The Rich Man's Charge

1 Timothy 6:17-19. Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate. Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

The wise man tells us that a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver (Proverbs 25:11). And our Lord in the prophet tells us that he had the tongue of the learned, to speak a word in season (Isaiah 50:4). Paul at Athens disproved the superstition of that learned city out of the inscription of their own altar, and the testimony of their own poet (Acts 17:23, 28). And before Felix, a corrupt and intemperate judge, he preached of righteousness and temperance (Acts 24:25). In solemn and public meetings, the most needful doctrines to be pressed are those which are most suitable to the audience. When Timothy is to preach before rich men, the Apostle here furnishes him with the materials of his sermon, to warn them against the sins incident to that condition, and of the duties incumbent upon it. And because hard duties are both to be urged with cogent arguments, and sweetened with special comforts, here are motives of both kinds used, that by the necessity and the utility, they may be persuaded to the duty. So that my text is a very fit present for an assembly of rich citizens, a present of gold and silver, apples of gold in tables of silver, a present of treasures, stable and abiding treasures, a good foundation, an eternal life, and all to be had not in this present now, but in that living God, who is yesterday and today the same, and forever, and who never fails or forsakes those that trust in him.

The Apostle having before showed the great mischief of covetousness — that godly contentment is true gain; that resolutions to be rich do cast men upon desperate and frequent temptations; that worldly love is a seminary of unbelief, apostasy, and all mischief — and having warned Timothy in his own conversation to avoid such dangerous lusts, does further direct him in his ministerial function to lay the same charge upon worldly rich men, in the words which I have read to you.

Wherein we have: First, Timothy's duty — to charge. Secondly, the subject of that charge, rich men. Thirdly, the limitation of that subject — rich men in this world. Fourthly, the particulars and materials of the charge, set down negatively and affirmatively, and both twofold.

The negative: not to be high-minded, not to trust or hope in riches; with a reason which reaches to both, because of the uncertainty of them.

The affirmative: 1. To trust in God, with a double reason for that — his life, he is the living God; his bounty, he gives, gives richly, gives all things, and with the things gives a heart to enjoy them.

2. To imitate God in this divine work of bounty and liberality, expressed:

First, by the matter of it — to do good.

Secondly, by the manner of doing it, namely: 1. To do it copiously, to be rich in good works. 2. To do it cheerfully, readily, easily, with an aptitude and propension to it. 3. To do it diffusively, extensively to community, or to do it modestly, humanely, lovingly, gently, without moroseness or exprobration; that others may be partakers of our good things with us.

And this duty is pressed by a very elegant reason, in a way of anticipation, and as a prolepsis or prevention of what might be objected. If I be so diffusive and communicative to others, I shall leave nothing for myself, or those of my own household; this the Apostle prevents, telling us:

First, that thus to lay out is to lay up, and that as in a treasure. It is like scattering of seed, in order to an increase and harvest.

Secondly, that thus to lay out upon others is to lay up for themselves.

Thirdly, that hereby the uncertainty and instability of riches is corrected and fixed — the unstable turned into the stable.

Fourthly, whereas worldly riches are only for the present time, they will not descend after a man when he dies; being put into good works, they are returnable into another country — a man's works will follow him, he shall find them again after many days (Revelation 14:13; Ecclesiastes 11:1). And whereas they, being of a muddy and slimy original, are slippery and cannot be held — either we shall go from them, or they from us, they have wings and will fly away (Proverbs 23:5) — that which is thus laid up by them may be held, that they may lay hold.

Fifthly, whereas a man's riches cannot lengthen his life one night beyond the period which God has fixed, being thus laid out, and laid up, to comfort the lives of others, they are graciously by God rewarded with eternal life (Luke 12:20). A house thus founded shall continue forever.

1. Timothy's duty: charge those that are rich. He does not say flatter them, nor please them, nor humor them, nor fawn upon them, or crouch to them. Indeed, he does not say what sometimes he uses to do himself — beseech them, entreat them, persuade them — but he gives Timothy the same power toward them as he used toward him, Verse 13. As in 1 Timothy 4:11: these things command and teach. It is true, the ministers of Christ are the servants of his church. The Levites and priests were so — they served the Lord, and his people Israel (2 Chronicles 35:3). The Apostles themselves were so: our selves your servants for Jesus' sake (2 Corinthians 4:5). Indeed, the Lord of all, whom the angels worship, took upon him the form of a servant (Philippians 2:7), came not to be ministered to, but to minister (Matthew 20:28). And he who was the Apostle, the High Priest, the great, the chief Shepherd, is pleased to be called by one of the lowest appellations — a deacon, a minister of the circumcision (Romans 13:8).

Servants then we are, and accordingly must in humility, in meekness, in condescension, stoop to men of the lowest degree; the very angels of heaven do so — they are ministering spirits (Hebrews 1:14).

But you must consider we are servants to your souls, not to your wills, much less to your lusts: so servants to you, as that we must give account of our service to a greater Lord, who gives us authority and power, as well as ministry and service (Titus 2:15). And therefore in the delivery of his message, we may not so be the servants of men, as to captivate the truth of God, and make his Spirit bend and comply with their lusts (1 Corinthians 7:23; Galatians 1:10).

There is a majesty and power in the Word of Christ, when set on with his Spirit, who spoke as one having authority (Matthew 7:29), and regarded not the persons of men; which no power, wealth, or greatness, can be a fortification against. It is as a two-edged sword, sharp in the hearts of Christ's enemies, able to break rocks, to tear cedars, to pull down strongholds, to smite the heart, to stop the mouth, to humble an Ahab, to shake a Felix, to awe a Herod. It is the arm of the Lord, which can sling a stone into the conscience of the stoutest sinner, and make it sink like Goliath to the ground. It can so shake a man with conviction of guilt and prepossession of wrath, that he shall go in sackcloth and ashes, weeping and mourning, roaring and rending himself, till his soul draws near to the grave, and his life to the destroyers.

And there is an authority in the office, which dispenses this power of God; being the ambassadors of Christ, there is a liberty and boldness belonging to our charge. So that although we must manage the same decently and prudently with due respect to men's stations and degrees, showing all meekness to all men; yet we must do it, first, impartially without respect of persons; secondly, zealously against the daring presumptions of the greatest sinners. Say to the king and to the queen, humble yourselves (Jeremiah 13:18). I have made you a defended city, and an iron pillar, and brazen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land (Jeremiah 1:18). A minister of Christ, though he must be meek and lowly, gentle, and patient, of a dove-like innocency, and of a winning compliance; yet he must not be a low-spirited man, to fear the faces or the frowns of men. He must magnify his office, as Paul did, and dare to be as bold for Christ, as the proudest sinners can be against him. The file is as impartial to silver and gold, as it is to brass and iron. The honey though it be sweet, yet it cleanses; oil though soft and smooth, yet fetches out the poison which lies in the stomach. Ministers must be bold to speak the gospel with much contention (1 Thessalonians 2:2), to cause the truth of Christ to enter into a combat with the lusts of men, to deliver it in the spirit and power of Elijah, to separate the precious from the vile. Not to please men, except in case when they may be edified and profited — then we may please them (1 Corinthians 10) — not to please them by strengthening their hands in wickedness, but to please God that tries the heart. They must speak nothing but as the word and oracles of God (1 Peter 4:11). And when they do so, the richest and greatest among men owe as much reverence, fear, trembling, and obedience to the word, as the meanest. Indeed, many times as a cannon bullet makes more battery upon a stately pile of building, than upon a wall of mud, and a tempest does more easily break an oak or cedar, than a low shrub; so the majesty of the word delights to show itself more in taming the pride of an Ahab, or a Pharaoh, or a Doeg, than of other mean and inferior persons.

Besides, great men stand so much the more in need of plain-dealing from ministers, by how much the less they meet with it from other men. Some flatter them, others fear them, some are bewitched with their favors, and others are frightened by their frowns; but the word of the Lord is not bound, the Spirit of the Lord is not constrained. His ministers are, or should be, full of judgment, power and might, to declare their transgressions to the heads of the house of Jacob, and to the princes of the house of Israel (Micah 3:8-9).

Besides, they are in more danger; the richest land is more subject to be overgrown with weeds and thistles; great men are apt to be hardened, ensnared, tempted to more pride and stubbornness. And as they are under greater danger, so they are under a greater trust, and are responsible to their Lord for more talents; their conversion is of a more general influence and concern, than that of mean and private persons. Their meekness and professed subjection to the gospel of Christ does give much glory and abundant thanksgiving to God; and therefore nowhere is the charge more seasonable: Charge those that are rich in this world. They say the crowing of a cock will cause the trembling of a lion: What is a bee to a bear, or a mouse to an elephant? Yet if a bee get his sting into the nose of a bear, or a mouse creep into the trunk of an elephant; how do so little creatures upon that advantage, torment the greatest? Now the richest men have a tender part, into which a sting will enter. The conscience is as sensible in a prince, as in a beggar; and therefore the one as well as the other equally exposed to the charge of God. And therefore the Apostle as he does in humility beseech and exhort, so he does in authority give commandments by the Lord Jesus to the church (1 Thessalonians 4:1-2, 11). And four times in one chapter, he speaks in that language of authority (2 Thessalonians 3:4, 6, 10, 12). A physician sometimes gives a cordial to a poor man, and a vomit to a prince; he tempers his physic not to the dignity of the person, but to the quality of the disease: and so must the ministers of the gospel. Eadem omnibus debetur charitas, non eadem omnibus adhibenda medicina; aliis blanda est, aliis severa, nulli inimica.

Let us now consider the subject of this charge: Charge those that are rich in this world. He does not forbid men to be rich, as if Christian perfection consisted in voluntary poverty, as some would persuade us. When Christ pronounces a woe to those that are rich, he shows us whom he means — even such as receive all their consolation in this world, and are wholly forgetful of another (Luke 6:24). When he said to the young man, If you will be perfect, sell what you have and give to the poor (Matthew 19:21), he speaks not of evangelical counsels, or a state of perfection and supererogation beyond the fulfilling of the law. But he speaks [in non-Latin alphabet] by way of trial, and to convince him of that worldly love which obstructed his salvation. He spoke to convince him of his self-deceit in conceiving he had done all that the law required, and of his unsoundness and insincerity of heart. His heart could not forgo all when Christ required it, to be his disciple (Luke 14:26). It could not suffer the loss of all things, and count all dung for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ (Philippians 3:8). It could not, with Abraham, leave his country and kindred and father's house, to follow the command of God (Genesis 12:1-4). Nor could it, with Peter and the other disciples, leave nets and boats, and fathers, and all to follow Christ (Matthew 19:27). Nor could it, with Barnabas, sell all and lay down all at his feet (Acts 4:36-37). And so Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Hilary, Augustine, and others understand that answer of Christ.

He does not then forbid to be rich: riches are the good gifts of God (Proverbs 10:22). The Lord had in his church, as well a rich Abraham, Job, David, Solomon, as a poor Lazarus. Indeed, in those times of danger and persecution, the Spirit of the Lord, which blows where it will, did find out a Joseph of Arimathea, a Sergius Paulus, a Pudens — who was a man of a senatorial order, as Baronius tells us, married to Claudia, a lady of this island, of which marriage we read in Martial's Epigrams. Indeed, we read of saints in the family of Narcissus, who was that vast rich man, worth ten millions of pounds in the days of Claudius the Emperor. For of him do Calvin, Peter Martyr, Paraeus, Grotius, and other learned men understand that place (Romans 16:11), though Baronius thinks that he was dead when that epistle was written. We find mention likewise of saints that were of Caesar's household (Philippians 4:22). If any place in the world were like hell, certainly Nero's court was the place, yet even there we meet with some that belonged to heaven. Rich then he forbids them not to be.

Neither does he forbid the use of such lawful means, by which, through God's blessing upon them, they may be rich. We must maintain honest trades for necessary uses (Titus 3:14). We must be industrious in them, that we have lack of nothing (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12). It is true, in every estate, as well of want as plenty, we must be content (Philippians 4:11), for there is a rich discontent as well as a poor. We may not will, resolve, or conclude upon it — that whatever comes of it, by any means by which it may be effected, we will be rich (1 Timothy 6:9). We may say so of grace and glory: whatever pains or danger it costs me, I will venture all for grace; but not so for riches. Riches are not absolutely and per se good, and therefore not simply to be desired. We may not seek great things for ourselves; they who have most need of them may not greatly multiply them to themselves (Deuteronomy 17:17). Cyrus esteemed himself more rich in the hearts and love of his people than in his exchequer, as he told Croesus. We may be more rich in a narrow estate, with God's blessing, than many wicked men are in the midst of their abundance (Psalms 37:16). As a man may be rich in bonds, who has but little money in hand, so may a good man be rich in promises, who is but narrow in possessions. He forbids treasures of unrighteousness (Micah 6:10; Habakkuk 2:6, 9; Jeremiah 22:13). He forbids the misplacing of treasures, making our hearts the repositories of them (Psalms 62:12). But when God is pleased, without the concurrence of our sinful actions and affections, to give in abundance, we may with a good conscience enjoy it, so long as it does not draw away our delight from God, but enlarges our hearts to honor him with it, and humbles them the more to listen to his charge, and to be inquisitive after his counsel.

I shall not stand to inquire what measure of wealth it is which makes a man a rich man. We read of the vast riches of Croesus, Pallas, Narcissus, Lentulus, Seneca, and others, and of the monstrous and portentous expenses almost beyond arithmetical computation in the luxury of games, feasts, apparel, and buildings among the Romans and others. Cleopatra dissolved and drank in one draught of wine a pearl of above seventy-eight thousand pounds in value. The ornaments of Lollia Pautina amounted to above three hundred thousand pounds, and Publius Clodius dwelt in a house which cost him above one hundred and fourteen thousand pounds. There is no standing quantity which makes the denomination of a rich man. In the Apostle's account, he certainly is a rich man who has plenty sufficient for his calling, his occasions, his household, his family, his posterity, for necessary, decent, and liberal expenses. In one word: whose estate is amply proportionable both to his condition and to his mind. For copiosum viaticum [in non-Latin alphabet], and penury does not consist [in non-Latin alphabet], but [in non-Latin alphabet] — not in narrowness of wealth, but in vastness of desire. So that which is suitable to a man's mind, and to his household or estate, makes him a rich man.

But yet still all this wealth is but [illegible], it enriches a man but between this and his grave. His glory will not descend after him; in all points as he came into the world, so he must go out, naked in and naked out; he brought nothing in, he can carry nothing out; he passes, but the earth abides, and his house will know him no more. And this shows the baseness of worldly wealth: first, that it is communicable to the men of this world, who have their portion only here; their bellies may be filled with these treasures; they may have more than heart could wish, they may be mighty in power, and spend their days in wealth, they may join house to house, and lay field to field. No man can know love or hatred by these things; a Nabal, and a Doeg may have them as well as an Abraham, or a David. Jacob's Ladder which conveys to heaven may have its foot in a smoking cottage, and there may be a trap-door in a stately palace which may let down to hell. Secondly, that it is of but a very narrow use, like a candle, needful in the night, but absurd in the day; like brass tokens, fit to buy some small trifles with, but not to purchase an inheritance. All the difference which riches make among men are but [illegible], in this little isthmus of mortality. As in casting accounts, one counter stands for a thousand pounds, another for a penny; as in setting letters, the same letter may one while be put into the name of a prince, and the next time into the name of a beggar; but when the counters are put into the bag, and the letters into their boxes, they are there all alike; no difference between the dust of Dives and Lazarus. Come to Ahab and Jezebel when the dogs have done with them, and their vineyard and their paint is vanished to all eternity. A living dog is better than a dead lion, a dead lion no better than a dead dog.

Our wisdom therefore is to labor for that which Solomon calls durable riches; which is current in another world, which will follow a man when he dies; his wealth will not, his works will (Revelation 14:13). To make the fear of the Lord our treasure (Isaiah 33:6). To be rich toward God (Luke 12:21). To lay up treasure in heaven (Luke 18:22). To buy of Christ gold tried in the fire, that we may be rich (Revelation 3:18). As Abraham sent jewels of silver and gold and raiments to Rebecca, the wife of Isaac, the son of promise (Genesis 24:53), so does the Lord give rich and precious ornaments to the church his spouse (Ezekiel 16:10, 13). The graces of the Spirit are compared to chains and borders of gold, and studs of silver (Song of Solomon 1:10, 11). These riches are returnable into heaven; to be rich in faith, in knowledge, in wisdom, will stand us in good stead when the world has left us. Things which come from heaven to us, while we are on the earth, will go to heaven with us, when we leave the earth. Graces are like the wagons which Joseph sent to carry Jacob his father (Genesis 45:21). They are the Vehicula, like Elijah's chariot of fire, to transport the souls of believers to Christ. Men naturally desire durable things, strong houses, clear titles, lasting garments, jewels, and precious stones that will go every where. No riches are indeed durable, but those that are heavenly; no rust, no moth, no thief can reach them: what the philosopher affirms of heavenly bodies, is certainly true of heavenly graces, they are incorruptible.

There is a strange contradiction between men's professions and their practice. Ask a man which in his conscience he thinks the best, riches or grace, and he will answer very truly, there is no comparison, no more than between God and Mammon: riches not to be named the same day with grace. But observe it, and you will find no man sit still, and drowsily look when riches will drop into his mouth; but he rises early, and goes late to bed, his worldly heart shakes and awakens him, Surge, inquit Avaritia, ejah surge, negas? Instat, surge inquit, non queo, surge. He sweats, he toils, he spends his time, his studies, he ventures far and near, Per mare pauperiem fugiens, per saxa, per ignes.

But for durable riches of grace and glory, which our Savior says must be labored for; which Solomon tells us must be searched and dug for as for hidden treasures (Proverbs 2:4) — how few are there who evidence the truth of their profession by the measure of their diligence? Who are not far more supine in their pursuance of holiness than of wealth? Surely even in this sense is that of Saint James true, your silver and your gold shall rise up in judgment against you, and plead — as Cyprian tells us, Satan will plead against wicked men by way of exprobation, I never died for them, I never made promises of eternal life to them — so will your money say, I was never able to cleanse their consciences, to remove their guilt or fears, to pacify their hearts, to secure their salvations, to present them without spot or wrinkle to God; yet me they wooed, and worshipped, and hunted after, and left grace and mercy, righteousness and peace, Christ and salvation, unsaluted, undesired. O learn we to build our house upon a rock, to get a kingdom that cannot be shaken, to have a city which has foundations; crowns may fall, thrones may miscarry. Such may the storms be, as may subvert the cedars of Lebanon, and the oaks of Bashan, as may overturn towers and palaces. Treasures of darkness, hidden riches of secret places may be searched out and taken away; but the righteous shall not be moved, he shall not be afraid of evil tidings. The name of the Lord is a strong tower, in which he shall be kept in perfect peace, because in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.

Let us now proceed to the matter of the Charge, which is first Negative, and that double. First, That they be not high minded. This notes that there is a secret malignity which riches meeting with corruption, have in them, to lift up men's minds above their due region. Tyre deified herself, because of her wealth. Your heart is lifted up, because of your riches; and you have set your heart as the heart of God (Ezekiel 28:5-6). According to their pastures so were they filled, they were filled and their heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten me (Hosea 13:5-6). From where that caution which Moses gives to Israel: Beware, lest when you have eaten and are full, and have built goodly houses, and dwelt therein; and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God (Deuteronomy 8:12-14). Men are like larks, very silent and modest when they are low and on the ground; but in a warm and glorious sunshine they soar up, and are very clamorous. And though they be never a dram the holier, the nearer to Heaven, the safer from Hell by all their wealth; yet they think highly of themselves, walk with more state, look with more disdain, breathe more scorn, keep more distance, that you would not think such a one a richer only, but another man. Put money into a bag, and the bag remains leather or canvas still; but if it once get into the heart of a man, he is presently changed, his thoughts of himself greater, and of others meaner than they were before.

This the Apostle says should not be so, for after all this, it is but man still (Ecclesiastes 6:10), and the Word is as much above him, as before. A hill is proud and overtops the valley; but in comparison of the sun, they are equally distant, and that perhaps scorches the one when it revives the other; as the same Word it may be, comforts a poor believer, and scourges a rich sinner. A rich man then should not be high-minded: For

1. Riches are not noble enough to raise the mind, or to put any solid value upon a man more than he had before. Righteousness indeed, because it comes from Heaven, can exalt and lift up toward there; but things of a mere earthly extraction, do rather depress than heighten the soul, they bear no proportion to it. The heart is as improper a place for riches, as a man's purse or barn is for grace. The mind is the seat of wisdom, of knowledge, of divine impressions; whereas earthly things can per se, and in their own nature operate only to earthly effects. They may indeed be used by sensual lusts, as the foams and instruments of pride and luxury, and by special wisdom, as the vehicula of charity and mercy; but of themselves they add nothing of real value to a man. A poor man may be richer by one promise of the Gospel, by laying up but one line of the Scripture in his heart, than a Doeg or a Nabal, by the cattle on a thousand mountains.

2. Rich men are at best but stewards; for the earth is the Lord's, we are but tenants, depositaries, treasurers to him. Now a steward or prince's treasurer is the self-same man, no change of state, no ebb or flux of greatness, when he has the custody of thousands or of tens; and surely God gives us our riches to honor him, and not ourselves with.

3. Rich men walk among more snares and temptations; for riches are the materials which provoke, excite, foment lust, call forth sinful pleasures, worldly love, self-confidence, contempt of the Word, endanger our apostasy in times of persecution, and our security in times of peace. And this is certain, that a full estate, is like a full diet; as this requires more strength of nature, so that more wisdom and grace to order and to digest it. Therefore a rich man ought to look downward the oftener, to take care of his feet, and the higher the wind is to hoist up the fewer sails, because there are rocks and shelves round about him.

4. In making men rich, and setting them in great places, God has exalted them enough already, and they ought the rather to be more low in their own eyes. The highest boughs in a tree are the slenderest, the more nature has raised them, the smaller they are in themselves, and by that means the less endangered by the tempests which they so easily yield to. And so it should be with us, the more we are exalted by God, the less we should be in our own esteem; and the less we are in our own esteem, the safer we shall be against any temptations. Humility is not only an ornament, but a protection. We see the fruit grows upon the twigs and smaller branches of a tree, not upon a stock; humility makes way to fruitfulness, and fruitfulness back again to humility. The more weighty the ears of corn, the more they hang downward towards the ground. The richer things are, the more humble they are. Ambition was the sin of the bramble; the vine, olive, and fig-tree were contented with their former dignity. Clouds, the fuller they are, are the more heavy; the earth is the richest, and yet the lowest element. Christ had in him the treasures of wisdom and grace, and yet in nothing more proposed himself to us as an example, than in meekness and humility (Matthew 11:29; John 13:13-14; Philippians 2:5-7). And what comparison is there between Christ the Heir of all things, and the richest man on earth. When the Lord of glory, who thought it no robbery to be equal with God, humbled and emptied himself, and made himself of no reputation; what is there in sinful dust and ashes, that he should be proud? We see in the body one member has more magnitude, nutriment, dignity, employment than another; but none has more humility than another. The head will be as ready to study for the hand, as the hand to work for the head; the tongue as forward to speak for the foot, as the foot to move for the tongue. And all Christians profess to be members of the same body, and therefore none should be proud or disdainful towards another.

5. Why should a man's work and service make him proud? Commonly pride and idleness go together (Ezekiel 16:49). Now the more riches God gives a man, the more work he sets him about. If we see a man's shop full of wares, of instruments, of servants, commodities continually imported, we conclude such a man is full of business. When the Lord does multiply men's estates, he does multiply their employments. And we see tradesmen, though upon festival times they will put on rich apparel; yet upon working days they go in a more plain and careless fashion. Now of all other work, a Christian's work will not let him be proud.

Lastly, why should I for a little difference in this one particular of worldly wealth, despise or disdainfully overlook my poor brother? Does a lawyer despise a physician, because he has not read the Code or the Pandect? Does a physician despise a lawyer, because he has not read Galen or Hippocrates? Does the eye despise the ear, because it cannot see; or the tongue the hand, because it cannot speak? Have we not all one Lord, one faith, one hope, one Spirit, one Gospel, one common salvation? When so many and great things unite us, shall our wealth only disunite us? One sun shines on both, one air refreshes both; one blood bought both, one heaven shall receive both. Only he has not so much of the earth as I, and possibly much more of Christ. And why should I disdain him on earth, whom perhaps the Lord will advance above me in heaven? Why should I browbeat, and proudly overlook him, whom Christ has adorned with his grace, and honored with his presence?

We see a rich man has no reason to be high-minded; but he that is so, will not stop there. He that makes an idol of his riches, will worship and trust in it, when he has done; and therefore Timothy must give rich men a second charge.

That they trust not in uncertain riches — by which, first, he gives us a plain intimation that rich men are naturally apt and prone to trust in their riches; as it is said of Doeg, that he did not make God his strength, but trusted in the multitude of his riches (Psalm 52:7). And Solomon tells us that the rich man's wealth is his strong tower, and a high wall in his own conceit (Proverbs 18:11). As Thrasylaus by a melancholy fancy judged all the ships in the harbor at Athens to be his; so a rich man judges all the safety and security that the world can afford to be his own, because he has that unum magnum which will help in the sorest extremities. Every man is conscious to himself, both of his wants and of his dangers; what good he is defective in, what evil he is exposed to. And therefore does what he can for assistance to procure the good he wants, and to repel the evil he fears; and of all assistances, he looks upon this as the surest, because money answers to all. The fool in the Gospel promised himself ease, long life, many years, to eat, to drink, to be merry, and all in the confidence of his riches (Luke 12:19). How many men trust their wealth to uphold their wickedness, and lean upon them while they fall from God? How many take a liberty of violence, rapine, cruelty, oppression, luxury, profaneness, because they think their wealth will be an advocate and a varnish to all? How many, if Christ and Mammon should come into competition, would say as Amaziah did, What shall I do for the hundred talents? Arduares haec est opibus non tradere mores. So hard a thing is it not to give up our souls into captivity to our wealth.

Secondly, this ought not to be so. For first, the object must be commensurate and suitable to the affection, or else it is altogether unnatural and improper. But there is no suitableness between hope and riches: for hope and trust is ever de futuro possibili, whereas riches are only present [illegible]. No man can know the vicissitudes of worldly things, what a day may bring forth: Belisarius a great commander one day, and a poor beggar another. There must be permanency, stability and fixedness in that which a man casts his anchor upon, but riches take to them wings and fly away.

Secondly, the true object of hope and trust is Bonum arduum. I trust in that which can help me in such arduous and grand matters, wherein I cannot help myself, in that which is adequate to all my extremities; which has more good in it than any of my evils can embitter, and more strength in it than the weight of any of my extremities can overbear. But now riches are not at all suitable to a man's greatest extremities: when my lungs are wasted, my liver dried up, stones in my kidneys too big for the passages — if all the stones in my house were diamonds, and I would give them all for the removal of these distempers, it could not be done. When death comes, what crowns or empires can ransom out of the hands of the King of Terror? When my conscience stings me, and the arrows of God stick fast in me, and I am summoned to his tribunal to be there doomed — in such cases, neither treasures, nor multitude of riches can deliver in the day of wrath (Proverbs 10:2; 11:4). Riches are but like the leaves of a tree, beautiful for a season; but when winter and storms arise, they fall off and are blown away.

3. The Apostle's reason in the text: they are uncertain riches [illegible].

Uncertain, first, in their abode, subject to a moth, a rust, a thief. Some things precious, but so thin, that a moth can eat them up. If more massive and solid, as gold and silver, rust and canker, some slow and lingering lust, can insensibly eat them out; but both the one and the other subject to a thief, to some outward accident and miscarriage, which may spoil us of them.

In their promises and pretences; the fool promised himself long life, but was answered with an hac nocte. Many men's riches are like Israel's quails, promise meat, but bring a curse; like Ezekiel's Book (Ezekiel 2:10, 3:3). It tastes like honey, but is written with woes. Like John's scroll, sweet in the mouth, but bitter in the belly; like Belshazzar's feast, wine on the table, and a handwriting on the wall. Achan's wedge of gold, Gehazi's talents, Ahab's vineyard, Jehoiakim's wide house and large chambers, were all but like the queen's feast to Haman, as poisoned dainties, sweet to the taste, but attended with death. Beds of ivory, lambs of the flock, calves of the stall, instruments of music, wine in bowls, precious ointments, all comical harbingers of a tragical catastrophe — they shall go captive with the first that go captive (Amos 6:4, 7). Little reason to put trust in such false and uncertain things, which do not only lie and disappoint, but like a broken reed run into the arm of those that lean upon them, kept to the hurt of the owners of them, as the wise man speaks (Ecclesiastes 5:13).

But great reason for rich and poor to trust in God, who is a God able to replenish the soul, to help it in greatest extremities, true and faithful in all his promises; and truth is the ground of trust. No attribute of God which the soul may not rest upon. His eternity — he will never fail me, in him there is everlasting strength. His immensity — I have him ever with me. His omniscience — I want nothing but he knows it. His omnipotence — I suffer nothing but he can rebuke it. His wisdom — he can order every condition to my good. If I do my duty in the use of means, I may comfortably venture on his blessing for a happy issue. He is a living God, he ever abides; is a fountain of life to his poor servants; all that is desirable is comprised in this one word life: whatever we delight in as good, is in order to the support, or to the comfort of life. Now riches can neither give life, nor preserve it, nor restore it: a man's life stands not in his abundance, then there would be no poor man alive. It is not our bread, but God's word of blessing which feeds us, and that blessing he can give to pulse, and withdraw from quails. Riches perish, but God lives; riches sometimes make us to perish, but God makes us live. A thief can take away my gold, but who can take away my God? What has a rich man if he have not God? And what wants a poor man, if he have God? An acre of land, and a shepherd's cottage in the south, with the warmth and benignity of the sun, is better than twenty thousand acres, and a stately palace under the North Pole. Better be in a wilderness with God, than in a Canaan without him. If your presence go not with us, said Moses, carry us not up hence (Exodus 33:15).

He is a bountiful God; he is good, and he does good; he is life, and he gives life, to him alone it belongs to supply all necessaries, all comforts of life to us; we place riches in his throne, we transfer his work and office upon them, when we make them the objects of our trust.

He gives, so do not riches; they buy, they do not give. I must part with so much of them, as I will proportionally have of other things: but when I have God, I need not exchange him away for other things; he brings them eminently in himself, he gives them bountifully with himself. The earth is his, the silver and the gold his, the power, the strength, the wisdom, whereby we get riches, his; the blessing upon that strength and wisdom, his; we are not the getters, but he is the giver of them. And if we boast of them, and trust in them; he that gives, can take them away; they that receive, must not glory as if they had not received. And if he give first, he may well charge us to give too, since he requires of us but his own.

He gives all things: all the wealth in the world could not buy a mouthful of air, or a drop of light, if God subduct it. Rich men give nothing for sun, and moon, and stars, and breath, and health, and strength: God is the free giver of all. The earth he gives to the children of men. All things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3) — two things which all the riches in the world cannot reach. All things in the promises: all are yours (1 Corinthians 3:23). I have all, I abound, I am full (Philippians 4:18) — as having nothing, and yet possessing all things (2 Corinthians 6:10). All things in measure, in proportion to our capacity, to our ability, to our exigencies, to our occasions. All things necessary, all things suitable; withholds no good thing, nothing but that which would be a snare and a temptation to us; we are not straitened in him, but in the bowels of one another; our covetousness may defraud our brethren, God's bounty does not.

All things richly: there is not the poorest man living who is able to number up all the mercies which he does enjoy. The light which he sees is mercy; the air he breathes, mercy; the ground he walks on, mercy; the bread he eats, the water he drinks, the rags he wears, mercy; the bowels of those that pity him, mercy; the bounty of those that relieve him, mercy; if dogs lick his sores, mercy; if a potsherd to scrape him, mercy; rotten rags to Jeremiah in a dungeon, mercy; a basket to Paul in a garrison, mercy. But for the poor in this world to be rich in faith, heirs of a kingdom, to have the same common Christ, the same hope, and Spirit, and salvation; for a poor Lazarus to have the bosom of a rich Abraham to rest in at the last: how can the poorest saint in the world, deny to God the praise of being rich in mercy? It is not barely want, but ignorance of our deservings, ignorance of our enjoyments, unthankfulness to God, envy against others, our murmuring, discontent, idleness, imprudence, improvidence which makes men poor: were their hearts and mouths more enlarged towards God in praises, other men's bowels would be more enlarged to them in bounty and relief.

Lastly, He gives all things richly to enjoy; and that is more than all the world can do. If it give the possession, it cannot give the fruition, it cannot give a healthy body, it cannot give a cheerful and contented mind, it cannot free a man from disquieting thoughts, from anxious fears, from excruciating cares, from wearisome labors, from continual solicitude; it cannot give either a free, or a cheerful, or a pure use of the things which a man has. As it is God that gives the power to get riches (Deuteronomy 8:18), so it is he who gives knowledge, skill, wisdom, a heart seasoned with his fear, and cheered with his favor, whereby we may with quiet contentment, and sweet tranquility, make use of those blessings which are reached to us by the hand, and sanctified by the Word, and sweetened by the sense and comfort of the love of God. It is God's blessing alone which makes rich without sorrow (Proverbs 10:22), which by his fear, takes away the trouble of great treasures (Proverbs 15:16), which makes us enjoy the fruit of our labors (Psalms 128:2), which makes us eat and drink before him with cheerfulness; eat the fat, and drink the sweet, because the joy of the Lord is our strength (1 Chronicles 29:22; Nehemiah 8:10-12). This is the frequent doctrine of Solomon (Ecclesiastes 2:24, 26; 3:13; 5:18-19; 6:2). So much for the first affirmative duty, to trust in God, who alone is the fountain of our life, the author of our comforts.

We proceed now to the second, which is to imitate God in these his works of bounty, to do good, to be rich in good works; for God has not given them to us only to enjoy, but to do good with them too. He has not given them for the fuel of our pride and luxury; but for the good of our souls, and the comfort of our poor brothers. We have our waters not only to drink ourselves, but also to disperse abroad (Proverbs 5:15-16).

Good works are taken either in a more large sense for all such actions of regenerate men, as they do by the help of the Holy Spirit, in conformity to the law of God. As he that does good is said to be of God (3 John 1:11), and governors are said to be for the praise of those that do well (1 Peter 2:14), or else more strictly for works of bounty, charity, and beneficence; as Tabitha is said to have been full of good works and alms deeds; where the latter clause is exegetical of the former (Acts 9:36). As elsewhere, Do good and lend, hoping for nothing again (Luke 6:35).

Now it being here restrained to such good works as it is proper for rich men, as rich men, to exercise; and being after explained by those terms, I shall take it here in the more contracted sense for a direction touching the right use of riches, which is, to make them the materials of good works, that we may be profitable to men. As God has made us not only for ourselves, but to glorify him, and to serve our generation; so when he supplies us with provisions, wherewith we may act towards those public ends, he requires that his gifts should be used, not only for our own domestic interests, but for his honor, and the good of others. Rich men have their wealth as the sun has light, or the fire heat, to communicate to others. And of all things, riches should be so employed, because their whole use is in motion. Some things put forth their virtue most when they rest and stand still. The earth keeps its place, and yet is fruitful. Motion weakens the virtue of some agents, and hinders the fixing of their impressions; but the whole good that money does, all the efficacy that it has, is while it is in motion, and passing from hand to hand. It is as insignificant in a worldling's chest, as when it lies in the bowels of the earth. We call it current money, to note that the use of it is while it is in motion.

The duty then it is of rich men to make their wealth the materials of good works. Money used to have an image and superscription upon it (Matthew 22:20). And the prophet has given us an inscription for ours (Isaiah 23:18): Her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the Lord, and so also (Zechariah 14:20-21). Hereby we stamp the image of God upon them. Homo homini Deus — by doing good a man is as it were a God to his brother. Be merciful, as your Father is merciful (Luke 6:36).

The Lord could have enriched all men, but he has said, That we shall have the poor always with us; that so the rich may have matter to imitate God, and the poor to praise him; that the poor may have Christ for an example of patience, and the rich for an example of goodness; that the rich man's supplying the poor man's wants, may be a pledge and an assurance of God's supplying his wants. For rich and poor are relations among men; but as we stand in relation to God, every man is poor, and must be always in a begging posture (Luke 18:1). And as Christ has taught us to pray, Lord, I forgive others, do you forgive me; in like manner, we may pray, Lord, my heart and hand is open to others, let yours be so to me. I that am evil, am enabled by you to give good things to others, and you have given me assurance that you will much more give good things to those that ask them.

The matter out of which these good works are to be done, must be

First, our own things (Luke 11:41; 12:33; 2 Corinthians 8:11). We must not enable ourselves to do good by doing evil first — God hates robbery for a burnt offering; we must warm the poor with the fleece of our own sheep (Job 31:20). Ill-gotten goods are matter of restitution, rather than of distribution.

Second, our surplus goods — we are to give out of our over-plus and abundance, that your abundance may be a supply for their want (2 Corinthians 8:14), that which remains and is to spare after other necessary uses (as in Mark 8:8; Luke 15:17), though ardent charity will sometimes go beyond its power (Mark 12:44; 2 Corinthians 8:3). To know what these remains and overplus are, we must consider what things are necessary. Things are necessary upon a double ground.

1. Necessaria simpliciter, without which a man cannot maintain himself and his charge at all.

2. Necessaria ad decentiam status. Necessary to the decency and quality of a man's condition; that which is abundant for a tradesman, may be too little for a nobleman.

Now in case of extreme necessity of our brother, we ought to relieve out of that which is necessary to our own decent condition. He that has two coats to give to him that has none, rather than to see him perish (Luke 3:11). In cases of ordinary necessity we are to give out of our overplus and abundance, providing for the decency of our own condition, which is to give as we are able, according to the blessing of God upon honest labors; so much the word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 imports (1 Corinthians 16:2), which does not hinder our endeavors to lay up and provide for our families and posterity, which the Apostle requires (1 Timothy 5:8; 2 Corinthians 12:14).

The object or matter Circa quam of our good works, are

First, the worship of God, and things subservient and conducive to it; as maintaining poor scholars in the nurseries of the ministry, and schools of the prophets; comforting and encouraging the able and faithful ministers of the Gospel: for which, Hezekiah and Nehemiah are by God honored in the records of Scripture (2 Chronicles 30:22 and 31:4, 11; Nehemiah 13:10, 14). Let him that is taught in the Word, communicate to him that teaches in all good things (Galatians 6:6). Honor the Lord with your substance (Proverbs 3:9). They who sow to you spiritual things, it is equal that you minister to them carnal things (1 Corinthians 9:11). David would not, when he might, offer to the Lord of that which should cost him nothing (2 Samuel 24:24). Ministers that are faithful dare not offer to you that which costs them nothing: it costs them their time, their studies, their strength, their prayers, possibly their tears and sorrows, to see their work fall as fast as they set it up (as Chrysostome sometimes complained). Indeed, if you will have a learned ministry, it must cost their purses too; the utensils of a minister are costly things. And therefore it is a worthy, honorable, and most beneficial work, to contribute to public libraries for the service of the ministry in universities, cities, and public places.

Secondly, the necessities of men; and here

1. Kindred, friends, acquaintance, those of our own house (1 Timothy 5:8; Acts 10:24).

2. Those of the household of faith, who dwell before the Lord (Galatians 6:10; Isaiah 23:18). Pour your ointment above all, upon the feet of Christ.

3. Strangers (1 Timothy 5:10).

4. Enemies themselves, if your enemy hungers, feed him (Romans 12:20, 21).

In one word, all that are in misery and distress among them: first, the most helpless, widows, fatherless, sick, maimed, aged, exiles, captives. Secondly, the most hopeful, useful, and diligent; as pregnant wits for learned education, or other necessary employments.

For the manner how, the Apostle directs us. First, to do good works richly: they who are Divites opibus, must be Divites operibus too; their fruit must be plentiful, as well as their estate. There may be a narrow heart, a starved charity, where there is a large estate, as in Nabal: and there may be a large and bountiful heart, where there is but a poor and narrow estate, as in the poor widow, who as our Savior tells us, cast in more than all others into the treasury; more in proportion, quia nemo sibi minus reliqui; more in affection, she cast in her bowels, she cast in her prayers with her two mites (Mark 12:43). So the Apostle testifies of the Macedonians, that their poverty was deep, and yet their liberality was rich and abundant (2 Corinthians 8:2). Though they could not draw much out of their purse, yet they drew out their very soul to their brethren (Isaiah 58:10). As the Apostle says, that he imparted his own soul to the Thessalonians (1 Thessalonians 2:1). But you that are rich in estate, may be rich in good works, as well as in good affections, may be exercised to all bountifulness (2 Corinthians 9:11). As there is a decentia status for a man's expenses on himself; so is there for his bounty to the poor. The widow's two mites had been a mockery and not an alms, if a rich man had cast them in.

Secondly, to do them readily, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. To be easy, prompt, prone to good works, not out of necessity, importunity, constraint, but willingly. This is a great mercy, when men are able to offer these sacrifices willingly (1 Chronicles 29:14). And to this end are necessary such habits and principles as do facilitate good works, as

1. Piety to God, a desire to honor him with his own gifts, and to give him back again of his own, and thereby as to testify our professed subjection to the Gospel, so to procure abundant thanksgiving to God (2 Corinthians 9:11, 12, 13).

2. Love to Christ, whose doctrine we thereby obey (Luke 11:41), whose example we imitate (John 13:29), whose members we thereby refresh, and so in his account do it to himself (Matthew 25:40), and become his creditors. For he that gives to the poor, lends to the Lord (Proverbs 19:17).

3. Love to our neighbor, which works tenderhearted-ness towards him in his affliction, and large-heartedness for his relief (Proverbs 31:20). God requires the doing of judgment, which in some cases may be done with sorrow, as in the punishment of malefactors; but he requires the loving of mercy: we must never go unwillingly about that (Micah 6:8). Our bounty must be in our eye, and so affect our heart (Proverbs 22:9).

4. Wisdom and skill with prudent consideration to do a good work to the best advantage. A man is never ready and dexterous in a business which he is unskillful in; therefore the Psalmist says, blessed is he that considers the poor (Psalm 41:1). We read, as I take it in Seneca or Plutarch, of one who knowing the poverty and modesty of his friend, was obliged to steal a gift under his pillow for him, who otherwise might have refused it.

5. Cheerfulness and speed, to do a good work without grudging or delay. Say not to your brother, go and come tomorrow (Proverbs 3:28). Job did not withhold the poor from their desire (Job 31:16). He that shows mercy, must do it with cheerfulness (Romans 12:8). For the Lord loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7). In many cases delays are denials; a duty done in season, is twice done.

Thirdly, to do them diffusively. We are not only to do good, to do it copiously, to do it readily and cheerfully, but to do it to many, to community; so to have the property in ourselves, as that the comfort may be diffusive, and redound to many others. And as here these terms are put together, so elsewhere (Hebrews 13:16), doing good and communicating are put together, and so it is used (Philippians 4:15).

The word seems to import, first, to do good so, as that many may be the better for it, that it may be a common and a public good. Such are the works of God; his sunshine, his rain falls on good and bad; on the barren rocks, as well as the fruitful valleys. Such public works are building and endowing of schools, of churches, of lecturers, of workhouses, of hospitals, of manufactures, furnishing of libraries, maintaining of public professors, legacies to the poor, repairing ways and bridges, loans to set up poor tradesmen, and other the like benefactions which have a common and public influence.

Secondly, to do it as in communion, as members one of another, communion natural upon principles of humanity, and communion spiritual upon principles of Christianity. To remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them, and them which suffer adversity, as being ourselves in the body (Hebrews 13:3).

Thirdly, to do it sociably, modestly, humanely, to be not only bountiful, but to adorn both our wealth, and our good works with suavity of conversation, with meekness, placidness, and facility of manners, with an amiable and communicative deportment towards all men. For a man's very charity may be so morose and austere, that tender stomachs may nauseate it; as medicine that is wholesome, but bitter.

Give me leave to press this duty upon you, which the Apostle does by so many and emphatic expressions, with such considerations as these.

1. From the example of God himself, who requires us to imitate him in works of mercy (Luke 6:36). His mercy is in the heavens (Psalm 36:5). The earth is full of his goodness (Psalm 35:5). His bounty is over all his works (Psalm 145:9). He punishes unwillingly (Lamentations 3:33). He watches to be gracious (Isaiah 38:18). He chose mercy and grace as the choicest things, to make his name known to his people by (Exodus 34:6-7).

He gives his Son, his Spirit, his love, his grace, his glory, himself to us; and yet his mercy is free, he is not by any law bound to it. He shows mercy to whom he will show mercy (Romans 9:18). Whereas we are but his stewards, and have riches as the sun has light to disperse to others. We have the custody, but the comfort belongs to others; it is called another man's, and not our own (Luke 16:12). If a man were master of the light of the sun, we should esteem him extremely barbarous and inhumane, if he should let it shine only into his own house. Our money, our bread, our clothing, is as necessary for our poor brother, as the light of the sun; and therefore the inhumanity is as great to withhold the one, as it would be to monopolize the other.

Secondly, from the example of Christ. He was his Father's almoner, mercy was his office: it belonged to him as the Son of David, to show mercy (Matthew 9:27). Mercy was his practice — he went about doing good (Acts 10:38). All his miracles were in works of mercy, feeding, healing, raising, comforting; and though he be now in glory, yet he reckons the bounty shown to his members, as done to himself (Matthew 25:35, 40). A sacrifice was offered to God, though eaten by the priest and the people; and our alms are called sacrifices (Hebrews 13:16; Philippians 4:18). The poor only are benefited, but God is honored by them. And there is a connection between his mercy and ours; we forfeit his when we restrain our own (Matthew 5:7; James 2:13). And the argument is strong from his to ours; his was to enemies, ours to brethren; his to debtors, ours to fellow-servants. His free grace to me, mine just debt to my brother (Romans 13:8). His forever to me, mine but for a moment to my brother; his in talents to me, mine but in pence to my brother; his in blood to me, mine but in bread to my brother; his mercy enriches me, mine leaves my brother poor still. If then I live by the mercy which I enjoy, and must be saved by the mercy which I expect, shall so much mercy shine on me, and none reflect from me upon my poor brother? Shall all the waters of life run from Christ to me, as those of Jordan, into a Dead Sea, to be lost and buried there? Therefore does the sun shine, and the rain fall on the earth, but that it may be fruitful? The mercies of God should be as dew and warmth, as manure and culture to the souls of men, that being thereby enriched, they may empty themselves, and draw out themselves into the bowels of others. Christ is the fountain; rich men the conduit, and poor men the vessels which are there and from there supplied.

Thirdly, from respect to ourselves. 1. Community of nature, we also are in the flesh: we too may want mercy from others, as others do now from us. Who would have thought that David should have stood in need of the bread of a churl! Good offices between men and men, are not duties only, but trade and merchandise. I show them to him now, and another time he may show them to me; it is the Apostle's argument (2 Corinthians 8:14). 2. A special honor, when God makes us instruments of doing good; for it is a more blessed thing to give, than to receive (Acts 20:35). Mercy is the seed of honor (Psalm 112:9; Proverbs 21:21).

Fourthly, from respect to our neighbor, to whom we owe this debt of love: for there is a debt of charity as well as a debt of justice. A debt whereby I owe him that which is truly his, and a debt whereby I owe him something of that which is my own. And this I do both to God's image in him; for everyone that loves him that begat, loves him also that is begotten (1 John 5:1). And to my own image; for his flesh is as my own flesh (Nehemiah 5:5). He that made me in the womb, made him, says Job (Job 31:15). And when I hide myself from him, I hide from my own flesh (Isaiah 58:7). Homo sum, humanum a me nihil alienum puto.

Fifthly, for the credit of our Reformed religion, that the mouths of adversaries may be stopped, who falsely charge us with preaching, and you with professing a naked, empty, fruitless faith. We preach Saint Paul's faith, a faith which works by love; remembering your work of faith. We preach Saint Peter's faith, a faith which has virtue, and knowledge, and temperance, and patience, and godliness, and brotherly kindness, and charity added to it. And we tell you with him, that if these things be lacking, you are blind; and your knowledge is worth nothing, so long as it is barren and unfruitful. We preach Saint James his faith, a faith which has works, which may be shown, which visits the fatherless and widows in their afflictions: Abraham's faith that has a bosom for poor Lazarus, Rahab's faith which had a harbor for endangered strangers. We preach Saint Jude's faith, a most holy faith, a faith delivered to the saints; such a faith, as he who indeed has it, is not a cloud without water, nor a tree without fruit. We preach Saint John's faith, to believe on the name of Christ, and to love one another; and to show this love by opening our bowels of compassion to our needy brother, and loving him not in word only, but in deed and truth. We tell you, if you trust in the Lord, you must do good: if you believe either the truth, or the terrors, or the promises of God, you must not withhold the poor from their desire, nor cause the eye of the widow to fail. This is the faith we preach, this the charge we give: we tell you, without this, your faith is hypocritical, your religion vain, your hope delusion, and all your expectation but as a spider's web.

Sixthly, let me press upon London the example of London, an easy argument — one would think — to desire you to be like yourselves. I might make a large recital of great and public works of piety done by this famous city: I might mention multitudes of ample munificences and benefactions, by very many worthy members thereof, since the Reformation, whereby they have refuted the calumnies cast upon our religion by Papists, as if it made us careless of good works. A large catalogue has been made of them to mine hand by a learned writer, Doctor Andrew Willet, to the honor of God, and credit of our religion. I shall content myself to give you a report of the general sum, which upon computation, he tells us, does amount in the space of sixty years, to above six hundred thousand pounds. So that by an equal distribution, through the whole time, this famous city did allow ten thousand pounds per annum, for threescore years together to works of piety and charity (besides all which was done in a private and unobserved way). An example, I believe, hardly to be paralleled in any city under the Roman jurisdiction. More than forty hospitals built, above twenty free schools, besides granaries, conduits, waterworks, loans to poor workmen, exhibitions to poor scholars, churches, munificent gifts to the universities and colleges there. So that I may say to you, as Paul to the Thessalonians, touching brotherly love, you need not that I speak to you, for you have been taught of God; only I beseech you, that you abound more and more (1 Thessalonians 4:9-10). That you may receive the same honorable testimony and memorial from Christ, which the church of Thyatira has received: I know your works, and charity, and service, and faith, and your patience, and your works (they are twice mentioned) and the last to be more than the first (Revelation 2:19). Be not weary of well-doing, in due time you shall reap, if you faint not (Galatians 6:9). Lose not the things which you have wrought, but that you receive a full reward (2 John 8). And this leads me to the last consideration, namely,

Seventhly, the reward which is set before you. It is a sowing of seed (2 Corinthians 9:6), a scattering which tends to increase (Proverbs 11:24). There is no duty which has more copious promises of reward than this of mercy and good works. Rewarded with plenty: your soul shall be as a watered garden (Isaiah 58:11). For this thing, the Lord your God shall bless you in all your works (Deuteronomy 15:10). Rewarded with honor: he has dispersed and given to the poor, his horn shall be exalted with honor (Psalm 112:9). Rewarded with the blessings of the poor: the blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me (Job 29:11, 13). Rewarded with the grace of God: God is able to make all grace abound toward you (2 Corinthians 9:8). Rewarded with a pure and comfortable use of what we enjoy ourselves: give alms of such things as you have, and behold all things are clean to you (Luke 11:41). Rewarded with a lengthening of our present tranquility (Daniel 4:27). Rewarded with God's acceptance (Hebrews 13:16), with the mercy of God (Matthew 5:7), with the mansions of God (Luke 16:9). Good works are bills of exchange, which return our estates into another country.

This laying out is laying up; Mercatura est amittere ut Lucreris. It is like putting a basin of water into a pump which draws out a great vessel full: it is a sacrifice, and sacrifices were offered for the benefit, not for the damage of the offerers. A man scatters his seed in the furrow, but he lays up his crop in the barn; it is a scattering which ends in a laying up. The backs of the poor, the bellies of the hungry, are the bank of heaven.

And it is a laying up for ourselves. Men lay up usually for others; their children, their heirs and executors meet with it at the last; but works of mercy are all expended upon a man's self, he has the comfort here, and the reward hereafter. It is money lent to God, and he will repay it to ourselves. In law, he which sows must reap; and so says the apostle, he that sows bountifully, shall reap bountifully. Quas dederis solas semper habebis opes.

And it is laying up a foundation, a way to make our uncertain riches sure and stable, that whereas other riches take to them wings and fly away, those which are thus laid out, are laid up, as safe, as immovable as the stones of a foundation, as the bottom of a rock. A foundation not by way of merit towards God, but by way of evidence in regard of ourselves, as testimonies of our reconciliation and peace with God. A learned writer makes the Greek to answer to the Hebrew, which is the bond or instrument, securing to a creditor the money which he has lent. The Latin phrase means to make good names; God becomes surety for the poor to repay us there, where neither rust, nor moth, nor thief can enter.

And it is a foundation for the time to come, for the life to come, when none of our glory will follow us. Wealth has wings, it is here today, it is gone tomorrow; but goods are a bank in heaven, when all other men's wealth stays behind them, and betakes itself to other masters. A good man's being turned into good works, does follow him, and enrich him in a life to come.

And this life to come, a life which may be held, a life which can never be lost, when the last general conflagration shall have consumed and melted all the treasures of the world, our good works will abide that trial. The inheritance to which they follow us is incorruptible and undefiled, and fades not away, reserved in the heavens for us.

And now, Right Honorable and Beloved, to give you all in one view, you have heard the charge of the God of Heaven, to the rich men of the earth. It is my petition, it is his command. I beseech you, he enjoins you, not to be high-minded; not to let that which comes from the deep places of the earth, exalt you, and make you forget that you are earth; not to let the thick clay make the thin dust proud. It cannot add a cubit to your stature, let it not add so great a sin to your souls. It is gift, it is not property; God's, not yours; you are the fiduciaries, the depositaries only; why should you glory as if you had not received it?

Let me add this one word more: let not your riches make you low-minded neither, to glue your hearts, to bend your affections to things below. Let them make you heavenly-minded, and then they will make you humbly-minded; the more of heaven in any mind, the more of humility.

Not to trust in riches, not to let his gifts be used to his own degrading: who would trust in an unstable thing, which he cannot keep! Riches are uncertain; in a false thing which he cannot credit? Riches are deceitful; in a nothing, which is not? He that trusts in riches, makes them an idol, and an idol is nothing in this world. Who would trust in a dead idol, that has a living God to trust in? Who would trust in a useless nothing, who has a bountiful God, who gives all things to trust in?

You have another charge, to do good, to be rich in good works, to do them cheerfully, to do them diffusively. And though God might stop at the charge, his sovereignty and dominion would bear him out, to command you only; yet being full of love and mercy, he is pleased to encourage as well as command you. He encourages you antecedenter, by that which goes before your duty, his own example; he encourages you consequenter, by that which follows after your duty, his great reward. His example you have; he gives, you do but lend; he gives, you do but render back to him of his own. He gives to you all things; the earth empties into your coffers her silver and her gold; the pastures send you in cattle, the fields corn, the sea fish, the air fowl; one country sends you in wine, and another spices; one silks, and another furs; one delicates, another ornaments. He gives you the light of the sun, the influences of the stars, the protection of angels, the righteousness of his Son, the graces of his Spirit, the hope of his glory. He gives you himself, and his own all-sufficiency for your portion. And now if heaven and earth be all, if grace and glory be all, if God and Christ be all; he has given you all things richly to enjoy; for many of these gifts bring their joy and fruition with them. So the example far exceeds the imitation; you lend, you do not give; you lend some thing; you do not give all things; you lend to the necessities of your brother; you do not give to his delights and replenishment; you clothe him, you do not adorn him; you feed him, you do not fill, much less pamper him. This is one encouragement, a great example.

You have another encouragement, a full reward, good measure shaken together, pressed down, running over into your bosoms. You give money, God gives life; you things uncertain, which you could not keep but by giving; God gives a foundation, mansions, a city which has foundations, the sure mercies of David. You lay out to your brother, God lays up for you; you give perishing things to your brother, God an abiding, an abounding life to you; you a cottage, or a coat to your brother, God a kingdom and a crown to you. You give such things to your brother, which neither you nor he can keep; God gives such things to you, which when once laid hold on, you cannot lose.

So this double encouragement sets on the duty by a threefold love. If you love God, imitate his example, be merciful as he is merciful. If you love your brother, refresh his bowels, make his back and belly your repositories. He can repay you with prayers, and prayers are as good as gold. If you love yourselves, do what the most covetous man would do, lay up, lay up for yourselves, not only for your heirs, your children; it may be for strangers, for enemies. Lay up surely, that which you may lay hold on, that which will stay by you, a foundation. Lay up for the future, that which time, which death, which rust, moth, thief, cannot take away; for life which is more worth than wealth, for eternal life which is more durable than wealth. If you do not thus by your wealth, lay up a foundation to eternal life, your thick clay will load you with many sorrows, and drown you in destruction and perdition. You have your wealth for this end, you have your life and salvation with this homage, and quit-rent upon it. If you do not give, you shall not live; if you do not do good, you shall not receive good; if you do not lay out, you shall not lay up. Here is your option, keep your money, and perish with it; return it to Heaven, and be gainers by it. If you love God, or your neighbor, or yourselves, or your very riches themselves; do good, be rich in good works, you do not only comfort your brother, but you keep your God; you save yourselves, you lengthen your lives, you preserve your estates to all eternity.

Finis.