The Thirty-Fourth Sermon, which is the second upon the Fifth Chapter - Ephesians 5:3-5
And so let us all say, "Almighty God, heavenly Father," etc.
The Thirty-fourth Sermon, which is the second upon the Fifth Chapter 3. And as for fornication, and all manner of uncleanness, or covetousness, let them not once be named among you, as becometh saints.
4. Neither ribaldry, nor foolish talk, nor jesting, which are not convenient things: but rather thanksgiving.
5. For this you know, that no whoremonger, or unclean person, or covetous body, which is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
Forasmuch as we see our life is subject to many miseries, and as soon as we have escaped one danger, another comes in the neck of it, we ought to take the better heed to ourselves. Then, if a man have a care of his life, he will bethink him how to fence himself both against cold and against heat, and against all other inconveniences. Again, he will take heed that no mischance happens to his house by making fire in it, and as he goes abroad, he is always thinking upon the adversities that are wont to befall men.
But we should begin at the other end: namely, that there are a hundred times more dangers within us than we see without us. For the devil has many wiles to wind us in, and a number of vices do make war against us. Therefore, it stands us on hand to watch, or else when we have overcome one vice, it will be easy for another to steal upon us and to take us unawares. For he that shall have abstained from open force shall be tempted to defraud his neighbor by covert policy. And he that despises the goods of this world shall have some other infirmity in him.
For some are given to whoredom, some to gluttony and superfluity, and others to gaming and play. To be short, besides that every one of us is disposed (naturally) to wickedness and sin, there is not a man who has not an infinite sort of enemies to fight against. For (as I said), we are not only inclined to some one evil by nature, but to so great a number that even they who are most virtuous shall find themselves surprised at all hands.
Therefore, it stands us so much the more on hand to mark the exhortations that are contained here. Saint Paul has told us of many vices already, and shown us the means to encounter them and to put them to flight. Now he adds whoredom on one side, covetousness on the other, and foolish talk that is full of vain babble. We would think it were enough for us to have been warned in one word to walk godlily.
But (as I have touched already), let us consider a little on which side the devil is wont to assault men. For when he has once laid his battery, if he cannot compass his purpose, he begins anew. And when he has given a skirmish on the right side, he comes again to the left, and one while before, and another while behind, and always he finds
some gap open into us. That is one thing which we have to mark upon the exhortations that are made here.
Now let us come to St. Paul's speaking of fornication and all uncleanness. Forasmuch as it is a vice that all men do too easily bear with in themselves, he warns us that it is not enough for every one of us to abstain from actual whoredom. We must also consider that God, in commanding us to be chaste and undefiled, means that we should be well-fenced against all the enticements whereby Satan might beguile us. There are then some kinds of whoredom or whorishness which are not made account of among men, but yet they shall not fail to be condemned before God.
For this cause, St. Paul thought it not enough to tell us that we must be chaste in respect of our bodies, but he adds that all uncleanness or filthiness ought to be far from us. Likewise, he matches covetousness with it. It is true that they are two far different vices, for a whoremonger will commonly be prodigal, and whereas he had been well and thrifty before, he will forget himself, so as he will waste away all. St. Paul's intent was not to make articles of difference between vice and vice, nor was it necessary. Therefore, it was enough for him to show how many sorts the devil might beguile us, if we do not keep good watch, shut the gate against him, prevent him, and discern the dangers wherein we are, to the end that whatever he practices, he may always find us so guarded under the fear of God that he may have no entrance into us.
Moreover, he adds afterward filthiness or uncomeliness. For when men take leave to be wanton, surely all ribaldry will have full scope.
For example, if wantonness and other foolish things are permitted, such as dancing and such other things, men will say at first that this may well be borne with, so long as there is nothing worse. But let
men once bear and suffer dancing, masking, mummeries, and such other like filth, and out of doubt, the devil will have a fling at them, and it cannot be stopped but that all will be marred. That is the cause why St. Paul, in forbidding whoredom, also adds all manner of ribaldry or dishonesty, and straightaway therewith foolish talk. For a body would take it to be no great harm if a man should jest and dally with a maid or a wife and prattle about many things. But (as I said) they are all of them allurements of Satan. If it is allowed, it cannot be but that the maid must be made a harlot, though she were the most honest woman in the world. That, in effect, is the thing which we have to bear in mind.
And he thinks it not enough to say that God's children must abstain from covetousness and whoredom, and from the things that come near to them. But, to the intent that we may abhor them all the more, he says, "Let them not be once named among you." It is not without cause that he says so, for (as I have said already, and as shall be declared more fully hereafter) as touching covetousness, it will be thought to be a virtue when a man works and scrapes together on all sides. "Oh, that is a good thrifty fellow," people say, clapping their hands at him and soothing him. Although they count him but a thief, a robber, and a cutthroat, yet if he has goods, everybody will think he does well to maintain himself with those in credit. Look how men are flattered in their covetousness. And again, concerning whoredom, we see that if God's word did not cry out upon that vice continually without ceasing, it would be set at liberty, and every man would dispense with himself so that there would be no more honesty among men.
St. Paul, therefore, perceiving it to be so hard a thing to keep men from these vices, says that not even the very names of them ought to be allowed to have their course, but that they ought to be driven from
among us. Indeed, if there is any plague in a town, every man will keep himself close in his house and be afraid to go abroad where any peril is. To be short, men will be wary enough to keep themselves close, that the disease may not catch them. Yes, and a general commandment also shall be given to keep the streets clean, that the air is not infected by them, and to take away the things that may feed or increase the mischief. But in the meantime, these deadly plagues assail us, and yet, notwithstanding, every man holds on his way still, and it should seem that we would be poisoned with them.
However, this warning should not be unprofitable for us, where St.
Paul forbids us to name whoredom. True, this word must still be in use, for St. Paul does not stand upon that ceremony. And indeed,
God says expressly in His law, "Thou shalt not commit adultery"
(Exodus 20:14). He thinks it not enough to forbid whoredom, but to the intent that we should abhor it the more, He shows us what an enormity the breaking of faith between man and wife is. God then names whoredom in that text, and so does St. Paul name it here also, and that is not to contradict one another but to make us understand that we should not talk of it in jest or sport, as men are wont to do, for that is but a further inbrewing of men with that vice so as they might not dislike it anymore.
We see that when there is talking of all ungodliness, and leave is given to use loose speech, every man will give himself to it so that custom will go for law, and men will take whoredom to be lawful.
Finally, we have to mark that St. Paul's intent was not to speak of the bare names of whoredom and covetousness. For if a man says to a whoremonger, "What? You play the whoremaster," he will deny it and say, "I did but dally and play the wanton." As much will these wicked ones do who give themselves over to it. But there is neither whoremonger nor harlot who abhors not the name of whoredom.
And why? Because they see it is a filthy thing, and that it is as much as if a man should set them upon a scaffold to be a shame to all the world. St. Paul, therefore, spoke not of the bare name of whoredom.
The same is to be said of the name of covetousness. "What talk you of covetousness? It sounds ill-favoredly, and no man will acknowledge that he is tainted with covetousness."
They will rather make such excuses as these: "I have a charge of wife and children, and why is it not lawful for me to seek sustenance for them?" Again, "Should I not have a care for hereafter, that I may set them in some good state?" Covetousness has such a store of excuses that it is colored and varnished with them, and the term has such visors put upon it that it is taken well-nigh for a virtue. But Saint
Paul meant not that men should only forbear the bare names which might make the vices themselves abhorred and hated; rather, he would that whoredom should be named as a villainous thing and that men should understand that a whorehunter cuts himself off from the body of our Lord Jesus Christ, banishes himself from the kingdom of heaven, and is cursed before God and His angels.
Those are things that must be known. And again, that a covetous person is an idolater who forsakes God, that he is as a damned soul and a confounder of all right and equity, that he is possessed by the devil and a tormentor to himself. Those are the things which it behooves us to know, and of which we cannot speak too much. But we know the manner of those who are desirous to take all liberty: all their delight is to sharpen their wits to tell merry tales, saying, "I remember such a thing and such a thing that was done in my time."
Yes, and they will not hesitate to report what they have heard from their grandfathers, before they themselves were born into the world.
And if there was any ribaldry or unthriftiness in their doings, that they will lay open. And to what end? To the end that everybody
should be desirous to inquire of such filthiness. Thus are snares laid to catch us whenever the devil has won so much at our hands.
You see, then, that the things which Saint Paul meant are the pleasant tales that are told to make men merry, with the intent not only that everyone should delight in whoredom and be no more ashamed to give themselves over to all lewdness, but also take it as a lawful thing, so that there may be common talk of it, and it may be made a table talk at all feasts, and an ordinary conversation in the streets and everywhere else. Yes, and we see that such as have any journey or travel—even the poor people—cannot solace themselves in their labor without offending God, by intermingling always some foolish tales. And to what end do they serve? Even to harden men's hearts, so they may think to themselves, "Everyone is at the same point; no wonder though lechery is made so heinous a matter: behold how such a man behaves himself, and such a one also." And when vices can once be made common, then to their thinking, the goal is won on their side.
Now, for that cause, Saint Paul says that they must not once be named among us. And likewise, he says this of covetousness. For everyone takes it for a virtue if he can pillage and poll all his life long and never cease raking in other men's goods by fraud and extortion.
Yes, and men delight in following them and say, "Oh, such a man of my acquaintance knew well how to use such a practice and such a trick." True, it is that covetous people will not speak so of those whom they dislike. For they will say, "That villain? He does nothing but catch and scrape on all sides; there is no trust in him; he is cruel and churlish." And to be short, each of them spitefully rails against his fellow. And so, you see how the covetous sort rail one upon another.
But when a covetous person intends to confirm himself in his naughtiness and to harden himself in it and to cover his faults, he will say, "It is fitting that a man should be foresighted; I knew such a one and such a one who advanced by that means. He was a poor fellow and had nothing, but he behaved himself in such a way that he hoarded up well. And how? Marry, he had good policy, and if any man fell into his hands, he left his hair behind him, if not his skin and all." Thus do covetous folks shroud themselves in spoiling men under the pretense of good thriftiness, as they term it, that is to say, under pillaging and polling, and such other like things.
Therefore, we see how needful this exhortation of St. Paul's is, where he says that all vices must be shut out of the doors, and that if any man speaks of them, we must abhor him, and not make a jesting matter of them among us, for fear that we be tainted with them.
And we must also mark what he adds about all wantonness and foolish (or fond) talk. For (as I said before), it is certain that whoredom must needs grow lawful among men when they suffer such provocations and occasions of naughtiness; for it is all one as if a man would willfully give over himself to Satan. Therefore, let us take heed to ourselves, drive the enemy far from us, and be sure that where such lightness and lewdness have full scope, by and by there must needs be a brothel or stews set up—not in some one corner of a city or town, but over all, so that no place shall be clean, as experience shows too much. But yet, men would not be willing to see it so. Every man complains nowadays that there is no more chastity in the world. And is it any wonder?
For there was a time when there was some honesty and soberness to be seen in married women; but now they count it a virtue to be more than mannish, to be brazen-faced and utterly shameless. And why?
Will men say that a woman is chaste if she is not well tried? Oh, no, no. "Come who will," says she; "if these roisters fall to dallying with me, I can tell well enough how to send them away. They shall soon find out to whom they speak, for I know how to answer them." Thus, will a harlot play the chaste wife, as though she were a mirror of all honesty; and yet, in the meantime, she will stand at the barriers like a man of arms, against all comers who will hold talk with her of lewdness and ribaldry.
Now, therefore, let us mark well what Saint Paul tells us here. For women have been suffered a long time to be so immeasurably bold; and besides wanton talk, there are also very garish attires, so that it is very hard to discern whether they be men or women. They must have new deckings and trimmings every day, and every day some new disguised fashion or another. They make themselves like great cartwheels, like peacocks' tails, so that a man cannot pass within three feet of them but he shall feel as if a windmill sail is flapping by him. Again, they have their ribaldry songs mingled with it.
Now, what chastity can there be where it is so driven away and banished by force? On the contrary, the trumpets sound on all sides that everybody should give themselves over to superfluity and garishness, seeking nothing else but to plunge themselves over head and ears in it. So then, let us mark well that when there is such disorder both in gestures, in countenances, in talk, in dancing, and in all like foolishness, vanities, and looseness, it is all one as if man should cut trenches from a river to convey the water to him. For whereas a river runs its ordinary course, if a man cuts the stream off and draws it to the other side, must it not needs have its course that way? Then, if men fall to corrupting the world after that fashion (as indeed it is one of the cunning tricks that the devil has used for a
long time), must not all needs go to havoc and be utterly past recovery? Yes. Therefore, let us mark well what is said to us here.
For when we hear these jesters say, "What, in God's name! Men shall shortly be at the point where they may not laugh and be merry; dancing is forbidden; it shall not be lawful for folks to talk together; a good fellow may not be so bold as to come in company with a man's daughter to talk to her of love matters; if a man does but speak to a wife, though it be but in sport, by and by it shall be turned to a crime; and in the end, what will come of it when there shall be such sternness and severity in the world?" When men speak in that manner, it is all one as if they proclaimed themselves to be the devil's proctors and advocates, to infect and poison the whole world, that there might be nothing but looseness, and that whoredom and ribaldry might reign in such liberty that men might no longer think it to be sin.
That, in effect, is the thing that we have to bear in mind.
Herewithal, Saint Paul says that it becomes well the saints, and that is to show that there ought to be no disputing nor replying, but that vices should be condemned sharply. For whereunto does
God call us? To that point must we come. Truly, if any man says, "Men are frail, and alas if they might not be so bold as to cast their eye aside to give a pleasant look, but they should be condemned for it," I say, if man's frailty might be construed so, truly that vice would either be utterly lessened or else made half excusable.
But let us come to our own state. God knows our infirmities, but He will not have us to wallow in them, for He has vouchsafed to dedicate us to His service. Now, let us see if we can make these loose behaviors and all these follies, which are but Satan's allurements (as I said before), to agree with the word "holiness." What is meant by
holiness? It is as much to say that we must be chosen out to offer ourselves unto God, that He may enjoy us and wield us, so that we may be wholly His, and (to be short) be no more tainted and sullied with the filthiness of the world.
If holiness means all this, and that it must be in us or else we shall not be God's children, it is not for us to plead any more in defense of ribaldry, that it might be taken but for a light fault. Saint Paul therefore brings us back to the honor that God does us, as if he should say that if it seems too strange and hard unto us to refrain from the vanities wherein the world delights so much, and wherein men think even their life to consist—insomuch that the unbelievers think not themselves to be alive unless they may delight themselves with foolish and wanton dalliance, but rather that they do but linger and pine away—when we are provoked to the like things, we must consider what honor God has done us in vouchsafing to dedicate us to His obedience.
For what are we by nature? What is there in us? Even from our mothers' womb, we bring nothing but disorder; we are cursed, we are steeped in sin, and, to be short, from top to toe, there is not any part in us that is not given to evil. All our members are instruments of sin; neither eyes, nor ears, nor mouth, feet, or hands are exempted.
Forasmuch then as we are full of all uncleanness through sin, and yet, for all that, God has now plucked us back from it, is it not reason that we should be dedicated unto Him, seeing He calls us to holiness? And ought not this honorable title to restrain us from taking such unbridled liberty as every one of us could find in our hearts to take in following our own lusts?
To be short, Saint Paul meant to show us here how we may fight against our wicked lusts. For if we follow our own nature, surely
though some man be not inclined to lechery, yet he shall have other vices; yea, we have all vices in us, but that we are restrained by God's bridle, and yet does every man beguile himself on his own behalf.
Now, what is to be done? We must not spare ourselves, but rather fight against ourselves. Let us not be dismayed though the Devil be so subtle, and we so tender and so easy to be soon shaken down; but let us consider how God calls us to the contrary. And what is that? To be holy in Him.
The thing therefore that Saint Paul meant to say in the first place is that he arms us by setting before us the state whereunto God has vouchsafed to call us through His goodness, to the intent that every man should gather strength, and not give any way to Satan; but that although we be sore laid at, yet we should not yield him the victory, because God has chosen us unto all cleanness. And after he has drawn us so by gentleness, he does also set down a horrible menace, and which ought to make the hairs stand up upon our heads; and thereby we see how God endeavors to win us to Him by all means.
When he says, "You be saints or holy ones," therein God uses sweetness and gentleness, as if He should say, "My children, bethink yourselves, for I have not created you to live at a venture in this world, but I have therewithal adopted you, to the intent to call you to the heavenly heritage. Now then, seeing I have redeemed you with the blood of my Son, and given you my Spirit to dwell in you, to the end you should be my temples, and I be worshipped there, will you now go and give yourselves to all lewdness again? And instead of being my temples, become sties for swine, and suffer your affections to be as dirt and dung to defile you withal, and fall to wallowing again in the mire, after you have been washed and made clean? If you will be my children, hold you in the plight that I have set you."
After this manner does God proceed with us, to draw us to Him, as though He did (as you would say) half flatter us. And on the other side, because He sees us cold, and that we abuse His patience, and are not touched to the quick with His grace when He utters it, but follow still our own lusts, He threatens us like a father who, perceiving his child to be unruly, and not of so free disposition as to be won at the first, says thus unto him: "Wot you what? Though I have cockered thee and suffered much at thy hand, yet must thou behave thyself otherwise, and play the good child towards me, or else go to the devil. If thou wilt needs continue still in thy naughtiness, get thee to the gallows; for I am not a father that will suffer myself to be so mocked without redressing it." After this manner will a father endeavor to keep his child in his good favor if it be possible; but if he sees that it avails not, he falls to threatening and chiding him, and all to break that stubborn heart of his, if he can.
Even so does God deal with us, and therein we see what care He has of our welfare, as I said before.
Saint Paul, therefore, after he has told us that we are saints, adds that no covetous person, no lecher, nor any unclean man shall enter into the kingdom of God, nor have any part of the heritage that is purchased for us. This threatening, as I said, ought to scare us all, or else we are too blockish. What a thing it is that we should be bereft of God's kingdom!
By the way, we must mark well the words that he uses, for he says that we shall not possess the kingdom of God and of Christ. Not that they are two diverse kingdoms, but to express better how that inheritance belongs unto us—not by birthright, nor yet by our own purchase, but by free gift. The kingdom of God, then, is the heavenly life and our whole happiness. For out of God, what can we have but
all unhappiness? Therefore, if we are banished out of God's kingdom, we must needs be plunged in all misery.
But it is expressly said to be the kingdom of Christ. And why?
Because it was purchased for us by His blood and also because we are now restored again to the state from which we had fallen in our father Adam. Again, we know that the inheritance is given to us in our Lord Jesus Christ, to the intent that we, being His members and adopted by God through Him, should also be partakers of that which is peculiar to Him.
In the first to the Hebrews, He is called the heir of all things. And is that to shut us out utterly? No, but because we cannot otherwise be taken for God's children except by being incorporated into the body of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom all belongs. Now then, if we should be rejected by God, if we should be cut off from all the benefits which have been purchased for us by our Lord Jesus Christ, and that this should come to pass through our own unthankfulness— alas, should we not be too, too blockish?
For the better expressing thereof, Saint Paul uses the word "heritage" or "inheritance." As if he should say, "If you were heirs of God's kingdom from your mothers' womb, consider how great a grief it ought to be to you to be set beside it. But now understand that the kingdom of God is communicated to you by our Lord Jesus Christ, because He has purchased it for you and made you His brethren and fellows. And understand, besides, that it is because God has adopted you freely. Yet you have it not by birthright, nor can you say that it is your own otherwise than by free gift."
Now then, seeing it is a state of inheritance, will you be so lewd as to lose such a benefit when it is offered to you? Shall God invite you so graciously to His glory, shall He offer you all the joy and happiness of
the kingdom of heaven, shall He match you with His own Son, and by that means make you possess all the good things that you can wish, and shall all this be worth nothing to you, but that you will need to hold scorn of it and refuse it? How can Satan so far overmaster you?
We see then how Saint Paul meant to awaken us here earnestly by all means, to the intent that if we cannot be drawn wholly unto God by love, at leastwise yet threatening may do us some good, and move us to yield, that our desires may by that means be bridled, and our lusts not overflow so outrageously. But, seeing that God shows Himself our Judge, we may at leastwise refrain from resisting Him, for that is all one as if we would openly run rushing against Him. Seeing that He, with His own holy mouth, has avowed us to be banished from the kingdom of heaven, if we nonetheless make no account of the things that He tells us, what a dealing is that?
Furthermore, whereas Saint Paul says that neither whoremongers, nor covetous men, nor unclean persons shall enter into the kingdom of God, he does not mean that all who have offended and done amiss are rejected by God. For who can say that he is clear of all the vices that are rehearsed here? Rather, he means those whoremongers, covetous persons, and loose livers who take pleasure in their lusts, are hardened in them, and are so settled in their filthiness that there is no longer any fear of God in them to hold them back.
We hear what he says to the Corinthians: "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). And such were some of you; but ye
are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God (1 Corinthians 6:11).
He shows that the faithful also had been stained with similar corruptions. "But ye are washed and made clean," says he, "ye are sanctified by God's Holy Spirit and through the blood of our Lord
Jesus Christ." As if he should say, "By nature, you were miserable and given to all lewdness. The willingness and desire you have now to serve God did not come of yourselves, but by God's drawing you unto Him, that whereas you were once like wild beasts, He has brought you unto His obedience. Whereas you were foul and unclean, He has washed you with the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And whereas you were unholy, He has made you holy by His Holy Spirit. Therefore, do not fall to wallowing and plunging yourselves again into uncleanness."
Thus, the true meaning of those words is, in effect, that the wicked and such as lead a lawless life—those who do not fight against their lusts but delight in wickedness—shall never come into the kingdom of God. For, first of all, if the faithful are not renewed at their birth by the Spirit of God, they are stained with the sins to which humankind is subject; indeed, we see some who are wholly given unto them.
And although our Lord has worked in us by His Holy Spirit, it does not therefore follow that we are so well reformed on the first day that there is no more evil in us. For we must fight a continual battle through repentance all our life long. And repentance would take no place if we did not feel sin dwelling still within us. Therefore, it suffices that sin does not reign in us, as Saint Paul exhorts us in Romans 6: "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof" (Romans 6:12).
There, Saint Paul tells those to whom he speaks that if they look upon their former life, they must needs be ashamed because they were so strayed away that they had forgotten God and all virtue and honesty. "You cannot," says he, "remember what you were before you were converted to the belief of the Gospel, but you must needs cast down your eyes with great shame." And yet, notwithstanding, he tells them that sin must not now reign in our mortal bodies, even though it still dwells there.
Indeed, it were to be wished that there were no sin dwelling in us and that we were all like the angels of heaven. But Saint Paul, knowing well that we cannot attain to that so long as we dwell in this world and until we have put off our corruption and been dispatched of this transitory life, wills us yet, at least, that sin should not reign in us. So then, although we are stained with many vices, let us fight against them so that they may not become heinous crimes, as though we rebelled against God, but continue only as infirmities. Let us beseech
God to forgive us them completely, acknowledging that we need to obtain mercy daily, accordingly, as it is not without cause that He teaches us to ask forgiveness for our sins.
And so you see how that saying is to be understood.
Now furthermore, Saint Paul adds (as we have seen already to the Galatians) that covetous people are idolaters (Galatians 5:20). Truly, this matter is well worthy to be discoursed on at greater length, and there is nothing spoken of it that cannot be spoken again. However, for as much as in handling the Epistle to the Galatians, I declared there why Saint Paul calls covetous people idolaters, it shall suffice to touch upon the essence of the matter in few words.
As for other vices, they do indeed cause us to forget God. What are the inordinate lusts of our flesh, each one of them, but idols? For
every person is carried away after the things they desire, setting all their heart and mind upon them, and forgetting God. Therefore, it may well be said that all wicked lusts are idols that impeach the majesty of God, provoke us to strive against Him, and even to shake off His yoke and give ourselves over to Satan.
Nevertheless, covetousness is justly called idolatry because it is certain that when a person gives themselves over to it, they set their whole happiness therein. A covetous person is not like a glutton, who feels some remorse and shame for their wrongdoing, nor like a drunkard, a whoremonger, or a blasphemer. For there is still some sense of shame in them. Why? Because they cannot so blind others that people will not speak ill of them for it. Even if the whole world applauded them and knew nothing of their wickedness, yet they themselves would still be forced to feel some guilt.
You see then that all such as offend God in any other way will still be held in check by some fear and have some remnant of discretion left in them to say, "I do amiss." And however much they soothe themselves, fall asleep, or even harden themselves utterly, they shall still feel some pricking within. But the covetous person rejoices in their doings so much that they do not think themselves at fault, neither before God nor man. What is worse, they glory in their wickedness. For when they have fleeced one, robbed another, deceived one, and snared or trapped another, then, when they tally up their account, they say, "Blessed be God that has prospered me so well." You will hear the greatest con artists in the world say,
"Thanked be God, I have made a good hand today; I have prospered this month; I have done well this year." And yet, if they search their own hearts thoroughly, they will find that all was but theft, extortion, craft, and deceit. However, the devil has so blinded them that they have no more discretion or conscience to say, "This is evil done."
Because covetous people are at that point, where they have no more fear of God to restrain them, they are termed idolaters. But this is not all the mischief; there is yet a worse point, which is that they set all their happiness in their riches and so forget themselves, thinking that no harm can happen to them, being puffed up with such pride that they thrust God a hundred leagues away, as the proverb says.
Therefore, it is not for nothing that Saint Paul exhorts the rich men of this world "not to trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God"
(1 Timothy 6:17). He says this purposely because they have such great confidence in their riches that they do not fear God, but rather utterly forget Him. You see then that covetous people abuse their riches by setting their whole heart upon them, which is forbidden in Psalm 62:10: "If riches increase, set not your heart upon them." They revel in them so much that, to their own thinking, they already have their paradise here. Therefore, this cursed disposition and insatiable lust of covetousness, which makes all men both drunk and blind, is justly named idolatry and is likewise the root of all evil. Because the covetous person always seeks their own gain, whether it be by hook or by crook, by murder or by treason, by perjury or by poisoning, or by any other means whatsoever, it is all the same to them, so long as they may achieve their desire.
From this springs so much trouble and contention and so much bloodshed throughout the world that some are poisoned, and others have their throats cut; there is no other cause but this insatiable greed of covetousness. True, ambition, and whoredom, and such other like vices bring about many foul consequences; yet that does not excuse the covetous from being guilty of the same. So then, let us mark well that when Saint Paul speaks of covetousness, he justly says that it so subdues us to Satan that it makes us forget God. It makes us so brutish that we no longer fear God nor have any remorse of