Chapter 42—The Peril of Covetousness
Many of the people of God are stupefied by the spirit of the world,
and are denying their faith by their works. They cultivate a love for
money, for houses and lands, until it absorbs the powers of mind and
being, and shuts out love for the Creator and for souls for whom Christ
died. The God of this world has blinded their eyes; their eternal inter-
ests are made secondary; and brain, bone, and muscle are taxed to the
utmost to increase their worldly possessions. And all this accumula-
tion of cares and burdens is borne in direct violation of the injunction
of Christ, who said, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth,
where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through
and steal.”
They forget that He said also, “Lay up for yourselves treasures
in heaven;” that in so doing they are working for their own interest.
The treasure laid up in heaven is safe; no thief can approach nor moth
corrupt it. But their treasure is upon the earth, and their affections are
upon their treasure.
Christ’s Victory
In the wilderness, Christ met the great leading temptations that
would assail man. There, singlehanded, He encountered the wily,
subtle foe, and overcame him. The first great temptation was upon
appetite; the second, presumption; the third, love of the world. The
thrones and kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, were offered
to Christ. Satan came with worldly honor, wealth, and the pleasures
of life, and presented them in the most attractive light to allure and
deceive. “All these things,” said he to Christ, “will I give Thee, if Thou
[210]
wilt fall down and worship me.” Yet Christ repelled the wily foe, and
came off victor.
Man will never be tried by temptations as powerful as those which
assailed Christ; yet Satan has better success in approaching him. “All
this money, this gain, this land, this power, these honors and riches,
will I give thee”—for what? The condition is seldom as plainly stated
180