You look upon those as very rich that keep open house for all comers and goers ; why, such a one is the Lord Jesus Christ ; he keeps open house for all comers and goers, for all created creatures both in heaven and earth. Ps. civ. 24', ' The earth is full of thy riches, so is the great and wide sea, where are things creej)ing innumerable, both small and great/ 'He opens his hand, and he satisfies every living creature,' says the Psalmist, Ps. cxlv. 16. So Isa. Iv. 1, 'Ho, every one that thirsteth, let him come and buy wine and milk, without money and without price. Wherefore dost thou lay out thy money for that which is not bread, and thy strength for that which doth not profit?'- All creatures, high and low, honourable and base, noble and ignoble, blessed and cursed, are fed at the cost and charge of the Lord Jesus Christ. They are all fed at his table, and maintained by what comes out of his treasury, his purse. All angels and saints above, and all saints and sinners below, are beholden to Christ for what they enjoy. Oh ! the multitudes, the numberless number of those that live upon the cost and charge of Christ. Can you number the stars of heaven ? can you num- ber the sands upon the sea-shore ? then may you number the multitudes, the millions of angels and men that are maintained upon the cost and charge of the Lord Jesus. In Col. i. 16, 17, ' For by him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions, or principalities, or powers, all things were created by him, and for him. And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.'
(3.) Thirdly, You may judge of the riches of Christ hy the time that he hath fed and clothed, cherished and maintained, so many innu- merable millions of angels and men.
He hath maintained his court above and below, upon his own cost and charge, for almost six thousand years. Oh, to keep such a multi- tude, if it were but for a day, would speak him out to be richer than all the princes in the world ; but to keep so many millions, and to keep them so long, what doth this speak out, but that Christ is infinitely rich, rich in goodness and mercy ? It would beggar all the princes on earth, to keep but one day the least part of those that Christ maintains every day, &c.
(4.) But, fouHldy, you may judge of the riches of Christ by this, that he doth not only enrich all the saints, but all of the saints.
That is, he enriches all the faculties of their souls ; he enriches their understandings with glorious light ; their consciences with quickness, pureness, tenderness and quietness; and their wills with holy intentions and heavenly resolutions ; and their affections of love, joy, fear, &c., with life, heat, and warmth, and with the beauty and glory of the most soul- enriching, soul-delighting, soul-ravishing, and soul-contenting objects
' Crassus was so rich, that he maintained a whole army with his own revenues. But what is this to what Jesus doth ? &c. [As before. See Index, sub nomine.— (J.]
EpH. III. 8.] EICHES OF CHRIST. 153
&c. All saints' experiences seal to this truth, and therefore a touch shall suffice, &c.
(5.) Fifthly, Judge of the riches of Christ by this, that notwith- standing all the vast expense and charge tJiat he is at, and hath been at for so many millions of thousands, and that for near six thousand years, yet he is never the poorer ; his purse is never the emptier.
There is still in Christ a fulness of abundance, and a fulness of redun- dance, notwithstanding all that he hath expended. It were blasphemy to think that Christ should be a penny the poorer by all that he hath laid out for the relief of all those that have their dependence upon him. Col. i. 19, ' It pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell.' Not stay or abide a night or a day and away, but should dwell. The sun hath. not the less light for filling the stars with light. A fountain hath not the less for filling the lesser vessels. There is in Christ plenitudo fontis, the fulness of a fountain. The overflowing fountain pours out water abundantly, and yet remains full. Why, the Lord Jesus is such an overflowing fountain ; he fills all, and yet remains full. Christ hath the greatest worth and wealth in him. As the worth and value of many pieces of silver is in one piece of gold, so all the petty excellencies scattered abroad in the creature are united to Christ ; yea, all the whole volume of perfections which is spread through heaven and earth, is epitomised in him, &c.'
(6.) Sixthly, The Lord Jesus is generally rich, and that speaks him out to be rich indeed. He is generally rich. You have few per- sons that are generally rich. That is a rich man indeed, that is generally rich ; that is, that is rich in money and rich in land, and rich in commodities, and rich in jewels, &c. Now the Lord Jesus Christ is one that is generally rich ; he is rich in all spirituals ; he is rich in goodness, rich in wisdom and knowledge ; he is rich in grace, and rich in glory.^ Yea, he is generally rich in respect of tem- porals. ' He is the heir of all things.' He is the heir of all the gold in the world, and of all the silver, and of all the jewels, and of all the land, and of all the cattle in the world, as you may see by comparing some scriptures together. Hos. ii. 5, 8, 9, ' For their mother hath played the harlot, she that conceived them hath done shamefully ; for she said, I will go after my lovers that gave me my bread and my water, and my wool, and my flax, and my oil, and my drink.' But mark what follows : verses 8, 9, ' For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal; therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax, given to cover her nakedness.' So in Ps. xxiv. 1, ' The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof, the round world, and all that dwell therein.' All others are either usurpers or stewards ; it is the Lord Jesus that is the great landlord of heaven and earth. So in Ps. 1. 8-10, ' I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices, or thy burnt-offerings ; I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he-goats out of thy folds : for every
^ They say it is true of the oil at Rhemes that, though it be continually spent in the inauguration of tlieir kings of France, yet it never wastes. I am sure, though all creatures spend continually, on Christ's stock, yet it never wasteth.
^ The philosopher once said, Solus sapiens dives, only the wise man is the rich man, &c.
154 THE UNSEARCHABLE [EPH. III. 8.
beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains, and the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee; for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof It is all mine, saith the Lord.