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is to come.' There is earth as well as heaven ; bread as well as grace ; and raiment as well as righteousness ; and the lower springs as well as the upper springs to be found in the precious promises, 2 Pet. i. 4. Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and Joseph, and Job, and Nehemiah, and Mordecai, and David, and Hezekiah, and Josiah, and Jehoshaphat, and Daniel, and the three children, or rather champions, made it their business to be holy, to walk with God, to maintain communion with God, and to exalt and glorify God : and you know how the Lord heaped up the good things and the great things of this world upon them. I verily believe if men were more holy, they would be more outwardly happy ; if they did but more seriously and earnestly press after the great things of that upper world, the Lord would more abundantly cast in the things of this lower world upon them. But when men are immoderately carried out in seeking after the great things of this world, it is just with God to blast their endeavours, and to curse their mercies to them, Jer. xlv. 5 ; Mai. ii. 2. But,
[5.] Fiftlily, It is better to get a little of the toorld, than to get much of the luorld ; it is better to get a little of the luorld justly and honestly, than to get much of the ivorld unjustly and dishonestly. A little of the world blessed, is better than much of the world cursed. Solomon's dinner of green herbs, Daniel's pulse, barley loaves, and a few fishes, and John's rough garment blessed, are better and greater mercies than Dives his riches, purple robes, and dainty fare cursed, Gen. xxii. ; Prov. iii. 33, and xv. 17 ; Dan. i. But,
[6.] Sixthly, The greatest outward gain cannot countervail the least spiritual loss, Ps. xxx. 6, 7 ; be it but a drachm of grace, or a cast of God's countenance, or an hour's communion with him, &c. Sup- pose a man could heap up silver as the dust, and gold as the streams of the brook, that he could gain as much as the devil promised Christ — viz., all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them ; yet all these could not make up the least spiritual loss. Job xxii. 24, and xxvii. 16 ; Mat. iv. 1-11. He that shall exchange the least spiritual favour for the greatest outward good, shall but, with Glaucus and Diomedes, exchange gold for copper ; he shall, with the cock in the fable, part with a pearl for a barley-corn. Chrysostom corapareth such to workers in mines, who, for a little wages, do always hazard, and sometimes lose their lives. Menot, a French preacher, compareth them to a huntsman, that spoileth a horse worth many pounds, in pursuit of a hare not worth so many pence. Parens compares them to a man that with much ado winneth Venice, and as soon as it is won, is hanged up at the gates of the city. When such a one shall at last compute what he hath gained and what he hath lost, he will certainly conclude that he hath but a miserable bargain of it. But,
[7.] The seventh maxim is this — viz., A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many tuicked, Ps. xxxvii. 16. The righteous man's mite is better than the wicked man's millions. ' A little,' that is, a competent and mean portion, though yet but very little ; one little piece of gold is more worth than a bag of counters ; one little box of pearls is more worth than many loads of pebbles. And so a little
262 London's lamentations on [Isa. XLII. 24, 25.
that a riglitcons mnn Imth is better than the abundance of the wicked — is better than the riclies of many wicked. Hamon, which is the word here used, is from Hannah., which signifies multitude of riches, or great plenty, or store of riches ; from tiiis Hebrew word Hamon, riches are called mammon, Luke xvi. 9, 11, 13. The little that the righteous man hath is better than the multitude or store of riches that the wicked have. Out of these words you may observe these following particulars : —
(1.) Here is the righteous man's portion, and the wicked man's portion, as to this world ; the righteous man hath but little, the wicked has much.
(2.) The righteous man hath but little, but the wicked has riches.
(3.) The righteous man's little is a better portion than the riches of the wicked.
(4.) The righteous man's little is better than the multitude of riches that the wicked have.
(5.) The righteous man's little is better than the multitude of riches that many wicked men enjoy. Now, for their sakes who have been burnt up, and have but little of the world left them, I shall make gOod this blessed truth by an induction of these eleven particulars : —
[1.] First, The righteous man haili a better tenure to his little than wicked men have to their multitude of riches. The righteous man holds his tenure by virtue of his marriage-union with Christ, who is the heir of all things, Heb. i. 2. We had an equal right in the first Adam to all the good things of this world ; but, in his fall, we lost our original right to the good things of this world. But now the righteous man, by the second Adam, has recovered his right to all he enjoys : Rom. viii. 32, ' How shall he not with him also freely give us all things?' 1 Cor. iii. 21, 'All things are yours:' ver. 22„ ' Whether Paul, or ApoUos, or Cephas, or the "world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come ; all are yours.' But how come they to be interested in this large charter ? the apostle answers it in ver. 23, 'Ye are Christ's ; and Christ is God's.' All comes to us by Jesus Christ. All the corn in Egypt came through Joseph's hands, Gen. xli. So all we have, be it little or much, we have it through Christ's hands, upon the account of our marriage-union with Christ. We may say, as Hamor and Shechem said to their people, ' Shall not all their cattle, and substance, and every beast of the field, be ours?' Gen. xxxiv. 23. So being married to Christ, and become one with him, all comes to be ours, through him who is the heir of all. By virtue of our marriage-union with Christ, our title to the creatures is not only restored, but strengthened. That little we have is entailed upon us by Christ, in a more firm and better way than ever. In the first Adam our tenure was lower, and meaner, and baser, and uncer- taincr than now it is ; for our title, our tenure by Christ, is more honourable, and stronger, and sweeter, and lastinger than ever it was before. For now we hold all we have in capite ; Christ is our head and husband, and by him we hold all we have. But now wicked men, by the fall of Adam, have lost their original patent and charter which once they had to shew for the things of this life. By Adam's fall they
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