The righteous mammon an hospitall-sermon preach't in the solemne assembly of the city on Munday in Easter-weeke 1618 / by Ios. Hall ... Hall, Joseph, 1574-1656. 1618 Approx. 85 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 60 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2007-01 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A02585 STC 12710.9 ESTC S2711 24529408 ocm 24529408 27762 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A02585) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 27762) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1475-1640 ; 1853:4) The righteous mammon an hospitall-sermon preach't in the solemne assembly of the city on Munday in Easter-weeke 1618 / by Ios. Hall ... Hall, Joseph, 1574-1656. [6], 113 p. Printed by Edward Griffin for Nathaniell Butter, London : 1618. Signatures: A-G⁸ H⁴. Title within ornamental border. Imperfect: cropped. Reproduction of original in the Union Theological Seminary (New York, N.Y.). Library. Includes bibliographical references. Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford. Re-processed by University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. Gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. 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Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements). Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site . eng Bible. -- N.T. -- Timothy, 1st, VI, 17 -- Sermons. Sermons, English -- 17th century. 2005-11 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2005-11 Aptara Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2006-08 Ali Jakobson Sampled and proofread 2006-08 Ali Jakobson Text and markup reviewed and edited 2006-09 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion THE RIGHTEOVS MAMMON : An Hospitall-Sermon Preach't in the solemne Assembly of the CITY on Munday in EASTER-weeke 1618. By IOS HALL D. of D. LONDON , Printed by Edward Griffin for Nathaniell Butter . 1618. TO MY MVCH HONOR'D FREND Sr HENRY BAKER Knight & Baronet . SIR , AMongst many to whom my poore labonrs owe much for their acceptation , I know none that can challenge so deepe a debt as your selfe . If others haue tasted of my well-meant papers , you haue fed heartily on them ; and so made them your owne , that your memorie may compare with others eyes , and your practise with the speculation of others : Neither haue your hand or tongue bin niggardly dissemblers of your spirituall gaine . Vnto you therefore ( to whose name I had long since in my desires deuoted my next ) do I send this meane present : A Sermon importunately desired of many : That which the present Auditors found vsefull , the Presse shall communicate to posteritie ; The gaine of either , or both is no lesse mine : I doubt not but you haue already so acted that part of this discourse which concerneth you , that the direction I giue to others is but an historie of what you haue done . And go on happily ( worthy Sir ) in those your holy courses which shall lead you to immortalitie ; and so vse your riches that they may be made vp into a crowne for your head in a better world : My hearty well-wishes shall not be wanting to you , and your vertuous Lady , as whom you haue obliged to be iustly Worcester Aprill 14. Yours Jos. HALL . 1 TIM . 6. 17. Charge them that are rich in this world , that they be not high minded , nor trust in vncertaine riches , but in the liuing God , who giueth vs richly all things to enioy . &c. THOSE things which are excellent , and beneficiall in their vse , are dangerous in their miscariage : It were lost labour for me to perswade you how good riches are : your paines and your cares are sufficient proofes of your estimation ; And how deadly the abuse of them is , many a soule feeles that cannot returne to complaine ; There is nothing more necessarie therefore , for a Christian heart , than to be rectified in the menaging of a prosperous estate ; and to learne so to be happy here , that it may be more happy hereafter ; A taske which this Text of ours vndertakes , and ( if yee be not wanting to it and your selues ) will be sure to performe : What should I neede to intreat your attention ( Right Honorable , right Worshipfull , and beloued ) to a busines so neerely concerning you ? The errand is Gods ; the vse of it yours . I neuer held it safe to pull Scripture in peeces : These words fall alone into their parts . Timothy is set vpon the spirituall Bench , and must giue the charge . A charge , to whom ? Of what ? To whom ? To the rich : Of what ? what they must auoide , what they must indeuour : What must they auoide ? Hy-mindednesse , & Trust in wealth : What are the duties they must labour vnto ? Confidence in God ; Beneficence to men : And euery one of these is backed with a reason to inforce it : Why should they not be hy-minded ? Their wealth is but in this world ; Why should they not trust in Riches ? They are vncertaine . Why should they trust in God ? He is a liuing God , and a liberall God : Why should they extend their beneficence to men ? By this they lay vp to themselues a sure foundation : Here is worke enough you see for my discourse , and your practise : The God of heauen blesse it in both our hands . Charge hath Ianus-like ) a double aspect ; one that lookes vp to S. Paul , the other that lookes downe to Timothy , and from him , to the rich : In the first there is Apostolicall superiority ; for ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) Charge thou , referres to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 verse 13. I Charge thee ; so Paul charges Timothy to charge the rich ; He that giues the Charge , if he be not the cheife of the Bench , yet hee is greater than the Iurie ; The first foundation of the Church is laid in an inequalitie ; and hath euer since so continued ; There can be no harmonie where all the strings or voices are of one tenour ; In the latter , as it looks on Timothy , it carries in it Episcopall power , Euangelicall sufficiencie : Episcopall power ; for this Charge is by the vulgar turn'd , and the Translation of the Syriac , Praecipe , command ; and so doe we translate it in the first of this Epistle , and the third verse ; Timothy was left at Ephesus ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) to command . The rich are commonly great ; Nobilitie in the account of God is ioyned with wealth ; Curse not the King in thy thought , nor the Rich in thy Bed-chamber , saith Salomon ; so Diues at whose gates Lazarus lay is by some no meane ones guessed to be Herod , or some other King ; and so are Iobs freinds termd by the seuenty ▪ Yea the rich is not onely a litle King amongst his neighbours , but Diues , quasi Diuus ; as a petty God to his vnderlings , and yet euen the rich man that ( as Salomon notes ) speakes with command vnto others , he must be spoken to with command . Command the rich . That foolish shaueling soared too hye a pitch , when in his imperious Bull he mands the Angels : Francis of Assise and hee , were both of a Diet ; But we may safely say that all powers below the Angels , are liable to our spirituall Charge ; and this Command implies obedience ; Els , to what purpose doe we command and go without ? Christ gaue vs the keyes ; ( for that which the Romanists would plead out of Origen , of Claues coeli , The keyes of heauen to the rest , and Claues coelorum , The keyes of the heauens to Peter is a distinction without a difference ) ; What becomes of them ? That I may not say on some of our hands they are suffered to rust for want of vse ; on others , ( as the Pontificians ) the wards are altered , so as they can neither open nor shut ; Sure I am that ( if they be not lost on our behalfe whether in dis-vse , or abuse ) the power of them is lost in the hearts of many : They haue secret pick-locks of their owne making , Presumption and securitie , wherby they can open heauen gates though double locked by our censures , and shut the gates of hell at pleasure , which their owne sinnes haue opened wide to receiue them ; What vse is there of vs , but in our chayre ? and there , but to be heard , and seene ? Euen in this sense spectaculo facti sumus ; we are to gaze on , not to imploy : Now yee are full , now yee are rich , yee raigne as Kings without vs ; we are weake , yee are strong ; yee are honorable , but wee are despised ; It was well noted by one , that the good father of the prodigall , though he might himselfe haue brought forth the prime robe ; or haue led his sonne into his wardrobe to take it , yet he commands his seruants to bring it forth ( Proferte stolam ) because he would bring meanes into credit ; because he would haue his sonnes beholden to his seruants for their glory . It is a bold word , but a true one , Yee shall neuer weare the long white robe , vnlesse his seruants your ministers bring it , and put it on . He that can saue you without vs , will not saue you but by vs : He hath not tyed himselfe to meanes , man he hath ; He could create you immediatly to himselfe , but hee will haue you begotten by the immortall seed of your spirituall fathers : Woe be to you therefore , if our word haue lost the power of it in you : you haue lost your right in heauen : Let vs neuer come there if you can come thither ordinarily without vs. The words of the wife ( saith Salomon ) are like goades , like nayles ; But if these goades light vpon the skin of a Leuiathan , who esteemes yron as straw , and brasse as rotten wood ; If these nayles meete with yron , or marble in their driuing , that they turne againe ; What shall we say but our Gospell is hid to them that perish ; and woe vnto your soules , for yee haue rewarded euill to your selues . Hitherto the power implyed in this charge ; the sufficiencie followeth : This Euangelicus must be parangelicus ; Like as the fore-runner of Christ had a charge for all sorts , so must his followers ; So hath Timothy in this Epistle , A charge for wiues , for Bishops , for Deacons , for widdowes , for seruants , and here for the rich ; He must charge ; and how shall he charge , if hee haue neither shot nor powder ? It is no brag to say that no Nation vnder heauen since the Gospell lookt forth into the world , euer had so many , so learned teachers as this ILAND hath at this day . Hierom said of old to his Paulinus , De Hierosôlymis & de Britannia aequaliter patet aula coelestis ; Heauen is as open in Britayne as in Hierusalem ; It holds well if you take it for a propheticall comparison betwixt Ierusalem as it had beene , and Britayne as it should be : Ierusalem the type of Gods Church vpon earth , in the glory of all her legall magnificence was neuer more blessed , then this Church of ours : For the Northerne part of it beyond the Twede , we saw not , we heard not of a Congregation ( whereof indeed there is not so great frequence ) without a preaching Minister ; and though their maintenance hath beene generally but small , yet their paines haue been great , and their successe sutable : And now lately , his sacred Maiestie in his last yeares iourney ( as if the sunne did out of compassion goe beyond his Tropick line , to giue heate vnto the Northerne climate ) hath so ordered it , that their meanes shall be answerable to their labours ; so as both Pastors and people professe themselues mutually blessed in ech other ; and blesse GOD and their KING for this blessednes : As for the learning and sufficiencie of those Teachers ( whether Prelates or Presbyters ) our eares were for some of them sufficient witnesses , and wee are not worthy of our eares , if our tongues do not thankfully proclaime it to the world . As for this Southerne part , when I cōsider the face of our Church in an vniuersalitie , mee thinks I see the firmament in a cleare night , bespangled with goodly starres of all magnitudes , that yeeld a pleasing diuersitie of light vnto the earth ; But withall , through the incōparable multitude of Cures , and the incompetent prouision of some , we cannot but see some of our people ( especially in the vtmost skirts ) like to those that liue vnder the Southerne pole , where the stars are thinner set ; & some stars there are in our Hemisphere , like those litle sparkles in the Galaxy , or Milky circle , wherein yee can scarse discerne any light ; The desire of our hearts must be that euery Congregatiō , euery soule might haue a Timothie to deliuer the charge of God powerfully vnto it ; euen with S. Pauls change of note ; That euery one which hath a charge were ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) able to giue the charge ; and euery hearer ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) ready to take it : Wherein I cannot but thankfully congratulate the happines of this famous Citie , which if in other riches it equalize the best , I am sure in this it exceeds all . There is not a Citie vnder the cope of heauen so wealthy in the spirituall prouision ; yea there are whole countreyes in Christendome , that haue not so many learned Preachers , as are within these walls and liberties ; Heare this , yee Citizens , and be not proud , but thankful ; Others may exceede you in the glory of outward structure , in the largenesse of extent , in the vniforme proportion of streets , or ornaments of Temples , but your pulpits do surpasse theirs ; & if preaching can lift vp Cities vnto heauen , yee are not vpon earth ; Happy is it for you if yee be as well fed as taught , and woe be to you if you do not thinke your selues happy . Charge then , but whom ? The rich : Man that came naked out of the wombe of the earth , was euen then so rich , that all things were his ; Heauen was his roofe or Canopy , earth his floore , the sea his pond , the Sun and Moone his torches , all creatures his vassals : And if he lost the fulnes of this lordship by being a slaue to sinne , yet we haue still Dominium gratificum , as Gerson termes it ; Euery sonne of Abraham is heire of the world : But to make vp the true reputation of wealth ( for thus , we may be as hauing all things , and possessing nothing ) another right is required besides spirituall , which is a ciuill and humane right ; wherein I doubt not but our learned Wiclef , and the famous Archbishop of Armach , and the more famous Chancelor of Paris ( three renowmed Diuines of England , France , and Ireland haue had much wrong , whiles they are accused to teach , that men in these earthly things haue no tenure but grace , no title but Charitie : which questionlesse they intended in foro interiori , in the Consistory of God , not in the Common-pleas of men ; in the Courts , not of Law , but of Conscience ; in which onely it may fall out , that the Ciuill owner may be a spirituall vsurper , and the spirituall owner may be a ciuill begger . God frames his language to ours , and speaking according to that Ius Gentium , whereon the diuision of these earthly possessions are grounded , hee calls some Rich , others , poore : Those hereticks which called themselues Apostolique ( as some body doth now at Rome ) before the time of Epiphanius & Augustine , which taught the vnlawfulnes of all earthly proprieties ; seconded in Austens time , by our country-man Pelagius , and in our times by some of the illuminate Elders of Munster ; are not worth confutation ; or , if they were , our Apostle hath done it to our hands , in this one word , Rich ; for there can be neither Rich nor poore in a communitie ; Neither doth he say , Charge men that they be not rich , but Charge the rich that they be not hye-minded . With these , let vs couple our ignorant Votaries , that place holinesse in want ; with whom , their very crosses cannot deliuer their coyne from sinne ; which , to make good the old rule , that it is better to giue then to receiue , giue all they haue away at once , for but a licence to begge for euer . Did these men euer heare that the Blessing of God maketh rich ? That the wings of riches carry them vp to heauen ? That the crowne of the wise is their wealth ? Doe they not know that if Lazarus were poore , yet Abraham was rich , and Pium pauperem suscepit sinus diuitis ; It was the happines of poore Lazarus that he was lodged in the bosome of rich Abraham . I am no whit afraid , ( ô yee rich Citizens ) least this paradoxe of our holy Mendicants shall make you out of loue with your wealth ; I feare some of you would be rich , though ye might not ; Now wee tell you from him , whose title is Rich in mercy , that yee may be at once Rich and holy ; In diuitijs cupiditatem reprehendit , non facultatem saith Austen : It is a true word of the sonne of Sirach , which I would haue you carry home with you , and write it as a fit Motto , in your Counting-house ; Bona est substantia , si non sit peccatum in conscientia ; Substance doth well in the hand , if there be not euill in the heart . Ecclesiasticus 13. 25. Charge the Rich ; Who are they ? There is nothing wherein is greater mesprison . One man in a Laodicean conceitednes thinks himselfe rich , when he hath nothing ; Another , in a couetous humor thinks he hath nothing , when he is rich ; and how easie is it for another man to mistake vs , if we may thus easily mistake our selues ? I feare some of you are like the Pageants of your great solemnities , wherein there is the show of a solid body , whether of a Lyon , or Elephant , or Vnicorne , but if they be curiously look't into , there is nothing but cloth , and sticks , and ayre ; Others of you contrarily are like a dissembling Couent , that professes pouerty , & purchases Lordships ; The very same did Salomon obserue in his time , in the great Burgomasters of Ierusalem Pro. 13. 7. For the auoyding of both extremes , let vs inquire who is rich . And tho greatnes and riches be in the ranke of those things , which are held to haue no absolute determination , but consist rather in respect & comparison ( for a rich Farmer is yet poore to a rich Merchant , and a rich Merchant is but poore to a Prince , and he to some great Emperor ; That great Mammonist would say he is rich that can maintaine an Armie , a poore man would say according to that Italian inscription , He is rich that wants not bread ) ; Yet certainly there are certaine generall stakes and bounds , which diuide betwixt pouerty and competence , betwixt competency and wealth ; As there were variety of shekels among the Iewes , yet there was one shekell of the Sanctuarie that varied not ; Who then is rich ? I must giue you a double answer ; One will not serue ; The one according to true moralitie , the other according to vulgar vse : In the first he is rich that hath enough , whether the world thinke so or not ; Euen Esau tho he were poore in grace , yet in estate he was rich , I haue enough my brother ; And he that said , Soule thou hast goods enow for many yeares , was almost so ; It was not his fault that he thought he had enough , but that he meant to lye downe , and wallow in it . A mans wealth or pouertie is most-what in himselfe ; And though nature haue professed to read vnto heathen men this lesson of wise moderation , yet it hath beene seldome seene that any thing but true piety , hath taught them to take it out ; Godlinesse is great gaine with contentment : Victus & vestitus diuitiae Christianorum , saith Hierom : Food and rayment are the Christians wealth ; Those men therefore , which are still in the horse leeches note , sucking and crauing ; which like Pharaohs leane kine are euer feeding , and neuer the fatter , are as farre from true wealth , as they would be from pouertie , and further I am sure they cannot be , and not further from wealth then godlinesse ; Hauing is the measure of outward wealth , but it is thinking that must measure the inward ; thoughts , I say , of contentment , cheerefullnes , and thankfulnes , which if yee want , it is not either or both the Indyes that can make you rich . In the latter , he is rich that hath more then enough , whether he thinke so or no ▪ He that hath the possession ( whether ciuill , or naturall ) of more then necessarie : Now if necessarie and superfluous seeme as hard to define as rich ; know there are iust limits for both the●●● Superfluous is defined by necessarie ; for what is 〈◊〉 necessarie , is superfluous : There is then a double necessarie ; One of nature , the other of estate : That is necessarie to nature without which we cannot liue , that to estate , without which we cannot liue well : That is necessarie to estate , which were superfluous to nature ; and that which were superfluous to nature , is not so much as necessary to estate ; Nature goes single , and beares litle breadth ; Estate goes euer with a traine ; The necessitie of nature admits litle difference , especially for quantities ; the necessitie of estate requires as many diuersities , as there are seuerall degrees of humane conditions , and seuerall circumstances in those degrees . Iustly therefore doe the Scholemen and Casuists teach , that this necessarie to the decencie of estate doth not confist in puncto indiuiduo , but hath much latitude ; That is necessarie to scarlet , which to russet were superfluous ; that is but necessarie to a Nobleman , which to an Esquire were superfluous ; That were ●●pe●fluous to a Pere , which to a Prince is but necessary : That is necessary to the father of a familie , which to a single man were superfluous : Neither doth this necessitie looke onely to the present , but to the future ; not to what may be ( which were an endlesse prospect ) but to what must be , the mariage of a daughter , the education of a sonne , the honest prouision for posteritie : He that in a iust estimate can goe beyond the bounds of this necessary , enters into the superfluous estate , and may well passe with the world for rich . Such a one is rich ; let him looke how he became so : That God which can allow you to be rich , will not allow you alwaies to your wealth : He hath set vp a golden goale , to which hee allowes you all to runne , but yee must keepe the beaten rode of honestie , iustice , charity , and truth ; if yee will leaue this path , and will be crossing ouer a shorter cut through by-wayes of your owne , yee may be rich with a vengeance . The heathen Poet ( one of them whom S. Paul cited ) could obserue ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) which Salomon translates to vs Prou. 28. 20. He that makes hast to be rich shall not be innocent . If you haue filled your bags with fraud , vsury , extortion , this gaine may be hony in your mouth , but it will be grauell in your throat , and poyson in your soule : There are some meanes of wealth in an ill name , as those two trusty seruants of Mammon , vse and brocage ; there are others as bad as they , litle said to : Since I speake to Citizens , let mee be bold to say , there is not so errand vsury in letting of money , as in sale of wares . This oppression is both more , & more vniuersall . There are two maximes that doe vsually mis-lead men of Trafique , all the world ouer ; The one i , Res valet quanti vendi potest , A thing is worth what it may be sold for ; The other , Caueat emptor , At the buyers perill : The one is in regard of the price , the other in regard of the qualitie of the wares . In the first , whereas our Casuists haue set three prices , low , meane , rigorous , they super adde a fourth , excessiue ; and thinke they may lawfully get what they can : Whereas they shall once finde , that as the rigorous price is a straine of charity , so the excessiue is a violation of iustice ; neither doth this gaine differ ought from theft , but that it is honested by a faire cozenage . In the second ; It matters not how defectiue the measure be , how vicious the substance , how false the kinde , let this be the buyers care ; No man is bound to buy , no man can do wrong to himselfe ; Such wares must be put off , ( perhaps not to customers ) with concealment of faults , if not with protestations of faultlesnes . In Salomons time , It is naught , it is naught said the buyer , & when he was gone apart , he boasted ; But now , It is good , it is good , saith the seller , and when the buyer is gone , he boasteth of his deceit . Let mee appeale to your bosomes , if these two , Excesse of price , and Deficiency of worth haue not beene the most seruiceable factors to bring in some of your wealth ; And let me tell you , if these be guilty of your gaines , you may mis-name your trades , Mysteries , but sure these tricks are mysteries of iniquitie . It were enuious and infinite to arraigne the seuerall sciences of their adulteration and fraud ; let mee rather shut them all vp together in that fearefull sentence of wise Salomon , Vhe gathering of treasures by a deceitfull tongue , is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seeke death : and ( if yee please ) read on in the next verse , The robbery of the wicked shall destroy them . Search your chests , search your hearts ( ô all yee that heare me this day ) and if any of you finde any of this adulterine gold amongst your heapes , away with it , as ye loue your selues , away with it ; Else know that ( as Chrysostome wittily ) yee haue lockt vp a theefe in your counting-house , which will carry away all , and if yee looke not to it the sooner , your soules with it . Rich , In this world , not Of it . As S. Iohn distinguisheth of being in the Church , and being of it , so doth S. Paul of the world ; Those are the rich of the world which are worldlings in heart , as well as in estate ; Those are rich in the world , whose estate is below , whose hearts are aboue : The rich of the world are in it , but the rich in the world are not of it : Maruell not there should be so much difference in litle particles ; The time was when this very difference of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , set the the whole world together by the eares in the controuersie of Eutyches , and Dioscorus ; and here , you see there is no lesse distance betweene them , then betwixt heauen and earth : If Timothy , or S. Paul either , should haue charged the rich of the world hee had charmed a deafe adder ; Yea perhaps euen with this charge ( like a rustie or ill-wrought peece ) they had recoyled in his face with those Athenians , What will this babler say ? The Prophet is a foole , the spirituall man is mad , as they say in the Prophet : There is no good to be done on a worldly heart ; it is both hard and cold ; Let the Smith strike a barre new-come out of the fire ( though it be yron ) it bowes , let him strike on his anvile neuer so long , there is no impression , but rather a rebound of the stroke : The maker of all hearts tells vs , that the vnregenerate man hath Cor lapideum , an heart of stone , and to what purpose do we with our venerable Countryman preach to an heape of stones ? Will yee haue the reason why we preach our selues hoarse and dead , and preuaile not ? The world is in mens eares , the world is in their hearts ; and they are not in the world , but of it ; and there can be nothing in them that are of the world , but that which is enmitie to God ; and that which God repayes with enmity , so as there is no way for them but perishing with the world : It is for those onely whose hearts are not in their bags , to receiue the charge from God for their wealth , and to returne glory to him by it : To these ( whereof I hope here are many before mee ) must Timothies charge , and my speech be directed : Let these heare their condition first , and then their dutie : Their condition , They are rich , but In this world ; For distinction , for limitation ; one implyes the estate of their riches , the other the time . Their estate , as learned Beza , that they are but worldly riches . The very word imports that there are other riches , not of the world ; as Austen distinguishes of Pauper in animo , and in sacculo ; poore in minde , and in purse ; so may we of the rich : There is a spirituall wealth , as well as a secular ; and so true and precious is the spirituall , that the secular wealth is but starke beggery to it ; This outward wealth is in acres of earth , in the bowels of the earth , the fruits of the earth , beasts of the earth ; and all of it is valued by peeces of earth , and one mouth-full of earth makes an end of all ; Who knowes not that Earth is the basest peece of the world , and yet earth is at the end of all these riches , and all of them end in the earth : See what it is that the world dotes and dreames of ( for these earthly hopes , as the diuine Philosopher said , are but dreames of the waking ) euen Nebuchadnezzars image , a composition of mettals , and the foote of all is clay . Earthly men tread vpon their felicitie , and yet haue not the wit to contemne it and to seeke a better , which is the spirituall wealth ; the cabinet whereof is the soule , and the treasure in it , God himselfe . Oh happy resolution of that blessed Father , Omnis mihi copia , quae Deus meus non est , egestas est , All wealth besides my God , is penury . Ambiant terrena , saith another , Let the Gentiles seeke after earthly things which haue no right to heauenly , let them desire the present , which beleeue not the future ; The Christians wealth is his Sauiour , and how can he complaine of measure that hath the author of all ? What should I need to say more of the Christian heart , He is rich in God ; and therefore well may he sing that contented ditty of the Psalmist , Funes ceciderunt mihi in praeclaris , My lot is falne in a good ground , and I haue a goodly heritage : Oh that it could be our ambition that Nazianzen reports of his Philagrius , lutum contemnere , to scorne this base and ( pardon an homely word ) dirty God of the world , and to aspire vnto the true riches ; and when Satan shall offer to greaze vs in the fist to remit but a litle of the rigor of a good conscience , we could cast it in his face with S. Peters indignation , Thy gold and thy siluer perish with thee . The estate of wealth is not more described by this world , then the time ; For ( a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) when it is absolutely spoken , be , as the Philosopher ( b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) yet when it is restrained with a ( c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) it is scarce a time ; and at the most , is turned iustly seculum à sequendo , as Isidore . Like as the same word in the Hebrew that signifies eternitie , at other times signifies but fifty yeares , the compasse of a Iubilee ; So as ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) is but the space of humane life , which how short soeuer , is the vtmost extent of the vse of worldly riches . Wealth is like vnto words , by imposition , not naturall ; for commodities are as they are commonly valued ; we know bracelets of glasse , and copper chaines , and litle bells , and such like trifles are good merchandise somwhere , though contemptible with vs ; and those things which the Indians regard not , Europe holds precious : What are coynes where their vse and valuation ceases ? The Patars , and Souses , and Deniers , and Quart-d'escus that are currant beyond the water , serue but for counters to vs : Thus it is with all our wealth : Consider I beseech you that all our Crownes , and Soueraynes , and Peeces , and halfe-peeces , and Duckets , and double Duckets are currant but to the brim of the graue , there they cease ; and we iustly laugh at the folly of those Easterne pagans , which put coyne into the dead mans hand for his prouision in another world : What should we doe therefore , if we will be prouident trauelers , but make ouer our money here , to receiue it by exchange in the world to come ; It is our Sauiours counsell , Make you friends of the vnrighteous Mammon , that they may receiue you into euerlasting habitations : And as a Father sayes sweetly , If yee will be wise merchants , thrifty and happy vsurers , part with that which yee cannot keepe , that you may gaine that which yee cannot loose ; Which that yee may do , both in preparation of minde , and ( when neede is ) in a charitable abdication , harken to the Duties which GOD layes vpon you . The remouall of euill must make roome for good ; First therefore our Apostle would haue our hearts cleared of euill dispositions , then setled in good : The euill dispositions that doe commonly attend wealth , are Pride and Mis-confidence : Against these our Apostle bendeth his charge ; That they be not hye-minded ; That they trust not in vncertaine riches . For the first ; It is strange to see how this earthly drosse , which is of it selfe heauy , and therfore naturally sinks downeward , should raise vp the heart of man ; and yet it commonly carries a man vp , euen to a double pitch of Pride , one aboue others , the other aboue himselfe , Aboue others in contempt , aboue himselfe in ouer-weening ; The poore and proud is the Wise-mans monster , but the proud and rich are no newes : It is against all reason that mettals should make difference of reasonable men , of Christians ; for as that wise Law-giuer said , A free man can be valued at no price ; Yet Salomon noted in his time , The rich rules the poore ; not the wise ; and Siracides in his , The rich speaks proudly , and what fellow is this ? and S. Iames in his , The man with the gold ring lookes to sit hyest . And not to cast backe our eyes , Doe yee not see it thus in our times ? If a man be but worth a foot-cloth , how big hee lookes on the inferior passengers ? and if he haue purchased a litle more land , or title then his neighbours , you shall see it in his garbe ; If he command , it is imperiously , with sirrah , and fellow ; If he salute , it is ouerly , with a surly and silent nod ; if he speake , it is oracles ; if hee walke , it is with a grace ; if he controll , it is in the killing accent ; if he intertaine , it is with insolence , and whatsoeuer he doth , he is not as he was , nor , as the Pharisee sayes , like other men . He looks vpon vulgar men , as if they were made to serue him , and should thinke themselues happy to be commanded ; and if he be crossed a litle , he swells like the sea in a storme ; Let it be by his equall , he cares more for an affront , then for death , or hell ; Let it by his inferiour , ( although in a iust cause ) that man shall be sure to be crusht to death for his presumption : And alas when all is done , after these hye termes , all this is but a man , and ( God knowes ) a foolish one too , whom a litle earthly trash can affect so deeply . Neither doth this pride raise a man more aboue others , then aboue himself ; And what wonder is it if he will not know his poore neighbours , which hath forgotten himselfe ? As Saul was changed to another man presently vpon his anointing , so are men vpon their aduancement ; and according to our ordinary prouerbe , Their good and their bloud rises together ; Now it may not be taken as it hath beene ; Other cariage , other fashions are fit for them ; Their attire , fare , retinue , houses , furniture displease them , new must be had ; together with coaches , and lacquaies , and all the equipage of greatnes : These things ( that no man mistake me ) I mislike not ; they are fit for those that are fit for them . Charity is not strait-laced , but yeelds much latitude to the lawfull vse of indifferent things ; ( although it is one of Salomons vanities that seruants should ride on horse-backe , and he tells vs it becomes not a swine to be ringd with gold ) but it is the heart that makes all these euill ; when that is puft vp with these windy vanities , and hath learned to borrow that part of the Deuils speech , All these things are mine ; and can say with him that was turnd into a beast , Is not this great Babel that I haue built , or with that other patterne of pride , I sit as a Queene , I am , and there is none beside me , now all these turne into sinne . The bush that hangs out , showes what we may looke for within ; Whither doth the conceit of a litle inheritance transport the Gallants of our time ? O God , what a world of vanity hast thou reserv'd vs to ? I am asham'd to thinke that the Gospell of Christ should be disgraced with such disguised clyents . Are they Christians , or Antickes in some Carnevale , or childrens puppets that are thus dressed ? Pardon , I beseech you , men , brethren , and fathers , this my iust and holy impatience , that could neuer expresse it selfe in a more solemne assembly ( although I perceiue those whom it most concernes , are not so deuout as to be present ) . Who can without indignation looke vpon the prodigyes , which this mis-imagination produces in that other sexe , to the shame of their husbands , the scorne of religion , the damnation of their own soules . Imagine one of our fore-fathers were aliue againe , and should see one of these his gay daughters walke in Cheapside before him ; what doe you thinke hee would thinke it were ? Here is nothing to be seene but a verdingale , a yellow ruffe , and a periwig , with perhaps some fether wauing in the top ; three things for which he could not tell how to finde a name : Sure , he could not but stand amazed to thinke what new creature the times had yeelded since he was a man : And if then he should runne before her , to see if by the fore-side he might guesse what it were , when his eyes should meet with a poudred firzle , a painted hide shadowed with a fan not more painted , brests displayd , and a loose lock erring wantonly ouer her shoulders , betwixt a painted cloth , and skin , how would he yet more blesse himselfe to thinke , what mixture in nature could be guilty of such a monster . Is this ( thinks he ) the flesh and blood , is this the hayre , is this the shape of a woman ? or hath nature repented of her worke since my daies , and begun a new frame ? It is no maruell if their forefathers could not know them ; God himselfe that made them , will neuer acknowledge that face he neuer made , the hayre that he neuer made theirs , the body that is asham'd of the maker , the soule that thus disguises the body ; Let me therefore say to these Dames , as Benet said to Totilaes seruant , Depone filia quod portas , quia non est tuum ; Lay downe that yee weare , it is none of your owne : Let me perswade them ( for that can worke most ) that they do all this in their own wrong : All the world knowes that no man will rough cast a marble wall , but mud , or vnpolisht ragge : That beauty is like truth , neuer so glorious , as when it goes plainest ; that false art in stead of mending nature , marres it : But if none of our perswasions can preuaile ; Heare this yee garish popingayes of our time , if you will not be ashamed to cloth your selues in this shamelesse fashion , God shall cloth you with shame and confusion : Heare this , yee plaister-faced Iezebels , if you will not leaue your dawbing and your hye washes , God shall one day wash them off with fire and brimstone . I grant , it is not wealth alone that is accessary to this pride ; there are some that ( with the Cynick , or that worse dog , the patch't Cistertian ) are proud of raggs ; there are others , that are rich of nothing but clothes , somewhat like to Nazianzens country of Ozizala , that abounded in flowers , but was barren of corne ; Their clothes are more worth then all the rest ; as we vse to say of the Elder , that the flower of it , is more worth then all the tree besides ; but if there be any other causes of our hye-mindednesse , wealth is one , which doth ordinarily lift vp our heads , aboue our selues , aboue others ; and if there be here any of these empty bladders , that are pufft vp with the winde of conceit , giue me leaue to pricke them a litle ; and first , let me tell them they may haue much , and be neuer the better ; The chimnye ouer-lookes all the rest of the house , is it not ( for all that ) the very basest peece of the building ? The very heathen man could obserue ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 &c. ) That God giues many a man wealth for their greater mischeife ; As the Israelites were rich in Quailes , but their sawce was such , that famine had been better ; litle cause had they to be proud that they were fed with meat of Princes , with the bread of Angels , whiles that which they put into their mouthes , God fetcht out of their nosthrils . Haman was proud that he alone was called to the honor of Esters feast , this advancement raysd him fifty cubits hyer , to a stately gibbet ; If your wealth be to any of you an occasion of falling , if your gold be turned into fetters , it had beene better for you to haue liued beggers . Let me tell them next , of the folly of this Pride ; They are proud of that which is none of theirs . That which law , and case-diuinitie speakes of life , that man is not dominus vitae suae sed custos , is as true of wealth : Nature can tell him in the Philosopher , that hee is not Dominus but Colonus , not the Lord but the farmer : It is a iust obseruation of Philo , that God onely by a propriety is stiled the possessor of heauen and earth , by Melchisedech , in his speech to Abraham ; We are onely the Tenants , and that at the will of the Lord ; At the most ( if we will as Diuines ) we haue ius ad rem , not dominium in rem , right to these earthly things , not lordship ouer them ; but right of fauour from their proprietarie , and Lord in heauen , and that liable to an account : Doe wee not laugh at the groome that is proud of his Masters horse , or some vaine whiffler , that is proud of a borrowed chaine ? So ridiculous are we to be pufft vp with that , whereof we must needs say , with the poore man , of the hatchet , Alas master it is but borrowed ; and whereof our account shall be so much more great , and difficult , as our receit is more ; Hath God therefore laded you with these earthly riches , be yee like vnto the full eare of corne , hange downe your heads in true humilitie towards that earth from which you came : And if your stalke be so stiffe , that it beares vp aboue the rest of your ridge , looke vp to heauen , not in the thoughts of pride , but in the humble vowes of thankfulnes , and bee not hye-minded , but feare . Hitherto of the hye-mindednesse that followes wealth ; Now where our pride is , there will be our confidence ; As the wealthy therefore may not be proud of their riches , so they may not trust in them ; What is this trust , but the setting of our hearts vpon them , the placing of our ioy and contentment in them ; in a word , the making of them our best freind , our patron , our idoll , our God ? This the true and ielous God cannot abide , and yet nothing is more ordinarie ; The rich mans wealth is his strong Citie , saith Salomon , and where should a man thinke himselfe safe but in his fort ? He sees Mammon can doe so much , and heares him talke of doing so much more , it is no maruell if he yeeld to trust him , Mammon is so proud a boaster , that his clients which beleeue in him , cannot choose but be confident of him ; For what doth he not brag to do ? Siluer answers to all , saith Salomon ; That wee grant ; although we would be loath it could answer to Truth , to iustice , to iudgment : But yet more , he vaunts to procure all , to pacifie all , to conquer all ; He sayes he can procure all , secular offices , titles , dignities ; yea ( I would I might not say in some sacrilegious and periur'd wretches ) the sacred promotions of the Church ; and yee know that old song of the Pope , and his Roman trafique , Claues , Altaria , Christum : Yea foolish Magus makes full account the Holy Ghost himselfe may be had for money : He sayes he can pacifie all ; A gift in the bosome appeaseth wrath ; yea he saies ( looke to it yee that sit in the seates of iudicature ) he can sometimes bribe off sins , and peruert iudgment : He saies he can ouercome all , according to the old Greeke verse , Fight with siluer launces , and you cannot faile of victory ; yea he would make vs beleeue he thought this a baite to catch the sonne of God himselfe withall ( All these will I giue thee ) , breifly hee saies according to the French prouerbe , Siluer does all ; And let me tell you indeed , what Mammon can doe ; He can barre the gates of heauen , hee can open the gates of hell to the vnconscionable soule , and helpe his followers to damnation : This he can doe ; but for other things , howsoeuer with vs men , the foolish Siluer-smiths may shout out , Great is Mammon of the worldlings , yet if we weigh his power aright , we shall conclude of Mammon ( as Paracelsus doth of the Deuill ) that he is a base and beggerly spirit : For what I beseech you , can he doe ? Can he make a man honest ? can he make him wise ? can hee make him healthfull ? Can he giue a man to liue more merrily , to feed more heartily , to sleep more quietly ? Can hee buy off the gout , cares , death , much lesse the paines of another world ? nay , doth he not bring all these ? Goe to then , thou rich man ; God is offended with thee , and meanes to plague thee with disease and death ; Now try what thy bags can do ; Begin first with God , & see whether thou canst bribe him with thy gifts , and buy off his displeasure ; Wherewith shalt thou come before the Lord and bow thy selfe before the hye God ? will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams , or with ten thousand riuers of oyle ? The siluer is mine , and the gold is mine , saith the Lord of hosts , Haggai 2. If that speed not , go to the sergeant of God , death ; see if thou canst fee him , not to arrest thee ; He lookes thee sternely in the face , and tells thee with Ehud hee hath a message to thee from God ; and bids thee with the Prophet set thine house in order , for thou must dye ; Yet , if he heare thee not , goe to the vnder-bayliffe of Death , disease , see if hee can bee wrought to forbeare thee ; he answers thee with Laban , This thing is proceeded of the Lord I cannot therefore say to thee euill or good . In summe , Disease will summon thee vnto death ; Death will arrest thee to the iudgment seat of God , God will passe his doome vpon thee , and in all these Riches auaile not in the day of wrath : And who would be so mad as to trust a freind that he knowes will be sure neuer to faile him , but when hee hath most neede ? Take heede therefore , as yee loue your soules , how yee bestow your Trust vpon riches ; Yee may vse them , and serue your selues of them ; yea yee may enioy them in a Christian moderation ; God will allow it you : That praise which the Iesuites Colledge at Granado giues of their Sanchez , that ( though hee liued where they had a very sweet garden ) yet he was neuer seene to touch a flower , and that he would rather dye then eat salt , or pepper , or ought that might giue rellish to his meat ; like as that of some other Monks , that they would not see the sunne , nor shift their clothes , nor cleanse their teeth , carries in it more superstition and austeritie and slouenry , then wit or grace : Wherefore hath God made his creatures but for vse ? This niggardlines is iniurious to the bounty of their maker ; we may vse them , we may not trust to them ; we may serue our selues of them , we may not serue them ; we may inioy them , we may not ouer-ioy in them ; So must wee be affected to our goods , as Theoderic the good King of Aquitayne , was with his play , In bonis iactibus tacet , in malis ridet , in neutris irascitur , in vtrisque philosophatur ; In good casts hee was silent , in ill , merry ; in neither angry , a philosopher in both . But if we will be making our wealth a riuall vnto God , now the ielousie of God shall burne like fire ; this is the way to bring a curse vpon our riches , and vs ; If we leane vpon this reed , it shall breake , and runne into our hand ; and he that trusteth in riches shall fall . Prou. 11. 28. Now as the disdainfull riuall will be sure to cast reproches vpon his base competitor ; so doth God , that we may see how vnworthy riches are of our trust , he tells vs they are vncertaine , yea vncertainty it selfe . Were our wealth tyed to our life , it were vncertaine enough ; what is that but a flower , a vapor , a tale , a dreame , a shadow , a dreame of a shadow , a thought , as nothing ? What are great men but like hailstones , that leape vp on the Tiles , & straight fall downe againe , & lye still , & melt away ? But now , as we are certaine that our riches determine with our vncertaine life ( for goods and life are both in a bottom , both are cast away at once ; ) so we cannot be certaine they will hold so long ; Our life flies hastily away , but many times our riches haue longer wings , and out-flie it ; It was a witty obseruation of Basil that wealth roles along by a man , like as an heddy streame glides by the banks ; Time will molder away the very banke it washeth , but the current stayes not for that , but speeds forward from one elbow of earth vnto another ; so doth our wealth euen while wee stay , it is gone ' In our penall lawes , there are more waies to forfait our goods , then our liues ; On our hye waies , how many fauorable theeues take the purse , and saue the life ? And generally , our life is the tree , our wealth is the leaues , or fruit ; the tree stands still when the leaues are fallne , the fruit beaten downe ; Yea many a one is like the Pine-tree , which ( they say ) if his barke be pulld off lasts long , else it rots ; so doth many a man liue the longer for his losses ; If therefore life and wealth striue whether is more vncertaine , wealth will sure carry it away . Iob was yesterday the richest man in the East ; to day he is so needy that he is gone into a prouerb , As poore as Iob : Belisarius the great and famous Commander , to whom Rome owed her life twise at least , came to Date obolū Belisario ; one halfe-penny to Belisarius . What do I instance ? This is a point wherein many of you Citizens , that are my auditors this day , might rather read a lecture vnto mee ; You could tell mee how many you haue knowne , reputed in your phrase , goodmen , which all on the sudden haue shut vp the shop windowes , & broken for thousands ; You could reckon vp to mee a catalogue of them , whom either casualty of fire , or inundation of waters , or robbery of theeues , or negligence of seruants , or suretyship for frends , or ouersight of reckonings , or trusting of customers , or vnfaithfulnes of Factors , or inexpected falls of markets , or pyracie by sea , or vnskilfulnes of a pilot , or violence of tempests haue brought to an hasty pouertie ; and could tell mee that it is in the power of one gale of winde to make many of you either rich Merchants , or beggers : Oh miserable vncertaintie of this earthly pelfe , that stands vpon so many hazards , yea that falls vnder them ! who would trust it ? who can dote vpon it ? what madnesse is it in those men , which ( as Menot sayes ) like vnto hunters , that kill an horse of price , in the pursuit of an hare worth nothing , indanger yea cast away their soules vpon this worthlesse and fickle trash . Glasses are pleasing vessels , yet because of their brittlenesse , who esteemes them precious ? All Salomons state was not comparable to one Tulip , his royall crowne was not like the Crowne Imperiall of our Gardens ; and yet because these are but flowers , whose destinie is fading and burning , we regard them thereafter ; No wise man bestowes much cost in painting mud-walls . What meane wee ( my beloued ) to spend our liues and hearts vpon these perishing treasures ? It was a wise meditation of Nazianzen to his Asterius ; that good is to no purpose if it continue not ; yea there is no pleasant thing in the world , saith he , that hath so much ioy in the welcome , as it hath sorrow in the farewell : Looke therefore vpon these heapes , ô yee wise-hearted Citizens , with carelesse eyes , as those things whose parting is certaine , whose stay is vncertaine ; and say with that worthy father , By all my wealth , and glory , and greatnes this alone haue I gained , that I had something to which I might preferre my Sauiour . And know that as Abraham whiles hee was in his owne country ( it is Cyrills note ) had neuer God appearing to him , saue onely to bid him goe forth , but after , when hee was gone forth , had frequent visions of his maker ; So whiles in our affections wee remaine here below in our cofers , we cannot haue the comfortable assurances of the presence of God ; but if we can abandon the loue and trust of these earthly things , in the conscience of our obedience , now God shall appeare to vs , and speake peace to our soules ; and neuer shall we finde cause to repent vs of the change . Let me therefore conclude this point with that diuine charge of our Sauiour , Lay not vp for your selues treasures on earth , where mothe and rust doe corrupt , and theeues breake thorough and steale , but lay vp for your selues treasure in heauen . Thus much of the negatiue part of our charge ; Wherein we haue dwelt so long , that we may scarce soiourne in the other . Trust not , but Trust ; The heart of man is so conscious of his owne weaknes , that it will not goe without a prop ; and better a weake stay then none at all ; Like as in matter of policie , the very state of Tyrannie is preferred to the want of a King ; The same breath therefore that withdrawes one refuge from vs , substitutes a better ; and in steed of Riches , which is the false God of the world , commends to vs the True and liuing God of heauen and earth ; Euen as some good Carpenter raises vp the studds , and in steed of a rotten groundsell layes a sound ; The same trust then must we giue to God , which which we may not giue to Riches ; The obiect onely is changed , the act is not changed . Him must we esteeme aboue all things , to him must we looke vp in all , on him must we depend for all both protection , and prouision ; from his goodnesse and mercy must wee acknowledge all , and in him must we delight with contempt of all ; and this is to Trust in God. It was a sweet ditty of the Psalmist , which wee must all learne to sing , Bonum est considere in Domino , It is good to trust in the Lord : Good , in respect of him , and good for vs. For him , It is one of the best peeces of his glory , to be Trusted to : as , with vs , Ioseph holds Potiphar cannot doe him a greater honor , then in Trusting him with all ; And his glory is so precious , that he cannot part with that to any creature ; All other things hee imparts willingly , and reserues nothing to himselfe but this : Being , life , knowledge , happinesse are such blessings , as are eminently , originally , essentially in God , and yet , Being , he giues to all things , Life to many , Knowledge to some kindes of creatures , happinesse to some of those kindes , as for Riches , he so giues them to his creature , ●hat he keeps them not at all to himselfe ; But as for his glory ( whereof our trust is a part ) hee will not indure it communicated to Angell , or man ; not to the best guest in heauen , much lesse to the drosse of the earth ; Whence is that curse not without an indignation , Cursed be the man trusts in man ; that maketh flesh his arme , yea or spirit either , besides the God of spirits ; Whom haue I in heauen but thee ? Herein therefore we doe iustice to God , when wee giue him his owne , that is , his glory , our confidence . But the greatest good is our owne ; and God showes much more mercy to vs in allowing and inabling vs to trust him , then we can doe iustice in trusting him ; For alas he could in his iust iudgment glorifie himselfe in our not Trusting him , in taking vengeance of vs for not glorifying him : Our goodnes reaches not to him ; but his goodnes reaches downe to vs in that our hearts are raised vp to confidence in him . For , what safety , what vnspeakable comfort is there in Trusting to God ? When our Sauiour in the last words of his diuine-Farewell-Sermon to his Disciples would perswade them to confidence , he sayes ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) : and so doth the Angell to Paul in prison ; a word that signifies Boldnes ; implying that our confidence in God causeth Boldnes and courage ; And what is there in all the world that can worke the heart to so comfortable and vnconquerable resolution as our reposall vpon God ? The Lord is my trust , whom then can I feare ? In the Lord put I my trust , how say yee then to my soule , flee hence as a bird to the hills ? Yea how oft doth Dauid inferre vpon this Trust , a non confundar , I shall not be ashamed ; And this case is generall , That they that put their trust in the Lord are as mount Sion that cannot be moued ; Faith can remoue mountaines , but the mountaines that are raisd on faith , are vnremoueable . Here is a stay for you ( ô yee wealthy and great ) worthy of your trust ; If yee were Monarchs on earth , or Angels in heauen , ye could be no way safe but in this trust ; How easie is it for him to inrich , or impouerish you , to hoyse you vp to the seats of honor , or to spurne you downe ? What mines , what Princes can raise you vp to wealth , against him , without him ? He can bid the windes and seas fauour your vessels , he can bid them sinke in a calme . The rich and the poore meet together , God is the maker of both ; Yee may trade , and toyle , and carke , and spare , and put vp , and cast about , and at last sit you downe with a sigh of late repentance and say , Except the Lord build the house , they labour in vaine that build it ; It is in vaine to rise early , and lye downe late , and eat the bread of sorrow . Vnto how many of you may I say with the prophet Haggai , Yee haue sowen much , and bring in litle ; Yee eat and haue not enough , yee drinke , but yee are not filled , yee cloth you , but yee be not warme ; and he that earneth much , puts his gaines into a broken bagg . And whence is all this ? Yee looked for much , and loe it came to litle ; when yee brought it home I did blow vpon it , saith the Lord of hosts . Behold how easie a thing it is for the God of heauen to blast all your substance ; yea not onely to diminish , but to curse it vnto you , and to make you weary of it , and of your selues . Oh cast your selues therefore into those Allmighty hands , seeke him in whom onely you shall finde true rest and happines ; Honor him with your substance , that hath honored you with it ; Trust not in riches , but trust in GOD. It is motiue enough to your Trust , that he is a God ; all arguments are infolded in that one ; yet this text giues you certaine explicit inforcements of this confidence ; Euery one of these reasons ( implying a secret kinde of disdainfull comparison betwixt the true God and the false ) perswade you to trust in God ; Riches are but for this world , the true God is Lord of the other , and begins his glory where the glory of the world ends : therefore Trust in him . Riches are vncertaine , the true GOD is Amen , the first and the last ; euer like himselfe , therefore trust in him . Riches are but a liuelesse and senselesse mettall , the true God is a liuing God , therefore trust in him . Riches are but passiues in gift , they cannot bestow so much as themselues , much lesse ought besides themselues , the true God giues you all things to enioy , therefore Trust in him ; the two latter , because they are more directly stood vpon , and now fall into our way , require a further discourse . ( El-chai ) The liuing God , is an ancient and vsuall title to the Almighty ; especially when he would disgrace an vnworthy riuall . As S. Paul in his speech to the Lystrians , opposes to their vaine Idols , the liuing GOD. Viuo ego , As I liue , is the oath of God for this purpose , as Hierom noteth , neither doe I remember any thing besides his holinesse , and his life that he sweares by : When Moses askt Gods name , he describ'd himselfe by , I AM ; He is , he liues ; and nothing is , nothing liues absolutely , but he ; all other things by participation from him . In all other things , their life and they are two ; but God is his owne life , and the life of God is no other then the liuing God : And because he is his owne life , he is eternall ; for ( as Thomas argues truely against the Gentiles ) Nothing ceases to be but by a separation of life , and nothing can be separated from it selfe ; for euery separation is a diuision of one thing from another ; Most iustly therefore is he which is absolute , simple , eternall in his being , called the liuing God : Although , not onely the life that he hath in himselfe , but the life that he giues to his creatures challengeth a part in this title ; A glimpse whereof perhaps the Heathen saw , when they call'd their Iupiter , ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) from ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) which signifies to liue : In him we liue ( saith S. Paul to his Athenians ) . As light is from the Sunne , so is life from God , ( which is the true soule of the world , and more ; for without him it could not be so much as a carcasse ; and spreads it selfe into all the animate creatures . Life ( we say ) is sweet ; and so it is indeed ; the most excellent and precious thing that is deriued from the common influence of God. There is nothing before life , but Being ; and Being makes no distinction of things ; for that can be nothing , that hath no Being ; Life makes the first and greatest diuision ; Those creatures therefore , which haue life , we esteeme farre beyond those , that haue it not , how noble soeuer otherwise ; Those things therefore which haue the perfitest life must needs be the best ; Needs then must it follow that he which is life it selfe , who is absolute , simple , eternall , the fountaine of all that life which is in the world , is most worthy of all the adoration , ioy , loue , and confidence of our hearts , and of the best improuement of that life which he hath giuen vs. Trust therefore in the liuing GOD. Couetousnes ( the spirit of God tells vs ) is Idolatry , or ( as our old Translation turnes it ) worshipping of Images . Euery stampe or impression in his coyne is to the couetous man a very Idoll ; And what madnes is there in this Idolatry , to dote vpon a base creature , and to bestow that life which wee haue from God , vpon a creature that hath no life in it selfe , and no price but from men : Let mee then perswade euery soule that heares me this day , as Iacob did his houshold , Put away the strange Gods that are among you , & be cleane ; and as S. Paul did his Lystrians ; Oh turne away from these vanities vnto the liuing God. The last attractiue of our Trust to God is his mercy , and liberalitie ; Who giues vs richly all things to enioy : A theme , wherein yee will grant it easie to leese our selues . First God not only hath all in himselfe , but he giues to vs , Hee giues , not somewhat ( though a crust is more then we are worthy of ) but all things . And not a litle of all , but richly ; and all this , not to looke on , but to enioy ; Euery word would require not a seuerall houre , but a life to meditate of it ; and the tongue not of men , but Angels to expresse it . It is here with vs , as in a throng ; wee can get neither in nor out ; But as we vse to say of Cares , so it shall be with our discourse , that the greatnes of it shall procure silence ; and the more wee may say of this head , the lesse we will say : It shal content vs only to top these sheaues , since we cannot stand to thresh them out . Whither can yee turne your eyes to looke beside the bounty of God ? If yee looke vpward ; His mercy reacheth to the heauens . If downeward ; The earth is full of his goodnes , and so is the broad sea . If yee looke about you ; What is it that hee hath not giuen vs ? Ayre to breath in , fire to warme vs , water to coole vs , clothes to couer vs , food to nourish vs , fruits to refresh vs , yea delicates to please vs ; beasts to serue vs , Angels to attend vs , heauen to receiue vs , and which is aboue all , his owne Sonne to redeeme vs. Lastly , if yee looke into your selues ; Hath he not giuen vs a soule to informe vs , senses to informe our soule , faculties to furnish that soule . Vnderstanding , the great survayer of the secrets of nature , and grace ; Fantasie and Invention the master of the workes ; Memory the great keeper or Master of the rolles of the soule , a power that can make amends for the speede of Time , in causing him to leaue behinde him those things , which else he would so carry away , as if they had not beene : Will , which is the Lord Paramount in the state of the soule , the commander of our actions ; the elector of our resolutions . Iudgement , which is the great Counsellor of the will : Affections , which are the seruants of them both . A bodie fit to execute the charge of the soule , so wondrously disposed , as that euery part hath best oportunitie to his own functions ; so qualified with health arising frō proportion of humors that like a watch kept in good tune it goes right , and is fit to serue the soule , & maintaine it selfe . An estate that yeelds all due conueniences for both soule , and bodie ; seasonable times , raine , & sun-shine ; Peace in our borders ; competency , if not plenty of all commodities , good lawes , religious , wise , iust gouernors , happy and flourishing daies , and aboue all the liberty of the Gospel . Cast vp your bookes , ô ye Citizens , & sum vp your receits , I am decei'd if he that hath least shall not confesse his obligations infinite . There are three things especially wherein yee are beyond others , and must acknowledge your selues deeper in the bookes of God , then the rest of the world ; Let the first be the cleare deliuerance from that wofull iudgement of the Pestilence . Oh remember those sorrowfull times , when euery moneth swept away thousands from among you ; When a man could not set forth his foote but into the iawes of death ; when piles of carcasses were carried to their pits as dung to the fields ; when it was cruelty in the sicke to admit visitation , and loue was litle better then murderous ; And by how much more sad and horrible the face of those euill times looked , so much greater proclaime you the mercy of God , in this happy freedom which you now inioy ; that you now throng together into Gods house without feare , and breath in one anothers face without danger : The second is the wonderfull plenty of all prouisions both spirituall and bodily ; You are the Sea , all the riuers of the land run into you ; Of the land ? yea of the whole world , Sea and land conspire to inrich you . The third is the priuiledge of carefull gouernment ; Your charters as they are large and strong , wherein the fauour of Princes hath made exceptions from the generall rules of their municipall lawes , so your forme of administration is excellent , and the execution of Iustice exemplary , and such as might become the mother Citie of the whole earth . For all these you haue reason to aske , Quid retribuam with Dauid ; What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits ? and to excite one another vnto thankfulnesse with that sweet singer of Israel , Oh that men would therefore praise the Lord for his goodnesse : and ( as beneficence is a binder ) these fauors of God call for your confidence : What should you do but euer trust that God , whom you haue found so gracious ? Let him be your God , be yee his people for euer ; and let him make this free and open challenge to you all ; If there be any power in heauen , or in earth that can doe more for you then he hath done let him haue your hearts and yourselues . And thus from that dutie we owe to God in our confidence , and his beneficence to vs , we descend to that beneficence which we owe to men ; expressed in the variety of foure Epithets , Doing good , being rich in good workes , ready to distribute , willing to communicate ; all to one sense ; all is but beneficence : The scriptures of God least any Atheist should quarrell at this waste , haue not one word superfluous ; Here is a redoubling of the same words without fault of Tautologie ; a redoubling of the same sense in diuers words , without idlenes . There is feruor in these repetitions , not loosenes ; as it was wont for this cause to bee obserued both in Councels , and acclamations to Princes , how oft the same word was reiterated , that by the frequence they might iudge of the vehemence of affection . It were easie to instance in many of this kinde , as especially Exod. 25. 35. Psal . 89. 30. Ioh. 1. 20. and so many more , as that their mention could not be voide of that superfluitie which we disclaime . This heape of words therfore showes the vehement intention of his desire of good workes , and the important necessitie of their performance ; and the manner of this expression inforces no lesse , Charge the rich , that they do good , and be rich in doing good . Harken then yee rich men of the world ; it is not left arbitrary to you , that you may doe good if you will , but it is laid vpon you as your charge and dutie ; You must do good works , and woe be to you if you doe not . This is not a counsell , but a precept ; Although I might say of God , as we vse to say of Princes , his will is his command ; The same necessitie that there is of Trusting in God , the same is in Doing good to men . Let me sling this stone into the brazen forheads of our aduersaries , which in their shamelesse challenges of our religion dare tell the world , wee are all for faith , nothing for works ; and that we hold works to saluation as a parenthesis to a clause , that it may be perfit without them : Heauen and earth shall witnesse the iniustice of this calumniation ; and your consciences shall be our compurgators this day , which shall testifie to you , both now , and on your death-beds , that we haue taught you there is no lesse necessitie of good works , then if you should be sau'd by them ; and that though you cannot be saued by them , as the meritorious causes of your glory , yet that you cannot be saued without them , as the necessarie effects of that grace which brings glory . It is an hard sentence of some Casuists ( concerning their fellowes ) that but a few rich mens Confessors shall be saued ; I imagine , for that they dawbe vp their consciences with vntempered morter , and sooth them vp in their sins ; Let this be the care of them whom it concerneth ; For vs , we desire to be faithfull to God , and you ; and tell you roundly what you must trust to ; Do good therefore yee rich , if euer yee looke to receiue good ; if euer yee looke to be rich in heauen , be rich in good works vpon earth : It is a shame to heare of a rich man that dyes , and makes his will of thousands , and bequeaths nothing to pious and charitable vses : God and the poore are no part of his heyre ; We doe not houer ouer your expiring soules on your death-beds , as Rauens ouer a carcasse ; we doe not begge for a Couent , nor fright you with Purgatory , nor chaffer with you , for that invisible treasure of the Church whereof there is but one Key-keeper at Rome ; but we tell you that the making of freinds with this Mammon of vnrighteousnes is the way to eternall habitations : They say of Cyrus that he wont to say he laid vp treasures for himselfe , whiles he made his freinds rich ; but we say to you , that you lay vp treasures for your selues in heauen , whiles you make the poore your freinds vpon earth : We tell you there must be a Date , ere there can be a Dabitur ; that hee which giues to the poore , lends vpon vse to the Lord ; which payes large increase for all he borrowes ; and how shall he giue you the interest of glory , where he hath not receiued the principall of beneficence ? How can that man euer looke to be Gods heyre in the kingdome of heauen , that giues all away to his earthly heyres , and lends nothing to the God of heauen ? As that witty Graecian said of extreme tall men , that they were Cypresse-trees 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 &c. faire and tall , but fruitlesse , so may I say of a strait-handed rich man ; And these Cypresses are not for the garden of paradise ; none shall euer be planted there but the fruitfull : And if the first paradise had any trees in it only for pleasure , I am sure the second , which is in the midst of the new Ierusalem , shall haue no tree that beares not twelue fruits , yea whose very leaues are not beneficiall ; Doe good therefore ô yee rich , and shew your wealth to be , not in hauing , but in doing good . And if GOD haue put this holy resolution into any of your hearts , take this with you also , from him ; Doe not talke , and purpose , and proiect , but execute ; Do not so do good that we may thanke your death-bed for it , and not you : Late beneficence is better then none , but so much as early beneficence is better then late ; Hee that giues not till hee dyes , showes that he would not giue , if he could keepe it , and God loues a cheerefull giuer ; That which you giue thus , you giue it by your Testament , I can scarce say you giue it by your will : The good mans praise is , Dispersit , dedit , he disperses his goods , not , he left them behinde him ; and his distribution is seconded with the retribution of God , His righteousnesse endureth for euer , Psal . 112. 9. Our Sauiour tells vs that our good works are our light , Let your light so shine , that men may see your good works ; which of you lets his light goe behind him , and hath it not rather carried before him , that he may see which way it goes , and which way himself goes by it ? Do good therefore in your life , that you may haue cōfort in your death , and a crowne of life after death . Now all this haue I spoken , not for that I haue ought ( as S. Paul saies ) whereof to accuse my Nation ; Blessed be God , as good works haue abounded in this age , so this place hath super-abounded in good works . Be it spoken to the glory of that God , whose all our good works are , to the honor of the Gospell , to the conviction of that lewd slander of Solifidianisme . LONDON shall vye good works with any Citie vpon earth ; This day and your eares are abundant witnesses ; As those therefore that by an handfull guesse at the whole sacke , it may please you by this yeares breife to iudge of the rest ; Wherein I do not feare least Enuie it selfe shall accuse vs of a vaine-glorious ostentation ; Those obstreperous benefactors that ( like to hens which cannot lay an egge but they must cackle straight ) giue no almes but with trumpets , loose their thankes with God ; Almes should bee like oyle , which though it swim aloft when it is fallne , yet makes no noyse in the falling ; not like water , that still sounds where it lights : But howsoeuer priuate beneficence should not bee acquainted with both the hands of the giuer , but silently expect the reward of him that seeth in secret , yet God should be a great looser , if the publique fruits of charitie should be smothered in a modest secrecy : To the praise therefore of that good GOD , which giues vs to giue , and rewards vs for giuing , to the example of posteritie , to the honor of our profession , to the incouragement of the well-deseruing , and to the shame of our malicious aduersaries , heare what this yeare hath brought forth . Here followed a breife memoriall of the charitable acts of the City this yeare last past . &c. And if the season had not hindered , your eyes should haue seconded your eares in the comfortable testimonie of this beneficence , Euge &c. Well done good and faithfull seruants ; Thus should your profession be graced , thus should the incense of your almes ascend in pillers of holy smoke into the nosthrils of God ; thus should your talents be turned into Cities : This colour is no other then celestiall , and so shall your reward be ; Thus should the foundation be laid of that building , whose walls reach vp vnto heauen , whose roofe is finished and laid on , in the heauen of heauens , in that immortalitie of glory , which the God of all glory , peace , and comfort hath prouided for all that loue him ; Vnto the participation whereof the same God of ours mercifully bring vs , through the sonne of his loue , Iesus Christ the righteous , to whom with the Father , and the Holy Ghost , one infinite and incomprehensible God be giuen all praise , honor , and glory now and foreuer . Amen . Notes, typically marginal, from the original text Notes for div A02585-e200 Charge Maldona● could incline to that . in locum . Es . 3. 9. Somewhat aboue eight hundred . The Rich ▪ Rom. 4. 13. Titulū Charitatis Dom. à Soto de Iustitia & Iure . Menander . Pro. 21. 6 , 7. I● this world . Austen . a world . b euer-being c Now. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That they bee not ●ye-min●ed . Theodericus refer . Cassiodore . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 &c. Arist . Sene● . Gen. 14. And that they trust not Keyes , Altars , Christ . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . &c. Micha 6. Collegium Granatense Praef. ad lectorem con●●● . vitam R. P. Tho. Sanchez . prae●●● . Operi Morali in praecepta Decal . C. Sol. Apollin . Sidon . Epist . de Theoder . In vncertaine riches . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . &c. Basil . in Ps . 61. But ( trust ) in God. Joh. 16. vlt. Prou. 22. The liuing . Gen. 35. ● . Who giues vs richly all things to enioy . Aboue 30000 in one yeare . That they doe good , and bee rich in good works . Reuel . 22. 2.