outlines and suggestive comments.
A man may be said to be covetous when he takes more pains for the getting of earth than for the getting of heaven. He will turn every stone, break his sleep, take any a weary step for the world; but will take no pains for Christ or heaven. The Gauls, after they had tasted the sweet wine of the Italian grape, inquired after the country, and never rested till they had arrived at it; so a covetous man, having had a relish of the world, pursues after it, and never leaves it till he hath got it; but he neglects the things of eternity. He could be content if salvation would drop into his mouth, as a ripe fig drops into the mouth of the eater (Nahum iii. 12). But he is loth to put himself to too much sweat or trouble to obtain Christ or salvation. He hunts for the world, he wisheth only for heaven. . . . Covetousness is (1) a subtle sin, a sin that men do not so well discern in themselves. This sin can dress itself in the attire of virtue. It is called the “cloke of covetousness” (1 Thess. ii. 5). It is a sin that wears a cloke; it clokes itself under the name of frugality and good husbandry. It hath more pleas and excuses for itself than any other sin. (2) It is a dangerous sin. It damps good affections, as the earth puts out the fire. The hedgehog in the fable came to the coney-burrows in stormy weather, and desired harbour, but when once he had gotten entertainment he set up his prickles, and did never cease till he had thrust the poor coneys out of their burrows; so covetousness, by fair pretences, wins itself into the heart; but as soon as you have let it in it will never leave till it hath thrust all religion out of your hearts. . . . Covetousness chains men to the earth, and makes them like the woman which Satan had bound together that she could not lift herself (Luke xiii. 11). You may as well bid an elephant fly in the air as a covetous man live by faith. We preach to men to give freely to Christ’s poor; but covetousness makes them to be like him in the Gospel who had a withered hand (Mark iii. 1). . . . Covetousness shuts men out of heaven (Ephes. v. 5). What should a covetous man do in heaven? . . . Like a bee that gets into a barrel of honey, and there drowns himself, like a ferryman that takes in so many passengers to increase his fare that he sinks his boat, so a covetous man takes in more gold to the increasing of his estate that he damns himself in perdition.—Watson.
It is not enough to abstain from evil, we must also hate it.—Fausset.
Who is ignorant of the woeful success which Achan found in coveting unlawfully the gold and silver in Jericho? He hoped to get more than any man in Israel; but no man in Israel lost so much as he.—Dod.
He that maketh gain to be the gain that he looked for in all things, he may hope to fill his home with wealth, but he shall be sure to fill it with trouble. He that is given to gain, and hath made himself the prey as it were and gain of gain, he may have his hand open to take gifts, but with the same hand taketh in disquietness into his heart. . . . Now, because such are often crying—How shall I live? therefore the wise man telleth them he that hateth such things shall live.—Jermin.
main homiletics of verse 28.
Studying to Answer.
I. Every righteous man is a student. The aim of study in any department of knowledge is, first to gain possession of certain facts, and then to make the knowledge of practical service in life. If a man intends to be a builder he must first be a student. He must first gain certain theoretical knowledge, and then make use of it. And so with every profession or calling—each requires thought before any work is entered upon. Every righteous man is a man with a profession—he is a professor of righteousness—he gains a knowledge of righteous precepts with the view of reducing them to righteous practice. A knowledge of what is right and true in the abstract will be of little use to himself or to any other man unless the knowledge influences his words and deeds. The proverb before us sets forth the righteous man as a student of his speech. His aim is to speak the “word in due season,” spoken of in verse 23, and to do this he must be a student of the human heart—1. He must study the workings of his own heart. This is a study peculiar to the righteous man. Many men study themselves and others as frameworks of bone and muscle, who never bestow a thought upon the soul, of which the body is but the raiment. Other men watch the operations of the mental powers and tabulate all the movements of the mind as they are brought to light by internal consciousness. But the godly man goes deeper. He ponders his thoughts and feelings in the light of moral truth and righteousness—he weighs his words in the balance in which he knows that God will weigh them. 2. He must study other men’s hearts. He desires that his words should not only be harmless but beneficial to others; he desires to answer wisely questions relating to God, and man, and immortality; he sets his speech in order before he opens his mouth upon any of these weighty matters, and he considers the circumstances and dispositions of those to whom he speaks that like one of old, his “doctrine may drop as the rain, his speech distil as the dew,” when he “publishes the name of the Lord” (Deut. xxxii. 2, 3). Before his thoughts become words he submits them to the revision of his conscience and his judgment, and asks himself if they are such as he can hope God will bless to the edification of others.
II. All men who do not thus study their thoughts and words are the authors of much mischief. They are those who have never made what they think a matter of conscience and consequently their words are the outcome of an unsanctified heart. As is the fountain, so must be the stream. For the words of such a man to be other than evil is an impossibility. “How can ye, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man, out of the good treasure of the heart, bringeth forth good things; and an evil man, out of the evil treasure, bringeth forth evil things” (Matt. xii. 34, 35).
outlines and suggestive comments.