Doct. That we ought upon God's call to be ready to forsake all that we have in the world.
Here I shall — (1.) Consider when God calls us to forsake all ; (2.) Why we ought to do so.
First, When God calls us to forsake all that we have ; such a parti- cular precept or command we cannot now expect. Now Christ is ascended into the heavens, and governs us not by oracle but by his word ; not by his personal presence, but by his Spirit. But yet still in some cases we are to forsake all ; they may be referred unto two heads —
1. When God by his providence reduceth us to a poor condition.
2. When we cannot obey any particular precept of God without danger of being undone by it.
[1.] When God by his providence reduceth us to a poor condition, either for our chastisement or om* trial, then we are willingly and cheerfully to forsake all. This is no strange thing, to hear of those that have flowed in wealth, and yet by the mere providence of God (though not by their own misgovernment or default) have been reduced to great necessity. Our estates in the world are liable to many hazards, by which this may be brought about, as by fire, inundation, or hostile depredations ; by state injury, false witness of others, or negligence of servants, or suretyship for friends, or oversight of reckoning, or trusting of customers, or unfaithfulness of factors, or piracy by sea ; by these and many other such- like means may our estates be wasted and come to nothing, and we brought to great poverty. Job, the lichest man in
YeR. 21.] SERMONS UPON MARK X. 17-27. 473
the East, was brought to sit upon the dunghill. Belisarius, that great captain that had twice relieved Kome and vanquished so many enemies, was brought to beg for a halfpenny to sustain his life, Date obolum Belisario. Now we ought to have a ready mind, prepared for all provi- dences ; and this is the true voluntary poverty of christians, not monk- ish vows, but this willingness to be at God's disposing. It ought not to be sought for, but we must not be over-sorrowful if it happens, but humbly acquiesce in the will of God, and bear poverty, if laid upon us, with a constant patient mind : Job i. 21, ' Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and' naked shall I return thither ; the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away ; blessed be the name of the Lord.'
[2.] God still calls us to forsake all when we cannot obey any par- ticular precept of God without danger of being undone by it. When God by his providence maketli it impossible for us to preserve our fidelity to him, or obedience to any known command of his, without sacrificing our interests, and parting with all that we have in the world, we must impartially perform it, and do our duty, though it be with the loss of estate and life itself : Eev. xii. 11, ' They overcame by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of his testimony ; and they loved not their lives unto the death ; ' Eev. ii. 10, ' Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer : behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried, and ye shall have tribulation ten days : be ye faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of lite.' And Moses, when all the pleasures and treasures he enjoyed in Pharaoh's court came once to be the pleasures of sin, and he could continue there no longer without sin, he left all : Heb. xi, 24-26, ' By faith Moses, when he came to years refused to be call the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to sufi'er affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season ; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, for he had respect unto the recompense of the rew^ard.' In these two cases we are to sell all.
Secondly, For the reasons why we must do so.
1. God hath an absolute right to all that w^e have by his own emin- ency and prerogative. He is called ' the possessor of heaven and earth,' Gen. xiv. 19, not only the maker, but the possessor. We are not lords, but only stewards : Luke xvi. 2, ' Give an account of thy stewardship, for thou mayest be no longer steward.' A steward must be ready to give up the estate when the supreme Lord calls for it. We have not dominmm, the dominion and sovereignty, only dispensationem, a dispensation and trust ; and wdien the supreme Lord calls for all we have, we must willingly resign all into his hands : ' I will take away my corn, my wine and my wool, and my fiax, saith God,' Hosea ii. 9. Every one is allowed to do with his own as it pleaseth him. God can- not injure his creature, for when he takes these things from us, he doth but dispose of his own. The Lord of his bounty communicates many good things to us, but still he retains the dominion of them in his own hands, that he may dispose of them according to his own pleasure. If God saith, Keep, you may keep it ; but if he saith, Vade, vende omnia, Go, sell all, who art thou, 0 man ! that repliest upon God ? We are not absolute and perpetual owners, and must part with it when the