C ovetousness— a Sign— by JOHN HARRIS
ers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those th a t are good, tr a it ors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleas u res more th an lovers of God.” In the last quotation covetousness is described as more th an an a tten d a n t evil of the apostasy—¡it is one of its, very elements.. Such is a mere outline of th e rep re sentation of Scripture in relation to the guilt and evils of covetousness. E n te r ing w ith the first transgression, and violating th e sp irit of th e whole law, it has polluted and th reatened th e exist ence of each dispensation of religion; infected all classes and relations of so ciety; shown itself capable of th e foul est acts; is described as occupying a leading place in th e worst sta te of hea thenism , in th e worst tim es of th e apos tasy, and in th e worst characters of those tim es; and has th e worst sins for its appropriate emblems and its nearest kindred, and “ all evil” in its train . So when the whole history of covet ousness shall be read fo rth from the book of God’s remembrance, it will be found th a t it entered largely into the first fall o f'm a n , and into th e last fall of th e church; and th a t during the long lapse of tim e between, it never lost its power nor ceased to reign. STOP HURRYING! The Bible seldom speaks, and cer tainly never its deepest, sweetest words, to those who always read in a hurry. N ature can only tell h er secrets to such as will sit still in h e r sacred temple, till th e ir eyes lose the glare of earthly glory, and th eir ears are attun ed to her voice. And shall Revelation do what N ature cannot? Never. The man who shall win the blessedness of hearing the voice of Divine wisdom must watch daily a t her gates, and wait a t th e posts of her doors.—Dr. F. B. Meyer.
JOHN HARRIS, in an ex- ange, shows th a t covetous- iss is one of th e prevailing ;ns of the la st times.
The Scriptures exhibit covetousness as pervading all classes of mankind. They describe it as having throw n the world generally into a state of infidel d istru st of the Divine Providence, and of dissatisfaction w ith the divine allo t ments. “F o r a fte r all these th ing s,” saith Christ, “ do the Gentiles seek.” They seek afte r worldly objects as in dependently and inten tly as if th ere were no Providence to care for them , no God to be consulted. They pursue them to th e en tire neglect of every higher object. Sometimes covetousness has been seen actuating and debasing the. ch aracter of an en tire people. Against th e Israelites it is alleged, “From the least of them even unto the g reatest of them , every one is given to covetous ness.” Of Tyre it is said, “By thy great wisdom and by thy traffic h ast thou in creased thy riches, and thine h e a rt is lifted up because of thy riches; thou h ast set th ine h ea rt as th e h ea rt of God.” And of Chaldea it is said, “Woe to him th a t coveteth an evil covetous ness to his house, th a t he may set his nest on high, th a t he may be delivered from the power of evil.” The insatiable desires, or the continued prosperity and boundless possessions of these nations had left nothing in th e national charac te r bu t rapacity, arrogance and a proud impiety which braved th e very throne of God. Covetousness now is one of th e char acteristics of th e final apostasy. “This know also, th a t in th e last days perilous times shall come. F o r men shall be lovers of th e ir own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobe dient to parents, unthank fu l, unholy, w ithout n atu ra l affection, truce b reak
SCHOLARSHIP. (See Page 141)
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