Peril of Covetousness
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you are capable of exercising, and yet the mandate may go forth from
the Lord, and in a few hours a fire which no skill can quench, may
destroy the accumulations of your entire life, and lay them a mass
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of smoldering ruins. You may devote all your talent and energy to
laying up treasures on earth; but what will they advantage you when
your life closes or Jesus makes His appearance? Just as much as you
have been exalted here by worldly honors and riches to the neglect of
spiritual life, just so much lower will you sink in moral worth before
the tribunal of the great Judge. “What shall it profit a man, if he shall
gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”
The wrath of God will fall upon those who have served mammon
instead of their Creator. But those who live for God and heaven,
pointing out the way of life to others, will find that the path of the just
is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
And they will hear by and by the welcome invitation, “Well done, thou
good and faithful servant; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” The
joy of Christ was that of seeing souls saved in His glorious kingdom;
and for this joy He “endured the cross, despising the shame.” But soon
“He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied.” How
happy will those be, who, having shared in His work, are permitted to
share in His joy!—
The Review and Herald, June 23, 1885
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The Bewitching Power of Satan
It is the purpose of Satan to make the world very attractive. He
has a bewitching power which he exercises to allure the affections of
even the professed followers of Christ. There are many professedly
Christian men who will make any sacrifice in order to gain riches, and
the more successful they are in obtaining the object of their desires,
the less they care for the precious truth and its advancement in the
world. They lose their love for God, and act like men who are insane.
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The more they are prospered in material wealth, the less they invest in
the cause of God.
The works of those who have an insane love for riches, make it
evident that it is impossible to serve two masters, God and mammon.
They show to the world that money is their god. They yield their
homage to its power, and to all intents and purposes they serve the
world. The love of money becomes a ruling power, and for its sake