The rich mans charge delivered in a sermon at the Spittle upon Monday in…The rich mans charge delivered in a sermon at the Spittle vpon Monday in…

This the Apostle saith should not be so, for after all this, It is but man still, Eccles. 6. 10. and the Word is as much above him, as before. A Hill is proud and overtops the Valley; but in comparison of the Sun, they are equally distant, and that haply scorcheth the one when it reviveth the other; as the same Word it may be, comforteth a poor Believer, and scourgeth a rich Sinner. A rich man then should not be highminded: For

1. Riches are not noble enough to raise the Mind, or to put any solid value upon a man more then he had before. Righteousness indeed, ⟨p. 19⟩¹because it comes from Heaven, can exalt and lift up thitherward: But things of a mere Earthly extraction, do rather depress then heighten the Soul, they bear no proportion unto it. The Heart is as improper a place for riches, as a mans Purse or Barn is for Grace. The Mind is the seat of wisdom, of knowledge, of divine impressions; whereas Earthly things can per se, and in their own nature operate only unto earthly effects. They may indeed be used by sensual lusts, as the Foams and Instruments of Pride and Luxury, and by special wisdom, as the vehicula of Charity and Mercy; but of themselves they add nothing of real value to a man. A poor man may be richer by one promise of the Gospel, by laying up but one line of the Scripture in his heart, then a Doeg or a Nabal, by the Cattle on a thousand Mountains.

1. Riches are not noble enough to raise the Minde, or to put any solid value upon a man more then he had before. Righteousness indeed, ⟨p. 19⟩¹because it comes from Heaven, can exalt and lift up thitherward: But things of a meer Earthly extraction, do rather depress then heighten the Soul, they bear no proportion unto it. The Heart is as improper a place for riches, as a mans Purse or Barn is for Grace. The Minde is the seat of wisdom, of knowledge, of divine impressions; whereas Earthly things can per se, and in their own nature operate onely unto earthly effects. They may indeed be used by sensual lusts, as the Foams and Instruments of Pride and Luxury, and by special wisdom, as the vehicula of Charity and Mercy; but of themselves they adde nothing of real value to a man. A poor man may be richer by one promise of the Gospel, by laying up but one line of the Scripture in his heart, then a Doeg or a Nabal, by the Cattel on a thousand Mountains.