Downame - Puritan-02038 v2

616 That worldly thingsare momentary and corruptible. whole fake them flandell infeare of the thiefe,yeaof thine owne Auguli. Serra. feruants, lefi they kill, robbethee, and rumie away ? If they were 3 í.[0u10. true riches they would bring vate thee fecurity, andWhen thou once haddefi them, thou coil/dellneuer lofe them. As long as they are in the earth,they are not true riches. And therefore When the world calleth themriches,our Sauiour Chrifi addeth,ofinigotity. Call them then by what names you will, Hile themas you pleafe,with the glorious titles of inheritances, feeliimples, and perpetuities,yet in truth they are but vncertaine vanities, and momentanie moueables which are Hill flitting from vs, or we from them. So the Wifeman telleth vs, that riches re- Pro.:7.2.4. main not als ay, nor the crone fromgeneration to generation. Yea oftentimes they frsddenly depart;and forfake vs without gluing warning, or taking leaue;in which refpe6 they are not onely current, as we call our coin, hailing away as fafi as their legs will beare them,but volant alfo,as the Wife man maketh them, where he giueth them the wings of anEagle to expreffe their halt in flying from vs e built thou (faith hee) 1'rv,2.3 bine eyes vpon that which is nothing ?for riches takerhher to her winos as an Eagle, andflieth into heauen. So ourSauiour Chrift fheweth this corruptibility ofriches,where he exhor- rcth vs, not to lay vp treafures for our /elites vpon the earth, Mat.6,19. Where the moth and canker doe corrupt, and where theeuesdig rhoroW and fl ea le. And theApoftle expreffeth it, where he at- 1,Pct.r.7.tR. tributeth vnto gold, the epithete ofperifhing, and calleth it and (liner things corruptible. Neither in truth is there any kind ofriches which are -not fubie&to this corruptibility, or exempted from continuall danger ofperiihing.For if we arc rich in treafures, the theeues may fieale them, ifin (hips and merchandife, the fea may fwallów them, or pirats fpoile them; ifin appareil and goodly furniture, the mothes may confume and gate them; if in corne fields, the blafling and mildewes may - defiroy them; if in cattell and fheepe, they are in danger of the rot and murraine; if in gold and filuer, the rufl and canker may fret them, or they may bee taken a- way by violence or deceit; ifinbuildings,the fire may con- fume them; ifin landsand poffefìîons,the title may be called into queílion, and indangered by euery vnconfcionable law - yer,