"Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of
covetousness; a man's life does not consist in
the abundance of his possessions." Luke 12:15
Covetousness is . . .
a very great and grievous sin;
a mother-sin;
a breeding sin;
a sin which has all sin in its womb;
a very vile and heinous sin;
the root of all evil.
Covetousness makes the soul earthly
—which should be celestial.
Covetousness is an evil which subjects
men to the basest and vilest evils.
Covetousness makes a man a fool! "You fool!
This very night your life will be demanded
from you. Then who will get what you have
prepared for yourself?" Luke 12:20
Covetousness robs a man of all true peace,
comfort, contentment and quiet.
Covetousness brings men into snares which
drown their souls in perdition.
Covetousness renders men unsatisfied under all
their outward enjoyments. Though a covetous
wretch has enough to sink him—yet he can never
have enough to satisfy him. First he wishes for a
bag full, and then a chest full, and then a room
full, and then a house full, etc.
The plague of unsatisfiedness—is the great
plague which covetous men are under. Certainly
you shall as soon fill a triangle with a circle, and
a chest with grace—as you shall be able to fill
and satisfy a covetous mind with money.
A covetous man is like a swine—which is good for
nothing while it lives. The horse is good to carry,
the ox is good to draw, the sheep is good for cloth,
the cow is good to give milk, and the dog is good
to guard the house—but the hog is good for nothing
while he lives! Just so, a covetous man is only
serviceable when he is dead. That scripture often
proves true, "the riches of a sinner are laid up
for the just." Job 27:17
No sin lays men under greater woes!
"People who want to get rich fall into temptation and
a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that
plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of
money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager
for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced
themselves with many griefs." 1 Timothy 6:9-10
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Thomas Brooks (1608 - 1680)
Much of what is known about Thomas Brooks has been ascertained from his writings. Born, likely to well-to-do parents, in 1608, Brooks entered Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1625, where he was preceded by such men as Thomas Hooker, John Cotton, and Thomas Shepard. He was licensed as a preacher of the Gospel by 1640. Before that date, he appears to have spent a number of years at sea, probably as a chaplain with the fleet.After the conclusion of the First English Civil War, Thomas Brooks became minister at Thomas Apostle's, London, and was sufficiently renowned to be chosen as preacher before the House of Commons on December 26, 1648. His sermon was afterwards published under the title, 'God's Delight in the Progress of the Upright', the text being Psalm 44:18: 'Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from Thy way'. Three or four years afterwards, he transferred to St. Margaret's, Fish-street Hill, London. In 1662, he fell victim to the notorious Act of Uniformity, but he appears to have remained in his parish and to have preached as opportunity arose. Treatises continued to flow from his pen.[3]
Thomas Brooks was a nonconformist preacher. Born into a Puritan family, he was sent to Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He soon became an advocate of the Congregational way and served as a chaplain in the Civil War. In 1648 he accepted the rectory of St. Margaret's, New Fish Street, London, but only after making his Congregational principles clear to the vestry.
On several occasions he preached before Parliament. He was ejected in 1660 and remained in London as a Nonconformist preacher. Government spies reported that he preached at Tower Wharf and in Moorfields. During the Great Plague and Great Fire he worked in London, and in 1672 was granted a license to preach in Lime Street. He wrote over a dozen books, most of which are devotional in character. He was buried in Bunhill Fields.