How humble was Israel in the wilderness, tame and tractable in a lean pasture ; but bring them once unto Canaan, and the world is strangely altered ; then *' we are lords, (say they) we will come no " more unto thee," Jer. ii. 2, 7, 31. Prosperity is a crisis both to grace and corruption. Thence is that caution to Israel, Deut. x. II, 12. " When thou hast eaten, and art full, then beware lest thou *' forget the Lord thy God."" Then beware, that is the critical time ; surely that man must be acknowledged rich, very rich in grace, whose grace suffers no diminution or eclipse by his riches ; and that man deserves double honour, whose pride the honours of this world cannot provoke and inflame.
It was a sad truth from the lips of a pious divine in Germany upon his death-bed ; being somewhat disconsolate by reflecting upon the barrenness of his life, some friends took thence an occasion to com- mend him, and mind him of his painful ministry and fruitful life among them ; but he cried out, Aitf'erte ignem, adhuc enim paleas habeo ; Withdraw the fire, for I have chaff in me ; meaning, that he felt his ambition like chaff catching fire from the sparks of their praises. Like unto which was the saying of another, He that praises me, wounds me.
But to descend into the particular discoveries that prosperity and honour made of the want of grace in some, and of the weakness of grace in others ; I will shew you what symptoms of hypocrisy appear upon some men under the trial of prosperity, and what signs of grace appear in others under the same trial.
X ROSPERITY discovers many sad symptoms of a naughty hearti and, among others, these are ordinarily most conspicuous.
I. First, It casts the hearts of some men into a deep oblivion of God, and makes tliem lay aside all care of duty ; RaroJ'umantJwli- cibus arce ; the altars of rich men seldom smoke, Deut. xxxii. 13, 14, 15. Jeshurun sucked honey out of the rock, eat the fat of lambs, and kidneys of \vheat : But what was the effect of this ; he kicked and forsook God who made him, and lightly esteemed the rock of his salvation. Instead of lifting up their hearts in an humble thank- ful acknowledgment of God's bounty, they lifted up the heel in a wanton abuse of his mercy : In the fattest earth we find the most slippery footing.
He that is truly gracious may, in prosperity, remit some degrees; but a carnal heart there loseth all that which in a low condition he seemed to save. Augur''s deprecation, as to himself, no doubt, was built upon his frequent observation how it was with others ; Prov. XXX. 8, 9. " Lest I be full, and deny God."
It is said Eccl. v. 12. " That the abundance of the rich will not " suffer him to sleep;" and I wish that were the worst injury it did
. 540 PROSPERITY A GREAT TRiAt.
hirn ; but alas ! it will not suffer him to pray, to lueditate, to allow time and thoughts about his eternal concernments; he falls asleep in the lap of prosperity, and forgets that there is a God to be served, or a soul to be saved. O this is a dangerous symptom of a very graceless heart !
2. Secondly^ Prosperity meeting with a graceless heart, makes it wholly sensual, and entirely swallows up its thoughts and affections: Earthly things transform and mould their hearts into their own similitude and nature ; the whole strength of their souls goes out to those enjoyments. So those graceless, yet prosperous persons are de- scribed, Job xxi. 11, 12, 13. " They take the timbrel and harp, and *' rejoice at the sound of the organ : they spend their days in wealth." They take the timbrel, not the Bible. " They rejoice at the sound of " the organ ;" not a word of their rejoicing in God. " They sent *' forth their Kttle ones in the dance :" That is all the catechism they are taught : " They spend their days in wealth :" their whole time, that precious stock and talent is wholly laid out upon these sensitive things: Either the pleasure of it powerfully charms them, or the cares of it wholly engross their minds, that there is no time to spare for God. They live in pleasure upon earth, as it is, Jam. v. 5. just as the fish lives in the water, its proper element : Take him off from these things, and put him upon spiritual, serious, heavenly employ- ments, and he is Piscis in arido ; like a fish upon the dry land.
Now, though prosperity may too much influence and ensnare the minds of good men, and estrange them toomuchfrom heavenly things ; yet thus to engross their hearts, and convert them into their own similitude and nature, so that these things should be the centre of their hearts, the very proper element in which they live, is utterly impossible.
An hypocrite indeed may be brought to this, because, though Janus like, he have two faces, yet he really hath but one principle, and that is wholly carnal and earthly : So that it is easy to make all the water to run into one channel, to gather all into one entire stream, in which his heart shall pour out all its strength to the creature.
But a Christian indeed hath a double principle that acts him : though he have a law of sin that moves him one way, yet there is in him also the law of grace, which thwarts and crosses that principle of corruption : So that as grace cannot do what it would, because of sin ; so neither can sin do what it would, because of grace, Gal. v. 17.
The heart of a Christian, in the midst of ensnaring, sensitive enjoy- ments, finds indeed a corrupt principle in it, which would incline hira to fall asleep upon such a soft pillow, and forget God and duty : but it cannot. O no ! it cannot do so ; there is a principle of grace with- in him, that never leaves jogging, disturbing, and calling upon him till he rise and return to Ibis God, the true rest of his soul.
3. Thirdly, A false pretender to religion, an hypocritical profes- sor, meeting with prosperity and success, grows altogether unconcern-
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