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XV.
Admonitions and Warnings
Chapter 165
:
Covetousness
1. WHAT warning did
Christ give concerning covetousness?
"And He said unto them, Take heed,
and beware of covetousness: for a man's life
consisteth not in the abundance of the things
which he possesseth." Luke 12:15.
2. What commandment
forbids this sin?
"Thou shalt not covet." Ex. 20:17.
Covetous: "Inordinately desirous; excessively
eager to obtain and possess (especially money);
avaricious."- Webster.
3. What showed this
principle to have been strong in the rich man
who already had abundance?
"And he said, This will I do: I
will pull down my barns, and build greater;
and there will I bestow all my fruits and my
goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou
hast much goods laid up for many years; take
thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry." Luke
12:18,19.
4. What did God say to
him?
"But God said unto him, Thou fool,
this night thy soul shall be required of thee:
then whose shall those things be, which thou
hast provided?" Verse 20.
5. What application of
this parable did the Saviour make?
"So is he that layeth up treasure
for himself, and is not rich toward God."
Verse 21.
6. What does Paul call
covetousness?
"Mortify therefore your members which
are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness,
inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and
covetousness, which is idolatry." Col. 3:5.
NOTE.-"Do not wade far out into the
dangerous sea of this world's comfort. Take
the good that God provides you, but say of
it, 'It passeth away;' for indeed it is but
a temporary supply for a temporary need.
Never suffer your goods to become your
god."- Spurgeon.
7. What do these sins
bring upon mankind?
"For which things' sake the wrath
of God cometh on the children of
disobedience." Verse 6.
8. What double service
did Christ say is impossible?
"Ye cannot serve God and
mammon." Luke 16:13.
9. Of what sin were the
Pharisees guilty?
"And the Pharisees also, who were
covetous, heard all these things: and they
derided Him." Verse 14.
10. What reply did
Christ make?
"And He said unto them, Ye, are they
which justify yourselves before men; but God
knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly
esteemed among men is abomination in the sight
of God." Verse 15.
11. How does the Lord
regard the covetous?
"For the wicked boasteth of his
heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous,
whom the Lord abhorreth." Ps. 10:3.
12. What did this sin
lead Achan to do?
"When I saw among the spoils a goodly
Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of
silver, and a wedge of gold, . . . I coveted
them, and took them." Joshua 7:21.
13. What did
covetousness lead Judas to do?
"And Judas Iscariot, one of the
twelve, went unto the chief priests, to
betray Him unto them. And when they heard
it, they were glad, and promised to give him
money. And he sought how he might
conveniently betray Him." Mark 14:10,11.
14. Why are the last
days to be perilous?
"This know also, that in the last
days perilous times shall come. For men shall be
lovers of their own selves, covetous,
boasters, proud, blasphemers." 2 Tim. 3:1,2.
15. What parable did
Christ give to correct the false idea of the
Pharisees that wealth was a sign of special
favor with God?
The parable of the rich man and
Lazarus. Luke 16: 19-31.
16. What did He point
out as one of the dangers of the possession of
wealth?
"And Jesus looked round about, and
saith unto His disciples, How hardly shall
they that have riches enter into the kingdom of
God! . . . Jesus answereth again, and saith
unto them, Children, how hard is it for them
that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom
of God!" Mark 10:23,24.
NOTE.-And how hard it is for those who have
riches not to trust in them!
17. As a rule, what
class generally accept the gospel?
"Harken, my beloved brethren, Hath
not God chosen the poor of this world
rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He
hath promised to them that love Him?" James 2:5.
18. How difficult did
Christ say it is for a rich man to enter the
kingdom of God?
"It is easier for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man
to enter into the kingdom of God." Mark 10:25.
NOTE.-If Christ here referred to a small,
low gate in the walls of Jerusalem, called
"The Needle's Eye," as is thought by some,
the force of the statement still remains;
for, before a camel could pass through this
gate, it was necessary that he should be
relieved of his burden, and get down on his
knees and creep through.
19. Why was the rich
young man desiring salvation, unwilling to sell
what he had and give alms, as Christ told him to
do?
"But when the young man heard that saying, he
went away sorrowful: for he had great
possessions." Matt. 19:16.
20. What is the love of
money declared to be?
"For the love of money is the root
of all evil." 1 Tim. 6:10.
21. What evils befall
those who are determined to be rich?
"But they that will be rich fall
into temptation and a snare, and into many
foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in
destruction and perdition." Verse 9.
22. Who gives man the
power to get wealth?
"But thou shalt remember the Lord thy
God: for it is He that giveth thee power to
get wealth." Deut. 8:18.
23. How may all, rich
and poor, honor God?
"Honor the Lord with thy
substance, and with the first-fruits of
all thine increase." Prov. 3:9.
24. What caution is
given concerning riches?
"If riches increase, set not your
heart upon them." Ps. 62:10.
25. Can riches be
retained to men's hurt?
"There is a sore evil which I have
seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for
the owners thereof to their hurt." Eccl.
5:13.
26. What charge is
given to the rich?
"Charge them that are rich in this
world, that they be not high-minded, nor
trust in uncertain riches, but in the living
God, who giveth us richly all things to
enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich
in good works, ready to distribute, willing to
communicate; laying up in store for
themselves a good foundation against the time to
come, that they may lay hold on eternal life." 1
Tim. 6:17-19.
27. What makes rich
without adding sorrow?
"The blessing of the Lord, it
maketh rich, and He addeth no sorrow with it."
Prov. 10:22.
28. How are true riches
obtained?
"By humility and the fear
of the Lord are riches, and honor, and
life." Prov. 22:4:
29. How did Moses
esteem the reproach of Christ?
"Esteeming the reproach of Christ
greater riches than the treasures in Egypt:
for he had respect unto the recompense of the
reward." Heb. 11:26.
30. What two classes of
rich men are mentioned in the Bible?
"There is that maketh himself rich,
yet hath nothing: there is that maketh
himself poor, yet hath great riches."
Prov. 13:7.
NOTE.-In Luke 12:16-20 is an example of the
first class; in Acts 4:34-37 are examples of
the second.
31. What solemn warning
is addressed to the rich who, in the last days,
have heaped up treasure, and oppressed the poor?
"Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for
your miseries that shall come upon you. Your
riches are corrupted, and your garments are
moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered;
and the rust of them shall be a witness
against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were
fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for
the last days. Behold, the hire of the laborers
who have reaped down your fields, which is of
you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of
them which have reaped are entered into the ears
of the Lord of sabaoth. Ye have lived in
pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have
nourished your hearts, as in a day of
slaughter." James 5:1-5.
32. Will silver or gold
be able to deliver in the day of wrath?
"Neither their silver nor their gold
shall be able to deliver them in the day of the
Lord's wrath." Zeph. 1:18. See also Prov. 11:4.
33. What will the rich
men do with their money then?
"They shall cast their silver in
the streets, and their gold shall be removed:
their silver and their gold shall not be
able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of
the Lord: they shall not satisfy their souls,
neither fill their bowels: because it is the
stumbling-block of their iniquity." Eze. 7:19.
NOTES.-When the steamer "Central America,"
with nearly six hundred passengers aboard,
was wrecked off Cape Hatteras, Sept. 12,
1857, in a fearful storm, many of the
passengers who were returning miners from
the gold-mines of California, divested
themselves of their treasure belts and
scattered the gold upon the cabin floors,
telling those to take it who would, lest its
weight about their persons should carry them
to their death. "Full purses, containing in
some instances thousands of dollars, lay
around untouched. Carpetbags were opened,
and the shining metal was poured out on the
floor with the prodigality of death's
despair. One of the passengers opened a bag
and dashed about the cabin twenty thousand
dollars in gold-dust, and told him who
wanted to gratify his greed for gold to take
it. But it was passed by untouched, as the
veriest dross."- "Our first Century,"
pages 642,643.
When the steamship "Arctic" was lost from a
collision in mid-ocean, Sept. 20, 1854, one
passenger offered thirty thousand pounds
sterling, or one hundred and fifty thousand
dollars, if the life-boats would put back to
save him. They turned to do so, but he sank
before they reached him.- Id., page 614.
34. As stewards of
God's gifts, what are we told to do?
"And I say unto you, Make to
yourselves friends of the mammon of
unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they
may receive you into everlasting habitations."
Luke 16:9. "As every man hath received the gift,
even so minister the same one to another,
as good stewards of the manifold grace of God."
1 Peter 4:10.
IS
NOT the way to heavenly gain
Through earthly grief and loss?
Rest must be won by toil and pain;
The crown repays the cross.
HENRY F. LYTE.
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