These are out of St. Paul's "perils," he was free from these moths. But many rich men might be brought forth in a fair day and shewed, whose substance hath by these moths been fretted to pieces. Thus little certainty have we of their staying with us.

2. But grant, let it be that they were certain; yet except we ourselves were sure to stay with them also, it is as good as nothing. That there may be a certainty between two things, as a man and his wealth, to continue together, they must either of them be sure; else if the one fail, where is the other's assurance? Grant then we were certain of them, we are not certain of ourselves, and in very deed we are no more certain of them than they of us. Leases of them we have for sixty years, but they have no leases of us for three hours; if they might take leases of us too, it were somewhat. Now when the lease is taken, nay when the fee simple is bought, and the house and the warehouse filled, and the purse too, if God say but hâc nocte, it dashes all. For which cause, I Lu. 12. 20. think, St. James speaking in two several places of our life and our riches-our riches he compareth to "the grass," of no Jas. 1. 11. certainty, it will either wither or be plucked up shortly; but this is a great certainty in respect of that of our life, which he resembleth to "a vapour" which we see now, and by and by [Jam. 4. we turn us to look for it, and it is vanished away. To us 1+] then that are uncertain of ourselves, they cannot be but riches of uncertainty.

But let us admit we were sure of both these, what is it to 1 have riches and not to enjoy them? And the enjoying of riches dependeth upon two uncertainties more.

1. First, a man's uncertainty, which hangeth upon the favour of a Prince, which is many times wavering and uncertain. I know not whether I shall make you understand it, because of the want of examples in our time, by means of the mild and blessed government that we live in. For a practice it hath been, and many records do our chronicles afford in the days of some Princes of this realm, when a man was grown to wealth, to pick holes and make quarrels against him, and so seize his goods into the Prince's hand; to use wealthy citizens as spunges, to roll them up and down in moisture till they be full, and then to wring all out of them

1.

SERM. again. God wot, an easy matter it is, if a Prince stand so minded, to find matter of disgrace against a subject of some wealth; and then he might fare never a whit the better for his wealth, for fine and forfeiture whereof, rather than any fault else, the business itself was made against him. We cannot tell what this meaneth, we may thank the gracious government we live under, so that I think I do scarce speak so that I am understood. But such a thing there is, such an uncertainty belonging to riches, whether we conceive it or no.

['i. e. trouble, disturb

ance.

Bailey.] Jub 8. 14.

[Lu. 12. 47.]

2. Again, if the times which we live in happen to prove unquiet and troublesome, then again comes another uncertainty. For the days being evil and dangerous, a man can have no joy, and indeed no certainty neither of riches. For if there fall an invasion or garboil' into the state by foreign or civil war, then if ever is Job's simile verified, that riches are like "a cobweb;" that which a man shall be weaving all his life long, with great ado and much travail, there comes me a soldier, a barbarous soldier, with his broom, and in the turning of a hand sweeps it clean away. How many in our neighbour countries, during their misery, have tasted this uncertainty! How many have gone to bed rich, and risen poor men in the morning! Great troubles are looked for, and great troubles there must be and will be, doubtless. The world now "knoweth his Master's will and doeth it not; it must therefore certainly be beaten with many stripes," with many more than the ignorant world was. And therefore this word" of this world"-in this text, we may with an emphasis pronounce and say, "Charge them that are rich in this world, that they trust not in the uncertainty of riches."

There are but three things in riches; 1. the possessing, 2. the enjoying, 3. and last the conveying of them. Little assurance is there in the two former, and what shall we say of the conveyance? If our pomp cannot descend with us, well yet if we were certain to whom we should leave them, somewhat it were for the certainty of them. These considerations oft had in mind would loosen both our assurance in and our liking of them.

What for the conveyance? do we not see daily that men make heritages, but God makes heirs; that many sons roast not that their fathers got in hunting? that they that have

been in chief account for their wealth, their sons should be driven even "to flatter the poor," and have nothing in their Job 20. 10. hands, no not bread? that never snow in the sun melted faster, than do some men's riches as soon as they be gone?

These things are in the eyes of the whole world. O beloved, these are the judgments of God! Deceive not yourselves with vain words; say not in your hearts, This is the way of the world, some must get and some must lose. No, no, it is not the way of the world, it is the way of God's judgment. For to the reason of man nothing can be alleged, but that considering the infinite number of infinite rich men in this place, the posterity of them these many years should by this time have filled the whole land, were it much bigger than it is, with their progeny, even with divers both worshipful and honourable families from them descended; and it is well known it is otherwise, that there is scarcely a handful in comparison. This is not the way of the world, for we see divers houses of divers lines remain to this day in continuance of the same wealth and worship which they had five hundred years since. It is not therefore the way of the world, say not it is so, but it is a heavy judgment from the Lord. And these uncertainties, namely this last, came upon some of them for their wicked and deceitful getting of them; upon some of them for their proud and riotous abusing them; upon some of them for their wretched and covetous retaining them. And except ye now hear this the Lord's charge, look unto it, howsoever you wrestle out with the uncertainties yourselves, assuredly this last uncertainty remaineth for your children. "The Isa. 59. 1. Lord's hand is not shortened." I shall never get out of this point if I break not from it.

These are but three fruits of all your getting: 1. the tenure, 2. the fruition, 3. the parting with. See whether the Lord hath not laid one uncertainty on them all: 1. uncertainty in their tarrying with us, and uncertainty in our tarrying with them; 2. uncertainty of enjoying, by reason of the danger of the time; 3. uncertainty of our leaving them, by reason of the danger of our children's scattering. The estate in them, the enjoying of them, the departing with them, all being uncertain, so many uncertainties, might not St. Paul truly say, "the uncertainty of riches?"

SERM.

I.

There is yet one behind worse than them all. I will add no more but that; and that is, that our riches and our worship they shall leave us, because they be uncertain, but the pride of our minds and the vain trust in them, them we shall be certain of, they shall not leave us. And this is grave jugum, a heavy misery upon mankind: the goods, the lordships, the offices that they got, them they shall leave here; the sin that they commit in getting and enjoying them, they shall not leave behind them for their hearts, but that shall cleave fast unto them. This is a certainty, you will say; it is indeed a certainty of sin, but therefore an uncertainty of the soul: so doth Job reckon it amongst the uncertainties of riches. For Job 27. 8. "what hope hath the hypocrite when he hath heaped up riches, if God take away his soul?" where is his hope or his trust then? Never will they shew themselves in their own Isa. 36. 6. kind to be a "staff of reed," as then; both deceiving them which lean on them, and besides going into their souls and piercing them. For very sure it is, many of that calling die in great uncertainty this way, wishing they had never seen that wealth which they have seen, that so they might not see that sin which they then see. Yea some of them, I speak it of mine own knowledge abroad, wish they had never come further than the shovel and the spade; crying out at the hour of death, both of the uncertainty of their riches and of the uncertainty of the estate of their souls too.

x

This point, this is a point of special importance, to be spoken of by me, and to be thought of by you. I would God you would take it many times, when God shall move you, into sad consideration. With a great affection, and no less great truth, said Chrysostom, that Heaven and earth and all the creatures in them, if they had tears they would shed them in great abundance, to see a great many of us so careless in this point as we be. It is the hand of the Lord, and it is His gracious hand, if we could see it, that He in this manner maketh the world to totter and reel under us, that we might not stay and rest upon it, where certainty and steadfastness we shall never find, but in Him above, where only they are to be found. For if riches, being so brittle and unsteady as they be, men are so mad upon them, if God had settled them in any certainty, what would they have done? What poor

man's right, what widow's copy. should have been free from us?

what orphan's legacy

III. The third

"trust in

Well then, if riches be uncertain, whereto shall we trust? If not in them, where then? It is the third point: "Charge point: them that be rich in this world, that they be not high- God." minded, neither trust in the uncertainty of riches, but that they trust in God." It is the third point of the charge in general, and the first of the affirmative part; and containeth partly a homage to be done for our riches to God, and that is, trust in him; and partly a rent-charge laid upon our riches, which is doing good. And indeed, no other than David had said before, "Trust in the Lord and be doing Ps. 37. 5. good."

10.

St. Paul will batter down and lay flat our castle, but he will erect us another wherein we may trust. Yea indeed, so as Solomon did before, setteth up a tower against the tower, the "tower of the righteous, which is the name of the Lord," Prov. 18. against the rich man's tower, which is as you have heard before, his riches. Instead of the worldling's faith, which is to make money an article of his faith, teacheth us the faith of a Christian, which is to vouchsafe none but God that honour. Even so doth the Apostle here, and that for great reason; nam qui vult securus sperare, speret in Eo Qui non potest perire, 'he that will trust and be secure in his trust, let him trust in Him Who Himself never failed, and never failed those that put their trust in Him; in Whom is no uncertainty, no not so Jas. 1. 17. much as any shadow of uncertainty.

Trust in Him, by looking to Him first ere we admit any else into our conceit; and by looking to Him last and not looking beyond Him to any, as if we had a safer or trustier than He.

And that because He is "the living God:" as if He should say, That you fancy to yourselves to trust in, is a dead idol, and not a "living God," and if ever you come to any dangerous. disease, you shall find it is an idol dead in itself, not able to give itself life, much less to another; not able to ransom the body from the death, much less the soul from hers; not able to recover life when it is gone, nay not able to preserve life when it is present; not to remove death, nay not to remove sickness, not any sickness, not the gout from your feet, not