neyer breaks. His inheritance fadeih not away. Man cannot deprive him of it. Death cannot snatch it out of his hands. All things are his already, — ^life, death, things present, and things to come. (1 Cor. iii. 23.) And best o{ all, N?hat he has now is nothing to what he will have hereafter.
Kiches like these are within reach of every sinner who will come to Christ and receive them. May we never rest till they are oar's I To obtain them may cost ns something in this world. It may bring on ns persecu- tion, ndicule, and scorn. But let the thought console us, that the Judge of all says, "Thou art rich." (Rev. ii. 9.) The true Christian is the only man who is really wealthy and wise.
NoTBB. LuKB xn. la-^i.
13. — [One of the company said,] We know nothing of this man. His question gave occasion for a striking lesson on covetousness. The numher of instances jn which our Lord turns a hystander's remark to a spiritual use, in the Gospel of St. Luke, is well wor- thy of notice. It is prohahle that this man was filled with the common notion that Messiah was going to be a temporal ruler, and to set all things right in the world.
14. — [Who made me a judge !\ The question here is equivalent to a strong negation. — " I am not come to be a judge of temporal matters." The wisdom of our Lord's line of conduct on this ocoasion deserves notice. The slightest interference with the office of the civil government would have given occasion to His enemies, and placed Him in their power.
Ministers of Christ would do well in modem times to mark our Lord's conduct in this case, and, as far as possible, to walk in His steps. The less ministers have to do with secular things, and especially with the administration of law, the better. The magistrates' beneh, as a general rule, is not a fitting position for a minister of the Gospel to occupy. Wh«n the preacher of the Gospel undertakes any work except that of his calling, his proper woTK and business are usually neglected, or worse done than they would have been if he had confined himself exclusively to them, and been a man of one thing. ** Give thyself wholly to these things," is a sentence which should never be forgotten.
76 BXPosrroRT thoughts.
15. — [Take heed and beware of covetmuness.'] Those who possefls Latimer 8 works should read his sermon on this text. He begins by repeating the words three times, and then says, "And what if I should say nothing else? "
[A mans life.] The meaning of this must be, ''A man*s true interest," — the real end and object of man's being, — the purpose for which God made him, and gave him breath." He was not made only to amass wealth, but to glorify God on earth, and en- joy Him hereafter in heaven.
17. — [He thought within himself.] The anxious thoughts, and scheming and planning, which increase of wealth always brings with it, are strikingly described in this verse. The more acres a man has, the more cares. The more his money increases, the more of his time is generally consumed and eaten up in think- ing about it.
18. — [My bams.] It is doubtful whether the word translated " bams*' exactly means what we understand by a bam in our language. It means literally a " repository." It is not improbable, as is often the case in some countries, that the rich man's bams were holes in the ground, or caves, prepared for the keeping of com.
Let it be observed, that the rich man talks of "my" bams, *'my" fruits, "my" goods, with all the self-sufficiency and petty importance of one who knows no will but bis own, and no mas- ter but his own selfishness. It should remind us of Nabal's language, in 1 Sam. xxv. 11. Of him too ft is written, " Fool is his name, and folly is with him." (1 Sam. xxv. 25.)
19. — [/ will say to my sotd.'l This is the language of genuine worldliness. And yet he talks of his " soul ! " He speaks of " goods laid up for many years," and yet ignores the etemity which must come at last, and the necessity of a hope laid up in heaven !
The secret thoughts and schemes of rich worldlings are strikingly exposed in this verse. The Lord Jesus knows exactly what such men are thinking of
Basil remarks, " If this man had only had the sense of a hog, what other thing could he have said?"
20. — [But God said unto him.] Our Lord does not inform us in what way God spoke to the rich man ; whether directly or by a messenger, as He spake by Nathan to David. What he has not thought fit to explain, it is useless for us to conjecture.
[Thou fool] The Greek word so translated means literally, without mind, or sense, or understanding. It is the same word as in Luke xi. 40. Let us mark, that just when the rich man was scheming cunningly, and thinking himself very wise, God says to him, " Thou fool."
LUKE, CHAP. XII. yER. 22 31.