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…

4. In making men rich, and setting them in great places, God hath exalted them enough already, and they ought the rather to be more low in their own eyes. The highest boughs in a Tree are the slenderest, the more nature hath raised them, the smaller they are in themselves, and by that means the less endangered by the tempests which they so easily yield unto. And so it should be with us, the more we are exalted by God, the less we should be in our own esteem; and the less we are in our own esteem, the safer we shall be against any temptations. Humility is not only an ornament, but a protection. We see the fruit grows upon the twigs and smaller branches of a Tree, not upon a Stock: Humility makes way to fruitfulness, and fruitfulness back again to humility. The more weighty the Ears of Corn, the more they hang downward towards the ground. The richer things are, the more humble they are. Ambition was the sin of the Bramble; the Vine, Olive, Fig-tree, were contented with their former dignity. Clouds, the fuller they are, are the more heavy; the Earth is the richest, and yet the lowest Element. Christ had in him the Treasures of Wisdom and Grace, and yet in nothing more proposed ⟨p. 21⟩himself unto us as an example, then in meekness and humility, Matth. 11. 29. John 13. 13, 14. Phil. 2. 5, 6, 7. And what comparison is there between Christ the Heir of all things, and the richest man on Earth. When the Lord of glory, who thought it no robbery to be equal with God, humbled and emptied himself, and made himself of no reputation; What is there in sinful dust and ashes, that he should be proud? We see in the Body one member hath more magnitude, nutriment, dignity, employment then another; but none hath more humility then another. The Head will be as ready to study for the Hand, as the Hand to work for the Head; the Tongue as forward to speak for the Foot, as the Foot to move for the Tongue. And all Christians profess to be Members of the same Body, and therefore none should be proud or disdainful towards another.

4. In making men rich, and setting them in great places, God hath exalted them enough already, and they ought the rather to be more low in their own eyes. The highest boughs in a Tree are the slenderest, the more nature hath raised them, the smaller they are in themselves, and by that means the less endangered by the tempests which they so easily yeild unto. And so it should be with us, the more we are exalted by God, the less we should be in our own esteem; and the less we are in our own esteem, the safer we shall be against any temptations. Humility is not onely an ornament, but a protection. We see the fruit grows upon the twigs and smaller branches of a Tree, not upon a Stock: Humility makes way to fruitfulness, and fruitfulness back again to humility. The more weighty the Ears of Corn, the more they hang downward towards the ground. The richer things are, the more humble they are. Ambition was the sin of the Bramble; the Vine, Olive, Fig-tree, were contented with their former dignity. Clouds, the fuller they are, are the more heavy; the Earth is the richest, and yet the lowest Element. Christ had in him the Treasures of Wisdom and Grace, and yet in nothing more proposed