196 SERMON UPON I TIMOTHY VI. 9.
ing a measure to him, but that which he knoweth to be meet and necessary for us ; cast yourselves upon God's allowance. And if it be asked with submission ; for it is a temporal promise : Deut. xxviii. 11, * The Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods, ia the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers to give thee.' The will to be rich that is here condemned is an obstinate and unsubmissive ■will.
[3.] Abundance is more than is fit for his place and calling, or than he can and will employ for good uses ; or without which the life of a man, or his good estate and service in the world, may be well preserved. The desire of worldly greatness cometh from lust, or eager affection to worldly things. Men would shine alone : Isa. v. 8, ' Woe unto them that join house to house, and lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth.' And argueth diffidence in the providence of God. They would have wherewith to subsist without him. And is contrary to the laws of christian moderation. The king was not to multiply horses, and gold, and silver, Deut. xvii. 16, 17 ; whereas our desire of estate must pro- ceed not from a love of riches, or to make us and ours great, but a conscience of our duty to God, that we may be useful and serviceable ; and must be kept within bounds, and ever must we maintain our confidence in him.
2. I answer in these propositions —
[1.] We can lawfully desire no more than we can pray for; for it is a certain rule that those desires and workings of spirit are unlawful, which we dare not express to God in prayer. If we must be modest in our prayers, we should be as modest in our desires and aims. Would we say, Food and raiment is not enough ; we must have a fuller estate; so much coming in by the year ; such portions for our children ; they must be maintained at such a rate, &c. ? Durst we fill our censers with such dross and dung as this is? Why then do we cherish such thoughts and desires in our hearts ? Prayer is but an empty compliment unless it express our desires.
[2.] The prayers of God's children are always modest, and suited to their trust and great hopes. So it was with Agur : Prov. xxx. 7, 8, ' Two things have I required of thee ; deny me them not before I die. Kemove far from me vanity and lies ; give me neither poverty nor riches ; feed me with food convenient for me.' And Jacob : Gen. xxviii. 20, ' Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,' &c. Carnal wretches prescribe God a task which he never meaneth to perform : Ps. Ixxviii. 18, ' They tempted God in their hearts by asking meat for their lust.'
[3.] The reality of this modesty in prayer concerning outward supplies is evidenced by the frame of our hearts and the course of our actions.
(1.) The frame of our hearts is seen both in the want and in the enjoyment of our outward things.
(Is^.) In the want of them. If we be content with God's allowance, who hath determined to every man the course of his service, and the
SERMON UPON I TIMOTHY VI. 9. 197
bounds of his habitation, Acts xvii. 26 ; how much of the world every one shall enjoy, what land, what estate ; you are content with what you have, Heb. xiii. 5. If our portion be more strait than others, it is what God hath allotted to us. If we be kept poor and low, we shall have enough for that service and honour that God expecteth from us, and to carry us through that little time that we have to spend in the world. It is not abundance that we need, but a contented heart. Be contented with a little, if God giveth no more. Diseased persons need more attendance than the healthy. It is our disease multiplieth our necessities.
(2d) In the enjoyment of outward things. If they come by God's providence, the heart must be guarded ; it must not be set upon them : Ps. Ixii. 10, ' If riches increase, set not your heart upon them.' We may delight in them as they are our portion, as tokens from God, and fruits of his bounty : Deut. xxvi. 11, ' Thoa shalt rejoice in every good thing which the Lord thy God giveth thee.' But they must not possess and take up our hearts so as to cause us to forget God, and to make us raven after more ; and the lust riseth with the increase, and so the heart is the more entangled.
(2.) The course of our actions in getting and using.
(ist.) In getting. When we are not immoderate in labouring after them ; when men toil and labour to load themselves with thick clay, Hab. ii. 6. They promise themselves much contentment and happi- ness ; but it doth but draw off the heart from God, and burden and pollute the sinner : Ps. cxxvii. 2, ' It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrow ; ' Hab. ii. 13, ' Behold, is it not of the Lord of hosts, that the people shall labour in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity ? '