Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven." Matt. 19:23.

When a dying man surrenders his material riches, rarely is the act prompted by generosity. Almost always the man is succumbing to the inevitable; especially if his riches were accum mulated through life-long endeavor. Passing out, such a man soon finds himself well and strong, and quite capable of enjoying his wealth were it but of a spiritual rather than of a material kind.

If now this man's interest centered in money-getting, he realizes that still his money bags are somehow a part of himself. Watching over them, he grieves at each unwise loss, and perhaps he is filled with impotent anger at the squanderings of his idle and careless relatives. Evidently such a man is very near the earth. For an indefinite period he is self-barred from the kingdom of heaven. Even if this man had devised large sums to various charities, he nevertheless is held to a comparatively low level until assured that his wishes are wisely carried out.

On the other hand, if during his earthly life the man had given generously to worthy ends, he then saw the outcome, and in posthumous life was at once able to enter into his reward. Such a sequel was in the mind of Jesus when he said to the young man of great possessions: "Go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasures in heaven."

If riches honorably acquired, but left intact to be distributed after the death of their possessor, often prove a weight in his posthumus life, what must be the heaviness of ill-gotten gain?

Certain pirates and buccaneers of the Spanish Main are yet standing guard over their buried treasure; and, as a result of centuries of vigil, they have acquired the power of turning away almost every seeker even when on the verge of discovery. If one could see the frenzy of demoniac rage with which the near approach of treasure-hunters fills these miserable creatures, he would realize what hellish conditions are. Not until a good angel causes some one to unearth the spoil of raping and murder, can these earth-bound beings approach anything like agreeable conditions.