Chapter IX: Part 9

14. O _how hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God_! When our Lord’s disciples were astonished at his speaking thus, he was so far from retracting it, that he repeated the same important truth, in stronger terms than before. _It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God._ *How hard is it for them whose every word is applauded, not to be wise in their own eyes! How hard, for them not to think themselves better than the poor, base, uneducated herd of men! How hard, not to seek happiness in their riches, or in things dependent upon them; in gratifying the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eye, or the pride of life! O ye rich, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?――Only with God all things are possible.

15. *And even if you do not succeed, what is the fruit of your _endeavouring_ to lay up treasures on earth? _They that will be rich_ (αἱ βουλόμενοι πλουτεῖν, they that desire, that endeavour after it, whether they succeed or no) _fall into a temptation and a snare_, a gin, a trap of the devil, _and into many foolish and hurtful lusts_; ἐπὶ θυμίας ἀνοήτους, desires with which reason hath nothing to do; such as properly belong, not to rational and immortal beings, but only to the brute-beasts, which have no understanding: _which drown men in destruction and perdition_, in present and eternal misery. Let us but open our eyes, and we may daily see the melancholy proofs of this: men, who desiring, resolving to be rich, _coveting after money, the root of all evil, have_ already _pierced themselves through with many sorrows_, and anticipated the hell to which they are going.

*The cautiousness with which the apostle here speaks, is highly observable. He does not affirm this absolutely of _the rich_; for a man may possibly be rich, without any fault of his, by an over-ruling providence, preventing his own choice. But he affirms it of οἱ βουλόμενοι πλουτεῖν. _Those who desire_ or seek _to be rich_. Riches, dangerous as they are, do not always _drown men in destruction and perdition_. But the _desire of riches_ does: those who calmly desire and deliberately seek to attain them, whether they do, in fact, gain the world or no, do infallibly lose their own souls. These are they, that sell him who bought them with his blood, for a few pieces of gold or silver. These enter into a covenant with death and hell: and their covenant shall stand. For they are daily making themselves meet to partake of their inheritance with the devil and his angels.

16. O who shall warn this generation of vipers, to flee from the wrath to come! Not those who lie at their gate, or cringe at their feet, desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fall from their tables. Not those who court their favour, or fear their frown; none of those who mind earthly things. But if there be a Christian upon earth, if there be a man who hath overcome the world, who desires nothing but God, and fears none but him that is able to destroy both body and soul in hell: thou, O man of God, speak and spare not; lift up thy voice like a trumpet. Cry aloud and shew these honourable sinners the desperate condition wherein they stand. It may be, one in a thousand may have ears to hear, may arise and shake himself from the dust; may break loose from these chains that bind him to the earth, and at length lay up treasures in heaven.

17. And if it should be, that one of these, by the mighty power of God, awoke and asked, What must I do to be saved? The answer, according to the oracles of God, is clear, full and express. God doth not say to thee, _Sell all that thou hast_. Indeed he who seeth the hearts of men, saw it needful to enjoin this in one peculiar case, that of the _young, rich ruler_. But he never laid it down for a general rule, to all rich men, in all succeeding generations. His general direction is, first, *_Be not high-minded_. God seeth not as man seeth. He esteems thee not for thy riches, for thy grandeur or equipage, for any qualification or accomplishment, which is directly or indirectly owing to thy wealth, which can be bought, or procured thereby. All these are with him as dung and dross: let them be so with thee also. Beware thou think not thyself to be one jot wiser, or better for all these things. Weigh thyself in another balance: estimate thyself only by the measure of faith and love which God hath given thee. If thou hast more of the knowledge and love of God than he, thou art on this account and no other, wiser and better, more valuable and honourable than him, who is with the dogs of thy flock. But if thou hast not this treasure, thou art more foolish, more vile, more truly contemptible, I will not say, than the lowest servant under thy roof, but than the beggar laid at thy gate, full of sores.

18. *Secondly, _Trust not in uncertain riches_. Trust not in them for help: and trust not in them for happiness.

First, Trust not in them for help. Thou art miserably mistaken, if thou lookest for this in gold or silver. These are no more able to set thee _above the world_, than to set thee above the devil. Know that both the world and the prince of this world laugh at all such preparations against them. These will little avail in the day of trouble: even if they remain in the trying hour. But it is not certain, that they will: for how oft do they _make themselves wings and fly away_? But if not, what support will they afford, even in the ordinary troubles of life? The desire of thy eyes, the wife of thy youth, thy son, thine only son, or the friend which was as thy own soul, is taken away at a stroke. Will thy riches re-animate the breathless clay, or call back its late inhabitant?――Will they secure thee from sickness, diseases, pain? Do these visit the poor only? Nay; he that feeds thy flocks or tills thy ground, has less sickness and pain than thou. He is more rarely visited by these unwelcome guests: and if they come there at all, they are more easily driven away from the little cot, than from the cloud-topt palaces. And during the time that thy body is chastened with pain, or consumes away with pining sickness, how do thy treasures help thee? Let the poor Heathen answer.

_Ut lippum pictæ tabulæ, fomenta podagrum,
Auriculas citharæ collecta forde dolentes._

19. *But there is at hand a greater trouble than all these. _Thou_ art to die. _Thou_ art to sink into dust; to return to the ground from which thou wast taken, to mix with common clay. _Thy_ body is to go to the earth as it was, while thy spirit returns to God that gave it. And the time draws on: the years slide away with a swift tho’ silent pace. Perhaps your day is far spent: the noon of life is past, and the evening shadows begin to rest upon you. You feel in yourself sure-approaching decay. The springs of life wear away apace. Now what help is there in your riches? Do they sweeten death? Do they endear that solemn hour? Quite the reverse. _O death how bitter art thou, to a man that liveth at rest in his possessions?_ How unacceptable to him is that awful sentence, _This night shall thy soul be required of thee_!――Or will they prevent the unwelcome stroke, or protract the dreadful hour? Can they deliver your soul that it should not see death? Can they restore the years that are past? Can they add to your appointed time, a month, a day, an hour, a moment?――Or will the good things you have chosen for your portion here, follow you over the great gulf? Not so: naked came you into this world; naked must you return.

_Linquenda tellus, & domus & placens
Uxor: nec harum quas seris arborum
Te præter invisam cupressum,
Ulla brevem dominum sequetur!_

Surely were not these truths too plain to be _observed_, because they are too plain to be _denied_, no man that is to die could possibly _trust_, for help, _in uncertain riches_!

20. *And trust not in them for happiness. For here also they will be found _deceitful upon the weights_. Indeed this every reasonable man may infer, from what has been observed already. For if neither thousands of gold and silver, nor any of the advantages or pleasures purchased thereby, can prevent our being miserable, it evidently follows, they cannot make us happy. What happiness can they afford to him, who in the midst of all is constrained to cry out,

“To my new courts sad thought does still repair,
And round my gilded roofs hangs hovering care.”

Indeed experience is here so full, strong, and undeniable, that it makes all other arguments needless. Appeal we therefore to fact. Are the rich and great, the only happy men? And is each of them more or less happy, in proportion to his measure of riches? Are they happy at all? I had well nigh said, they are of all men most miserable! Rich man, for once, speak the truth from thy heart. Speak, both for thyself, and for thy brethren,

“Amidst our plenty something still――
To me, to thee, to him is wanting!
That cruel something unpossest
Corrodes and leavens all the rest.”

Yea, and so it will, ’till thy wearisome days of vanity are shut up in the night of death.

Surely then, to trust in riches for happiness, is the greatest folly of all that are under the sun! Are you not convinced of this? Is it possible, you should still expect to find happiness in money, or all it can procure? What! *Can silver and gold, and eating and drinking, and horses and servants, and glittering apparel, and diversions and pleasures (as they are called) make thee happy? They can as soon make thee immortal.

21. These are all dead shew. Regard them not. _Trust_ thou _in the living_ God. So shalt thou be safe under the shadow of the Almighty; his faithfulness and truth shall be thy shield and buckler. He is a very present help in time of trouble; such an help as can never fail. Then shalt thou say, if all thy other friends die, _the_ Lord _liveth, and blessed be my strong helper_! He shall remember thee when thou liest sick upon thy bed: when vain is the help of man, when all the things of the earth can give no support, he will _make all thy bed in thy sickness_. He will sweeten thy pain; the consolations of God shall cause thee to clap thy hands in the flames. And even when this house of earth is well nigh shaken down, when it is just ready to drop into the dust, he will teach thee to say, _O death where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? Thanks be unto_ God _who giveth me the victory through my_ Lord Jesus Christ.

*O trust in him for happiness as well as for help. All the springs of happiness are in him. Trust _in him who giveth us all things richly to enjoy_, παρέχοντι πλουσίως εἰς ἀπόλαυσιν· Who of his own rich and free mercy, holds them out to us, as in his own hand, that receiving them as his gift, and as pledges of his love, we may _enjoy all_ that we possess. It is his love gives a relish to all we taste, puts life and sweetness into all, while every creature leads us up to the great Creator, and all earth is a scale to heaven. He transfuses the joys that are at his own right-hand, into all he bestows on his thankful children: who having fellowship with the Father and his Son _Jesus Christ_, enjoy him in all and above all.

22. Thirdly, seek not to _increase in goods_. _Lay not up for thyself treasures upon earth._ This is a flat positive command, full as clear, as _thou shalt not commit adultery_. How then is it possible for a rich man to grow richer, without denying the Lord that bought him? Yea, how can any man, who has already the necessaries of life, gain or aim at more, and be guiltless? _Lay not up_, saith our Lord, _treasures upon earth_. If in spite of this, you do and will lay up, money or goods, which _moth or rust_ may _corrupt, or thieves break through and steal_: if you will add house to house, or field to field, why do you call yourself a Christian? You do not obey _Jesus Christ_. You do not design it. Why do you name yourself by his name? _Why call ye me_ Lord, Lord, saith he himself, _and do not the things which I say_?

23. *If you ask, “But what must we do with our goods, seeing we have more than we have occasion to use, if we must not lay them up? Must we throw them away?” I answer, if you threw them into the sea, if you were to cast them into the fire and consume them, they would be better bestowed ♦than they are now. You cannot find so mischievous a manner of throwing them away, as either the laying them up for your posterity, or the laying them out upon yourselves, in folly and superfluity. Of all possible methods of _throwing them away_, these two are the very worst; the most opposite to the gospel of _Christ_, and the most pernicious to your own soul.

How pernicious to your own soul the latter of these is, has been excellently shewn by a late writer. “If we waste our money we are not only guilty of wasting a talent which God has given us, but we do ourselves this farther harm, we turn this useful talent into a powerful means of corrupting ourselves; because so far as it is spent wrong, so far it is spent in the support of some wrong temper, in gratifying some vain and unreasonable desires, which as Christians we are obliged to renounce.”

“As wit and fine parts cannot be only trifled away, but will expose those that have them to greater follies: so money cannot be only trifled away, but if it is not used according to reason and religion, will make people live a more silly and extravagant life, than they would have done without it: if therefore you do not spend your money in doing good to others, you must spend it to the hurt of yourself. You act like one that refuses the cordial to his sick friend, which he cannot drink himself without inflaming his blood. For this is the case of superfluous money; if you give it to those who want it, it is a cordial. If you spend it upon yourself in something that you do not want, it only inflames and disorders your mind.”

“In using riches where they have no real use, nor we any real want, we only use them to our great hurt, in creating unreasonable desires, in nourishing ill tempers, in indulging foolish passions, and supporting a vain turn of mind. For high eating and drinking, fine clothes and fine houses, state and equipage, gay pleasures and diversions, do all of them naturally hurt and disorder our heart. They are the food and nourishment of all the folly and weakness of our nature. They are all of them the support of something, that ought not to be supported. They are contrary to that sobriety and piety of heart, which relishes divine things. They are so many weights upon our mind, that make us less able and less inclined to raise our thoughts and affections to things above.”

“So that money thus spent is not merely wasted or lost, but it is spent to bad purposes and miserable effects; to the corruption and disorder of our hearts, to the making us unable to follow the sublime doctrines of the gospel. It is but like keeping money from the poor, to buy poison for ourselves.”

24. Equally inexcusable are those, who _lay up_ what they do not need for any reasonable purposes. “If a man had hands and eyes and feet that he could give to those that wanted them; if he should lock them up in a chest, instead of giving them to his brethren, that were blind and lame, should we not justly reckon him an inhuman wretch? If he should rather chuse to amuse himself with hoarding them up, than intitle himself to an eternal reward by giving them to those that wanted eyes and hands, might we not justly reckon him mad?”

“Now money has very much the nature of eyes and feet. If therefore we lock it up in chests, while the poor and distrest want it for their necessary uses, we are not far from the cruelty of him, that chuses rather to hoard up hands and eyes, than to give them to those that want them. If we chuse to lay it up, rather than to intitle ourselves to an eternal reward by disposing of our money well, we are guilty of his madness, that rather chuses to lock up eyes and hands, than to make himself for ever blessed, by giving them to those that want them.”

25. *May not this be another reason why rich men shall so hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven? A vast majority of them are under a curse, under the peculiar curse of God: inasmuch as in the general tenor of their lives, they are not only robbing God continually, imbezzling and wasting their Lord’s goods, and by that very means corrupting their own souls: but also robbing the poor, the hungry, the naked; wronging the widow and the fatherless, and making themselves accountable for all the want, affliction and distress, which they may, but do not remove. Yea, doth not the blood of all those who perish for want, of what they either lay up, or lay out needlessly, cry against them from the earth? O what account will they give, to him who is ready to judge both the quick and the dead!

26. The true way of employing what you do not want yourselves, you may, fourthly learn from those words of our Lord, which are the counterpart of what went before: _Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven; where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break thro’ and steal_. Put out whatever thou canst spare, upon better security than this world can afford. Lay up thy treasures in the bank of heaven: and God shall restore them in that day. _He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the_ Lord, _and look what he layeth out, it shall be paid him again_. Place that, saith he, unto my account. Howbeit! _thou owest me thine own self also_!

Give to the poor with a single eye, with an upright heart, and “Write, so much given to God.” For _inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me_.

This is the part of a _faithful and wise steward_. Not, to sell either his houses or lands, or principal stock, be it more or less, unless some peculiar circumstance should require it; and not to desire or endeavour to increase it, any more than to squander it away in vanity: but to employ it wholly to those wise and reasonable purposes, for which his Lord has lodged it in his hands. The wise steward, after having provided his own houshold, with what is needful for life and godliness, _makes_ himself _friends with_ all that remains from time to time of the _mammon of unrighteousness; that when he fails, they may receive him into everlasting habitations_: that whensoever his earthly tabernacle is dissolved, they who were before carried into _Abraham’s_ bosom, after having eaten his bread, and worn the fleece of his flock, and praised God for the consolation, may welcome him into paradise, and into _the house of_ God, _eternal in the heavens_.

27. *We _charge you_, therefore, _who are rich in this world_, as having authority from our great Lord and Master, ἀγαθοεργεῖν, _to be habitually doing good_, and to live in a course of good works. _Be ye merciful as your Father which is in heaven is merciful_, who doth good and ceaseth not. _Be ye merciful_,――“How far?”――_After your power_, with all the ability which God giveth. Make this your only measure of doing good, not any beggarly maxims or customs of the world. We _charge you to be rich in good works_; as you have much, to _give plenteously_. Freely ye have received; freely give; so as to lay up no treasure but in heaven. Be ye _ready to distribute_, to every one according to his necessity. Disperse abroad, give to the poor; deal your bread to the hungry. Cover the naked with a garment, entertain the stranger, carry or send relief to them that are in prison. Heal the sick; not by miracle, but thro’ the blessing of God upon your seasonable support. Let the blessing of him that was ready to perish thro’ pining want, come upon thee. Defend the oppressed, plead the cause of the fatherless, and make the widow’s heart sing for joy.

28. We exhort _you_, in the name of the _Lord Jesus Christ_, to _be willing to communicate_: κοινωνικοὺς εἶναι. To be of the same spirit (tho’ not in the same outward state) with those believers of antient times, who _remained stedfast_ ἐν τῇ κοινωνίᾳ, _in_ that blessed and holy _fellowship_, wherein _none said, that any thing was his own, but they had all things common_. Be a steward, a faithful and wise steward, of God and of the poor; differing from them in these two circumstances only, that your wants are first supplied, out of the portion of your Lord’s goods which remains in your hands, and that you have the blessedness of giving. Thus _lay up for yourselves a good foundation_, not in the world, which now is, but rather _for the time to come, that ye may lay hold on eternal life_. The great foundation indeed of all the blessings of God, whether temporal or eternal, is the _Lord Jesus Christ_, his righteousness and blood, what he hath done, and what he hath suffered for us. And _other foundation_, in this sense, _can no man lay_; no not an apostle, no not an angel from heaven. But thro’ his merits, whatever we do in his name, is a foundation for a good reward, in the day when _every man shall receive his own reward, according to his own labour_. Therefore, _labour_ thou, _not for the meat that perisheth, but for that which endureth unto everlasting life_. Therefore _whatsoever thy hand_ now _findeth to do, do it with thy might_. Therefore let

“No fair occasion pass unheeded by;
Snatching the golden moments as they fly,
Thou by few fleeting years ensure eternity!”

_By patient continuance in well-doing seek_ thou _for glory and honour and immortality_. In a constant, zealous performance of all good works, wait thou for that happy hour, when _the King shall say, I was hungry and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty and ye gave me drink. I was a stranger and ye took me in, naked and ye cloathed me. I was sick and ye visited me; I was in prison and ye came unto me. Come, ye blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world!_

SERMON XXIX.

UPON OUR LORD’S SERMON ON THE MOUNT.
DISCOURSE IX.
MATT. vi. 24‒34.

_No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and
love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the
other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye
shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what
ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body
than raiment?

Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they
reap, nor gather into barns: yet your heavenly Father feedeth
them. Are ye not much better than they?

Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lillies of the
field how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was
not arrayed like one of these.

Wherefore if God so cloath the grass of the field, which to-day
is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more
cloath you, O ye of little faith?

Therefore take no thought, saying, what shall we eat? Or, what
shall we drink? Or, wherewithal shall we be cloathed?

(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek) for your
heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

But first seek ye the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and
all these things shall be added unto you.

Take therefore no thought for the morrow; for the morrow shall
take thought for the things of itself: sufficient unto the day
is the evil thereof._

1. IT is recorded of the nations whom the king of _Assyria_, after he had carried _Israel_ away into captivity, placed in the cities of _Samaria_, _They feared the_ Lord, _and served their own gods. These nations_, saith the inspired writer, _feared the_ Lord, performed an outward service to him, (a plain proof that they had a fear of God, tho’ not according to knowledge) _and served their graven images, both their children and their children’s children; as did their fathers, so did they unto this day_, 2 Kings xvii. 33, &c.

How nearly does the practice of most modern Christians, resemble this of the ancient Heathens? _They fear the_ Lord: they also perform an outward service to him, and hereby shew, they have some fear of God; but they likewise _serve their own gods_. There are those who _teach them_ (as there were who taught the _Assyrians_) _the manner of the_ God _of the land_; the God whose name the country bears to this day, and who was once worshipped there with an holy worship. _Howbeit_, they do not serve him alone; they do not fear him enough for this. But _every nation maketh gods of their own, every nation in the cities wherein they dwell. These nations fear the_ Lord, they have not laid aside the outward form of worshipping him. But _they serve their graven images_, silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. Money, pleasure and praise, the gods of this world, more than divide their service with the God of _Israel_. This is the manner both of _their children and their children’s children; as did their fathers, so do they unto this day_.

2. But altho’ speaking in a loose way, after the common manner of men, those poor Heathens were said _to fear the_ Lord, yet we may observe the Holy Ghost immediately adds, speaking according to the truth and real nature of things, _They fear not the_ Lord, _neither do after the law and commandment which the_ Lord _commanded the children of Jacob: with whom the_ Lord _made a covenant, and charged them, saying, Ye shall not fear other gods, nor serve them.――But the_ Lord _your_ God _ye shall fear, and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies_.

The same judgment is passed by the unerring Spirit of God, and indeed by all, the eyes of whose understanding he hath opened, to discern the things of God, upon these poor Christians, commonly so called. If we speak according to the truth and real nature of things, _they fear not the_ Lord, _neither do they serve him_. For they do not _after the covenant the_ Lord _hath made with them, neither after the law and commandment which he hath commanded them_, saying, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. _They serve other gods_ unto this day. And _no man can serve two masters_.

3. How vain is it for any man to aim at this? To attempt the serving of two masters. Is it not easy to foresee, what must be the unavoidable consequence of such an attempt? _Either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other._ The two parts of this sentence, altho’ separately proposed, are to be understood in connexion with each other. For the latter part is a consequence of the former. He will naturally _hold to_ him whom he loves. He will so cleave to him, as to perform to him a willing, faithful, and diligent service. And in the mean time, he will so far, at least, _despise_ the master he hates, as to have little regard to his commands, and to obey them, if at all, in a slight and careless manner. Therefore, whatsoever the wise men of the world may suppose, _Ye cannot serve_ God _and mammon_.

4. _Mammon_ was the name of one of the Heathen gods, who was supposed to preside over riches. It is here understood of riches themselves; gold and silver, or in general, money: and by a common figure of speech, of all that may be purchased thereby; such as ease, honour, and sensual pleasure.

But what are we here to understand, by _serving_ God? And what, by _serving mammon_?

We cannot _serve_ God, unless we believe in him. This is the only true foundation of serving him. Therefore, the believing in God, as _reconciling the world to himself_ thro’ _Christ Jesus_, the believing in him, as a loving, pardoning God, is the first great branch of his service.

And, thus to believe in God implies, to _trust_ in him as our strength, without whom we can do nothing; who every moment endues us with power from on high, without which it is impossible to please him: as our help, our only help in time of trouble, who compasseth us about with songs of deliverance: as our shield, our defender, and the lifter up of our head above all our enemies that are round about us.

It implies, to trust in God as our happiness; as the center of spirits, the only rest of our souls; the only good who is adequate to all our capacities, and sufficient to satisfy all the desires he hath given us.

It implies (what is nearly allied to the other) to trust in God, as our end; to have an eye to him in all things; to use all things only as means of enjoying him: wheresoever we are, or whatsoever we do, to see him that is invisible, looking on us well-pleased, and refer all things to him in _Christ Jesus_.

5. Thus to believe, is the first thing we are to understand by _serving_ God. The second is, To love him.

Now, to love God in the manner the scripture describes, in the manner God himself requires of us, and by requiring engages to work in us, is to love him as the one God: that is, _with all our heart and with all our soul, and with all our mind, and with all our strength_: it is to desire God alone for his own sake; and nothing else, but with reference to him: to rejoice in God; to delight in the Lord; not only to seek but find happiness in him: to enjoy God as the chiefest among ten thousand: to rest in him, as our God and our all. In a word, to have such a possession of God, as makes us always happy.

6. A third thing we are to understand by _serving_ God, is, To resemble or imitate him.

So the antient Father, _Optimus Dei Cultus, imitari quem colis_. It is the best worship or service of God, to imitate him you worship.

We here speak, of imitating or resembling him in the spirit of our minds. For here the true Christian imitation of God begins. God is a Spirit; and they that imitate or resemble him, must do it in spirit and in truth.

Now God is love. Therefore they who resemble him in the spirit of their minds, are transformed into the same image. They are merciful, even as he is merciful. Their soul is all love. They are kind, benevolent, compassionate, tender-hearted: and that not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. Yea, they are, like him, loving unto every man, and their mercy extends to all his works.

7. One thing more we are to understand by _serving_ God, and that is, the obeying him; the glorifying him with our bodies, as well as with our spirits: the keeping his outward commandments: the zealously doing whatever he hath enjoined, the carefully avoiding whatever he hath forbidden: the performing all the ordinary actions of life, with a single eye and a pure heart; offering them all in holy, fervent love, as sacrifices to God, through _Jesus Christ_.

8. Let us consider now, what we are to understand, on the other hand, by _serving mammon_. And first, it implies, the _trusting_ in riches, in money, or the things purchasable thereby, as our strength, the means whereby we shall perform, whatever cause we have in hand: the trusting in them as our help, by which we look to be comforted in, or delivered out of trouble.

It implies, the trusting in the world for happiness; the supposing that _a man’s life consisteth_ (the comfort of his life) _in the abundance of things which he possesseth_: the looking for rest, in the things that are seen; for content in outward plenty; the expecting that satisfaction in the things of the world, which can never be found out of God.

And if we do this, we cannot but make the world our end: the ultimate end, if not of all at least of many of our undertakings, many of our actions and designs: in which we shall aim only at an increase of wealth, at the obtaining pleasure or praise; at the gaining a larger measure of temporal things, without any reference to things eternal.

9. The _serving mammon_ implies, secondly, loving the world: desiring it for its own sake; the placing our joy in the things thereof, and setting our hearts upon them: the seeking (what indeed it is impossible we should find) our happiness therein: the resting with the whole weight of our souls, upon the staff of this broken reed; although daily experience shews it cannot support, but will only _enter into our hand and pierce it_.

10. To resemble, to be conformed to the world, is a third thing we are to understand by _serving mammon_: to have not only designs, but desires, tempers, affections suitable to those of the world: to be of an earthly, sensual mind, chained down to the things of earth: to be self-willed, inordinate lovers of ourselves: to think highly of our own attainments; to desire and delight in the praise of men: to fear, shun, and abhor reproach: to be impatient of reproof, easy to be provoked, and swift to return evil for evil.

11. To _serve mammon_ is, lastly, to obey the world, by outwardly conforming to its maxims and customs; to walk as other men walk, in the common road, in the broad, smooth, beaten path; to be in the fashion, to follow a multitude; to do like the rest of our neighbours; that is, to do the will of the flesh and the mind, to gratify our appetites and inclinations: to sacrifice to ourselves; aim at our own ease and pleasure, in the general course both of our words and actions.

Now what can be more undeniably clear, than that we _cannot_ thus _serve_ God _and mammon_?

12. *Does not every man see, that he cannot _comfortably_ serve both? That to trim between God and the world, is the sure way to be disappointed in both, and to have no rest either in one or the other? How uncomfortable a condition must he be in, who having the fear but not the love of God, who serving him, but not with all his heart, has only the toils and not the joys of religion? He has religion enough to make him miserable, but not enough to make him happy: his religion will not let him enjoy the world; and the world will not let him enjoy God. So that by halting between both he loses both, and has no peace either in God or the world.

13. Does not every man see, that he cannot serve both, _consistently_ with himself? What more glaring inconsistency can be conceived, than must continually appear in his whole behaviour, who is endeavouring to obey both these masters, striving to _serve_ God _and mammon_? He is indeed _a sinner that goeth two ways_; one step forward and another backward. He is continually building up with one hand, and pulling down with the other. He loves sin, and he hates it: he is always seeking, and yet always fleeing from God. He would and he would not. He is not the same man, for one day, no, not for an hour together. He is a motly mixture of all sorts of contrarieties; a heap of contradictions jumbled in one. O, be consistent with thyself, one way or the other. Turn to the right-hand or to the left. If _mammon_ be God, serve thou him; if the Lord, then serve him. But never think of serving either at all, unless it be with thy whole heart.

14. Does not every reasonable, every thinking man see, that he cannot _possibly serve_ God _and mammon_? Because there is the most absolute contrariety, the most irreconcileable enmity between them. The contrariety between the most opposite things on earth, between fire and water, darkness and light, vanishes into nothing, when compared to the contrariety between God and mammon. So that in whatsoever respect you serve the one, you necessarily renounce the other. Do you believe in God through _Christ_? Do you _trust_ in him as your strength, your help, your shield, and your exceeding great reward? As your happiness? Your end in all, above all things? Then you cannot _trust_ in riches. It is absolutely impossible you should, so long as you have this faith in God. Do you thus _trust in riches_? Then you have denied the faith. You do not trust in the living God. Do you _love_ God? Do you seek and find happiness in him? Then you cannot love the world; neither the things of the world. You are crucified to the world, and the world crucified to you. Do you _love the world_? Are your affections set on things beneath? Do you seek happiness in earthly things? Then it is impossible you should love God. Then the love of the Father is not in you. Do you _resemble_ God? Are you merciful, as your Father is merciful? Are you transformed by the renewal of your mind, into the image of him that created you? Then you cannot be conformed to the present world. You have renounced all its affections and lusts. Are you conformed to the world? Does your soul still bear the image of the earthly? Then you are not renewed in the spirit of your mind. You do not bear the image of the heavenly. Do you _obey_ God? Are you zealous to do his will on earth as the angels do in heaven? Then it is impossible you should _obey mammon_. Then you set the world at open defiance. You trample its customs and maxims under foot, and will neither follow nor be led by them. Do you follow the world? Do you live like other men? Do you please men? Do you please yourself? Then you cannot be a servant of God. You are of your master and father, the devil.

15. Therefore thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve. Thou shalt lay aside all thoughts of obeying two masters, of serving God and mammon. Thou shalt propose to thyself no end, no help, no happiness, but God. Thou shalt seek nothing in earth or heaven but him: thou shalt aim at nothing, but to know, to love and enjoy him. And because this is all your business below, the only view you can reasonably have, the one design you are to pursue in all things; _therefore I say unto you_ (as our Lord continues his discourse) _take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on_. A deep and weighty direction, which it imports us well to consider and throughly to understand.

16. Our Lord does not here require, that we should be utterly without thought, even touching the concerns of this life. A giddy, careless temper is at the farthest remove from the whole religion of _Jesus Christ_. Neither does he require us to be _slothful in business_, to be slack and dilatory therein. This likewise is contrary to the whole spirit and genius of his religion. A Christian abhors sloth as much as drunkenness, and flees from idleness as he does from adultery. He well knows, that there is one kind of thought and care, with which God is well-pleased; which is absolutely needful for the due performance ♦of those outward works, unto which the providence of God has called him.

It is the will of God, that every man should labour to _eat his own bread_: yea, and that every man should provide for his own, for them of his own houshold. It is likewise his will that we should _owe no man any thing_, but _provide things honest in the sight of all men_. But this cannot be done, without taking some thought, without having some care upon our minds: yea, often, not without long and serious thought, not without much and earnest care. Consequently, this care, to provide for ourselves and our houshold, this thought, how to render to all their dues, our blessed Lord does not condemn. Yea, it ♦is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour.

It is good and acceptable to God, that we should so take thought concerning whatever we have in hand, as to have a clear comprehension of what we are about to do, and to plan our business before we enter upon it. And it is right that we should carefully consider from time to time, what steps we are to take therein; as well as that we should prepare all things before hand, for the carrying it on in the most effectual manner. This care termed by some, “The care of the head,” it was by no means our Lord’s design to condemn.

17. What he here condemns is, “The care of the heart:” the anxious, uneasy care: the care that hath torment; all such care as does hurt, either to the soul or body. What he forbids is, that care which sad experience shews, wastes the blood and drinks up the spirits: which anticipates all the misery it fears, and comes to torment us before the time. He forbids only that care, which poisons the blessings of to-day, by fear of what may be to-morrow; which cannot enjoy the present plenty, though apprehensions of future want. This care is not only a sore disease, a grievous sickness of soul, but also an heinous offence against God, a sin of the deepest dye. It is an high affront to the gracious Governor and wise disposer of all things; necessarily implying, that the great Judge does not do right, that he does not order all things well. It plainly implies, that he is wanting, either in wisdom, if he does not know what things we stand in need of: or in goodness, if he does not provide those things, for all who put their trust in him. Beware therefore that you take not thought in this sense: be ye anxiously careful for nothing. Take no uneasy thought: this is a plain, sure rule, _uneasy_ care is _unlawful care_. With a single eye to God do all that in you lies, to provide things honest in the sight of all men. And then give up all into better hands: leave the whole event to God.

18. _Take no thought_ of this kind, no uneasy thought even _for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?_ If then God gave you life, the greater gift, will he not give you food to sustain it? If he hath given you the body, how can ye doubt, but he will give you raiment to cover it? More especially, if you give yourselves up to him, and serve him with your whole heart. _Behold_, see before your eyes, _the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns_; and yet they lack nothing, _yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not ye much better than they?_ Ye that are creatures capable of God? Are ye not of more account in the eyes of God? Of a higher rank in the scale of beings? _And which of you by taking thought, can add one cubit to his stature?_ What profit have you then from this anxious thought? It is every way fruitless and unavailing.

_And why take ye thought for raiment?_ Have ye not a daily reproof, wherever you turn your eyes? _Consider the lillies of the field how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin. And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore if_ God _so cloath the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven_, is cut down, burnt up and seen no more, _shall he not much more cloath you, O ye of little faith_? You whom he made to endure for ever and ever, to be pictures of his own eternity! Ye are indeed of little faith. Otherwise ye could not doubt of his love and care, no, not for a moment.

19. _Therefore take no thought, saying, what shall we eat_, if we lay up no treasure upon earth? _What shall we drink_, if we serve God with all our strength, if our eye be singly fixed on him? _Wherewithal shall we be cloathed_, if we are not conformed to the world, if we disoblige those by whom we might be profited? _For after all these things do the Gentiles seek_, the Heathens who know not God. But ye are sensible, _your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things_. And he hath pointed out to you an infallible way, of being constantly supplied therewith. _Seek ye first the kingdom of_ God _and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you_.

20. _Seek ye first the kingdom of_ God. Before ye give place to any other thought or care, let it be your concern, that the God and Father of our Lord _Jesus Christ_, who _gave his only begotten Son, to the end that believing in him, ye might not perish but have everlasting life_, may reign in your heart, may manifest himself in your soul, and dwell and rule there: that he may _cast down every high thing which exalteth itself against the knowledge of_ God, _and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of_ Christ. Let God have the sole dominion over you. Let him reign without a rival. Let him possess all your heart, and rule alone. Let him be your one desire, your joy, your love: so that all that is within you may continually cry out, _The_ Lord God _omnipotent reigneth_.

_Seek the kingdom of_ God _and his righteousness_. Righteousness is the fruit of God’s reigning in the heart. And what is righteousness but love? The love of God and of all mankind, flowing from faith in _Jesus Christ_, and producing humbleness of mind, meekness, gentleness, long-suffering, patience, deadness to the world; and every right disposition of heart, toward God and toward man. And by these it produces all holy actions, whatsoever are lovely or of good report; whatsoever works of faith and labour of love are acceptable to God and profitable to man.

_His righteousness_: this is all _his_ righteousness still: it is his own free gift to us, for the sake of _Jesus Christ_ the righteous, through whom alone it is purchased for us: and it is his _work_: it is he alone that worketh it in us, by the inspiration of the holy Spirit.

21. Perhaps the well observing this may give light to some other scriptures, which we have not always so clearly understood. St. _Paul_, speaking in his epistle to the _Romans_, concerning the unbelieving _Jews_, saith, _They being ignorant of_ God’s _righteousness, and, going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of_ God. I believe this may be one sense of the words. They were _ignorant of_ God’s _righteousness_, not only of the righteousness of _Christ_, imputed to every believer, whereby all his sins are blotted out, and he is reconciled to the favour of God: but (which seems here to be more immediately understood) they were ignorant of that inward righteousness, of that holiness of heart, which is with the utmost propriety termed God’s _righteousness_, as being both his own free gift through _Christ_, and his own work, by his almighty Spirit. And because they were ignorant of this, they _went about to establish their own righteousness_. They laboured to establish that outside righteousness, which might very properly be termed _their own_. For neither was it wrought by the Spirit of God, nor was it owned or accepted of him. They might work this themselves, by their own natural strength: and when they had done, it was a stink in his nostrils. And yet trusting in this, they would _not submit themselves unto the righteousness of_ God. Yea, they hardened themselves against that faith, whereby alone it was possible to attain it. _For_ Christ _is the end of the law, for righteousness to every one that believeth. Christ_, when he said, _It is finished_, put an end to that law, to the law of external rites and ceremonies, that he might _bring in a better righteousness_, through his blood, by that one oblation of himself once offered, even the image of God, into the inmost soul of _every one that believeth_.

22. Nearly related to these are those words of the apostle, in his epistle to the _Philippians. I count all things but dung that I may win_ Christ, an entrance into his everlasting kingdom, _and be found in him_, believing in him, _not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of_ Christ, _the righteousness which is of_ God _by faith――Not having my own righteousness which is of the law_; a barely external righteousness, the outside religion I formerly had, when I hoped to be accepted of God, because I was, _touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless――But that which is through the faith of_ Christ, _the righteousness which is of_ God _by faith_: that holiness of heart, that renewal of the soul, in all its desires, tempers and affections _which is of_ God: it is the work of God and not of man, _by faith_; through the faith of _Christ_, through the revelation of _Jesus Christ_ in us, and by faith in his blood; whereby alone we obtain the remission of our sins, and an inheritance among those that are sanctified.