46 The Fundamentals depend on man’s enterprises and schemes, which we may not altogether approve. But some causes have Divine sanction, and that hallows them; giving becomes an act of worship when it has to do with the altar. IX. TRANSMUTATION Another law of true giving is that of transmutation. “Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteous ness ; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations” (Luke 16:9). This, though considered by many an obscure parable, contains one of the greatest hints on money gifts that our Lord ever dropped. Mammon here stands as the equivalent for money, prac tically worshipped. It reminds us of the golden calf that was made out of the ear-rings and jewels of the crowd. Now our Lord refers to a second transmutation. The golden calf may in turn be melted down and coined into Bibles, churches, books, tracts, and even souls of men. Thus what was material and temporal becomes immaterial and spiritual, and eternal. Here is a man who has a hundred dollars. He may spend it all on a banquet, or an evening party, in which case the next day there is nothing to show for it. I t has secured a tempo rary gratification of appetite—-that is all. On the other hand, he invests in Bibles at ten cents each, and it buys a thousand copies of the Word of God. These he judiciously sows as seed of the Kingdom, and that seed springs up a harvest, not pf Bibles, but of souls. Out of the unrighteous mammon he has made immortal friends, who, when he fails, receive him into everlasting habitations. May this not be what is meant by the true riches —the treasure laid up in heaven in imperishable good ? What revelations await us in that day of transmutation! Then, whatever has been given up to God as an offering of the heart, “in righteousness,” will be seen as transfigured. Not only the magi’s gold, frankincense and myrrh, and the
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