one " without guile " ( John 1 : 47 ) . Examine yourself , therefore , with respect to this matter . If in your outward actions , there is an appearance or show of respect to God , inquire if it be only external , or if it be sincerely felt in your heart . For without real love or charity you are nothing . The Second thing , in the nature of sincerity , is Freedom . on this account especially the obedience of Christians is called filial , or the obedience of children , because it is an ingenuous , free obedience , and not legal , slavish , and forced , but that which is performed from love and with delight . God is chosen for his own sake ; and holiness for its sake , and for God ' s sake . Christ is chosen and followed because he is loved , and religion because it is loved , and the soul rejoices in it , finding in its duties the highest happiness and delight . Examine yourself faithfully on this point , whether or no this spirit is yours . The Third thing belonging to the nature of this sincerity is Integrity . The word signifies wholeness , intimating that where this sincerity exists , God is sought , and religion is chosen and embraced with the whole heart , and adhered to with the whole soul . Holiness is chosen with the whole heart . The whole of duty is embraced , and entered upon most cordially , whether it have respect to God or to man , whether it be easy or difficult , whether it have reference to little things or great . There is a proportion and fullness in the character . The whole man is renewed . The whole body and soul and spirit are sanctified . Every member is yielded to the obedience of Christ . All the parts of the new creature are brought into subjection to his will . The seeds of all holy dispositions are implanted in the soul , and they will more and more bear fruit in the performance of duty and for the glory of God . The Fourth thing that belongs to the nature of sincerity is Purity . The word sincere often signifies pure . So in 1 Pet . 2 : 2 — " As new - born babes , desire the sincere milk of the word , that ye may grow thereby ;" i . e . pure , unmixed , unadulterated . This appears in the opposition of virtue to sin . The one is spoken of as defilement , and impurity , and uncleanness : the other , as that which is free from these things . The apostle compares sin to a body of death , or a dead body , which of all things is most polluting and defiling , while holiness is spoken of as purity , and holy pleasures as pure pleasures , and the saints in heaven as without spot before the throne of God . Inquire , then , whether this purity is yours , and whether , in its possession , you find the evidence that you sincerely love God . This subject may also 2 . Convince those who are still in an unregenerate state , of their lost condition . — If it be indeed so , that by all you can either do or suffer , you cannot make up for the want of a holy , sincere principle of love in your heart , then it will follow that you are in an undone condition till you have obtained God ' s regenerating grace to renew a right spirit within you ; and that , do what you will , or undergo and suffer what you will , you cannot be delivered from your wickedness without the converting grace of God . If you make ever so many prayers , that will not make your case less miserable , unless God , by his mighty power , is pleased to give you a new heart . If you take ever so much pains in religion , and cross and deny yourself , and do or suffer ever so much , all will not avail without this . Therefore , whatever you have done , though you can look back upon a great many prayers offered , and much time spent in reading and meditation , you have no reason to think that these things have made any atonement for your sins , or rendered your case any the less deplorable , or left you any other than a wretched , lost , miserable , guilty , and ruined creature . Natural , unrenewed men would he glad to have something to make up for the want of sincere love and real grace in their hearts . Many do great things to make up for the want of it , while others are willing to suffer great things . But , alas ! how little does it all signify ! No matter what they may do or suffer , it does not change their character . If they build their hopes upon it , they do but delude themselves , and feed upon the east wind . If such be your case , consider how miserable you will be while you live without hope in the only true source of hope , and how miserable when you come to die , when the sight of the king of terrors will show the nothingness and vanity of all your doings . How miserable , when you see Christ coming to judgment in the clouds of heaven ! Then you will be willing to do and suffer anything , that you may be accepted by him . But doings or sufferings will not avail . They will not atone for your sins , or give you God ' s favor , or save you from the overwhelming storms of his wrath . Rest , then , on nothing that you have done or suffered , or that you can do or suffer , but rest on Christ . Let your heart be filled with sincere love to him ; and then , at the last great day , he will own you as his follower and as his friend . The subject , 3 . Exhorts all earnestly to cherish sincere Christian love in their hearts . — If it be so , that this is of such great and absolutes necessity , then let it be the one great thing that you seek . Seek it with diligence and prayer , and seek it of God , and not of yourself . He only can bestow it . It is something far above the unassisted power of nature . For though there may be great performances , and great sufferings too , yet without sincere love they are all in vain . Such doings and sufferings may indeed be required of us , as the followers of Christ , and in the way of duty . But we are not to rest in them , or feel that they have any merit or worthiness in themselves . At best they are but the outward evidence and the outflowing of a right spirit in the heart . Be exhorted , then , as the great thing , to cherish sincere love , or Christian charity , in the heart . It is that which you must have ; and there is nothing that will help your case without it . Without it , all will , in some respect , but tend to deepen your condemnation , and to sink you to but lower depths in the world of despair !