File 4: Hassall family, correspondence, volume 1, pp. 8096-8750, ca. 1825-ca. 1900

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do justice to the subject without touching upon them - We must how -ver enter 1st into the meaning of the text - & then make an application which may God of his infin ite mercy add his blessing -

Beware of Covetousness ie - Take be on your guard against it - avoid such as in you lies - to the utmost of your powers watch against & [indecipherable] this almost imperceptible & serious view which waxes stronger & stronger as other vices weaken - if a sin that can never be satisfied that renders men cruel oppressive - wicked beyond degree - Covetous

sinfully & immoderately desiring earthly enjoyment as honor wealth pleasure the cause of many abominations therefore forbidden of God in the most decis ive manner - in the 10 Commd when says "thou shall not Covet thy neighbours wife nor his manservant, nor his maidservant nor his ox nor his ass nor any thing that is his" It was doubtless forbidden in this [indecipherable] manner to prevent the future [indecipherable] connected with it - Look for instance at the account Joshua gives of Abrahams confession - "I have sinned (says he) against the Lord God of Israel & & thus have I done. When I

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saw among the spoils a goodly V Garment & 200 shekels of silver & a wedge of gold of 50 shekels weight coveted them & took & took them & behold are hid in the earth in the mid of my tent & the silver under it - This act of covetousness - led dishonesty - was the cause of the cho -sen of Israel falling under the dis pleasure of the Lord Almighty & of their cowardice & fall before their enemies together with death of the perpetrator his sons his daughters - his oxen & his ass & his sheep and even the very habitation in which it was [indecipherable] a tent - Such was the

progress & end of a Covetous man and should be a powerful warning to every son of Adam - Such is the seriousness or malignity of this crime that like the serpents deadly sting it enters at an almost imperceptible point - increases - accumulates - waxes stronger & stronger till destroyed life the sufferer dies - so does the venom of the covetous enter unseen utter strength in its progress & at last overwhelm in eternal misery & hopeless despair - well might Our Lord [indecipherable] the caution in our text & force the propriety of ever being upon our watch tower to guard

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against it - The [indecipherable] declares that he had not known unless the law had said thou shall not covet - while all the writers of old & new Tes combine to power the hatred & abhorrence of the [indecipherable] to this vice - The Royal Psalmist says The wicked boasteth of his hearts desire and blesseth the covetous whom the Lord abhorreth - The meaning of the word to desire to have more & more led a person possess whatever he may such a disposition is never satisfied for as soon as one object is gained the goes out after another. To show the absurdity of such conduct - Our Lord told them that a mans life consisteth

not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth ie his life dependeth not on the abundance - It is not superfluities that support mans life but necess ities - What is necessary God gives liberally what is superfluous he has not promised nor have we any right to expect them Neither can a mans life be preserved by the abundance of his possessions to prove this he spoke the following parable "The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully that is called good success in his farming concerns - And he thought within himself what shall I do because I have no room where to bestow my goods. He began to be puzzled in conse

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-quence of the increase of his goods though even so well acquired [indecipherable] continual vexation & embarrassment But "this will I do I will pull down barns & build greater & " he is full of concerning this life & too much occupied to think about eternity - And then says I have accomplished this plan & that object "I will say to my Soul - Soul has much goods laid up for many years take thine ease eat drink & be merry" - Having waded through this difficulty & attained possession of that prosperity & surmounted such obstacles I will be perfectly quiet & enjoy myself with the good

things of the world - Here is a true picture of what is in the scriptures for the worldly man - This was the creed of Atheists & Epicureans of that day and is not to be feared that it is too much the case in ours - There is man grasping all that he possibly can - looking forward to the securing of his possessions & to the gratification of his desires of pride idleness luxury the greatest enemies to the Gospel - He is blessed with fruitful showers & more fruitful crops - yet he sees not the [indecipherable] of his Gold - neither does he acknowledge the most high - In all his calculations he never prepares for

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for dissolution - Death dread monsters away with thee disturb not my peace is the language of his heart - while he is looking forward to long scenes of bliss & sweetly anticipating the delights of retirement ease & pleasure Hark - the dread mandate is [indecipherable] "Thou fool this night is thy soul required of thee" - Thou fool dost thou imagine a mans comforts & peace depend upon temporal things can these fading trifles satisfy the wishes of an [indecipherable] spirit can these make you an inhabitant of heaven? This night" you rise from your bed of contemp lation & sleep - just as you have finalised your necessary arrangements for the

gratification of your sensual appetites you must leave your possessions your riches - your prospects for another scene far different from that you have marked out - He had settled his places he was called into an eternal world - What a dreadful awakening of a soul long asleep in sin - Hurried into the presence of his offended Maker & his Judge - none of his worldly goods accompany him he has not laid up the smallest treasure in heaven On earth he was rich but how poor & miserable does he now appear not so much as a rag to cover his nakedness - He has no subterfuges no vain excuses to make he knows they will not avail with

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