1. Christ's gesture, 'And Jesus looked round about him,' irepijSXe-^d- fi6vo<;, the gesture of one that is to speak or do some notable thing : Luke vi. 10, ' And looking round about upon them all, he said unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand.' So here he looked round about to every one of them, to see how they entertained this passage and occur- rence of providence, and to stir up their attention, and to cause them to be affected with it as a matter of some great weight and moment, that, when this moi'al, sweet-natured, forward young man came with such respect, kneeling to him, and asking him such a question, and went away, sad, Jesus looked round about, as if he had said, How do you entertain this ?
2. Here is Christ's speech, ' He saith to his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God.' I will take notice of the matter and the form.
[1.] The matter, where the persons spoken of, ' They that have riches.* The privilege denied, entering into the kingdom of God.
[2.] The form. It is by way of question, ' How hardly ? ' he would appeal to them. See now what the love of the world did. They were leavened with it, and thought of great offices in the kingdom of the Messiah : but how hard is it for a rich man to enter into the kinordom
26 SERMONS UPON MARK X. 17-27. [SeR. X.
of heaven. ' How hard ? ' It is — (1.) Questio admiraniis. It is pro- pounded in the form of an admiring question. (2.) It is questio do- lentis, of one that bewails the corruption of human nature, that men should turn God's good gifts and blessings into a snare. Alas ! ' How hard ! ' &c.
For the matter, there is not an utter impossibility, but a very great difficulty. It is spoken of such men as have riches only ; and Christ explains himself in the next verse, ' Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God ! ' It doth not lessen the wonder, but increase it, for then ' they were astonished out of measure among themselves, saying, Who can be saved ? '
By the kingdom of God is meant the kingdom of grace, or the kingdom of glory. How hardly do they submit to the doctrine of Christ, or enter into the kingdom of grace liere ! Or how hardly are they made partakers of his glory in the kingdom of heaven hereafter !
Doct. It is a very hard matter for such as abound in worldly wealth to enter into the kingdom of heaven.
1. I shall explain the point by the circumstances of the text.
2. Show whence the difficulty doth arise.
3. Make application.
I. To explain the point by the circumstances of the text. And here —
1. The persons spoken of, ' They that have riches.' The veiy having layeth us open to a snare. It is true Christ explains himself in the next verse, ' Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God ! ' The plain sense of the words is this, It is hard to have them and not trust in them. The disciples were astonished at his words when he said, ' How hardly shall they that have riches,' &c. ; but when lie said, ' How hard is it for them that trust in riches,' &c., they were astonished out of measure. And we see Agur, when he prays to God, not only deprecates the sin, but the estate, * Give me not riches, lest I be full and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord ? ' Prov. xxx. 8, 9. James ii. 6, ' Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment-seats? ' He doth not sa}^, Do not wicked rich men oppress you ? but simply ' rich men.' As a fat and fertile ground produceth weeds, if it be not carefully tilled and planted with better seed, so do riches usually prove a temptation to us.
But you will say, Why doth he speak so hardly against one order and sort of men whom God hath set up in the world ? Are not riches in themselves God's blessings ? Prov. x. 22, ' The blessing of the Lord maketh rich ; ' and are they not promised to his people ? . _Ps. cxii. 3, 'Wealth and riches shall be in his house ; ' and accordingly are bestowed upon them. For we read of Abraham, Gen. xxiv. 25, 'The Lord hath blessed my master greatly, and he is become exceeding great ; ' saith Eliezer. So was Job, chap. i. 3, ' The greatest of all the men of the East.' So David, Solomon, and Lazarus of Bethany, Joseph of Arima- thea, and others ; and therefore is it not to calumniate our Master's bounty to say, that the very having of riches is an impediment to us in our heavenly pursuits, and a snare to us ? I answer — No.
[1.] The fault is not in riches, but in our abuse of them : 2 Peter i. 4, ' The corruption that is in the world through lust.' It is your