486 Com.8, Of eovetouftef. Chaps g; into the Eare, inhis juft judgment, as a punithinent of their inordinate defire of Ecd. 9.9 riches, and then inf iEts farther punifhments, as that of thePreacher, He that loves money, fhall not be Játisfiedwith its the reafonwhereof is,becaufe the mind cannot be fatished withany thingbut God. And then fromMany delres, v.;o. thecovetous than falls into many cares ; for when Goods increafe, they are increafed that eat them, andwhat good comes to the owners thereof,but thebeholdingof it with theireyes;fo that as his delires encreafe.fo do his cares,as we fee in the rich fool,Ouid edam ? quidbi- barn ? quid induam :? Wbatfh.alt Ieat ? what 'ball I drink? thatfhall Iput on ? Or if he be rick then his care is,quidfaeiam? mhatJhalll do? I have not barnsenough; rich;but not rich to ufe it. 4. Betides this,he adds,that (being thus diftrac`ied with worldly cares) fuck men (hall érr font thefaith,not onlyby falling intodamnable errórs, but by not believing, nor regarding either the promifes or threatnings, or the Commandments of God. This was the punifhment of Judas, whobecaufehe wascovetous and defrauded his John 12.6 Mailer, for, fur eras èm loculosgerebat, be was a thief and bore the bag, therefore as we fee afterwards, he came to make fo little account ofChrift, or of the doQ- ,rine which he preacht, that toPhew he believed it not, he fold hisMailer for thirty pieces. 5.Andfrom this which is very heavy,fuch men fall furthér,ps ¿Ae,9parrÿd,rlAnar, into.deffrul~tionandperdition. a. Intodeffruliion ofthefitblfance they have got. The Zach. S.4 Prophet Zachary fpeaks of a flying book, wherein were written the curies of God , which fhould enter into the haufe ofthe thief, and the fwearer thatfwearsfaly, and Jhauldconfume the hoofs with the timber andf ones thereof, fo that nogood end faall come ofwhat is unjufjly gotten. And therefore the Heathen man could fay, If you would have your cheks full of riches, and would have them to continue withyou feethat you get them well, gaySddfxmsótuo,tosr.3ór7a,r'x xuadlbpfar, whatfoeveris unjufly brought into the bout, loath nofafety orfurefooting, either God will take it Job as. tg from them,and as Zophar faith, they (hall vomit it upagain ; or elfe he will take them horn it, by fhortening theirdayes. Nondimidiabunt diesfuor, theyfliall not live out half their¿ayes. Dies Pei veniet tanquam fur, nulli autem its tanquamfur, utfori, the dayof the Lordwillcomefuddenly as a thief,but to nonefo like a thiefas to the thief: Mattli 2 .35 But this is not all, for 2.they flail fall cIs áxóot,ar, intoperdition ofthefoul too. At the 4o; 45 lati day,they mull hear thatfentence,Goye turfed into everlaffingfire,&c. Such as have unjukly taken any thing from others, non controvertitur de iii, there (hall beno que- Ilionof them, but they mull go into perdition,and therefore they arc not mentioned, nor is there any pleaor excule for them. As for thofe that have notgiven to others, theyplead for themfelves, and their plea is anfwcred, nondediffia,you have not given to me, faith Chrift, becaufeyougave not to my brethren: but for eripuiftis, fuch as ta- ken from others,by fraud or violence,there is no quekion madeof them. Then they Ezek, 13. 19 Ihall findthat truewhich the Prophet fpeaks, They have polluted themfelvesfor an handful of barley,andapieceofbread: they havegained a handful ofbarley,and have loll the kingdomof heaven; theywill then find, that it will advantage themnothing, Prov. 3o to win tbe wholeworld, and to. loft theirfouls. And becaufe the Wifeman compares the covetousmans delires to hell, as if they were infatiableand would hold as much as hell, andas if there werean affinity and juft adequation between them andhell; therefore like muff go to like, Hell is the place prepared for them ; for the Apoklc r Cor.6. to fits 'down this conclufion, that no thief, nor covetousman, nor extortionerpall inherit thekingdom of God. The fart!, we come now according to the fourth rule, to the meansand helps we mull ufe concerning ,h, for thekeeping this Commandment. MOM the coo- And becaufeCovetoufnefs, which is the root ofall evil,is in the heart,therefore to duce to the eradicate it, and pluck it upby the roots, k,eping tp tGi, r.We mulllabour for a contented mindü erd Q} a T 6,7(9-,let our convey arion :commandmen,. PSWP 4your f r.cootrmarito. be-without covetoufnefr;howis that? in thenext words it lollows,andbe content with Pleb. 13.5 chafe thingsyou have, that is, when a man, for his perfonal and natural necellity,hath that which is fufficient,he mutt tell and be contented therewith ; and for the fupply of what is neccffary for his efface and degree, which admits a great deal of latitude, and bath not his medium, in indivifibili, conftîsnot in an in yifiblepoint, hemull not trouble himfelfwithanxious cares, but mull call himfelfupon God ; yet hemay law-
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