Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 12:15

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.

15. beware of covetousness ] The better reading is “of all covetousness,” i.e. not only beware of avarice, but also of selfish possession. Both the O. and N. T. abound with repetitions of this warning. Balaam, Achan, Gehazi are awful examples of this sin in the O. T.; Judas Iscariot, the Pharisees and Ananias in the New. See 1Ti 6:10-17.

a man’s life consisteth not ] i.e. a man’s true life his zoe: his earthly natural life his bios, is supported by what he has, but his zoe is what he is. Such phrases as that a man ‘is worth ’ so many thousands a year, revealing the current of worldly thought, shew how much this warning is needed. The order of words in this paragraph is curious. It is literally, “ For not in any marts abundance is his life (derived) from his possessions,” or (as De Wette takes it) “is his life a part ^his possessions.” The English Version well represents the sense. Comp. Sen. ad Helv. ix. 9, “Corporis exigua desideria sunt…. Quicquid extra concupiscitur, vitiis non usibus laboratur.”

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Beware of covetousness – One of these brothers, no doubt, was guilty of this sin; and our Saviour, as was his custom, took occasion to warn his disciples of its danger.

Covetousness – An unlawful desire of the property of another; also a desire of gain or riches beyond what is necessary for our wants. It is a violation of the tenth commandment Exo 20:17, and is expressly called idolatry Col 3:5. Compare, also, Eph 5:3, and Heb 13:5.

A mans life – The word life is sometimes taken in the sense of happiness or felicity, and some have supposed this to be the meaning here, and that Jesus meant to say that a mans comfort does not depend on affluence – that is, on more than is necessary for his daily wants; but this meaning does not suit the parable following, which is designed to show that property will not lengthen out a mans life, and therefore is not too ardently to be sought, and is of little value. The word life, therefore, is to be taken literally.

Consisteth not – Rather, dependeth not on his possessions. His possessions will not prolong it. The passage, then, means: Be not anxious about obtaining wealth, for, however much you may obtain, it will not prolong your life. That depends on the will of God, and it requires something besides wealth to make us ready to meet him. This sentiment he proceeds to illustrate by a beautiful parable.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Luk 12:15

Take heed and beware of covetousness

Business life

I shall try to keep in view the chief risk to the moral and religious nature which are incident to a business life, and my aim will be to show you where the best safeguard against it is to be sought.

I. THE CHIEF DANGERS, WHAT ARE THEY? It is a misfortune in the path of a commercial trader to be kept in perpetual contact with the purely material value of all possible substances. The public sentiment of great business centres is apt to reckon a mans worth by his business profits. It is always tempted to erect an ignoble or defective ideal of success in life. I do not speak of the vulgar dangers to honesty and truthfulness which indeed beset men in all professions and classes.

II. WHAT ARE THE SAFEGUARDS?

1. Cultivate to the utmost a youthful thirst for truth, and a youthful sympathy with what is ideal, unselfish, grand in conduct.

2. Cultivate a sympathizing contact with men and women in other than mere business relationships. These are safeguards of the secondary order.

3. The only primary and sufficient safeguard for any of us is the religion of Jesus Christ. See how the Christian man is guarded against settling down into a selfish worldling.

(1) Religion opens the widest, freest outlook for the mind into the eternal truth, enlarging a mans range of spiritual sight, and enabling him to judge of all things in both worlds in their true proportion.

(2) It supplies us for that reason with the only true and perfect standard by which to test the value of things, and so corrects the one-sided materialistic standard of business.

(3) It transforms business itself from an ignoble to a noble calling, because it substitutes for the principle of mere profit the ideal of service. (J. O.Dykes, D. D.)

On covetousness

1. It is not wrong to amass wealth. It is not wrong to increase it if you have the beginnings of it. Neither is it wrong to make provision for its safety. There is no moral wrong in the ownership and administration, or in the increase of wealth. It is not wealth that ever is a mischief. It is what it does to you that makes it injurious or beneficial. It is what you do with it that makes it injurious or beneficial.

2. It is not wrong, either, to be richer than other men. The essential difference of power in different individuals settles the question as to the Divine economy in this regard. Men are made of different executive forces, of different acquiring powers. And in the fact that men are made relatively weak or strong, that they are in ranks and gradations of inferiority or superiority with respect to natural endowments, there is the most unequivocal evidence that human society was not meant to be one long, fiat prairie-level, but that it was meant to be full of hills and valleys and gradations of every kind. And there is no harm in that. I am not injured by a man that is superior to me, unless he employs his superiority to tread me down. I am benefited by him if he employs it to lift me up. Superiority is as powerful to draw the inferior up as to pull them down, and it is comprised in the Divine plan of beneficence. And the same is true of wealth.

3. All the roads which lead to wealth that are right to anybody are right to Christians. What a Christian has not a right to do nobody has a right to do. Moral obligations rest on grounds which are common to me and to you. If there is any distinction here, the Christian has rights which the infidel has not. As a son of God, and as one who is attempting to carry himself according to the commands of God, the Christian may be supposed to have rights of premium. Therefore, if it is right for you to sail a ship, it is right for me to sail a ship; if it is right for you to traffic, it is right for me to traffic; if it is right for you to loan money on interest, it is right for me to loan money on interest. The circumstance of a mans being a Christian does not change his relations in any whir, except this, that if possible it gives him higher authority than others have to do whatever it is right for any man to do. All things are yours because you are a son of God.

4. Nay, the gift of acquiring wealth, commercial sagacity, creative industry, financial ability–these are only so many ways by which one may bring his gifts to bear upon the great ends of life and serve God. Some men, who are capable mechanics, capable artists, capable business men, wish to do good, and they say, Do you not think I had better preach? I think you had. I think every man ought to preach. If you are a banker, behind the counter is your pulpit, and you can preach sermons there which no man in any other situation can. By practising Christian integrity in a business where others take permissions of selfishness, you can preach more effectually than in any other way. Every man must take his life, and serve God by it. If God has given a man literary capacity, genius for poetry, or the power of eloquence, it is to be consecrated and employed for the glory of God and the good of his fellow-men. He is to serve, not himself alone, but the cause of beneficence with it. If you have the skill of an artist, it is not given to you for your own selfish gratification and delight. These men that are made seers of truth through eyes of beauty are under the most fearful responsibilities and the most sacred obligations. If a man has given to him the skill of achieving results, the skill of conducting business, or pecuniary skill, he can serve God by that, if not as well, yet as really, as by any other consecrated power. Therefore a man is not forbidden either to have riches or to increase riches, or to employ any of the ordinary ways by which it is right to increase riches. If he have a gift in that direction, he is bound as a Christian man to develop it; and it is a talent for which God will hold him accountable.

5. It is the godlessness of selfishness, then, that is so wicked in wealth, in the methods of getting it, in the methods of keeping it, and in the methods of using it. It is selfishness that leads a man to undertake to procure wealth by means that disregard duty; it is selfishness that leads a man to set up wealth as the end of his life, for which he is willing to sacrifice all the sweet affections, all the finer tastes, all the sensibilities of conscience. The curse of wealth consists in the getting of it in a way which emasculates a man, and degrades his moral nature. The curse of wealth-getting is seen where a man amasses wealth only that it may shut him in from life, building himself round and round with his money, until at last he is encaverned with it, and dwells inside of it. Geologists sometimes find toads sealed up in rocks. They crept in during the for nation periods, and deposits closed the orifice through which they entered. There they remain, in long darkness and toad stupidity, till some chance blast or stroke sets them free. And there are many rich men sealed up in mountains of gold in the same way. If, in the midst of some convulsion in the community, one of these mountains is overturned, something crawls out into life which is called a man! This amassing of wealth as only a means of imprisonment in selfishness, is itself the thing that is wicked. The using of wealth only to make our own personal delights more rare, without regard to the welfare of others–this it is that is sinful. The Divine command is, Beware lest ye be rich and lay up treasure to yourself, and are not rich toward God. If you have a surplus of one thousand dollars, this command is to you; if you have a surplus of ten thousand, it is to you; if you have a surplus of ten hundred thousand, it is not a what more to you. Now, my Christian brethren, are you rich toward God in the proportion in which you have been increasing your worldly wealth? I can tell you, unless your sympathies increase, unless your charities increase, unless your disposition to benefit your fellow-men increases, in the proportion in which your riches increase, you cannot walk the life you are walking without falling under the condemnation of this teaching of Christ. Your life is one of getting, getting, getting! and there is but one safety-valve to such a life; it is giving, giving, giving! If you are becoming less and less disposed to do good; if you are becoming less and less benevolent; if you are less and less compassionate toward the poor; if you say, I have worked myself almost to death to get my property, and why can I not be allowed to enjoy it? if you hug your gold, and say, This is my money, and my business is to extract as much pleasure from it as I can–then, my friend, you are in the jaws of destruction; you are sold to the devil; he has bought you! But if, with the increase of your wealth, you have a growing feeling of responsibility; if you have a real, practical consciousness of your stewardship in holding and using the abundance which God is bestowing upon you; if you feel that at the bar of God, and in the day of judgment, you must needs give an account of your wealth–then your money will not hurt you. Riches will not hurt a man that is benevolent, that loves to do good, and that uses his bounties for the glory of God and the welfare of men. But your temptations are in the other direction. I beseech of you, beware. (H. W. Beecher.)

The nature and evil of covetousness

I. THE MANNER OF THE CAUTION.

1. The great danger of this sin.

(1) How apt we are to fall into it.

(2) Of how pernicious a consequence it is to those in whom it reigns.

2. The great care men ought to use to preserve themselves from it.

II. THE MATTER OF THE CAUTION. The vice our Saviour warns His hearers against is covetousness.

1. The nature of this vice. The shortest description that I can give of it is this: that it is an inordinate desire and love of riches; but when this desire and love are inordinate, is not so easy to be determined. And, therefore, that we may the better understand what the sin of covetousness is, which our Saviour doth so earnestly caution against, it will be requisite to consider more particularly wherein the vice and fault of it doth consist; that, whilst we are speaking against covetousness, we may not under that general word condemn anything that is commendable or lawful. To the end, then, that we may the more clearly and distinctly understand wherein the nature of this vice doth consist, I shall–First, Endeavour to show what is not condemned under this name of covetousness, either in Scripture or according to right reason; and–Secondly, What is condemned by either of these, as a plain instance or branch of this sin.

I. WHAT THINGS ARE NOT CONDEMNED UNDER THE NAME OF COVETOUSNESS, either in Scripture or according to right reason, which yet have some appearance of it; namely, these three things:

1. Not a provident care about the things of this present life.

2. Not a regular industry and diligence for the obtaining of them; nor–

3. Every degree of love and affection to them. I mention these three, because they may all seem to be condemned by Scripture, as parts or degrees of this vice, but really are not.

II. I COME NOW TO SHOW WHAT IS CONDEMNED IN SCRIPTURE UNDER THE NAME OF COVETOUSNESS; and by this we shall best understand wherein the nature of this sin doth consist. Now covetousness is a word of a large signification, and comprehends in it most of the irregularities of mens minds, either in desiring, or getting, or in possessing, and using an estate.

2. The evil and unreasonableness of this sin.

(1) Because it takes men off from religion and the care of their souls.

(2) Because it tempts men to do many things which are inconsistent with religion and directly contrary to it.

(3) Because it is an endless and insatiable desire.

(4) Because the happiness of human life doth not consist in riches.

(5) Because fiches do very often contribute very much to the misery and infelicity of men.

III. I come now, in the last place, to make some application of this discourse to ourselves.

1. Let our Saviours caution take place with us, let these words of His sink into our minds: Take heed and beware of covetousness. Our Saviour doubles the caution, that we may double our care. It is a sin very apt to steal upon us, and slily to insinuate itself into us under the specious pretence of industry in our callings, and a provident care of our families: but however it may be coloured over, it is a great evil dangerous to ourselves, and mischievous to the world. Now to kill this vice in us, besides the considerations before mentioned taken from the evil and unreasonableness of it, I will urge these three more:

(1) That the things of this world are uncertain.

(2) That our lives are as uncertain as these things; and–

(3) That there is another life after this.

2. By way of remedy against this vice of covetousness, it is good for men to be contented with their condition.

3. By way of direction, I would persuade those who are rich to be charitable with what they have. (Archbishop Tillotson.)

The evil and folly of covetousness

I. To EXPLAIN THE ARGUMENT BEFORE US, AND TO JUSTIFY IT, that is, to show the meaning of the assertion, that a mans life doth not consist in the abundance of his possessions, and to show that it is strictly true.

1. That the being and preservation of life doth not consist in nor hath any dependence on these things, every one must be sensible. No man imagineth that riches contributed to his existence, or that they are essential to the human constitution; not one power of nature is either the more or the less perfect for our having or wanting them.

2. As the being and the preservation of a mans life do not consist in nor depend on the abundance of the things that he possesseth, so neither do the highest and best ends of it.

3. The enjoyment of life doth not consist in riches; and as this is the only end which they have any pretence or appearance of answering, if upon a fair inquiry it shall be found that they come short of it, then it must be owned they are what our Saviour calleth them, deceitful; and His assertion in the text is true, that life doth not in any sense consist in them, which therefore is a strong argument to the purpose He applieth it to, namely, against covetousness. It is necessary to observe here, what every man must be convinced of upon the least reflection, that riches are not the immediate object of any original desire in the human nature. If we examine our whole constitution, with all the primary affections which belong to it, we shall find that this hath no place among them. And yet it is certain that the love of riches is become a very powerful lust in the human nature, at least in some minds, and they are thought of great importance to the comfortable enjoyment of life. Whence doth this arise? How doth happiness consist in them? It is plain that the total amount of their usefulness to the purposes of enjoyment is only this, that when other circumstances concur to render a man capable, they afford the larger means of it in various kinds.

1. Of sensual gratifications.

2. The pleasures of the fancy or imagination.

3. Of doing good to his fellow-creatures, either his own near relations or others, as his disposition inclineth him.

This is, I think, stating the case fairly, and allowing all to riches which can be demanded for them. Let us now consider each of these particulars, that we may see of what importance they are to happiness, so far, I mean, as they are supplied, and the opportunities of them enlarged by riches. And, first, the pleasures of sense are of the very lowest kind, which a man considering as common with us to the brutal species cannot but think far from the chief happiness of a reasonable nature, and that the advantage of furnishing us with great plenty and variety of them is not extremely to be valued or gloried in. Besides, there are certain bounds fixed by nature itself to the appetites, beyond which we cannot pass in the gratification of them without destroying enjoyment and turning it into uneasiness. Another sort of pleasures are those of the imagination, arising from the beauties of nature or art, of which we have an internal sense, yielding delight, as we have the sensations of colours, sounds, and tastes, from external material objects, by our bodily organs which convey them. These, it is certain, afford great entertainment to the human life, though in various degrees, according to the different measure of exquisiteness or perfection in the sense itself, which is improved in some beyond others by instruction, observation, and experience; and according to the knowledge men have of the objects. Yet we must remember that these pleasures are not appropriated to the rich, nor do depend on riches, which are only the means of acquiring the property of them, in which the true enjoyment doth not consist. The beauties of nature are unconfined, and every man who hath a true sense of them may find objects enough to entertain it. The last, and indeed the truest and highest, enjoyment of life, is in doing good, or being useful to mankind. And of this riches affords the largest means, which enjoyeth life in the best manner, maketh the best provision for his own comfort in this world. But as this is not the case of the covetous man, it is perfectly agreeable to the text, which declareth that life, that is, enjoyment, doth not consist in abundant possessions; not that it doth not consist in parting with those possessions for the uses of charity. To set this matter in a just light, let it be observed, that the moderate desire and pursuit of riches is not at all inconsistent with virtue; so far from it, industry is a virtue itself, as being really beneficial to society, as well as to the person who useth it, furnishing him with the conveniences of life, and especially with the means of being useful to his fellow-creatures. But when a man hath used honest industry, so far he hath discharged his duty, and laid a foundation for all the true enjoyment which can arise from riches; for that doth not depend on success, or the actual obtaining of large possessions, but principally on the inward dispositions of the mind.

III. Having thus explained our Saviours assertion in the text, and showed the truth of it, let us next consider THE PURPOSE TO WHICH HE APPLIETH IT, NAMELY, AS A DISSUASIVE FROM COVETOUSNESS. All that covetousness aimeth at is, the obtaining of large worldly possessions. Now supposing them to be obtained, which yet is very uncertain, but supposing it, and it is the most favourable supposition for the covetous man, what is he the better? If neither the being and preservation of life, nor the ends, nor the enjoyment of it, dependeth on this.(Bishop Abernethy.)

Christs warning against covetousness

I. Covetousness is an INNATE sin. It was a principal part of the first transgression. In this first preference of temporal good to spiritual obedience and the favour of God may be seen, as in a glass, all after covetousness. From that fatal hour to the present, mankind universally have, by nature, worshipped the creature more than the Creator, proving themselves to be influenced by an innate propensity to grasp at earthly things, and to follow them in the place of God.

II. Covetousness is a DECEPTIVE sin. The same may be said indeed of all sins; but of this more especially, because it is a decent sin. Other sins alarm, because of their interference with the passions and interests of our neighbours; and have, on that account, discredit and shame attached to them. Lying interrupts confidence, and weakens the bonds of society; murder lays its hand on the persons, and theft on the property of men; adultery invades the most sacred rights and breaks the dearest ties; even drunkenness, by its brutality and offensiveness to peace and order, is regarded with general disgust and odium. But where is the disgrace of covetousness? How regular a man may be, how sober, how industrious, how moral, and yet be the slave of this vice!

III. Covetousness is a MULTIPLYING sin. This also may be said of most other sins, but eminently so of covetousness. It leads to prevarication and falsehood. Then comes hardness of heart. He that sets his affections on money, will love it more than he will love his fellow-man. He will have little pity for the sufferings of the poor, or if he have a little he will stifle it, lest his pity should cost him something. Still less will he compassionate the spiritually wretched.

IV. Covetousness is an AGGRAVATED sin. It is not merely an omission of duty, or a transgression of law; but it is an abuse of much mercy. For who gives a man power to get wealth? whence come health, ability, and labour, skill, opportunity, success;–come they not from God?–could any man earn one shilling if God did not enable him?–and if any man have property, not of his own earning, could he have been possessed of it but for the kind providence of God? And we know that He bestows it that it may be employed in His service and for His glory. But covetousness refuses so to employ it.

V. Covetousness is a GREAT sin. It originates in mistrust of God, and unbelief in His word.

VI. Covetousness is a DESTRUCTIVE sin. Other sins slay their thousands, but this slays its ten thousands. Many other sins are confined to the openly ungodly, and have their victims exclusively from among those that are without; but this sin enters into the visible Church, and is the chief instrument in the hands of Satan of destroying the souls of professors. (Essex Remembrancer.)

Warning against covetousness

I. COVETOUSNESS BREEDS DISCONTENT, ANXIETY, ENVY, JEALOUSY. And hence it comes about that covetousness takes all the sweetness and peace out of our life. It makes us dissatisfied with our homes and surroundings. It keeps us for ever anxious as to our relative position. It sets us continually on comparison. It underestimates the pleasures and joys of life, and overvalues and magnifies its troubles. It makes the poor man wretched in his poverty, and hardens his heart against the rich. It energizes the man of competence with new vigour to compass overflowing abundance, and pushes forward the wealthy in the struggle for pre-eminence and power. In the prosperous it naturally develops into greed or reckless extravagance; in the disappointed, into hawking envy or green-eyed jealousy. It invades and spoils our religious life. It embitters us during the week by thoughts of our inferiority. It frets continually at the ordering of Providence. It destroys sweet confidence in Gods wise and loving care. It sees evidences of the Divine partiality in the inequalities of the human lot. The good graciously granted turns to ashes on the lips because another has it in greater abundance. It keeps many a one from the house of God. It follows many another to the sanctuary to spoil the worship, and, through the sight of the eyes, to gangrene the soul more perfectly, and send it home burning with a deeper envy.

II. COVETOUSNESS MISLEADS AND PERVERTS THE JUDGMENT. Covetousness is to the mind what a distorting or coloured medium is to the eye. Just as everything in a landscape seen through such a medium is out of proportion or falsely coloured, so everything in life seen through the medium of covetousness appears under fearful distortion or most deceptive colouring. It breaks up the white light of truth into prismatic hues of falsehood and deceit.

III. IT HARDENS THE HEART AND DESTROYS THE BENEVOLENT AFFECTIONS. A cherished covetousness gradually crystallizes into habit and principle. It narrows and pinches the entire being. It grows strong by indulgence. The more it has the mere it wants. The more it gets the tighter it grasps it. An avaricious millionaire will haggle for a halfpenny as quickly as a day labourer. No meaner or more metallic being can be found than he in whom covetousness has done its legitimate work. And hence comes much of the heart-ache of individuals, the misery of families, and the trouble of society. It leads men to deprive themselves of the comforts of life. It is deaf to the voice of natural affection.

IV. IT TENDS TO AND ENDS IN CRIME. A strong desire to get confuses the judgment as to the proper means of getting, and gradually becomes unscrupulous in the use of means; ultimately all hesitation is overcome, all restraints broken through, all dangers braved. Get, it will at all hazards. Not that every covetous man becomes a criminal; but this is the tendency in every case. And when we remember that all overreaching, all petty deception and cheating, is in reality crime, it will go hard with the covetous man to clear his skirts. There is a vast amount of crime unseen by the law, but perfectly open to the view of heaven. Theres no shuffling there. But much of the known crime of the world–some of it the most atrocious and unnatural–springs directly from covetousness. Whence comes the reckless speculation, the stock-jobbing and gambling, which agitate the markets and unsettle trade? Whence the defalcations, breaches of trust, the forgeries which startle us by their frequency and enormity? Whence the highway robberies, burglaries, murders, which have affrighted every age, and still fill our sleeping hours with danger? The answer is plain: From a desire to get, cherished until it would not be denied. Such a desire in time becomes overmastering; it balks at nothing. Out of it spring crimes of every name and form, from the littlest to the most colossal, from the murder of a reputation to the murder of a nation, from the betrayal of a trust to the betrayal of the Son of God.

V. IT RUINS THE SOUL. In aiming to get the world, man loses himself. Every consideration heretofore urged tends to this. The real life is neglected; God and His claims are forgotten. In sensual enjoyment the soul is drowned, and suddenly the end comes. (Henry S. Kelsey.)

Wealth not necessary to an ideal life

He became poor. My brethren, what a thought is this! The Lord of heaven, God the Almighty, the All-rich, the All-possessing, chose, when He came among His creatures, to come as a poor man. He who is in the form of God, took upon Him the form of a servant. Earthly poverty, in the fullest sense of the word, He accepted as His own. Born more hardly than the very poorest peasant among us, even in a stable, cradled in a manger, brought up in a poor mechanics cottage, His food rough barley loaves, His sleeping-place ever uncertain, His disciples poor men like Himself, hard-working fishermen–finally, stripped of His very garments, and left absolutely naked, to die! Surely, if riches and possessions were indeed the highest end of mans being, He who came to restore man to dignity and happiness would have come among us rich and great. So far as our human minds can fathom, the work of our salvation might have been accomplished by one who was rich in earthly things, as well as by One who was poor. The sacrifice might still have atoned. It is even possible to imagine an aspect under which the contrast of the sacrifice itself would have been heightened, had a rich man rather than a poor man died for his fellow-men. Yet, at a time when riches and the good things which riches procure abounded in the world, He chose, deliberately and willingly chose, the lot of the poor, and is among His own creatures as He that serveth. All the kingdoms of the earth, and the glory of them, He deliberately cast aside. And since, indeed, He, the typical Man, the Head of the new Creation, the Firstborn of every creature, chose thus to be stripped, and bare, and poor, does He not, I pray you, teach this lesson, that the highest condition, the very perfection of mans nature is even such as this? Nay, more. I hesitate not to say that from the moment Christ came thus among us, poverty–yea, poverty–has its own special blessing. (W. J. Butler, M. A.)

Covetousness

I. THE NATURE AND GENERAL CAUSES OF COVETOUSNESS.

1. It does apt consist in a lawful care about the things of this life, or in a proper regard to the principles of prudence and frugality. But it consists in too eager a desire after the things of this life. Setting our hearts upon them.

2. It may be known by the tenacity with which we hold the things of this life. Treating them as our chief good.

3. The general causes of covetousness are principally these:

(1)A corrupt and perverted state of mind.

(2) Discontent with, and distrust of, the providence of God.

(3) Forgetfulness of the soul, and those things which are eternal.

II. ITS EVIL AND PERNICIOUS EFFECTS. Consider–

1. Its effects personally. It is the source of many vices. They who will be rich, &c. (1Ti 6:9). It tempts men to base and unjust means to get money. It hardens the heart, blunts the feedings, and renders the soul callous and sordid. It fills the mind with distraction, and prevents all true and solid enjoyment. It keeps out Christ and salvation.

2. Its effects on society. A covetous man is a misanthrope to his species.

3. Its effects in reference to God.

4. Its effects as exhibited in the examples revelation furnishes. Let us then notice the means necessary.

III. FOR ITS PREVENTION AND CURE.

1. Serious consideration of the shortness and uncertainty of life. How madlike, inordinately to love what must so shortly be taken from us!

2. A reflection on our responsibility to God for all we possess. Stewards. Day of reckoning will arrive, God will judge us. All give an account, and receive according as our works shall be.

3. A renewal of our hearts by the grace and Spirit of God.

4. Imitation of Christs blessed example.

5. Repeated and prayerful examination of our hearts before God. (J. Burns, D. D.)

The warning against covetousness

Covetousness is like a dangerous rock in the sea of life, over which we have to sail. Multitudes of wrecks are scattered all around it. The warning of our text is like a light-house, which G d has caused to be built upon this rock, to give us notice of the danger to be found here, in order that we may avoid it.

I. COVETOUSNESS WILL DESTROY OUR HAPPINESS.

II. COVETOUSNESS WILL INJURE OUR USEFULNESS.

III. COVETOUSNESS WILL LESSEN, OR LOSE, OUR REWARD. Two Christian friends called on a wealthy farmer one day, to get some money for a charitable work in which they were engaged. He took them up to the cupola, on the top of his house, and showed them farm after farm, stretching far away, on the right hand, and on the left, and told them that all that land belonged to him. Then he took them to another cupola, and showed them great herds of horses, and sheep, and cattle, saying, as he did so–Those are all mine too. I came out here a poor boy, and have earned all this property myself. One of his friends pointed up to heaven, and said–And how much treasure have you laid up yonder? After a pause, hesaid, as he heaved a sigh, Im afraid I havent got anything there. And isnt it a great mistake, said his friend, that a man of your ability and judgment should spend all your days in laying up so much treasure on earth, and not laying up any in heaven? The tears trickled down the farmers cheeks as he said–It does look foolish, dont it? Soon after this, that farmer died. He left all his property for others to use, and went into the presence of God only to find that his love of money, and the wrong use he had made of it, had caused him to lose all the reward which he might have had in heaven. Some years ago, near Atlanta, in Georgia, there lived a man who was a member of the Church. He was a person of some influence in that neighbourhood. But he was a covetous man, very fond of money, and always unwilling to pay his debts. He had a little granddaughter, about nine years old, who was living with him. She was a bright, intelligent young Christian. She had heard of her grandpas love of money, and his unwillingness to pay his debts, spoken of, and it grieved her very much. One morning, as they were sitting at breakfast, she said–Grandpa, I had a dream about you, last night. Did you? Well, tell me what it was. I dreamed that you died last night. I saw the angels come to take you to heaven. They took you in their arms, and began to go up till they were almost out of sight. Then they stopped, and flew round awhile, but without going any higher. Presently they came down with you, and laid you on the ground, when their leader said–My friend, you are too heavy for us. We cant carry you up to heaven. Its your debts that weigh you down. If you settle with those you owe, we will come for you again before long. The old gentleman was very much touched by this. He saw the danger he was in from his covetousness. He resolved to struggle against it. The first thing after breakfast, he went to his room, and in earnest prayer asked God to forgive his sin and to help him to overcome it. Then he went out and paid all his debts; and after that was always prompt and punctual in paying what he owed. So he minded the warning of the text, and was kept from losing his reward. (R. Newton, D. D.)

Covetousness

I. THE NATURE OF COVETOUSNESS. It is the love of money. A passion that grows upon men. We begin by loving it for the advantages it procures, and then we learn insensibly to love it for its own sake, or perhaps for some imaginary uses to which we flatter ourselves we shall apply it at some future time. We avoid certain extremes, and thus escape the imputation of covetousness, but we are not on that account the less influenced by the greediness of filthy lucre–we have given our hearts none the less to it on that account. And this passion grows in a most remarkable manner. Men encourage it in one another, and many a look seems, even without a word, to say, Taste, and see how good money is. Thus, by degrees, the love of money manifests and extends itself, making of him who cherishes it, in the words of our Lord, a servant of mammon. Verily He was wise who said, Take head, and beware of covetousness. Further, this love of money takes different forms and changes its name among men, without however being in any respect changed in the sight of Him who kneweth the heart.

1. One man loves money to keep–this is the covetous man properly so called–the covetous man according to the true meaning of the word. He may possibly succeed in avoiding the odium of the title, but to separate him from his treasure would be to separate him from a part of his existence, and he could willingly say of money what God has said of blood, Money, it is the life.

2. Another man loves money to spend it. This is the prodigal. A man may be at the same time covetous and prodigal. These two dispositions, instead of excluding one another, mutually encourage each other. Thus a Roman historian who knew human nature well, mentions this trait among others in the character of the notorious Cataline: He was covetous of the wealth of ethers, lavish of his own.

3. A third man loves money for the sake of power. This is the ambitious man. It is not the desire of hoarding that rules him–it is not the love of spending which possesses him, but the delight of his eyes and the pride of his heart is to witness the influence which money gives him. Of these three forms of covetousness, miserly covetousness is especially the vice of old age; prodigal covetousness that of youth; and ambitious covetousness that of manhood. But covetousness belongs to all ages and conditions.

II. THE SIN OF COVETOUSNESS. I imagine we too generally underrate the judgment which God passes upon covetousness. We think that we are at full liberty to enrich ourselves as much as we can, and then to do what we please with the wealth that we have acquired. Thus we give ourselves up to covetousness. We should not act thus with respect to intemperance, to theft, but it seems that covetousness is quite another sort of sin. Whilst these vices disgrace those who are guilty of them–whilst they entail consequences injurious to the peace and tranquility of society, covetousness has something more plausible, more prudent, more respectable about it. It generally lays claim to honest worthy motives, and the world will dignify it by the name of natural ambition, useful industry, praiseworthy economy. I may even go a step further. A covetous man may be in a certain sense a religious man. He may be quite an example in his respectful attention to the worship and ordinances of God. In fact(the love of money is almost the only vice a man can entertain while he preserves the appearance of piety. And there is great reason to fear that of all sins, this one will ruin the greatest number of those who profess to serve God. Instances: Balaam, Achan, Gehazi, Judas, etc. In fact, a man cannot turn to the Lord but covetousness must perpetually oppose him, from the earliest preception of religious impressions, to the most advanced period of his faith. Has he only just been called by the Lord and bidden to the feast? Covetousness persuades two out of three to excuse themselves on the plea: I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and till it–or, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I must needs go and prove them. Has he begun to listen with interest to the truth and received the good seed in his heart? Covetousness plants thorns there also: soon the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the Word, and it becomes unfruitful. Has he advanced still further in the way, and gone some time in the paths of piety? Covetousness still despairs not of turning him out of them, and of including him amongst the number of those who, having coveted money, have erred from the faith. Happy indeed is he, if, taking the whole armour of God, he knows how to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand. Happy if he does not imitate those imprudent travellers, whom Bunyan describes as leaving, on the invitation of Demas, the way to the holy city to visit a silver mine in the hill Lucre. Whether, says this truly spiritual writer, they fell into the pit by looking over the brink thereof; or whether they went down to dig; or whether they were smothered in the bottom by the damps that commonly arise–of these things I am not certain; but this I observed, that they were never seen again in the way. Ah! dear brethren, take heed, and beware of covetousness!

III. We have now, however, to consider THE CONDEMNATION GOD RESERVES FOR COVETOUSNESS. And this condemnation and punishment begins in this life. There is no passion which renders its victims more truly miserable. Solomon tells us that the lover of money cannot satisfy himself with money. His cares increase with his wealth. Every one enjoys it except himself. (J. Jessop, M. A.)

A warning against covetousness

The great point of instruction in this chapter is, dependence on God; that He is all-sufficient for the happiness of the soul, and that He will give what is needful for the body. The particular point of the text is, a warning against covetousness; and never was there a day in which the warning was more needed, when a most inordinate thirst of money-getting is abroad, when speculations of the most extensive kind are afloat, and when money-crimes of the most extravagant kind have shocked the public mind.

I. THE WARNING. Covetousness is like a fire, one of the four things which are never satisfied (Pro 30:15). You may heap fresh fuel upon it, but it only burns the higher, and its demands are greater. Let me ask, does your present prosperity lead you to regard the warning of the text more? to believe that there is danger in your present position? If your soul be in a healthy condition you will pay more attention to the text. But you may say, Oh! my gains as yet are very slight, I have made but little money, I scarcely feel the warning can be applicable to me; when I have made a fortune, then I will consider. Take heed, and beware of covetousness, saith the Lord. But suppose your success in business should continue, that you reach the very point at which you aim, would you then be more likely to accept our Lords warning than now? Nay, less likely; for you would then be more confirmed in disregard of what He says than you are now; you would be less a believer in His Word than now. Take heed now.

II. THE REASON FOR THIS WARNING.

1. Because money cannot save the soul, and therefore cannot secure happiness in the next life.

2. Because riches make to themselves wings and fly away, and a man may thus be deprived of what he builds on for happiness.

3. Because of the uncertainty of life. The parable which succeeds the text illustrates this. Although this rich man had ample provision for the body so long as it lasted, yet his goods could not ward off death; still less could they provide for the happiness of the soul when God required it in another state of existence. These considerations are enough to show us that a mans life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

You may ask, then, What does a mans life consist in?

1. In a heart at peace with God through Jesus Christ our Lord; in pardon of sin; in acceptance with God; in the knowledge that this poor dying life is not all, but that there is a life beyond the grave, blessed and everlasting, purchased by the blood of Christ, and to which believers shall be kept by the power of God through faith.

2. In a well-founded hope of eternal life; in the knowledge of what Jesus Christ has done for sinners; in a spiritual understanding of the value of Christs obedience unto death, His resurrection and ascension; in the assurance that all the promises of Scripture are Yea and Amen in Christ, and will be fulfilled to all who trust Him.

3. In being contented with the station in which God has placed us, and the means which God has given us, feeling assured that if we could have served God better in another station there He would have placed us, and if we could have used more means rightly and for His glory, He would have given them to us; in a heart which recognizes Gods hand in all dispensations, and which is able to say Amen to all He does in the way of submission, and Alleuia in the way of praise (Php 4:11, and Rev 19:4).

4. In an earnest desire to serve God and our neighbour. There is no real happiness without a desire and endeavour to do good and to obey Gods Word; and, as I have already said, our usefulness will ever be in proportion to our conformity to the image of the Son of God. This is true happiness: not exemption from trial and discipline, but the assurance of the sympathy of Christ under it, and the belief that all things shall work together for good to them that love God–the confidence that my Father, the Father who loves me, rules all. This will be the greatest safeguard against the love of money, and the crimes which spring out of it; this will keep a man humble, moderate, prayerful, holy, and happy, and enable him better to resist temptation in whatever shape it may present itself. (W. Reeve, M. A.)

On covetousness

I. CAUSES OF COVETOUSNESS.

1. A corrupt and perverted judgment. We form a false opinion of the world, and think more highly of it than it merits.

2. Distrust of the providence of God.

3. Involving ourselves too much in the world.

4. Neglecting to look at things unseen and eternal.

II. BAD EFFECTS AND CONSEQUENCES OF COVETOUSNESS,

1. It tempts men to unlawful ways of getting riches.

2. It tempts men to base and sinful ways of keeping what they have thus procured.

3. It fills the soul with disquietude and distraction.

4. It prevents all good, and is an inlet and encouragement to evil. Nothing so soon and so effectually stops the ear and shuts the heart against religious impressions.

5. It excludes from the kingdom of God.

III. CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE PREVENTION AND CURE OF COVETOUSNESS.

1. Endeavour to be convinced of the vanity of all worldly possessions. They are insufficient and uncertain.

2. Seek Divine grace to enable you to set bounds to your desires.

3. Learn to order your affairs with discretion.

4. Cast all your cares upon God. (S. Lavington.)

Our Lords warning against covetousness

Here observe–

1. THE MANNER of our Lords caution; He doubles it; not saying, Take heed alone, or beware only; but, Take heed, and beware both. This argues, that there is a strong inclination in our natures to this sin; the great danger we are in of falling into it, and of what fatal consequence it is to them in whom this sin reigns.

2. THE MATTER of the caution, of the sin of which our Saviour warns his hearers against, and that is covetousness: Take heed, and beware of covetousness; where, under the name and notion of covetousness, our Saviour doth not condemn a provident care for the things of this life, nor a regular industry and diligence for obtaining of them, nor every degree of love and affection to them; but by covetousness is to be understood an eager and insatiable desire after the things of this life, or using unjust ways and means to get or increase an estate; seeking the things of this life, with the neglect of things infinitely better, and placing their chief happiness in riches.

3. THE REASON of this caution; because a mans life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. Human life is sustained by a little; therefore abundance is not necessary, either to the support or comfort of it. It is not a great estate and vast possession that makes a man happy in this world; but a mind suited to our condition, whatever it be. (W. Burkitt.)

Sin masked by wealth

What could be more natural, they would ask, than that he should make arrangements for the accommodation of the vast increase of his wealth? Why should he not make the most of what he had? Why should he not spend time and thought on a matter of so great importance? Alas! this is exactly what our Lord calls the deceitfulness of riches. Some sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment. Every one admits their sinfulness. It is not so with riches. Neither the possessors of riches nor those about them perceive in them danger, or the possibility of sinning in their use. Often rich men actually know not that they are rich. There is a respectability in being rich which masks a hundred forms of evil. Most of the sins which are admitted to be sins are such as are injurious to society. But the habits which wealth brings are exactly those in which society most delights, and therefore no warning voice, no hand of chastisement, are lifted against the selfishness, unthankfulness, self-satisfaction, vanity, pride, which follow too often in the train of riches. Against drunkenness, dishonesty, falsehood, and the like, we all hold up our bands and eyes, but these may pass. (W. J. Butler, M. A.)

A mans life consisteth not in the abundance

A mans life

I. WHAT A MANS LIFE IS NOT. A mans life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. It is a very common mistake to suppose that a true life is a successful life, a prosperous and wealthy man is said to have succeeded in life. But that is not the sort of life to which Jesus refers in the text. He shows us in one place the picture of a man who had been prosperous, one who wore purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day; one whom many had envied. Yet his life was not a success, and there are none of us who would care to change places with him. The gospel also shows us another example of a mistaken life. It shows us a young ruler who had great possessions, and many good qualities, yet his life was not a success: he went away from the true Life, he went away from Jesus. No, a mans life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

II. WHAT A MANS LIFE IS. It matters not whether we are rich or poor, successful or unfortunate, clever or dull; the secret of a true life consists in trying to do our duty towards God and our neighbour in that station of life to which it has pleased God to call us. This is the only true life, the only life worth living, the only life which brings comfort here, and happiness hereafter, since the path of duty is the way to glory. Some one has said very truly, The word duty seems to me the biggest word in the world, and is uppermost in all my serious doings. When Lord Nelson lay dying, in the hour of his last great victory, at Trafalgar, his last words were, Thank God, I have done my duty. Believe me, brethren, his is the only true life who can say at the last, feeling all his failures and mistakes, and humbly conscious of his weakness, Thank God, I have tried to do my duty. There is only one path for us to tread in as Christian people, and that is the path of duty marked out for us by God.

1. This life, if truly carried out, will be an earnest life. To do work well, we must be in earnest. If a labourer is set to clear a field of weeds, and if he is in earnest, he takes two hands to his work. So if we are to get rid of the weeds of evil habits and besetting sins, if we are to sweep the house, and search diligently till we find the precious treasure which we have lost, we must put two hands to the work. Every man who wants to live a true life must have a definite object, and be in earnest in reaching it. Those who succeed are those who aim high. The schoolboy who is contented with the second place in his class will never be first. The man who is content to sleep in the valley will never reach the mountain-top of success. A true life is one of duty towards God and our neighbour, done earnestly and with our might; a life which aims at heaven, a life whose ruling principle is the will of God.

2. And again, the true life is not only an earnest life, but also an unselfish life. God will not only have us good ourselves, but will have us make others good. We all influence our fellow-men for good or evil, lust as we ourselves are good or evil. A bad man in a parish or community is like a plague-spot, he is not only bad himself, but he makes others bad. A good man in a similar place is like a sweet flower in a garden, beautiful in himself, and by shedding sweetness around him making the lives of others beautiful. Believe me, the best sermon is the example of a good life. (H. J.Wilmot Buxton, M. A.)

Covetousness

I. WHAT COVETOUSNESS IS. Mainly an inordinate respect and desire for earthly property. Its worst form is the desire for earthly goods at the expense of others.

II. WHERE COVETOUSNESS HAS ITS ROOTS. Love of creature more than Creator. A vice which degrades human nature; and a sin which dishonours God, and violates His law.

III. How COVETOUSNESS SHOWS ITSELF. A grasping habit. Dissatisfaction with present possessions. The covetous mans sole interest in life lies in his accumulations.

IV. WHITHER COVETOUSNESS IS PRONE TO LEAD. Hardened heart.

V. THE END TO WHICH UNREPENTED COVETOUSNESS BRINGS THE VICTIM AT THE LAST. (J. R. Thomson, M. A.)

Money valued at more than moneys worth

I. THE AILMENT;–THE SPIRITUAL CONDITION OF MEN, WHICH DRAWS DOWN THIS REPROOF FROM THE LORD. The precise point with which we are at present concerned is this: An erroneous estimate of wealth pervades this community. Money is valued at more than moneys worth. This lies at the root of the evil. The high esteem in which money is held, gives impetus to the hard race with which it is chased. The aim follows the estimate. Whatever is in a community by common consent accounted most valuable, will be practically followed with the greatest eagerness. A false reckoning has been cast up as to where the chief good of a country lies, and the mass is moving on in a direction many points aside from the course of safety. They give away for it that which is far more precious than it. One of the oldest memories of my mind relates to a case entirely analogous. The event lies far back in childhood–I might even say infancy. The French prisoners in a Government depot (now the general prison at Perth), were allowed to hold a kind of fair, where they sold from within their railings a variety of curious articles of their own manufacture, to visitors whom curiosity had attracted to see the strangers. Thither I was taken one day, with all my money in my pocket, to see the Frenchmen. During a momentary absence of the person in charge, I set my heart upon a rude bit of wood daubed with gaudy colours, and called Napoleon. The man who possessed it, seeing me alone, accosted me, told me in broken English that nothing could be more suitable for me, and offered to sell it: at once I gave him all the money I possessed, and carried off my prize. Search was made for the man who had cheated me, but he had disappeared behind his comrades, and we never saw him more. I was obliged to return home with a sad heart, and an empty hand, destitute of sundry useful articles which I had been led to expect, and which my pence would have purchased, if they had rightly been laid out. I distinctly remember yet the deep melancholy that came over my spirit, as the reality came home to me that the money was gone, and that there was no remedy. It is lawful to obtain a lesson by comparing great things with small Men are like silly children in the marketplace of life. They are taken by the glitter of a worthless toy. They buy it. They give their all for it. If you give your time, your hands, your skill, your heart for wealth, you are taken in. Even the wealth you have obtained cannot be kept. This habit of accounting money the principal thing, a habit caught up in childhood from the prevailing tone of society, and strengthened by the example of those whom the world honours–it is this that lays bare our defences, and makes us an easy prey to the destroyer. Those who have money usually plume themselves upon the possession of it, without reference to any other claim on the respect of mankind. Simply in virtue of their gold, they take a high place, assume an important air, and expect the homage of the multitude. A rich man will despise a poor man, though the poor man inherits a nobler genius and leads a better life. The claim made might expose the folly of a few; but the claim conceded fastens folly down as a general characteristic of the community. How few there are who will measure the man by his soul–who will neither fawn upon wealth, nor envy it–who on account of it will neither set its possessor up nor down–who, in judging of his character, will ignore altogether the accident of his wealth, and award the honour which is due to the man, according as he fears God and does good to his brethren I In the practical estimation of this community, riches cover a multitude of sins. Oh, if men would learn to weigh it in the balance of the sanctuary, to see it in the light of eternity; if we could get now impressed on our minds the estimate of money which we will all have soon, it would not be allowed to exercise so much effect in our lives.

II. THE WARNING WHICH SUCH A MORAL CONDITION DREW FORTH FROM THE LORD, AND THE REASON BY WHICH IT IS ENFORCED: Take heed and beware of covetousness, for a mans life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. The best method of applying the caution will be to expound the specific ground on which it is here made to rest. There are three different senses in which a mans life may be understood, all of them obvious, and each charged with a distinct practical lesson.

1. Life in its literal and natural sense–the life of the body–does not consist in the abundance of the things which one may possess. The life is in no degree dependent on the surplus over and above the supply of natures wants. A very small portion of the fruit of the earth suffices to supply a mans necessities. The main elements are, a little food to appease hunger, and some clothing to ward off the cold. In this matter, God has brought the rich and the poor very near to each other in life, and at death the slight difference that did exist will be altogether done away. As a general rule, it may be safely affirmed that the life of the rich is as much endangered by the luxuries of their abundance, as that of the poor by the meanness of their food. The air and exercise connected with his labour go as far to preserve his health as the shelter and ease which the rich man enjoys. Looking simply to life–mere animal being and wellbeing–we are justified in affirming that abundance, or overplus of goods, is no advantage to it. This is a wise arrangement of our Father in heaven. He is kind to the poor. He has protected them by laws that men cannot touch–laws imbedded in the very constitution of the universe. In this view of the case, it is not consonant with right reason to make the acquisition of wealth the main object of desire and effort.

2. A mans life may be considered as the proper exercise and enjoyment of a rational, spiritual, immortal being–that use of life which the all-wise Creator manifestly contemplated when He arranged the complex constitution of man. Hitherto we have been speaking of animal life merely, common to us with the lower orders of creatures; now we speak of such a life as becomes a creature made in the image of God, and capable of enjoying Him for ever. To this life, how very little is contributed by the surplus of possessions over and above what nature needs! Indeed, that surplus more frequently hinders than helps the highest enjoyment of mans life. The parable which immediately follows the text bears, and was intended to bear, directly on this subject. Besides the folly of the rich man, in view of death and eternity, he made a capital mistake even in regard to his life in this world, when he said to his soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. The increase of riches does not increase a souls enjoyment. In proportion as a rich man is indifferent to his wealth, his enjoyment of life does not spring from it, but from other sources. In proportion as his heart is given to his wealth, his enjoyment of life decreases. It is a law–a law of God which misers feel–that, if a man loves money, then the more money he gets, the less he enjoys it.

3. Life in the highest sense, the life of the soul, obviously does not depend in any degree on the abundance of earthly possessions. The whole world gained cannot prevent the loss of the soul. Consider the first object, a mans life. It is the life of the dead in sin, the life by regeneration, the life quickened by the Spirit and sustained in Christ, the life which, being hid with Christ in God, shall never die. This is a great thing for a man. Hear the word of the Lord–that abundance is not your life. It is not so needful as your life. If you take it too near your heart, it will quench your life. Ye cannot serve two masters. Expressly, ye cannot serve these two, God and Mammon. Money, like fire, is a good servant, but a bad master. It is this surplus, this superabundance, that is the dangerous thing. When it is sought as if it were life to a soul, it becomes to that soul death. When a man falls into deep water, he could easily preserve his life if he would permit his whole body to lie beneath the surface, except so much of his mouth and nostrils as is necessary for the admission of air. It is the instinctive, but unwise, effort to raise portions of the body above the water, that sinks the whole beneath it. It is the weight of that portion which has been, by a convulsive effort, unnecessarily raised, that presses down the body, and drowns the man. It is by a similar law in the province of morals that avarice destroys the life of the soul. The whole amount of money that a man obtains for the purpose of using, and actually does legitimately use, does no harm to the interests of his soul. It may be great, or it may be small, while it is kept beneath the surface, so to speak–kept as a servant, and used as an instrument for legitimate objects–it is as to spiritual matters indifferent. So far as money is concerned, the man is in equilibrium, and his spiritual character will depend on other influences. But when some portion is raised above the line–when it is taken from a servants place, and raised to that of a master–when a surplus is sought, not for use but for its own sake–when the love of money begins–when it is set up by the man above himself, as an object of his affection–then that surplus, whether great or small, presses down the soul, and the man sinks in spiritual death. It is this lust that drowns men in perdition (1Ti 6:11). (W. Arnot.)

The misers misery;

There was once a nobleman living in Scotland who was very rich. But his covetousness, or love of money, was very great. Whenever he received any money, he turned it into gold and silver, and stowed it away in a great chest which he kept in a strong vault, that had been built for this purpose down in the cellar. One day a farmer, who was one of his tenants, came to pay his rent. But when he had counted out the money, he found that it was just one farthing short; yet this rich lord was such a miser that he refused the farmer a receipt for the money, until the other farthing was paid. His home was five miles distant, lie went there, and came back with the farthing. He settled his bill, and got his receipt. Then he said, My lord, Ill give you a shilling if youll let me go down into your vault and look at your money. His lordship consented, thinking that was an easy way to make a shilling. So he led the farmer down into the cellar and opened his big chest, and showed him the great piles of gold and silver that were there. The farmer gazed at them for awhile, and then said: Now, my lord, I am as well off as you are. How can that be? asked his lordship. Why, sir, said the farmer, you never use any of this money. All that you do with it, is to look at it. I have looked at it too, and so Im just as rich as you are. That was true. The love of that selfish lord for his money, made him think of it day and night, and the fear lest some robber should steal it, took away all his comfort and happiness, and made him perfectly miserable.

The terrible evil of covetousness

Three men, who were once travelling together, found a large sum of money on the road. To avoid being seen, they went into the woods near by, to count out the money, and divide it among themselves. They were not far from a village, and as they had eaten up all their food, they concluded to send one of their number, the youngest in the company, into the village to buy some more food, while they would wait there till he came back. He started on his journey. While walking to the village, he talked to himself in this way: How rich my share of this money has made me! But how much richer I should be if I only had it all! And why cant I have it? It is easy enough to get rid of those other two men. I can get some poison in the village, and put it into their food. On my return I can say that I had my dinner in the village, and dont want to eat any more. Then they will eat the food, and die, and so I shall have all this money instead of only having one-third of it. But while he was talking to himself in this way, his two companions were making a different arrangement. They said to each other: It is not necessary that this young man should be connected with us. If he was out of the way, we could each have the half of this money instead of only a third. Let us kill him as soon as he comes back. So they got their daggers ready, and as soon as the young man came back they plunged their daggers into him and killed him. They then buried his dead body, and sat down to eat their dinner of the poisoned food which had been brought to them. They had hardly finished their dinner before they were both seized with dreadful pains, which soon ended in their death. And here we see how the happiness and the lives of those three men were destroyed by the love of money.

Covetousness

Two students had been competing at a university for the same prize, and one gained it by a few marks. The defeated candidate had set his heart on the prize, and was bitterly disappointed. In his room that evening, along with two friends, he began to speak of his defeat, and as he spoke such a look of anger and greed came into his face that one of his friends said in an undertone to the other, See! the wolf! the wolf! This exclamation did not hit far from the truth. Covetousness brings a man to the level of the beasts. That a mans life consists not in the abundance of the things he has is well brought out in the classic fable of King Midas, who found from bitter experience how fatal a gift was the touch that converted all things into gold. There is an Arabian story which tells how, at the sack of a city, one of the rulers was shut up in his treasure-chambers, and starved to death among bars of gold and sparkling gems. True as this is of the physical nature, it is more true of the spiritual. The man with the muck-rake in Bunyan saw nothing of the golden crown that was offered him. Many a man, intent on gathering his grain into his barns, forgets therewith to lay hold of the better bread of life! (Sunday School Times.)

Oriental covetousness

To beware of covetousness is a lesson that has always been specially needed in the East. The grasping for more is fearful. It is usually considered the only worthy object in life. The ordinary Oriental simply cannot comprehend how a European can travel for pleasure, or spend money for archaeological investigation, or in any of the pursuits we think higher than that of money. Yet, on the other hand, the declaration that a mans life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth is one that is taught the great mass of the Orientals by a hard experience. Abundance they cannot know. Conceding that the things which he possesseth are necessary for his life in this world, whether higher or lower, the life is not in their superfluity. An Oriental is rich who is not in danger of immediate want, who knows where he can get all his meals for to-morrow. Though the Greek of this clause seems difficult to many, it seems to the writer difficult only in its capability of rendering into English; especially because one who wishes to turn it into good English must choose at the start which of two allowable idiomatic forms he must choose. But Oriental conditions throw upon it a beautiful light: For not in their superfluity to any one is his life (does his life come) from his possessions; or, not in having superfluity does a man have his life out of his goods. It may be admitted that the grammatical government of one word is not altogether certain; but there are many cases, nearly or quite parallel, in classic Greek, where the author, for greater piquancy, has purposely left the construction of a word thus in suspense, to be governed by either of two others; the canon of the iron-bound grammarians, that every word in a given sentence has a fixed construction, to the contrary notwithstanding. (Sunday School Times.)

Covetousness

The Rev. R. Gray tells of a certain duke that has a passion for costly diamonds; and what is the consequence? His house resembles a castle rather than a mansion, and is surrounded with a lofty wall, one which no one can climb without giving alarm. His treasure is kept in a safe let in the wall of his bedroom, so that it cannot be reached without first waking or murdering the owner; the safe is so constructed that it cannot be forced without discharging four guns, and setting an alarm-bell a-ringing in every room. His bedroom, like a prisoners cell, has but one small window, and the bolt and lock of the massive door are of the stoutest iron. In addition to these precautions, a case, containing twelve loaded revolvers, stands by the side of his bed. Might we not inscribe over it, Diamonds are my portion; therefore do I fear?

Possessions do not constitute life

Does a mans life consist in the abundance of the things which he possesses? Does amplitude of possession necessarily confer happiness? and is it such happiness as is sure to last? Nay; try abundance of possessions by this test, and you will find that it miserably fails. Wealth, or large possessions, may bring happiness–this we do not deny; it may confer splendour, of which men are proud; power, which they delight to exercise; comforts, which they cannot but cherish; and luxuries, which they undoubtedly enjoy. But are all these things so necessarily and uniformly the results of affluence, as that they always follow from it?–or, rather, does not splendour sometimes become overpoweringly irksome, and do not men sometimes shrink from the responsibilities of power as a burden almost intolerable? And may there not be other concomitants of wealth or of ample possessions, which tend to make the comforts or the luxuries which affluence confers but a very poor compensation for counter trials to which it exposes? Riches will not ward off pain or disease; the owner of immense property may be racked with pain, or he may languish in sickness, alike with the humblest menial or the poorest peasant. Let us, however, suppose a different case; let there be nothing to disturb the enjoyment of those pleasures which result from affluence; nay, I will even imagine, that, in addition to those already mentioned, the owner of vast possessions has other blessings poured into his lap, such as money alone will not purchase. God has given to him wealth freely to enjoy, and he has around him the costlier and more precious possessions-children by whom he is revered and loved–the esteem and respect of his fellows–and, what no man can afford to despise, the good-will and affection of the humblest and the poorest who live in his neighbourhood. And had we the power of sketching vividly such a case as this–could we delineate to you the owner of some ample property, whom, nevertheless, ancestral honours have not made proud, but who demeans himself alike to all with the gentle courtesy and condescension, which are the true elements of real nobility; who employs what God hath given him, not merely for his own selfish gratification, but finds happiness in diffusing around him what may minister to the comfort of others–could we picture to you that man, around whom his children and his childrens children delight to cluster, with feelings of veneration and affection; or who, when he walks abroad, receives the unbought benediction of the poor, because they respect him for his virtues, and love him for his charities–even in a case like this, there would be no contradiction to the truth that his life–his real life–consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. And supposing Christianity to have exerted its influence on this mans heart, and brought him as a penitent suppliant to sue for mercy at the feet of the Redeemer, and led him to rejoice in the hope which is laid up for a believer, oh! he will be the very last to deem that his real life could consist in the abundance of his possessions, He might lawfully thank God, who had conferred upon him means of scattering so many blessings around him, and sources of so much comfort to himself; but, above all, he would rather thank God for having taught him to use this world without abusing it–to regard himself as no more than the tenant at will, with but a passing interest in the possession confided to his trust; to recollect, and to act upon the recollection, of a coming period, when every earthly possession, be it howsoever costly or large, will have to be forsaken and thus he would be foremost to confess, that a mans life consisteth not in the things which he possesseth. Alas! he might well say, for those who act as though it doth; a thousand causes may arise to embitter the enjoyment which springs from possession; or, if these in Gods providence are warded off, then the more unsullied the temporal happiness, the more confounding is the thought that death will interrupt it. And surely this is enough to vindicate the accuracy of what is declared in our text. (R. Bickersteth, M. A.)

Covetousness a tyranny

The muscles of the arm if you never exert them except in one fashion, will become set, so that you cannot move them, like the Indian Fakir, who held his arm aloft so long that he could not take it down again. Man, continuing in sin, becomes fixed in its habit. Only the other day we read of a great millionaire in New York, who once was weak enough to resolve to give a beggar a penny. He had grown old in covetousness, and he recollected himself just as he was about to bestow the gift, and said, I should like to give you the penny, but you see I should have to lose the interest of it for ever, and I could not afford that. Habit grows upon a man. Everybody knows that when he has been making money, if he indulges the propensity to acquire, it will become a perfectly tyrannical master, ruling his own being. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The vice of covetousness

It is a vice that increases in those who harbour it, making them miserable and utterly mean. A very wealthy French banker, worth many hundred thousand francs, would not purchase for himself a little meat when he was almost dying for want of the nourishment. A Russian miser used to go about his house at night barking like a dog, to prevent robbers coming to get any of his great wealth, and because he would not be at the expense of keeping a dog. Are not covetous people punished as the dog in the fable was, which, in snatching at the shadow in the water, lost the meat he had in his mouth? or as Tantalus was, of whom the ancients said he was up to the neck and surrounded with all good things, but he could never get or enjoy one of them? Covetous persons are also like the old man of whom Bunyan tells, who spent his life in raking together dirt, straw, and worthless things; whilst he never heeded the immortal crown an angel offered him. Rowland Hill said, Covetous persons should be hung up by their heels, that all their money might fall from their pockets, for it would do them good to lose it, and others good to get it. (Henry R. Burton.)

The danger of covetousness

A shepherd boy, of small experience, was one day leading his little flock near the entrance of a mountain cavern. He had been told that precious stones had often been discovered in such places. He was, therefore, tempted to leave his charge, and turn aside to explore the dark recesses of the cavern. He began to crawl in, but as he proceeded his face took on a veil of cobwebs, and his hands mittens of mud. He had not gone far when he saw two gems of a ruby glow lying near each other. He put forth his eager fingers to seize them, when a serpent bit him. In pain and fear he crawled quickly back to the light of day, and ran home to the chief shepherd to obtain some remedy for the bite. The good man, who was also his elder brother, sucked the poison from the wound, and applied to it a healing balm. Never afterwards did that shepherd covet the treasures which may lie concealed behind mountain rocks. (Herveys Manual of Revivals.)

No profit in possessions

What is Alexander now the greater for his power? What is Caesar the higher for his honour? What is Aristotle the wiser for his knowledge? What delight hath Jezebel in her paint? Or Ahab in his vineyard? What is a delicious banquet to Dives in hell? Or, what satisfaction can the remembrance of these transitory delights bring? All the beauty, honour, riches, and knowledge in the world will not purchase one moments ease. All the rivers of pleasure, which are now run out and dry, and only flow in our remembrance, will not cool a tongue (Col 2:22). (A. Farindon.)

Riches cannot purchase satisfaction

Think you that great and rich persons live more content? Believe it not. If they will deal freely, they can but tell you the contrary; that there is nothing but a show in them, and that great estates and places have great grief and cares attending them, as shadows are proportioned to their bodies (Ecc 2:1-11). (Abp. Leighton.)

The true standard of riches

No man can tell whether he is rich or poor by turning to his ledger. It is the heart that makes a man rich. He is rich or poor according to what he is, not according to what he has. (H. W.Beecher.)

Avarice, a fearful disease

Cortes was asked by various Mexican States, what commodites or drugs he wanted, and was promised an abundant supply. He and his Spaniards, he answered, had a disease at their hearts, which nothing but gold could cure; and he had received intelligence that Mexico abounded with it. Under the pretence of a friendly conference, he made Montezuma his prisoner, and ordered him to pay tribute to Charles V. Immense sums were paid; but the demand was boundless. Tumults ensued. Cortes displayed amazing generalship; and some millions of the natives were sacrificed to the disease of his heart. (Percy.)

Greed of avarice

We see the most rich worldlings live the most miserably, slaved to that wealth whereof they keep the key under their girdles. Esuriunt in popina, as we say, they starve in a cooks shop. A man would think that, if wealth could do any good, it could surely do this good, keep the owner from want, hunger, sorrow, care. No, even these evils riches do not avoid, but rather force on him. Whereof is a man covetous but of riches? When these riches come, you think he is cured of his covetousness: no, he is more covetous; though the desires of his mind be granted, yet this precludes not the access of new desires to the mind. So a man might strive to extinguish the lamp by putting oil into it; but this makes it burn more. And as it is with some that thirstily drink harsh and ill-brewed drinks, have not their heat allayed, but inflamed; so this worldlings hot eagerness of riches is not cooled, but fired, by his abundance. (T. Adams.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 15. Beware of covetousness] Or rather, Beware of all inordinate desires. I add , all, on the authority of ABDKLM-Q, twenty-three others, both the Syriac, all the Persic, all the Arabic, Coptic, AEthiopic, Armenian, Vulgate, all the Itala, and several of the primitive fathers.

Inordinate desires. , from , more, and , to have; the desire to have more and more, let a person possess whatever he may. Such a disposition of mind is never satisfied; for, as soon as one object is gained, the heart goes out after another.

Consisteth not in the abundance] That is, dependeth not on the abundance. It is not superfluities that support man’s life, but necessaries. What is necessary, God gives liberally; what is superfluous, he has not promised. Nor can a man’s life be preserved by the abundance of his possessions: to prove this he spoke the following parable.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

The , here translated covetousness immoderate desire of having of this worlds goods, which discovers itself either by unrighteous acts in procuring, or uncharitable omissions for the keeping, of the things of this life. It is that , love of money, which the apostle determines to be the root of all evil. It is also discovered by a too much thoughtfulness what we shall eat, drink, or put on, or by the too great meltings of our hearts into our bags of gold or silver. All these come under the notion of that covetousness which is here forbidden. In short, whatsoever it is that hindereth our contentment with the portion God giveth us upon our endeavours, though it amounts to no more than food and raiment, according to the apostles precept, 1Ti 6:8; Heb 13:5. This is what Christ warns his disciples to beware of; he gives us the reason, for a mans life consisteth not in the abundance of what he possesseth: which is true, whether we understand by life the subsisting and upholding of our life, or (as life is often taken) for the happiness and felicity of our lives. Abundance is not necessary to uphold our lives. Ad manum est quod sat est, saith Seneca, Nature is content with a little. Sudamus ad supervacanea, ( saith he), We sweat only to get superfluities. Nor will abundance protect our lives; it will not keep off an enemy, but rather tempt him; nor fence out a disease, but rather contribute to it, as engaging us in immoderate cares or labours to procure and keep it, or as exposing us to temptations to riot and debauchery, by which mens lives are often shortened. Nor doth the happiness of life lie in the abundance of what we possess. Some philosophers determined rightly, that something of this worlds good is necessary to our happiness of life, but abundance is not. The poor are as merry, and many times more satisfied, more healthy, and at more ease, than those that have abundance. It is a golden sentence, which deserves to be engraven in every soul.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

15. unto themthe multitudearound Him (Lu 12:1).

of covetousnessThebest copies have “all,” that is, “every kind ofcovetousness”; because as this was one of the more plausibleforms of it, so He would strike at once at the root of theevil.

a man’s life, &c.asingularly weighty maxim, and not less so because its meaning and itstruth are equally evident.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And he said unto them,…. Either to the two brethren, or to his disciples, as the Syriac and Persic versions read, or to the whole company:

take heed, and beware of covetousness; of all covetousness, as read the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, and some copies; that is, of all sorts of covetousness, and every degree of it, which of all vices is to be avoided and guarded against, being the root of all evil; and as the Persic version renders it, is worse than all evil, and leads into it:

for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth; of flocks and beasts, as the Persic version renders it: a man’s natural life cannot be prolonged by all the good things of the world he is possessed of; they cannot prevent diseases nor death; nor do the comfort and happiness of life, lie in these things; which are either not enjoyed by them, but kept for the hurt of the owners of them, or are intemperately used, or some way or other imbittered to them, so that they have no peace nor pleasure in them: and a man’s spiritual life is neither had nor advantaged hereby, and much less is eternal life to be acquired by any of these things; which a man may have, and be lost for ever, as the following parable shows.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

From all covetousness ( ). Ablative case. From every kind of greedy desire for more (, more, , from , to have) an old word which we have robbed of its sinful aspects and refined to mean business thrift.

In the abundance of the things which he possesseth ( ). A rather awkward Lukan idiom: “In the abounding (articular infinitive) to one out of the things belonging (articular participle) to him.”

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

Beware of [ ] . Lit., guard yourselves from.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

1) “And he said unto them,” (eipen de pros autous) “Then he said directly to them,” to the disciples, His hearers, Luk 12:1. To covet or desire anything, except it be to glorify God, as a good steward, is vain, 1Co 4:2; 1Co 10:31.

2) “Take heed and beware of covetousness:” (horate kai phulassesthe apo pases pleoneksias) “Be cautious and be on guard against all covetousness,” Pro 28:16; 1Ti 6:7; Heb 13:5, all kinds or forms of worldliness. In the midst of our Lord’s heavenly address of warning against the leaven (putrefication), false teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees, this man’s mind had been obsessed with affairs of the world, 1Jn 2:17-19.

3) “For a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance,” (hoti ou en to perisseuein tini zoe autou estin) “Because no one’s life abounds, holds or stays glued together by the amount or accumulated volume.” True enjoyment and value of life is not measured by material wealth, Psa 37:16; Pro 15:16; Pro 16:8.

4) “Of the things he possesseth.” (ek ton huparchonton auto) “Out of or by means of his possessions,” or the things he has accumulated to himself, of material or passing worldly things, Pro 23:5; Ecc 5:10; 1Ti 6:10; Jas 5:3; 1Ti 6:17-18.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

15. Take heed and beware of covetousness. Christ first guards his followers against covetousness, and next, in order to cure their minds entirely of this disease, he declares, that our life consisteth not in abundance. These words point out the inward fountain and source, from which flows the mad eagerness for gain. It is because the general belief is, that a man is happy in proportion as he possesses much, and that the happiness of life is produced by riches. Hence arise those immoderate desires, which, like a fiery furnace, send forth their flames, and yet cease not to burn within. If we were convinced that riches, and any kind of abundance, are evils of the present life, which the Lord bestows upon us with his own hand, and the use of which is accompanied by his blessing, this single consideration would have a powerful influence in restraining all wicked desires; and this is what believers have come to learn from their own experience. (268) For whence comes it, that they moderate their wishes, and depend on God alone, but because they do not look upon their life as necessarily connected with abundance, or dependent upon it, but rely on the providence of God, who alone upholds us by his power, and supplies us with whatever is necessary?

(268) “ Ce que les fideles experimentent ton les iours en eux-mesmes estre vray;” — “which believers every day experience in themselves to be true.”

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(15) Take heed, and beware of covetousness.The better MSS. give, of all (i.e., every form of) -covetousness. Our Lords words show that He had read the secret of the mans heart. Greed was there, with all its subtle temptations, leading the man to think that life was not worth living unless he had a superfluity of goods. The general truth is illustrated by a parable, obviously selected by St. Luke, as specially enforcing the truth which he held to be of primary importance. (See Introduction.)

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

15. Covetousness The inordinate desire for accumulation. It is natural to suppose that one or both of the parties in the quarrel for the inheritance was trying to overreach. And the intense absorption of the man in this matter, and his untimely interruption, would be of themselves proof of covetousness. Life That is, his true life. The rich feel committed the error of forgetting that there was a higher life than bodily supplies afford. Give him the gratification of sense and he dreams that all is provided for.

Parable of the Rich Fool, 15-21.

Suggested by the worldly man’s interruption. It is in some degree a new turn of the discourse, and yet it lies under the main line of the argument.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘And he said to them, “Take careful note, and keep yourselves from all covetousness, for a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things which he possesses.”

Then Jesus turned to His disciples, and to the crowd, and gave them a strong caution. They were to keep themselves from covetousness, from a desire for ‘things’ and for wealth. For a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things that he possesses. It consists rather in their attitude towards God. Let them then rather seek the Kingly Rule of God (Luk 12:31).

Here then He is stressing the choice between God and Mammon. For the majority of men Mammon was precisely what their lives consisted of, seeking wealth and power and status. But it was not to be so for those who followed Him. They were to have their eyes firmly fixed on the Kingly Rule of God, on the true riches, the heavenly riches, and on walking to please God (see Luk 12:31-34). They were to set their hearts on the inheritance of eternal life. Here was the continuation of the choices laid out before them in Luk 12:1-12. Let them not find themselves obsessed with paltry affairs like this man was. Let them rather be obsessed with the Kingly Rule of God over their lives. The great danger of the greed that can destroy a person’s usefulness comes out regularly in Luke’s Gospel (Luk 4:4; Luk 8:14; Luk 9:24-25; Luk 12:22-34; Luk 16:19-31; Luk 18:18-30)

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Luk 12:15. Take heed, and beware of covetousness: See to it, and be upon your guard against covetousness. The original is very lively, and the full force of it not easy to be expressed. Some old versions, and very good copies, read, all covetousness. It is not said which of these brothers was in the wrong; only because the disposition which they discovered, afforded a fit opportunity for religious advice, our Lord embraced it, and cautioned his hearers in the most solemn manner against covetousness: declaring, that neither the length nor the happiness of man’s life depends upon the greatness of his possessions. Human life is sustained by little; and therefore abundance is not necessary, either to the support or comfort of it. It is not a great estate and vast possessions which make a man happy in this world; but a mind that is equal to its condition, whatever it may be. Archbishop Tillotson observes upon this verse, that “it contains a peculiar kind of caution, no where else, nor upon any other occasion, that I know of,” says he, “used in scripture; in which, for the greater emphasis and weight, the words of caution are doubled, as if the matter were of so much concernment, that no caution about it could be too much: to signify to us, both the great danger of this sin of covetousness, and the great care men ought to use to preserve themselves from it.” See his Sermons, vol. 6 p. 69.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Luk 12:15 . Jesus recognised as that which had stirred up the quarrel between the brothers, and uses the occasion to utter a warning against it.

] i.e. , Luk 12:13 .

. . .] for not by the fact of a man’s possessing abundance does his life (the support of his life) consist in his possessions . This the fact that one’s life consists in one’s possessions is not dependent on the abundance of the possession, but this, the contrast unexpressed, but resulting from Luk 12:30 on the will of God, who calls away the selfish collector of treasures from the midst of his abundance. The simple thought then is: It is not superfluity that avails to support a man’s life by what he possesses . “Vivitur parvo bene.” To this literal meaning, moreover, the following parable corresponds, since it does not authorize us to understand in its pregnant reference: true life, , or the like (Kuinoel, Bornemann, Olshausen, Ewald, and the older commentators); on the other hand, Kaeuffer, De . not . p. 12 f. [156] Observe, moreover, that has been placed at the beginning, before ., because of the contrast which is implied, and that , according to the usual construction, that of the Vulgate, goes most readily with (Luk 21:4 ; Tob 4:16 ; Dion. Hal. iii. 11), and is not governed by what follows. An additional reason for this construction lies in the fact that thus the following is not superfluous. Finally, it is to be noted that is the frequent proficisci ex, prodire ex . De Wette is wrong in saying: “ for though any one has superfluity, his life is not a part of his possessions, i.e. he retains it not because he has these possessions.” In this manner would mean, to which belong ; but it is decisive against this view entirely that must be taken together , while in respect thereof, according to the former view, no contrast can be conceived; for the life is in no case a part of our possessions (in the above sense).

[156] Kuinoel: “Non si quis in abundantia divitiarum versatur, felicitas ejus a divitiis pendet.” Bornemann ( Schol . p. 82, and in the Stud. u. Krit . 1843, p. 128 ff.): “Nemini propterea, quod abunde habet, felicitas paratur ex opibus, quas possidet (sed ex pietate et fiducia in Deo posita).” Olshausen says that there are two propositions blended together: “Life consists not in superfluity” (the true life), and “nothing spiritual can proceed from earthly possessions.” Ewald says: “If man has not from his external wealth in general what can be rightly called his life, he has it not, or rather he has it still less by the fact that this, his external wealth, increases by his appeasing his covetousness.”

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

DISCOURSE: 1526
CAUTION AGAINST COVETOUSNESS

Luk 12:15. And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness.

THE instructions which our Lord conveyed to his Disciples almost always arose out of something that was immediately before him; so attentive was he to improve every occasion for their good. This was fraught with many advantages; for it tended to impress every truth more forcibly on their minds, and to shew them how to render all events subservient to their own spiritual welfare. It was a trifling circumstance, which of itself did not seem to afford any particular occasion for remark, that gave rise to the discourse before us. A man who had been listening to him for some time, apprehending that, as he spake with such authority, he could easily prevail to settle a point in dispute between his brother and himself, requested his interposition; Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. But our Lord, seeing that the man was more intent on his temporal than on his spiritual advancement, not only declined the office, as not being within his commission, but began to caution his Disciples against that covetousness, of which they now saw so striking an example.
A caution so solemnly given to them, cannot but deserve the attention of his followers in every age; and I pray God that the importance of it may be felt by every one of us, whilst we shew,

I.

How we may know whether we are under the influence of this evil principle

It is not by overt acts of dishonesty merely that we are to judge of this, but by the workings of our hearts in reference to the things of this world. We may judge of it,

1.

From the manner in which we seek them

[Earthly things may certainly be desired, provided that desire be regulated by the necessities of our nature, and subordinated to the will of our heavenly Father. But if we desire them for themselves, or in an undue degree, then immediately are we guilty of that very sin which is reproved in our text. If we desire them for themselves, we shew that we think there is some inherent good in them: whereas they are altogether worthless, except as far as they are necessary for our support, and for the strengthening of our bodies to serve the Lord. All beyond mere food and raiment is an empty bubble. To invest earthly things with any inherent excellency, is to put them in the place of God, and to make idols of them: moreover, if our thoughts run out after them more than after God and heavenly things, if the pursuit of them be more delightful to us than the exercises of devotion, and, above all, if we will violate the dictates of conscience, or neglect spiritual duties in order to advance our temporal interest, what is this but covetousness? Can any one doubt whether such a preference to earthly things be sinful? Suppose, for instance, that any man follows an unlawful trade, or a lawful trade in an unlawful way, acquiring his gains from sources which he would be ashamed to confess, and afraid to have discovered; is he not under the influence of covetousness? Does he not prefer money before a good conscience, and the acquisition of wealth before the approbation of his God? Is this a setting of his affections on things above, and not on the things on the earth? Hear what an inspired Apostle speaks respecting the criminality and danger of such desires: Many walk, of whom I have told you often, and tell you now even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, because they mind earthly things [Note: Php 3:18-19.]. It is not every degree of attention to earthly things that he condemns; but such a desire after them as is inordinate, and such a pursuit of them as militates against the welfare of the soul: and, whatever we may call it, God calls it covetousness, and declares it to be idolatry [Note: Col 3:5.].]

2.

From the manner in which we enjoy them

[As all desire after them is not prohibited, so neither is all enjoyment of them; for God hath given us all things richly to enjoy. But what if we feel complacency in the idea of wealth, and place a confidence in it as a barrier against the calamities of life; Is not this the very sin against which the Prophet Habakkuk denounces a most awful woe? Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil [Note: Hab 2:9.]. It is, in truth, to act the part of the Rich Fool in the Gospel, and to say, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years, eat, drink, and be merry? We are very apt to imagine that the satisfaction which we take in the contemplation of our wealth, is nothing but an expression of thankfulness to God: but it is, for the most part, a glorying in riches (which is expressly forbidden [Note: Jer 9:23.]); and a saying to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence. The sentiments of Job on this head were far more correct than those of the generality even of enlightened Christians: If, says he, I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because mine hand had gotten much, this were an iniquity to be punished by the Judge; for then I should have denied the God that is above [Note: Job 31:25; Job 31:28.]. If it be asked, How such a construction can reasonably be put on a sensation of the soul, which appears both innocent and praiseworthy? I answer, That God is the true and only Rest of the soul [Note: Psa 116:7.]; and that, in proportion as we look to the creature for comfort or support, our hearts of necessity depart from him [Note: Jer 17:5.]. To be the one source of happiness to his creatures, is his prerogative; and his glory he will not give to another: for the Lord our God is a jealous God.]

3.

From the manner in which we support the loss of them

[Christianity is far from inculcating a stoical apathy, or rendering us strangers to the common feelings of mankind: but it gives us a principle, which is able to support us under trials, and to fill us with joy in the midst of tribulations. In a word, it presents us with a view of God as our God, and shews us, that nothing in this world can either add to, or take from, the happiness of him who has so rich a portion. This is the principle which enabled Job, under the loss of all his worldly possessions, to say, The Lord gave, and the Lord taketh away: blessed be the name of the Lord. Now the want of this resignation argues an undue value for the things of this world. If, under an apprehension of some loss, we are filled with anxiety, so as to be quite unfitted for an attention to our spiritual concerns; if, on having sustained that loss, we give way to vexation and grief, instead of rejoicing that we have in God an all-sufficient portion; do we not then in effect say, like Micah, when he had lost his idols, They have taken away my gods, and what have I more? Assuredly this is an undeniable mark of covetousness: indeed, God himself puts this construction upon it: Let your conversation be without covetousness, and be content with such things as ye have [Note: Heb 13:5.]. When we are truly delivered from this evil principle, we shall be able to say with the Apostle, I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content: I know both how to be abased, and how to abound; every where and in all things I am instructed, both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need [Note: Php 4:11-12.].]

Our next inquiry must be,

II.

Why our Lord so earnestly guards us against it

The terms in which he expresses the caution, are exceeding strong; Take heed, and beware [Note: .]. But there is abundant occasion for such earnestness; for covetousness is,

1.

A common principle

[The man who came to desire our Lords interposition, seems not to have had the smallest idea that he was actuated by this unworthy principle; and probably would have complained of a want of charity in any one who should have imputed it to him. And so it is at this time. However ready we may be to notice it in others, we all overlook it in ourselves, and cloke it by the name of industry or prudential care; so that, if we were to give credit to every mans account of himself, we should not find this principle in the world. But it is deeply rooted in the heart of man [Note: Mar 7:21.], and as naturally adheres to the soul as the members to the body [Note: Col 3:5.]. Even good people still feel its existence and operation within them. Who has not to lament, that in his intercourse with the world he feels somewhat of an undue bias at times, inclining him to lean towards his own interests, and to decide a doubtful point in his own favour? We do not say, that a good man will indulge this principle, but that he will feel it; and that he will find within himself a necessity of being much upon his guard, to prevent it from warping his judgment and influencing his conduct. If this then be the case with respect to those who are crucified to the world, much more must it be so with those who are yet carnal and unrenewed.]

2.

A delusive principle

[We are apt to think that earthly things will make us happy: but our Lord tells us, in the words immediately following our text, that a mans life consisteth not in the abundance of the things that he possesseth. The truth is, that mans happiness is altogether independent of earthly things. Hear how the Prophet Habakkuk speaks on this subject: Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls; yet I will rejoice in the Lord, and joy in the God of my salvation [Note: Hab 3:17-18.]. This clearly proves, that, however destitute we may be of all earthly comforts, our hearts may overflow with peace and joy: we may be sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing, having nothing, and yet possessing all things. On the other hand, it is certain that a man may possess all that the world can give him, and yet be miserable; or, as Job expresses it, In the midst of his sufficiency he may be in straits [Note: Job 20:22.]. How often do we see persons, after attaining more than they had ever expected or desired, far less happy than they were at the commencement of their career! We may appeal to the experience of all, whether the increase of their happiness have kept pace with the augmentation of their wealth? We are well assured, that the more sanguine any persons expectations of happiness are from the acquisition of wealth, the greater will his disappointments be; and that every human being must sooner or later confess with Solomon, that all below the sun is vanity and vexation of spirit.]

3.

A debasing principle

[It is worthy of observation, that the word lucre occurs but four times in the New Testament, and every time has the term filthy annexed to it. Nor is this without reason; for covetousness defiles and debases the soul as much as any principle of our fallen nature. Wherever it exists, it eats out every good principle, and calls forth and strengthens every bad principle, in our fallen nature. How feeble are the operations of honour, friendship, love, compassion, when covetousness has gained an ascendant in the heart! On the other hand, what injustice, falsehood, wrath, and malice will not this horrid principle produce! Well may it be said, The love of money is the root of all evil; for there is scarcely an evil in the world which may not arise from it. The opposition between this principle and every Christian virtue, is strongly intimated in the advice given by St. Paul to Timothy [Note: 1Ti 6:10-11. Mark the connexion between these two verses.] and the utter abhorrence in which it is held by God, is marked [Note: Psa 10:3.], yea marked with an emphasis not exceeded in any part of the sacred volume: An heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children [Note: 2Pe 2:14.]. O that we were all duly sensible of its hatefulness and baseness!]

4.

A destructive principle

[See it, in whomsoever it prevails, how it militates against the welfare of the soul, and destroys its eternal interests. The Rich Youth, in despite of all his amiableness, renounced all hope in Christ, rather than he would part with his possessions [Note: Mat 19:22.]. The hearers of the Prophet Ezekiel, notwithstanding all their approbation of his ministry and their professions of personal regard, could never be prevailed upon to renounce and mortify this evil propensity [Note: Eze 33:31.]: and we read of some in Isaiahs days, whom neither the frowns nor chastisements of Jehovah could reclaim from it [Note: Isa 57:17.]. The great proportion of those who make a profession of religion in our day, are like the thorny-ground hearers, in whom the good seed is choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life, so that they bring forth no fruit to perfection [Note: Luk 8:14.]. But the most terrible of all examples is that of Demas, who, after having attained such eminence in the Christian Church as to be twice joined with St. Luke by Paul himself in his salutations to the saints, was turned aside at last, and ruined by this malignant principle; Demas hath forsaken us, having loved this present world [Note: 2Ti 4:10.]. Thus it will operate wherever it is indulged: it will have the same effect as loading our feet with thick clay, when we are about to run a race; and will shut the door of heaven against us, when we apply for admission there. Of this God has faithfully warned us: and, to fix the warning more deeply in our minds, he even appeals to ourselves respecting the justice of the sentence, and the certainty of its execution: Know ye not, that the covetous shall not inherit the kingdom of God [Note: 1Co 6:9-10.]?]

To improve the subject, and assist you in mortifying this corrupt principle, we recommend you to consider,
1.

The shortness of human life

[Who knows not, that our life is but a vapour that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away? Shall we then be anxious about matters which will be so soon terminated? Should we not rather live as pilgrims and sojourners, that are passing onward towards their eternal home? It will soon be of not the smallest moment to us whether we were rich or poor. The instant that the Rich Mans soul was required of him, his riches profited him not; they could not procure so much as a drop of water to cool his tongue: nor did the troubles of Lazarus leave any sting to interrupt or lessen his joys, when once he was safely lodged in Abrahams bosom. Let us then, like the holy Apostle, die daily: let us weep as though we wept not, and rejoice as though we rejoiced not, and possess as though we possessed not, and use the world as though we used it not; because the fashion of this world passeth away [Note: 1Co 7:29-31.].]

2.

The vanity of those excuses by which men justify their sin

[Every one has some cloak wherewith to cover his sin. One says, I only desire a competency. But a competency, in Gods estimation, may be a very different thing from what it is in ours: we may be desiring so many hundreds a year; but he says, Having food and raiment, be therewith content. Another says, I care not for myself, but only for my family: and must not I provide for them? But we must no more covet an earthly portion for them than for ourselves: the welfare of their souls should be our great concern for them, as well as for ourselves. Another says, I am poor, and therefore cannot be supposed to be under the influence of covetousness. But the principle of covetousness may be as strong in a beggar as in any other person: for envy and discontent are as much branches of covetousness, as dishonesty or avarice can be. To all then, I would say, beware of the deceitfulness of sin, and the treachery of your own hearts; and be afraid, lest, after being acquitted by your fellow-creatures, you should at last be condemned by your God [Note: See 1Ti 6:9. This passage is not generally understood. It speaks of the inclination or principle; . And the danger of self-deceit in relation to it is fully stated. Eph 5:5-7.].]

3.

The infinite excellency of eternal things

[As the Apostle says, Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit, so I would say; Covet not earthly things, wherein is excess; but covet heavenly things, even to the utmost possible fulness; for in them there is no excess. It is not possible to desire too earnestly, or to seek too diligently, an interest in Christ: nor can you take too great delight in the enjoyment of him, or fear too much the loss of his favour. Here is scope for all the energies of our minds. In reference to heavenly things then I would say, Covet earnestly the best gifts: enlarge your desires to the utmost extent of your capacity to receive, and of Gods ability to bestow. However wide you open your mouth, God will fill it.]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

15 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.

Ver. 15. Take heed, and beware of covetousness ] This our Saviour adds after “who made me a judge?” to teach us not to go to law with a covetous mind; but as Charles the French king made war with our Henry VII, more desiring peace than victory.

For a man’s life consisteth not, &c. ] He can neither live upon them nor lengthen his life by them. Queen Elizabeth once wished herself a milk maid. Bajazet envied the happiness of a poor shepherd that sat on a hillside merrily reposing himself with his homely pipe. Therein showing, saith the historian, that worldly bliss consisteth not so much in possessing of much, subject to danger, as enjoying in a little contentment, void of fear. Covetous men by gaping after more lose the pleasure of that which they possess, as a dog at his master’s table swalloweth the whole meat he casteth him without any pleasure, gaping still for the next morsel.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

15. ] , i.e. . He saw into the covetousness of the man’s disposition, and made it an instructive warning for his hearers.

. ] There is a meaning in every kind of . This kind , of which they had an example before them, was by no means one of the worst; but all kinds must be avoided.

. ] not, because a man has abundance, does his life (therefore) consist in his goods. That is, no man’s life . consists in what he possesses ( ); nor , by his having abundance, can this be made to be the case. Man’s life is of God , not of his goods, however abundant they may be . And this is the lesson conveyed by the following parable, and lying at the foundation of the still higher lesson conveyed in Luk 12:21 .

is life in the pregnant sense, emphatically his life; including time and eternity. This is self-evident from the parable and its application.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Take heed = See. Greek. horao. App-133.

beware = keep yourselves from,

covetousness. All the texts read “all covetousness”.

man’s = to any one.

life. Greek zoe. See App-170. Not so with bios (App-171.)

possesseth. Greek. huparcho. see Php 1:2, Php 1:6 (being); Luk 3:20 (“is “).

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

15.] , i.e. . He saw into the covetousness of the mans disposition, and made it an instructive warning for his hearers.

.] There is a meaning in -every kind of . This kind, of which they had an example before them, was by no means one of the worst; but all kinds must be avoided.

.] not, because a man has abundance, does his life (therefore) consist in his goods. That is, no mans life . consists in what he possesses ( ); nor , by his having abundance, can this be made to be the case. Mans life is of God, not of his goods, however abundant they may be. And this is the lesson conveyed by the following parable, and lying at the foundation of the still higher lesson conveyed in Luk 12:21.

is life in the pregnant sense, emphatically his life; including time and eternity. This is self-evident from the parable and its application.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Luk 12:15. , unto them) viz. to the two brothers, or else, to His hearers: comp. Luk 12:16.[116] The discourse returns to the disciples [to whom it was at first addressed], at Luk 12:22.-, covetousness) which may possibly lurk beneath, even in the case of a cause however just: Luk 12:13.- ) These words are to be construed with .[117] Life is well lived on little.[118]

[116] Where also occurs: the parable there would probably be addressed to all His hearers.-ED. and TRANSL.

[117] i.e. In the case of ones having abundance, his life is not derived from ones goods. But Engl. Vers. joins with , in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.-ED. and TRANSL.

[118] If there be contentment and the grace of God.-ED. and TRANSL.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

A Mans True Life

And he said unto them, Take heed, and keep yourselves from all covetousness: for a mans life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.Luk 12:15.

1. The Evangelist connects the text with a striking yet familiar episode; One out of the multitude said unto him, Master, bid my brother divide the inheritance with me. Here was clearly a twofold issue, moral and legal. There was the question of right and there was the question of law. The one must be answered by the individual conscience, the other by the public tribunals. Christ declines to take over the duties of either. He said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? Then He turned to the multitude and resumed His work as a spiritual Teacher, charged to set forward the eternal truths which conscience, however falteringly, attests, and to lay down the moral principles which underlie all human happiness worthy the name. And he said unto them, Take heed, and keep yourselves from all covetousness: for a mans life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

2. Evidently this Jew was a younger son, who could not easily forgive his elder brother for enjoying a double share of their fathers estate. The elder brother, it is plain, was also one of our Lords hearers, and likely to be, in whatever degree, attracted by Him; but, on the other hand, it may be taken for certain that he had no mind to part with any portion of his estate, or the appeal against him would not have been necessary. Master, cried the younger man, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. Our Lord might, it is clear, have met this appeal by a direct discussion of its intrinsic merit. But in fact, placing Himself at the point of view of the speaker, who could not yet know at all that He Himself really was, He asks what commission He could be supposed to hold for deciding such questions at all. Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? And then, as if glancing at both the brothersthe elder, who held so tenaciously to his legal fortune, and the younger, who was so eager to share itHe rises into a higher atmosphere, and His words become at once instructive to all men and for all time. Take heed, He said, and keep yourselves from all covetousness, for one reason among others, but especially for onethat covetousness involves a radical mistake as to the true meaning and nature of life: a mans life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

You find Christ giving various counsels to varying people, and often jealously careful to avoid definite precept. Is He asked, for example, to divide a heritage? He refuses; and the best advice that He will offer is but a paraphrase of the tenth commandment which figures so strangely among the rest. Take heed, and beware of covetousness. If you complain that this is vague, I have failed to carry you along with me in my argument. For no definite precept can be more than an illustration, though its truth were resplendent like the sun, and it was announced from heaven by the voice of God. And life is so intricate and changing, that perhaps not twenty times, or perhaps not twice in the ages, shall we find that nice consent of circumstances to which alone it can apply.1 [Note: R. L. Stevenson, Lay Morals.]

I

A False Estimate of Life

1. Christ would warn His hearers against a false estimate of life. He told them that true life did not consist in anything external to man. Was the warning needed? Who ever said that life consisted in wealth? The saying of our Lord is a truism. But there are truisms and truisms. There are truisms which are admitted to be such in the conduct as well as by the speech of men. And there are truisms which are never questioned in conversation, and which are rarely acted on. To insist on truisms of the former class is no doubt an impertinence; to insist on truisms of this latter kind again and again, and even with importunity, is by no means superfluous; and the saying of our Lord is undoubtedly a truism of this description. The distinction which He draws between what a man has and what he is, is as obvious, when stated, as it is commonly overlooked. The saying that life consists not in what we have but in what we are, is as true as the practice of making life consist not in what we are but in what we have is common. Intellectually speaking, the world did not need these words of our Lord. Practically speaking, there is no one of His sayings which it could less dispense with.

2. We must not read the words of our Lord as if they meant, A mans life consists in poverty. Jesus did not say that, and it is not true; the degradations of poverty are often as great as the dangers of wealth. It is probably more difficult for a man to live a mans life in abject poverty than it is for him to do so amid the abundance of things. Money can do splendid service in providing the means for the cultivation of a mans life. The pity is that so few who have it know how to compel it to do this. In the mere process of accumulation men are apt to forget the purpose of accumulation, and the hope of adding hundred to hundred, or of building more barns and larger, becomes a feverish instinct with no ulterior purpose whatever.

There is no evil in wealth itself, else our Lord had not spoken the parables of the Talents and the Pounds; and had He intended His charge to the rich young man to be a universal rule, He would certainly have represented one of the worthy servants as having given his Lords gift to the poor. But wealth becomes evil the moment it is made the end and aim of a mans life, for it binds him to that which is temporal and physical, and blinds him to his heavenly destinyto the things that are spiritual and eternal. As a means, however, it has as much right to its place in human life as any other gift of God; and within the kingdom which Jesus sought to found love would make its wise administration a blessing and a joy. To him for whom it is more blessed to give than to receive wealth must procure the greatest happiness, increasing, as it unquestionably does, his power to aid his fellows and to support all worthy causes.

I said, just now, that wealth ill-used was as the net of the spider, entangling and destroying: but wealth well used is as the net of the sacred fisher who gathers souls of men out of the deep. A time will comeI do not think even now it is far from uswhen this golden net of the worlds wealth will be spread abroad as the flaming meshes of morning cloud are over the sky; bearing with them the joy of light and the dew of the morning as well as the summons to honourable and peaceful toil. What less can we hope from your wealth than this, rich men of England, when once you feel fully how, by the strength of your possessionsnot, observe, by the exhaustion, but by the administration of them and the power,you can direct the actscommand the energiesinform the ignoranceprolong the existence, of the whole human race?1 [Note: Ruskin, A Joy for Ever, 12. (Works, xvi. 102).]

3. But Jesus regarded wealth as quite a subordinate thing. Human law has sometimes placed property before human life. It is notorious that in our courts of justice to-day offences against the person are often much more leniently dealt with than offences against property. The judgment of Jesus, we are sure, would be very different there. In His view a mans life consisted not in his possessions; these were the accidents of his life; he had other and higher interests, and to these all His care was given. Let Him see a sick man, He was moved with compassion. Let Him see a little child, and His instinct was to take it up in His arms and bless it. Let Him see a multitude like shepherdless sheep, and He must be their Shepherd. The labours, the cares, the sorrows, the joys of men interest Him. But it is impossible to conceive of Jesus as being interested in money. Shew me a penny, He once said, and He looked at it, not to reckon what it could purchase, but to see what it might teach. In regard even to the higher uses of money, even its most unquestionable uses as means towards food and raiment, He said, Take no thought, labour not for these. It is certain that to Jesus money could never be worth fighting about, the loss or gain of it could never be a matter of great consequence, the decision of a question such as this could never seem worth His while. There can be little doubt that a great deal of the teaching of Jesus is diametrically opposed to the views which rule in the City and to the axioms and the aims of business life. We have come to attach vast importance, an altogether exaggerated importance, to the possession of wealth. In all the great centres of population there proceeds ceaselessly a twofold strife: there is the struggle of some for existence, a desperate struggle, the incidents of which make the tragedies of every day; and there is the struggle of some for wealthno less anxious and tragical, though far more sordid than the other. Now to both of these classes Christ speaks. He says, Is not the life more? Are there not needs which are greater than all these? Food, raiment, comfort, luxuriesat the best they are the means of life only, and if life be given up to the acquisition of these, is it not lost? Victor Hugo reminds us that truth is nourishment as well as wheat. So it is undoubtedly, and it is nourishment of the nobler life. Let God come into a human life, and it becomes life indeed.

The Monastic theory is at an end. It is now the Money theory which corrupts the Church, corrupts the household life, destroys honour, beauty, and life throughout the universe. It is the Death incarnate of Modernism, and the so-called science of its pursuit is the most cretinous, speechless, paralysing plague that has yet touched the brains of mankind.1 [Note: Ruskin, in Life by E. T. Cook, ii. 129.]

4. Our Lord even regarded the possession of wealth as a serious disadvantage. Not that the rich will be punished in the next world to make up for their happiness in this. No such crude doctrine of compensation need be thought of; but as a matter of fact, the rich did not hear Christ gladly. Their wealth did, in point of fact, keep them from joining Him. In those days, it was not easy for anyone to adopt the wandering life of Christs disciples without first disposing of His moveable property. The suggestion to the rich young man, Sell that thou hast, means, Give up your fine house, not Sell out your capital. In the East, where investments in our sense are hardly known, wealth is largely in the form of gold and trinkets, which are not easily kept safe in the absence of the owner. In these words of our Lord the emphasis should fall on the words Come, follow me, rather than on Sell that thou hast. No sweeping condemnation of modern capitalism can be drawn from such passages; we must consider our Lords whole attitude towards money and its uses.

(1) Our Lords dislike of wealth seems to be based on the fact that it almost inevitably absorbs the time and attention of its possessor, which should be given to higher things. Money makes men busy and anxious, careful and troubled about many things. The rich man in His parables is either a luxurious sensualist, like Dives, or an austere mana hard speculatorlike the owner of the talents, or a money-spinner who intends to enjoy himself some day, like the rich fool. In each case, the rich man can have no time for the service of God, and the care of his own soul. Our Lord thinks much more of the loss to the rich man himself than of the injustice which his existence implies to the poor. The rich man forgets that life is more than a livelihood: Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Our Lord pities the mammon-worshipper more than He blames him: He regards him as one who has missed his way in lifeas one who, in the words of the Roman satirist, has lost, for the sake of life, all that makes life worth living.

(2) The love of money grows by that which it feeds on. Covetousness does not seem to be the temptation of those who have nothing, but rather of those who have something. Few set their hearts on riches till the riches begin to increase. Enough has been caustically denned as a little more than you have. As the possession grows, the desire to possess is apt to grow in yet greater ratio. It is a sad sight, though common enough, to see how, when riches increase, a mans bounty may not only not increase but steadily decline. When that is so, it means not only that the poor suffer, or that some cause of God suffers; more than that, the man himself suffers. His spiritual manhood is blighted, and it is a blight which spreads to every part of the nature.

Money grows upon men. They do not know how sweet it is until they have saved a bit, then they begin to be strangely enamoured. If they have not tasted blood they have tasted gold, and a mysterious passion begins to awake, the consequences of which none may foresee. It brings with it the sense of importance, power, large possibilities of honour and indulgence, until in the end the man is mastered by it and ruined by it, as bees are sometimes drowned in their own honey.1 [Note: W. L. Watkinson, The Gates of Dawn, 243.]

In a country parish we can often see things in their naked reality which are not seen, or not remarked, in a town. There was an old man, possessed of considerable means, who made me one of his trustees, a charge which I took for the sake of his grandchildren. I have never seen such a case of absolute slavery to avarice. His only daughter died next door to him, and when the water came through the roof and fell upon the bed, I suggested to him to mend the roof: and he said, Na! Na! many a woman as good as her has had to come on the parish. Her funeral day came, and he and I were next to the hearse. Just when the little procession was about to start he cried out, Bide a wee, and went into the house where the coffin had been lifted. I followed him, thinking he might be ill, but I found him drawing with both hands the fragments of the funeral bread into a heap which he carefully locked in a chest. Poor old man, his own time came soon after, and I did my poor best to comfort and prepare him. Within a few minutes of the end, he was earnestly trying to speak, and I bent over him to hear his last words. I thought he would be saying something that showed he was softened. What he did say was: Tell them to buy the murnins in Dumfries; its a hantle cheaper than at Ks (the village shop).1 [Note: Prof. A. H. Charteris, in Life, by Hon. A. Gordon, 70.]

Oh what is earth, that we should build

Our houses here, and seek concealed

Poor treasure, and add field to field,

And heap to heap and store to store,

Still grasping more and seeking more,

While step by step Death nears the door?2 [Note: Christina G. Rossetti, Poems, 197.]

II

What True Life Consists in

1. It is plain that true life does not exclude the physical. There is a physical existence worth all your possessions. At least, so men have said. Skin upon skin; yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. Life is worth having at its lowest point. Life is worth living, if only as a stepping-stone to greater knowledge, and infinite riches, and eternal happiness. But no possessions can keep a man alive. Death knocks at the door of the castle and palace as well as at the poor mans cottage or the beggars hut.

Some of the incidents of Wesleys childhood must have deeply coloured his religion. One is the historic fire which consumed Epworth rectory in 1709, when Wesley was not yet six years old. On the midnight of August 24, 1709, it was discovered to be in flames. The rest of the household made a hurried and scorched escape, but John, in the alarm and hurry, was forgotten. The little fellow awoke to find the room so full of light that he thought it was day; he sprang from the bed and ran to the door, but it was already a dreadful tapestry of dancing flames. The strong wind, blowing through the open door, had turned the staircase into a tunnel of flame; the father found it would be death to climb it. He fell on his knees in the hall, and cried aloud to God for the child that seemed shut up in a prison of flame. Mrs. Wesley herself, who was ill, hadto use her own phrasewaded through the fire, and reached the street, with scorched hands and face; as she turned to look back at the house the face of her little son could be seen at the window. He was still in the burning house! There was no ladder; his escape seemed impossible. One man, with more resource than the rest of the crowd, ran in beneath the window, and bade another climb upon his shoulders. The boy was reached and, just as he was drawn through the window, he heard the crash of the falling roof behind him. Come, neighbours, cried the father, when his child was brought to him, let us kneel down! Let us give thanks to God! He has given me all my eight children. Let the house go. I am rich enough.1 [Note: W. H. Fitchett, Wesley and his Century, 32.]

2. But life is more than physical existence, more than the pleasures of sense. It is characterwhat a man, when stripped of his possessions, is before God. The life spoken of here is intensive, not expansive. Measured by what we are, and not by what we have, is Christs rule. You may find a shrivelled soul in the midst of a great fortune, and a noble soul in the barest poverty. Life before possessions!

In vain do men

The heavens of their fortunes fault accuse,

Sith they know best what is the best for them;

For they to each such fortune do diffuse.

As they do know each can most aptly use:

For not that which men covet most is best,

Nor that thing worst which men do most refuse,

But fittest is that all contented rest

With that they hold; each hath his fortune in his breast.

It is the mind that maketh good or ill,

That maketh wretch or happy, rich or poor;

For some, that hath abundance at his will,

Hath not enough, but wants in greatest store;

And other, that hath little, asks no more,

But in that little is both rich and wise;

For wisdom is most riches; fools therefore

They are which fortunes do by vows devise,

Sith each unto himself his life may fortunize.1 [Note: Spenser, The Faerie Queene.]

(1) A mans life consists in the abundance of the things he knows.

I was once the guest, for a little time, of a man who owned a magnificent art gallery. But he could say more than I have these pictures. He could say I know them. He had a marvellous pipe-organ in his house. But he could say more than I have the organ. He could say I know the organ, its sweetness and its power. Some men are content to say I have this, that, and the other beautiful thing. He is not so; he says, These booksI know them; these flowersI know them; they seem to me like children; they have a speech that is all their own, and I understand it. By the things we know, our reason is enriched, and we are to live in our reason. We are to know the meaning of things is no less substantial than the things themselves. We are to know the things below usthat is power. We are to know the things about usthat is culture. We are to know the things above usthat is character.2 [Note: C. C. Albertson, The Gospel according to Christ, 143.]

(2) A mans life consists in the abundance of the things he does.

He who plants a tree

Plants a hope;

Rootlets up through fibres blindly grope,

Leaves unfold unto horizon free.

So mans life must climb

From the clouds of time

Unto heavens sublime.

Canst thou prophesy, thou little tree,

What the glory of thy boughs shall be?

He who plants a tree,

He plants love;

Tents of coolness spreading out above

Wayfarers he may not live to see.

Gifts that grow are best,

Hands that bless are blest;

Plant! Life does the rest.

Heaven and earth helps him who plants a tree,

And his work its own reward shall be.1 [Note: Lucy Larcom.]

(3) A mans life consists in the abundance of the things he loves.

Walt Whitman was a strange man. He may have been a degenerate. But his degeneracy had genius in it, and he left a name that will never die. He once said, I love God and flowers and little children. Was there any such thing as bankruptcy for him? Not so long as God sits upon His throne, and flowers spring up in every meadow, and little children smile. Whitman was poor, but he lived an abundant life, for his inner resources were inexhaustible.2 [Note: C. C. Albertson, The Gospel according to Christ, 144.]

Shields old friend, the Rev. Hugh Chapman, who had ministered to him in his last days, said at the funeral service at Merton Old Church: After a friendship of twenty-five years, I have no hesitation in saying that Frederic Shields knew and lived on his Bible as few whom I can recall. Literalist to a large extent he ever was, however mystically inclined in his rle of artist, and there was about him somewhat of the rugged Covenanter who brooked no compromise where for him the honour of his Master seemed to be concerned. Severe to himself, he was infinitely tender towards those who suffered, nor could he hear the mention of pain without his eyes filling with tears. For those who knew him well, and who had sounded the depths of his remarkable personality, he had a unique charm, nor could you be with him for long without leaving his presence a better man. Frederic Shields hated money as much as he loved God, and it is these two points which stand out as I think of him now, promoted to his well-earned rest.3 [Note: E. Mills, Frederic Shields, 347.]

3. We can possess of outward things only as much as we can use. God has endowed man with certain faculties and gifts, which are to be exercised and developed by certain things which this world of His produces. Our bodies are to be sustained and developed by lawful food; and for them Mother Earth caters by her yearly supply of the good things of the harvest. Our minds are to be cultivated and matured by observation and study, and for these Gods book of nature and the works of genius, the broad fields of history and human experience are the pasture-grounds in which the human soul is to feed. We have, moreover, a spiritual character to develop; and for that, Jesus is the very bread of our life. But neither body, soul, nor spirit of man or woman, possesses anything which it does not take up into itself, and utilize by making part of its being. The demands of the body are satisfied when it has used certain elements of food; but all food besides is for the time being practically nothing to the body, because it can use no more.

Wealth is a tremendous trust; it becomes a dangerous one when it owns its owner. Our Brooklyn philanthropist, the late Mr. Charles Pratt, once said to me: There is no greater humbug than the idea that the mere possession of wealth makes any man happy. I never got any happiness out of mine until I began to do good with it.1 [Note: Theodore Cuyler, Recollections of a Long Life, 274.]

As a teacher wandered in Qualheim, he came into a mountainous region, and saw a castle which was of dream-like beauty. Who is the enviable man who lives in such a palace? he asked. His guide answered: He is an unhappy, helpless hermit, without peace, and without a home. He was born with great artistic gifts, but employed them on rubbish. He drew nonsensical and trifling caricatures, distorted all that was beautiful into ugliness, and all that was great into pettiness.

How does he occupy himself now?

Shall I say it? He sits from morning till evening, making balls out of dung.

You mean to say, he continues as he began. Is that his punishment?

Yes! Isnt it logical? He obtained the castle, but cannot use it. Then they went further and came into a garden, where they found a man grafting peaches on turnips. What has he done? asked the teacher. In life he was specially fond of turnips, and now he wishes to inoculate peaches, which he finds insipid, with the fine flavour of turnips. He was, moreover, an author, and wished to rejuvenate poetry with bawdy peasant songs. Why, that is symbolism! Yes, and logic most of all.2 [Note: A. Strindberg, Zones of the Spirit, 103.]

4. The true life, coming from God, is satisfying and is not bounded by this world. According to Christs teaching a mans life consists in the cultivation of the possibilities, of the highest elements of his being, in the annihilation within it of all low desires, in the full set of its determination on the highest ideals, in the cultivation of that power of vision and of feeling by which a man comes to apprehend God and has a sense of the spiritual world, in the maturing of the faculty for drawing enjoyment from those sources which the world cannot dry up. To do that is to know what a mans life means, and to do less than that is to live the life of an animal and not a mans life at all; and, unless the worlds best men and women have been its greatest liars, to live a life like that is unspeakably magnificent and satisfying.

A man may pay too dearly for his livelihood, by giving, in Thoreaus terms, his whole life for it, or, in mine, bartering for it the whole of his available liberty, and becoming a slave till death. There are two questions to be consideredthe quality of what we buy, and the price we have to pay for it. Do you want a thousand a year, a two thousand a year, or a ten thousand a year livelihood? and can you afford the one you want? It is a matter of taste; it is not in the least degree a question of duty, though commonly supposed so. But there is no authority for that view anywhere. It is nowhere in the Bible. It is true that we might do a vast amount of good if we were wealthy, but it is also highly improbable; not many do; and the art of growing rich is not only quite distinct from that of doing good, but the practice of the one does not at all train a man for practising the other.1 [Note: R. L. Stevenson, Familiar Studies of Men and Books.]

Is not the body more than meat? The soul

Is something greater than the food it needs.

Prayers, sacraments, and charitable deeds,

They realize the hours that onward roll

Their endless way to kindle or control.

Our acts and words are but the pregnant needs

Of future being, when the flowers and weeds,

Local and temporal, in the vast whole

Shall live eternal. Nothing ever dies!

The shortest smile that flits across a face,

Which lovely grief hath made her dwelling-place,

Lasts longer than the earth or visible skies!

It is an act of God, whose acts are truth,

And vernal still in everlasting youth.2 [Note: Hartley Coleridge.]

III

The Way to True Life

1. Our Lord would have nothing to do with the paltry dispute between the two brothers. And yet, in the great truth which He proceeded to enunciate with regard to what constitutes life, there was the solutionthe Divine solutionof the particular problem raised on the occasion and of all similar problems. What about my inheritance? was the question of him who viewed life from the worldly standpoint. A mans life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth, was the answer of Him who viewed life from above. This, in effect, was what Christ said, Man, I am not a judge or a divider over you in things temporal and material. But listen to what I have to say as to the things which constitute real and true life, and you will not trouble yourself any longer about this inheritance.

It was as if Christ had said, as He read the story of that angered and greedy spirit, Man, my word is not to your brother: it is to you. Beware of covetousness. You are afraid of losing some property: but the thing you really stand to lose this day with your hate and your greed is your own soul. You are giving all the thought of your life to something that cannot satisfy you if you get it. Moreover, look into your own heart and confess yourself full of greed. Confess that if you could get the whole inheritance to-morrow and oust your brother, you would do it. It will take vastly more than getting that field to put your life right. Thus to a narrow and twisted and unhallowed passion that was distorting this mans life Jesus applied a calm, eternal principle. He let in upon the lurid thought of this mans mind the calm and perfect light of truth and love.

For there are two ways of reforming menan external and an internal. The first method pronounces decisions, formulates laws, changes governments, and thus settles all moral and political questions. The second seeks, before everything else, to renovate the heart and the will. Jesus Christ chose the latter plan. He remained steadfast to it, and this alone evinces the Divinity of His mission and the permanent value of His work. Suppose for a moment that He had adopted the former method when these brothers came to Him, what would have happened? His decision would only have settled a matter of civil right and would not have changed their hearts. If love and justice are to triumph, the two brothers, moved by the Saviours teaching, must themselves settle their difference amicably and equitably. No doubt this was the victory Christ sought to achieve.

2. Now Christ taught the way to a true life by fixing mens thoughts upon Himself. He claimed to be life, and He declared that His mission was to give life in abundance. To have life, then, is to possess Christ, to be actuated by His motives, to reveal His trend of character and passion for goodness. This we can do by coming under the influence of His Spirit.

I read one day about the influence of a man over a peculiarly savage deer-hound. By persistent kindness he taught it to trust and to obey him, and gradually under his influence its whole nature was changed. Instead of being savage it became gentle, instead of being treacherous it became trustworthy. It came, through his influence, to live an entirely different life; and we might say with truth that it came to share the mans life through trust and obedience. The analogy is, of course, a very imperfect one, but it is surely by no means either irreverent or unreasonable to find in such an incident an illustration of what Jesus meant when He said, He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life; but he that obeyeth not the Son shall not see life. He that followeth me shall have the light of life. For it is verily true that the moment a man begins to trust and to obey and to follow, that moment he begins to share the ageless life of the Master, which has its roots in union with God and love for men.1 [Note: R. J. Wardell.]

3. This life can be strengthened in worship. And that means, not merely to engage in certain ceremonial acts on a Sunday, but to cultivate the habit of response to all that is beautiful and noble in nature and history and literature and art and everywhere. The mere lapse of years, to eat and drink and sleep, to be exposed to darkness and to light, to pace round the mill of habit and turn thought into an implement of trade, to taste to exhaustion sensuous delightsthis is not life, but death disguised; but if men will be loyal to conscience and cultivate the habit of true worship, they shall know the meaning of joy, they shall know the meaning of peace, they shall know the meaning of strength, they shall know the meaning and feel the fulness of that life which is life indeed.

4. But, again, to enjoy this life, we must not keep it to ourselves; we must expend it in the interests of our fellow-men. Possession falls under the great law of distribution. To get we must give. Nothing is put into the hand of men that is not intended to be used for the good of society. The handful of corn is of small value in itself if put under lock and key, but, handed over to the ministry of nature, it may in due time become a great harvest. Distribution is not loss; it is only another form of gain. He which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.

Men ask whether they may not do what they please with their own. The answer is Certainly, but you must first find what is your own. Is not my money my own? Certainly not, your very hand with which you grasp your pelf is not your own. The hand may have made the money, but who made the hand? If anything is our own, how singular it is that we cannot take it away with us! The property is ours only that we may leave it. We brought nothing into this world and it is certain that we can carry nothing out.

To Mr. Morley, wealth was only a means to an end; he valued it only as it could be employed for noble purposes; he held it in trust for the good of others; he felt that it laid upon him the most binding obligations, and that he was accountable not only for making a right use of it, but the best use possible. The distribution of his money was therefore the main business of his life. It was a great responsibility to have the management of such a business as his; it was a far greater responsibility to have the money that business brought him. To accumulate it for its own sake was utterly foreign to his thought and feeling; to amass it for the highest ends, and be neglectful as to its wise distribution, was, in his view, worse than folly; to shirk the responsibility, and make others the almoners of his munificence, he regarded as being unfaithful to the trust reposed in him by the One who giveth power to get wealth. Mere giving, however enormous the amount bestowed, is, in itself, nothing, and may be worse than nothing. It may be done selfishly, simply to gratify an impulse; it may be done pompously, simply to gratify pride. As Lavater says, The manner of giving shows the character of the giver more than the gift itself. Therefore, when Mr. Morley found riches to increase, he felt it to be a religious duty to make the disposal of his money a matter of earnest and most careful solicitude. There was placed in his hands a mighty power for good or for evil, and he felt himself under obligation to God and man to spare no pains in using it to the best advantage for the Church and the world.1 [Note: E. Hodder, Life of Samuel Morley, 285.]

A Mans True Life

Literature

Ainsworth (P. C.), A Thornless World, 65.

Albertson (C. C.), The Gospel according to Christ, 139.

Bersier (G.), Twelve Sermons, 107.

Bigg (C.), The Spirit of Christ in Common Life, 232.

Binney (T.), Money: A Popular Exposition, 36.

Faithfull (R. C.), My Place in the World, 127.

Hill (J. E.), Queen Charity, 365.

Inge (W. R.), All Saints Sermons, 69.

Knight (J. J.), Sermons in Brief, 51.

Liddon (H. P.), Passiontide Sermons, 259.

Peabody (F. G.), Mornings in the College Chapel, ii. 88.

Robertson (F. W.), Sermons, ii. 1.

Sampson (E. F.), Christ Church Sermons, 274.

Shepard (J. W.), Light and Life, 101.

Sinclair (W. M.), Difficulties of our Day, 96.

Voysey (C.), Sermons, xx. (1897), No. 46.

Wardell (R. J.), Studies in Homiletics, 139.

Christian World Pulpit, xiii. 209 (J. O. Dykes); lxiv. 341 (H. Hensley Henson); lxxiii. 104 (H. Hensley Henson).

Fuente: The Great Texts of the Bible

Take: Luk 8:14, Luk 16:14, Luk 21:34, Jos 7:21, Job 31:24, Job 31:25, Psa 10:3, Psa 62:10, Psa 119:36, Psa 119:37, Pro 23:4, Pro 23:5, Pro 28:16, Jer 6:13, Jer 22:17, Jer 22:18, Mic 2:2, Hab 2:9, Mar 7:22, 1Co 5:10, 1Co 5:11, 1Co 6:10, Eph 5:3-5, Col 3:5, 1Ti 6:7-10, 2Ti 3:2, Heb 13:5, 2Pe 2:3, 2Pe 2:14

for: Job 2:4, Psa 37:16, Pro 15:16, Pro 16:16, Ecc 4:6-8, Ecc 5:10-16, Mat 6:25, Mat 6:26, 1Ti 6:6-8

Reciprocal: Exo 16:20 – bred worms Exo 20:17 – thy neighbour’s house Lev 11:29 – creeping things that creep Deu 2:4 – take ye Deu 4:23 – heed Deu 5:21 – General Deu 17:17 – neither shall he Deu 24:6 – life 1Ki 2:40 – arose 1Ki 21:2 – Give me 2Ki 5:20 – and take 2Ch 19:6 – Take Pro 1:13 – General Pro 10:2 – Treasures Isa 57:17 – the iniquity Eze 33:31 – but their Mat 6:1 – heed Mat 7:15 – Beware Mat 13:22 – the care Mat 16:6 – Take Mat 19:23 – That Mar 4:7 – General Mar 8:15 – Take Mar 10:22 – for Luk 6:24 – woe Luk 18:23 – he was very sorrowful Rom 7:7 – Thou shalt 1Co 7:31 – use Col 3:2 – not 1Ti 6:17 – trust Heb 12:1 – let us lay

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

A MANS LIFE

A mans life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

Luk 12:15

A mans life! What a marvellous gift! Wherefore should a living man complain, though he be stripped of everything else, if there is left to him that wonderful thing called life?

I. In itself.A mans life, capable of almost infinite happiness, and capable of almost infinite miseryto what heights may it not climb, and to what depths descend, and to what in the great future may not your life here open! and all that future, coloured for better or worse in the way that you spend your mans life.

II. In its effect upon others.And if your life may mean so much to you, how much may it not mean also to other men, to those with whom you daily work, to the circle of your home, to the circle of your neighbourhood, and to the wider circle of the State? A mans life, if he be a Napoleon, may blast the lives of myriads; a mans life, if he be a Luther, or a St. Francis, or a Gordon, or a Shaftesbury, may bless the lives of uncounted thousands.

III. Once to live.And this wonderful thing which is capable of so much usefulness, or of injuring and blasting the lives of others, is in your disposal, and you have but one chance. It is appointed unto man once to die, and it is appointed unto each man once to live. You have but one die to cast, and upon your casting it will depend the epitaph that will be written upon your existence here and hereafter.

Illustrations

(1)Whatever crazy sorrow saith,

No life that breathes with human breath

Has ever truly longed for death.

Tis life whereof our nerves are scant,

Oh, life, not death, for which we pant,

More life and fuller that I want.

(2) Must we not confess each to ourselves that we are apt to live at random? We are swayed by the circumstances which we ought to control. We find it a relief when we are spared (as we think) the necessity for reflection or decision: a book lightly taken up, a friends visit, a fixed engagement, fill up the day with fragments; and day follows day as a mere addition. There is no living idea to unite and harmonise the whole. Of course we cannot make, or to any great extent modify, the conditions under which we have to act; but we can consciously render them tributary to one high purpose. We can regard them habitually in the light of our supreme end. This is, as it seems to me, the first result of zeal, and it is in spiritual matters as elsewhere, that great results are most surely gained by the accumulation of small things. If we strive continuously towards a certain goal, the whole movement of our life, however slow, will be towards it, and as we move, the gathered force will make our progress more steady and more sure.

(SECOND OUTLINE)

WHAT WILL YOU DO WITH YOUR LIFE?

A mans life! Young man, with your one life, what will you do with it? Take care of your object, take care of your ideal, take care of the true power for living it.

I. Take care of your object.What is your object? Is it to get on? Let it be to get up. Choose for what you will live.

(a) The lowest grade of man is the man whose object is to get and scrape together gold, silver, precious stones, bank shares, stocks, always watching the money markets.

(b) There are the men who dopoliticians, legislators, and the men who like to be called practical menthey are useful men; their object is to do.

(c) The third grade are the men whose object is to know. It seems sometimes to me as if they have got such a pile of information upon their brains, that they have lost the power of real knowledge. Information is not knowledge. But there are men who seek to know. It is a lofty and a great object to seek to know.

(d) But there is a fourth grade beyond. The men whose object is to be. These are the saints of all the ages, who are always seeking to build up strong and, beautiful, and holy character. These are the men of the cloister; these are the men of the Church

(e) But there is a loftier grade than this; for the man who lives to build a noble character may be a selfish man. It is much to be a saint, but the highest and noblest grade is to be a saviour, to live for others, to be unconscious when your face shines, because you are seeking to win the world, by your death, if it must be so, for Christ.

What is the object of your life? To get, to do, to know, to be, or to give up your lives to save other men? For if this last be your object, a man who lives for others is a man who is, and the man who knows, and the man who does, and the man who has. Be the last, and you include the other four.

II. As to your ideal, read biography if you will. Some of us have learned our noblest lessons from good biography. But make no man your ideal. Let your ideal be the great Brother Man Who has trodden our world, and Who always goes before us, giving us an example that we should follow His steps. Never rest until you have made the life of Jesus not only your study but your ideal. And as for the power of your life, let it be gotten from yielding your life to Him.

III. Lay your mans life at His feet.I ask that you should lay that life at His feet, and whilst I speak, ask Him to wash away the stain which your young manhood may have contracted, to put your sins beneath His most precious blood, that it may sweep them away for ever. Then present your object to Him, your mind, that He may think through it; your eyes, that He may weep through them; your voice and lips, that He may speak by them; your hands and feet that He may work through them; your whole body, that it may be used by Him for His own higher purposes; your manhood for Jesus, your young life for Jesus. In the name of Jesus I beseech, I entreat, I implore you, young man, to give yourself to Him, for he that loses his life at the feet of Jesus finds it for always; whilst a man who keeps his life for himself loses it utterly, utterly and for ever. A mans life. I knew a Man in Christthat completes, and only completes, a mans life.

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary

5

A man with only a proper interest in his temporal possessions would not have thought of disrupting the work of Jesus by the subject. Therefore the Lord accused him of covetousness, and told him that the things a man possesses do not constitute the main part of his life.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Luk 12:15. Unto them. Evidently the crowd.

Keep yourselves from all covetousness. Our Lord saw that this was the mans motive, and grounds His lesson upon it. From the one form manifested by the man He warns against all kinds.

For even when one has abundance, his life is not from his possessions. The sentence is difficult to translate accurately. The thought is: no mans life consists in what he possesses, and even when he has abundance this does not become so. The positive truth, afterwards brought out, is: A mans life is of God, hence it cannot be from even the most abundant possessions. If earthly life is here meant, the prominent idea is, that God alone lengthens or shortens the thread of life, irrespective of possessions; and this is certainly taught in the parable which follows. But Luk 12:21 seems to call for a higher sense (including spiritual and eternal life). This suggests the additional thought that true life does not consist in wealth. The two views may be represented by the two translations: his life does not depend on, or, does not consist in, his possessions.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Our Saviour, upon the occasion given him in the foregoing verses, admonishes all his disciples and followers to take heed and beware of the sin of covetousness, assuring them that neither the comfort nor continuance of a man’s life does consist in an abundance; for though something of this world’s goods is necessary to the comfort and happiness of life, yet abundance is not necessary.

Here observe, 1. The manner of our Lord’s caution: he doubles it; not saying, take heed alone, or beware only, but take heed, and beware, both. This argues that there is a strong inclination in our nature to this sin; the great danger we are in of falling into it, and of what fatal consequence it is to them in whom this sin reigns.

Observe, 2. The matter of the caution of the sin which our Saviour warns his hearers against, and that is covetousness: Take heed, and beware of covetousness. Where, under the name and notion of covetousness, our Saviour does not condemn a provident care for the things of this life, nor a regular industry and diligence for obtaining of them, nor every degree of love and affection to them; but by covetousness, is to be understood an eager and insatiable desire after the things of this life, or using unjust ways and means to get or increase an estate; seeking the things of this life with the neglect of things infinitely better, and placing their chief happiness in riches.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

2 d. To the People: Luk 12:15-21. The Rich Fool. (He said unto them), Luk 12:15, stands in opposition to His disciples, Luk 12:22. This slight detail confirms the exactness of Luke, for faith is nowhere supposed in those to whom the warning, Luk 12:15-21, is addressed. The two imperatives take heed and beware might be regarded as expressing only one idea: Have your eyes fully open to this enemy, avarice; but they may be translated thus: Take heed [to this man] and beware. Jesus would set him as an example before the assembled people. The Greek term, which we translate by covetousness, denotes the desire of having, much more than that of keeping what we have. But the second is included in the first. Both rest on a superstitious confidence in worldly goods, which are instinctively identified with happiness. But to enjoy money there is a condition, viz. life, and this condition is not guaranteed by money., the surplus of what one has beyond what he needs. The prep. may be paraphrased by though or because: Though he has or because he has superabundance, he has not for all that assurance of life. The two senses come nearly to the same. We should probably read , all covetousness, instead of , covetousness in general: the desire of having in every shape.

Ver. 16. The term parable may signify an example as well as an image; when the example is fictitious, it is invented as an image of the abstract truth.

This rich farmer has a superabundance of goods sufficient for years; but all in vain, his superfluity cannot guarantee his life even till to-morrow.

He speaks to his soul (, H5883), the seat of his affections, as if it belonged to him (my soul; comp. the four , Luk 12:17-18); and yet he is about to learn that this soul itself is only lent him.

The words: God said unto him, express more than a decree; they imply a warning which he hears inwardly before dying. The subject of (the present designates the immediate future) is neither murderers nor angels; it is the indefinite pron. on, they, according to a very common Aramaic form; comp. Luk 12:48 and Luk 14:35. This night is the antithesis of many years, as required is that of the expression my soul.

Ver. 21. Application of the parable. The phrase laying up treasure for himself is sufficiently explained by Luk 12:19.

Rich toward God might signify, rich in spiritual goods. But the prep. , in relation to, is unfavourable to this meaning. It is better to take it in the sense of laying up a treasure in the presence of God, in the sense of the saying, He who giveth to the poor lendeth to the Lord. To become God’s creditor, is to have a treasure in God; comp. Luk 12:33-34.

Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)

Verse 15

A man’s life; his welfare, his happiness.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

12:15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of {c} covetousness: for a man’s life {d} consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

(c) By covetousness is meant that greedy desire to get, commonly causing hurt to other men.

(d) God is the author and preserver of man’s life; goods are not.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

Jesus warned the man and the crowd, including His disciples, against every form of greed. Greed is wrong because it exalts possessions to a place of importance that is greater than the place they occupy in life. Quality of life is not proportionate to one’s possessions. There is more to life than that. Even an abundance of possessions does not bring fullness of life. The man had implied that his life would be better if he had more possessions. Jesus said that was not necessarily so. People should seek God rather than riches because God does bring fulfillment into life (cf. Col 3:1-4).

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)