them; but that is here expressly set down in several particulars, all which I shall endeavour to explain as they lie in order.

First, That they be not high-minded; a necessary caution for rich men. For riches are very apt to puff men up with vain and foolish conceits of themselves, so as to think themselves to be so much better, by how much they are richer than other people; but this is a grand inistake, which we are here enjoined to use the utmost of our power and skill to rectify, by charging them that are rich not to be high-minded; that is, not to think highly and proudly of themselves, because they are richer or wealthier than other men, but to be every way as humble in their own eyes, and as lowly-minded in the enjoyment of all temporal blessings, as if they enjoyed nothing; as considering,

I. How much soever they have, they are no way really the better for it.

1. Not in their souls; they are never the wiser nor holier, nor more acceptable unto God by their being rich, Eccles. ix. 1. Job xxxiv. 19.

2. Not in their bodies; they are never the stronger, nor healthier, nor freer from pain and trouble, nor yet longer lived than others.

3. Nor in their minds; their consciences are never the quieter, their hearts never the freer from cares and fears, neither can they sleep better than other people, Eccles. v. 12.

4. Nor yet in their estate and condition.

1. Not in this life; for riches can never satisfy them, nor by consequence make them happy; but they may still be as miserable in the enjoyment, as in the want of all things, Eccles. v. 11.

2. Nor yet in the life to come; they are never the nearer heaven, by being higher upon earth; their gold and silver can never purchase an inheritance for them in the land of Canaan, James ii. 5.

II. They are so far from being better, that they are

T

rather much worse for their having abundance here below.

1. They have more temptations to sin, to luxury, to covetousness, to the love of this world, to the neglect of their duty to God, to pride and self-conceitedness, to security and presumption, Luke xii. 19.

2. It is harder for them to get to heaven than it is for others; and by consequence, the richer they are, the more danger they are in of being miserable for ever, Matt. xix. 23. Whence our Saviour himself denounceth a woe upon them that are rich, Luke vi. 24. and St. James bids them weep and howl for their miseries, James v. 1. and therefore advises us to rejoice rather at poverty than riches, James i. 9, 10. Now these things being considered, as spoken by God himself, none can deny but that the rich are most certainly in a worse condition than the poor; and, by consequence, that men have no cause to be proud, or high minded, nor to glory in their riches, Jer. ix. 23. And therefore whatsoever outward blessings God hath bestowed upon us, let us not be high-minded, but fear, Rom. xi. 20.

Secondly, Nor trust in uncertain riches, which I confess is a very hard lesson for a rich man to learn, nothing being more difficult than to have riches, and not to trust in them, as our Saviour himself intimates, in explaining the one by the other, as things very rarely severed, Mark x. 23, 24. But certainly it is altogether as foolish a thing to trust in riches, as it is to be proud of them. For,

1. They of themselves can stand us in no stead, they cannot defend us from any evil, nor procure us any good: they cannot of themselves either feed us, or clothe us, or refresh us, or be any ways advantageous to us, without God's blessing, Prov. xi. 4. how much less can they be able to deliver us from wrath to come. No, we may take it for a certain truth, our riches may much further our eternal misery, but they can never conduce any thing to our future happiness.

2. If we trust in them, be sure they will fail us, and bring us into misery and desolation; for to trust in any thing but God, is certainly one of the highest sins we can be guilty of; it is in plain terms idolatry; and therefore he that trusteth in riches, is sure to fall, Prov. xi. 28. for this is to deny God, Job xxxi. 24, 25, 28.

3. They are but uncertain riches, they make themselves wings and fly away, Prov. xxiii. 5. They are in continual motion, ebbing and flowing, and never continuing in one stay. So that you are never sure of keeping them one day; and what reason then can we have to trust on them? especially considering, that they are not only uncertain, but uncertainty itself, as the word here signifies, Trust not in the uncertainty of riches.

But in the living God; he, he is to be the only object of our trust, whether we have or have not any thing else to trust on; or, to speak more properly, there is nothing that we can upon good grounds make our trust and confidence, but only him, who governs and disposeth of all things, according to his own pleasure. So that it is he and he alone that giveth us all things richly to enjoy. It is not our wit or policy, it is not our strength or industry, it is not our trading or trafficking in the world, it is none but God that giveth us what we have, Deut. viii. 18. Prov. x. 22. And as it is he that maketh men rich, so he can make them poor again, when he himself pleaseth; and they have cause to fear he will do so too, unless they observe what is here charged upon them.

There are four duties still behind, which we are here commanded to charge all those who are rich to observe,

I. That they do good. In treating of which I might shew the several qualifications required to the making up of an action good; as that the matter of it must be good, as commanded, or at least allowed by God; that the manner of performing it be good, as that it be done obediently, understandingly, willingly, cheerfully, humbly, and sincerely; and that the end be good too,

so as that it be directed ultimately to the glory of God. But not to insist upon that now, I shall only consider what kind of good works the rich are here commanded to do, as they are rich men. And they are two, works of piety, and works of charity.

I. They are here commanded to do works of piety: where by works of piety I mean not their loving and fearing, and honouring of God, nor yet their praying to him, their hearing his word, or praising his name, for such works of piety as these are, the poorest as well as the richest persons amongst us are bound to do; whereas the Apostle here speaks only of such works as they who are rich are bound to do, upon that account because they are so. And therefore by works of piety here, I understand such works as tend to the honour of his name, to the performance of worship and homage to him, to the encouragement of his ministers, the propagating of his Gospel, and the conversion of sinners to him; all which they are bound to do, to the utmost of their power, out of the estates which for these purposes he hath entrusted with them. For thus they are expressly commanded to honour the Lord with all their substance, or riches, and with the first-fruits of all their increase, Prov. iii. 9. And the reason is, because God is the universal proprietor, the head landlord of all the world, and we have nothing but what we hold under him; neither are we any more than tenants at will to him, who may fine us at his own pleasure, or throw us out of possession whensoever he sees good. Now lest we should forget this, even upon what tenure it is that we hold our estates, God hath enjoined us to pay him, as it were, a quit-rent, or tribute out of what we possess, as an acknowledgment that it is by his favour and blessing alone that we do possess it. So that whatsoever we do, or are able to offer to him, is but a due debt which we owe him; which if we neglect to pay him, we lose our tenure, and forfeit what we have to the Lord of the manor, the supreme Possessor of the world. Hence it

is, that in all ages, they who were truly pious, and had a due sense of God upon their hearts, were always very careful to pay this their homage unto God; insomuch, that many of them never thought they could give enough to any pious use, wherein to testify their acknowledgment of God's dominion over them, and his right and propriety in what they had. A notable instance whereof we have in the children of Israel; for when the tabernacle was to be built for the service and worship of God, they were so far from being backward in contributing towards it, that they presently brought more than could be used in the building of it, Exod. xxxvi. 5, 6, 7. So it was too in the building of the temple, which David, and the chiefs or nobles of Israel, made great preparations for, 1 Chron. xxix. 6, 7, 8. And that they did this, thereby to acknowledge God to be the Lord and Giver of all, is plain from the following words, ver. 11, 12, 13. The same was also observed in the building of the second temple, as the raising the first out of its rubbish, wherein it had lain for many years. And as for Christians, I need not tell you how forward those who have been truly pious, have always been in doing such works of piety, seeing most of the churches in Christendom, or be sure in this nation, have been erected by particular persons. And it is very observable, that the more eminent any place or age hath been for piety and devotion, the more pious works have been always done in it, for the service and worship of Almighty God; which plainly shews, that where such works are wanting, whatsoever pretences they may make, there is no such thing as true piety, and the fear of God. And therefore, as ever we desire to manifest ourselves to be what we profess, true Christians indeed, men fearing God, and hating covetousness, we must take all opportunities to express our thankfulness unto God for what we have, by devoting as much as we can of it to his service and honour.

2. Besides these works of piety towards God, the rich