Warning Against Covetousness
T. Croskery Ephesians 5:3-5 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becomes saints; It is singular to find covetousness, which is often the sin of respectability, linked with sins of gross impurity. In reality it springs from selfishness, like these other sins. It has its origin in the same unholy root. I. CONSIDER THE NATURE OF COVETOUSNESS. It is the inordinate love of riches, manifesting itself in several ways. 1. In the eager anxiety to attain wealth, without respect either to God's glory or our own spiritual good. 2. In a sinful acquisition of wealth by extortion or fraud. (1 Kings 21:2, 13; Proverbs 10:2; Proverbs 28:8.) 3. In a reluctance to use our wealth for good ends. (1 Timothy 6:17, 18.) II. HOW IS COVETOUSNESS TO BE REGARDED AS "IDOLATRY?" It is to make a god of our possessions and to give them the homage of our hearts. All the essential elements of idolatry are included in this worldly disposition. The covetous man transfers to riches the love, desire, joy, trust, and labor which God demands for himself. His sin is all the greater because he knows that his god is no god. The warning of the text is applicable (1) to all whose thoughts run more upon earth than upon heaven (Luke 12:22, 25, 29); (2) to all whose comfort depends upon worldly successes (Luke 12:19); (3) to all who grudge the time that is spent in religious duties (Amos 8:5). The sin of covetousness is, therefore, to be jealously avoided (1) because it is odious to God "The covetous whom the Lord abhorreth" (Psalm 10:3); (2) because it is destructive to ourselves, in turning our hearts from God (1 John 2:15), in filling our hearts with trouble and care (1 Timothy 6:9, 10), and in keeping us out of the kingdom of God (ver. 5). Let us, therefore, estimate the world at its true value, meditate much on the fatherly care of our God (Luke 12:31, 32; Matthew 6:25, 26), act in faith upon the promises (Hebrews 13:5), and remember the terrible brand of idolatry which rests upon covetousness. It is a solemn thought that the most common of all sins is the most serious in God's sight. Yet there is nothing in the condemnation of this sin that justifies the theory of other-worldliness, or the neglect of the duties of common life. - T.C. Parallel Verses KJV: But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; WEB: But sexual immorality, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not even be mentioned among you, as becomes saints;