5.7.2016 Finney on INNOCENT AMUSEMENTS

55  ..this is a question of morals.
all intelligent acts of a moral agent must be either right or wrong.
nothing is innocent in a moral agent that is not in accordance with the law and Gospel of God.

the moral character of any and every act of a moral agent
resides in the motive or the ultimate reason for the act.
this i take to be self evident and universally admitted.

now, what is the rule of judgment in this case?
how are we to decide whether any given act of amusement is right or wrong, innocent of sinful?

i answer that we may decide by three ways.
first, by the moral law, 'you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind' and 'your neighbor as yourself'. luke 10.27
no intelligent act of a moral agent is innocent or right unless it proceeds from and is an expression of supreme love for God and equal love for man
-in other words, unless it is benevolent.
second, we decide if an amusement is innocent by the standard of the
56  Gospel. this requires the same love of God:
'whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God'. I corinthians 10.31
'do all in the name of the Lord Jesus'. colossians 3.17
third, we decide by right reason, which affirms the same standard.

now, in the light of this rule, it is plain that it is not innocent to engage in amusements
merely to gratify the desire for amusement.
we may not innocently eat or drink to gratify the desire for food or drink.
to eat or drink to gratify the appetite is innocent enough in a mere animal,
but in a moral agent it is a sin.
a moral agent is obligated to have a higher ultimate motive
-to eat and drink so that he may be strong and healthy for the service of God..

so amusements are pleasant, but this does not justify us in seeking amusements to gratify desire.
mere animals may do this innocently because they are incapable of any higher motive,
but moral agents are under a higher law and are obligated to have another and higher aim..
therefore, no amusement is innocent that is engaged in for the pleasure of the amusement,
any more than it would be innocent to eat and drink for the pleasure of it. ...

nothing is innocent unless it proceeds from supreme love for God and equal love toward man,
unless the supreme and ultimate motive is to please and honor God.
in other words, to be innocent, any amusement must be engaged in because it is believed to be,
at the time,
most pleasing to God.
it must be intended to be a service rendered to Him-
a service that, on the whole, will honor Him
more than anything else that we can engage in for the time being.

57  ...fishing and shooting for amusement are not innocent.
we may fish and hunt for the same reason that we are allowed to eat and drink -
for nourishment, so that we may be strong in the service of God
we may hunt to destroy noxious animals, for the glory of God...

again, no amusement can be innocent that involves the squandering of precious time,
which might be better employed to the glory or God and the good of man.
Life is short.
Time is precious.
we have but one life to live.
much is to be done.
the world is in darkness.
a world of sinners is to be enlightened and, if possible, saved.
we are required to work while the day lasts.
our commission and work require haste.
no time is to be lost.
if our hearts are right, our work is pleasant.
if rightly performed, it gives the highest enjoyment...
no man who realizes the greatness of the work to be don, and loves to do it,
can turn aside for any amusement involving an unnecessary waste of time.

58  ...what, then, is an innocent amusement?
it must be that and only that which not only might be, but actually is,
engaged in with a single eye to God's glory and the interests of His kingdom.

59  to teach either directly or by implication,
that any amusement of an unrepentant sinner or of a backslider is innocent
is to teach a gross and ruinous heresy.
parents should remember this in regard to
the amusements of their unsaved children.

60  the question often arises, are we never to seek such amusements?
my answer is that it is our privilege and our duty
to live above a desire for such things.
all of that class of desires should be subdued by living close to God.
we should be living so much in the light of God and having so deep a communion with Him
that we will not feel the need of worldly excitements, sports, pastimes and entertainments for enjoyment.

64  ...this is a fact of christian consciousness.
the highest and purest of all amusements is found in doing the will of God.
mere worldly amusements are cold and insipid and not worthy of naming
in comparison with the enjoyment we find in doing the will of God.
to one who loves God supremely, it is natural to seek amusements
and everything else that he seeks, with supreme reference to the glory of God.
why, then, should this rule be regarded as too strict,
65  as placing the standard too high,
and as being a straitjacket and a bondage?
how, then, are we to understand those who plead so much for worldly amusements?

..Christ on one occasion said to His disciples,
'Come aside...and rest a while' (mark 6.31)

i often ask myself, 'What can it mean that so many of our...preachers are pleading so much for amusements?
66  ..to whom is it a bondage to be required to have a single eye
to the good pleasure and glory of God in all he does?
who finds it hard to do so?
Christ says, 'My yoke is easy and My burden is light'.  matthew 11.30
the requirement to do all for the glory of God is surely none other
than the yoke of Christ.
it is His expressed will.
who finds this a hard yoke and a heavy burden?
it is not hard or heavy to a willing, loving mind.