(6.) Also when men are convinced it is their duty to communicate to such and such that have need, yet they defer it, and if not quite forget it, yet linger away the time, as being loth to distribute to the necessities of those in want. This is forbidden by the Holy Ghost: 'Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.' Now, it is due from thee to the poor, by the commandment of God, if they want, and thou hast it; 'Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and tomorrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee' (Prov 3:27, 28).
(7.) It argueth a greedy mind also, when, after men have cast in their minds what to give, they then from that will be pinching and clipping, and taking away; whereas the Holy Ghost saith, 'Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver' (2 Cor 9:7).
(8.) And lastly, It argueth a filthy greedy heart also, when a man, after he hath done any good, then in his heart to repent, and secretly wish that he had not so done, or at least, that he had not done so much: this is to be weary of well-doing; (I speak now of communicating,) and carrieth in it two evils, First, It spoileth the work done. And, secondly, It, if entertained, spoileth the heart for doing any more so. 'The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful,' for 'the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand' (Isa 32:5, 8). Now then, to dissuade all from this poisonous sin, observe, that above all sins in the New Testament, this is called idolatry (Eph 5:5; Col 3:5). And therefore God's people should be so far from being taken with it, that they should be much afraid of the naming of it one among another, lest it should, as adulterous thoughts, infect the heart, by the talking of it (Eph 5:3).
Quest.
But why is covetousness called idolatry?
Answer.
1. Because it engageth the very heart of man in it, to mind earthly things; it gets our love, which should be set on God; and sets it upon poor empty creatures; it puts our affections out of heaven, where they should be, and sets them on earth, where they should not be (Eze 33:31; Phil 3:18, 19; Col 3:1-3). Thus it changeth the object on which the heart should be set, and setteth it on that on which it should not. It makes a man forsake God, 'the fountain of living waters,' and causeth him to hew to himself 'cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water' (Jer 2:11-13). For,
2. It rejecteth the care, government, and providence of God towards us, and causeth us to make of our care and industry a god, to whom, instead of God, we fly continually, both for the keeping what we have and for getting more. This was Israel's idolatry of old, and the original of all her idolatrous practices. 'For their mother hath played the harlot,' that is, committed idolatry: 'she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that gave me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink' (Hosea 2:5).
3. It disalloweth of God's way of disposing his creatures, and would have them ordered and disposed of otherwise than his heavenly wisdom seemeth meet; and hence ariseth all discontents about God's dealing with us. Covetousness never yet said, It is the Lord, let him do what he pleaseth; but is ever objecting, like a god, against everything that goeth against it; and it is that which, like a god, draweth away the heart and soul from the true God, and his Son Jesus Christ: 'And he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions' (Matt 19:16-22). Now then, that which engageth the heart, that rejecteth the providence of God, and that is for ordering and disposing of things contrary to God, and for breaking with God upon these terms, is idolatry; and all these do covetousness. 'The wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the Lord abhorreth' (Psa 10:3). Now the way to remedy this disease is, to learn the lesson which Paul had got by heart; to wit, 'In whatsoever state you are, therewith to be content' (Phil 4:11).