114 Reflections on a covetous Defire of Earthly Riches. Sect. 112. 14. Ver. 15. IMPROVEMENT. MOS OST prudently did our Lord decline the invidious Office of an Arbitrator in Civil Affairs; and Wisdom will require his Minifters, Luke xii. 13, generally to avoid it likewise. It is more fuitable to our Office, like our Bleffed Mafter, to endeavour to draw off and difengage the Minds of Men from Covetousness, and to pluck up the Root of thofe eager Contentions, which fo often divide even the nearest Relations, and infpire them with mutual Averfions, more invincible than the Bars of a Caftle. (Prov. xviii. 19.) And that a Covetous Defire of the Enjoyments of the World may not create Contentions, and engage us in Purfuits that will be fatal to our Souls, let us seriously confider the true Value of Things, and reflect how little Riches can do to make us happy, if we obtain them; and how very uncertain that Life is, on the Continuance of which our Poffeffion of them does fo evidently depend. But alas, how many are there, who are now Ver. 16, & as deeply engaged in their Worldly Schemes, as this Rich Fool in the PaSeq. rable; to whom GOD will, in a few Weeks, or Days, if not this very Night, fay by the awful Voice of his irrefiftible Providence, Thy Soul is required of thee! And then, what will all these Treasures do, to purchase Life, or to allay the Agonies of Death? So far will they be found from being capable of this, that they will rather ferve to increase and imbitter the Surprize and Anguifh of thofe Agonies. Ver. 20. -Ver. 21. Let it then be our Labour and Care, that we may be rich towards GOD; rich in Works of Piety and Charity. So fhall we fafely confign over our Treasure to the Bank of Heaven; and shall be inriched by it, when we leave the World as naked as we entered upon it, and lofe all but what has been fo wifely and happily spent. Sect. 113. SECT. CXIII. CHRIST repeats the Cautions and Arguments against an Anxious and Covetous Temper, which he had formerly given in his Sermon on the Mount. Luke XII. 22,---34. T ciples, Therefore I fay unto HUS Jefus cautioned his Followers against AND he faid unto his Difsetting their Hearts on Worldly Treasures; Luke XII. but as moft of them were in fuch low Circumstances, as to be in greater Danger of immoderate 22. Solici unto you, Take no Thought for your Life, what ye thall eat; neither for the Body, what ye fhall put on. Luke XII. 22. CHRIST cautions his Difciples against anxious Care. 115 Solicitude about the neceffary Supplies of Life, Sect. 113. he proceeded to caution them against this, by repeating some of those Admonitions, which he had formerly delivered in his Sermon on the Mount (a). And accordingly he faid to his Difciples, For this Caufe, i. e. confidering the great Uncertainty of Riches, I say to you, and strictly charge it upon you, that you be not anxious about your Life, what you shall eat, or how you fhall procure Food to fupport it; nor for the Body, what you shall put on to cover, defend, and adorn The Life is more than it. For you muft needs be fenfible, the Life 23 Meat, and the Body is more itself, which you have received from GoD with 23 than Raiment. 24 Confider the Ravens: for they neither fow nor reap; which neither have Storehouse nor Barn; and GOD feedeth them: How much more are ye better than the Fowls? 25 And which of you add to his Stature one Cubit? out any Care or Thoughtfulness of yours, is much And moreover, as this Care is unneceffary, it 25 26 If ye then be not able the Note on that Text, Sect. 41.) to If then you 26 cannot (a) Repeating fome of those Admonitions, &c.] Moft of the Thoughts and Expreffions ufed here, occurred before, Sect. 41. and are, I hope, fufficiently explained there. I content myself therefore with referring the Reader to it. Vol. i. pag. 251, & feq. 116 Luke XII. GOD clothes the Lillies, and will much more take Care of them. Sect. 113. cannot do the leaft Matter (b), as in this Proverbial Expreffion you grant; why are you anxious about the reft, as if you were to hold your Life by a Kind of perpetual Leafe, and were fecure against all Danger of a fudden Ejectment? 26. 27 But to pursue the Argument I began before, Do but confider GOD's Providential Care, even of the Vegetable Creation: Survey, for Inftance, the fair and beautiful Lillies, and reflect how they grow; they neither labour to prepare the Materials of their Dress, nor spin it into that curious Form; and yet Providence clothes them in fo elegant and fplendid a Manner, that I fay unto you, even Solomon, when on fome grand Festival he appeared in all his utmoft Magnificence, was not arrayed in 28 fo beautiful a White as one of these. And if GOD fo clothe and adorn the Grass of the Field, among which the Lillies grow, tho' it is [flourishtho' it is [flourish ing] To-day in all its Verdure, and by To-morrow is cut down, and thrown into the Furnace or Still, (fee Note (1) on Mat. vi. 30. Vol. i. pag. 256.) how much more [will be clothe] you, oh ye of little Faith, that thus fufpect his Care? 29 And do not you then, who are acquainted with the Care of Providence, and are particularly interested in it, be folicitous to feek what ye shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor be like Meteors in the Air, that are toffed about by every Blast of Wind, hurried with anxious Cares, and agitated with a 30 Variety of restless and uneafy Thoughts (c). For the Gentile Nations of the World, who know fuit, to do that Thing which is leaft, why take ye Thought for the reft? 27 Confider the Lilies how they grow: They toil not, they spin not: and yet I fay unto you, that Solomon in all his Glory was not arrayed like one of these. (b) If then you cannot do the leaft Matter.] This proves, that to add one Cubit to a Thing, was a Proverbial Expreffion, for making the leaft Addition to it. (c) Nor be agitated with reftlefs Thoughts.] After all the various and perplexed Things, which Criticks have faid on this Word, uelewpade, (of which a very large Account may be seen in the learned Wolfius,) the Senfe I have taken is the moft fimple, and especially here, the most natural. The Authorities produced by Elfner, (Obferv. Vol. i. pag. 233, 234.) and feveral of thofe mentioned by Raphelius, (Annot. ex Xen. pag. 97, 98.) feem to me to favour this Senfe, tho' fome of them are produced to eftablish another. It appears from them, that any Speculations and Mufings, in which the Mind fluctuates, or is fufpended in an uneasy Hesitation, might well be expreffed by fuch a Word. (d) Takes knoweth that ye have Need of these Things. 117 Luke XII. They fhould feek the Kingdom of GOD, and Treafure in Heaven. fuit, and furnished with a more fubftantial Sup- Sect. 113. port against fuch Anxieties, in that Paternal Relation which GOD avows to you; and as your Heavenly Father well knows that you have Need of thefe Things, he will certainly provide them for you in a proper Degree. Leave them therefore 31 unto you. 31 But rather feek ye the Kingdom of GOD, and all thefe Things fhall be added to his Care, and low as your Condition is, be not uneafy and difquieted about them; but feek ye rather the Kingdom of GOD, and labour to promote its Interest among Men; and then you may be fecure, not only that you fhall obtain that most important Prize, but likewife that all these other neceffary Things fhall be added to you, without your Anxiety. (Compare Mat. vi. 31,-33. Vol. i. pag. 256.) 32 Fear not, little Flock; for it is your Father's good Kingdom. .30. I repeat the encouraging Thought; Fear not, 32 Pleafure to give you the ye little Flock, my dear Property and Charge, however feeble you may feem; fear not, I fay, that you fhall be left deftitute of these common Bleffings of Divine Providence; for it is your Heavenly Father's gracious Pleafure to give you what is infinitely more valuable, even the Kingdom of Eternal Glory: And can you poffibly imagine, that while he intends to bestow that upon you, and even takes Pleasure in the Thought of making you fo great and happy there (d), he will refuse you thofe Earthly Supplies, which he liberally imparts even to Strangers and Enemies? 33 Sell that ye have, and give Alms: provide your with a felves Animated therefore by fuch a Hope and Con- 33. fidence, instead of being folicitous to increase your Poffeffions to the utmost, rather be prepared, when Providence shall call you to it, to fell what you already (d) Takes Pleasure in the Thought of making you fo great and happy there.] This is the beautiful and wonderful Import of the Word Eudoxnov in this Connection; which generally fignifies, a pleasurable Acquiefcence. And agreeably to this, it is most edifying and delightful to obferve, how GOD is reprefented in Scripture, as enjoying his own Prefcience, as it were, peculiar Relifh, in the View of thofe Glories, which he has prepared for his People.. Hence thofe emphatical Phrafes of Wisdom's rejoicing in the habitable Parts of the Earth, or in the Profpect and Idea of them, before they were actually made; (Prov. viii. 31.) of GOD's knowing the Thoughts he thinks towards his People (Jer. xxix. 11.) and of his rejoicing. over them with Joy, and filently refting in his Love to them; (Zeph. iii. 17.) The Tenderness and Energy of innumerable Scriptures depends on this Remark; and many of thofe relating to Election, Predeftination, &c. which have been as dry Rods of Controverfy, when confidered in this View, bud out into a thoufand fair Leaves, and fragrant Bloffoms of Hope and Joy. (e) Sell 118 Luke XII. 33. Reflections on the Reafon we have to caft all our Care upon GOD Sect. 113. already have, and diftribute [it] in Charity (e); that fo you may make for yourselves Purfes which do not grow old and wear out (f), even a neverfailing Treafure in Heaven, that Region of Security and Immortality, where no Thief approaches, to plunder the Riches of its Inhabitants, nor does the Moth corrode and spoil the Robes of Glory in 34 which they appear. And you should be more careful on this Head, because you may depend upon it, that where that which you account your chief Treafure is laid up, there will your Heart be allo fixed, and the whole Tenor of your Thoughts and Affections will naturally flow in that Channel. (Compare Mat. vi. 20, 21. Vol. i. pag. 252.) Luke xii. 22, 29. Ver. 27, Ver. 24. Ver. 30. Ver. 23. Ver. 32. A felves Bags which wax not old, a Treafure in the Hea vens that faileth not, where no Thief approacheth, neither Moth corrupteth. 34 For where your Treafure is, there will your Heart be alfo. IMPROVEMENT. RE we not all conscious to ourselves, that on fuch Topicks as these, we need Line upon Line, and Precept upon Precept, as being too deficient in our Regard, tho' GOD fpeak once, yea twice? (Job xxxiii. 28. 14.) We fee our Heavenly Father crowning the Earth with his Goodness: To this Day does he clothe the Grass, and the Flowers, with the fame Profufion of Ornament; to this Day does he feed the young Ravens when they cry; (Pfal. cxlvii. 9.) nor is the meanest Species of Infects perished. Still does he know our Neceffities; and ftill he addreffes us in the fame gracious Language, and avows the fame endearing Paternal Relation. The Experience of his Power, Goodness, and Fidelity, is increafing with every fucceeding Generation, with every revolving Day. Let us then caft all our Care on him, as being perfuaded that he careth for us. (1 Pet. v. 7.) Feeble as his little Flock is, it is the Father's good Pleafure to give us the Kingdom; and we are unworthy our Share in fo glorious a Hope, if we cannot trust him for inferior Bleffings, and refer it to him to judge, in what Manner our present Wants are to be fupplied. Let (e) Sell what you have, and diftribute it in Charity.] Thefe Words were probably as a fruitful Seed in the Minds of fome who heard them; and the liberal Sale of Eftates a few Months after, by which so many poor Chriftians were fubfifted, might be in a great measure the Harvest, which fprung up from it, under the Cultivation of the Bleffed Spirit. Nothing is more probable, than that fome of the many Myriads now attending our Lord, (ver. 1.) might be in the Number of the Thoufands then converted. See Acts ii. 41,-45. (f) Purfes which do not grow old, and wear out.] This may be fitly taken as an Allufion, to the Danger of lofing Money out of a Hole, worn in an old Purfe. Such is frequently the Gain of this World, and fo are its Treasures hoarded up: (Compare Hag. i. 6.) And the Rich Men of Judea, so soon ravaged and deftroyed by the Romans, particularly found it fo. |