{2d.) In using. Eiches in themselves considered are neither good nor evil ; all is as they are used. We are to use them as instruments of piety and charity, and for the furtherance of our great account ; so that it is not wealth so much that we beg, as a blessing upon our labours, that we may have wherewith to serve God. We must so use and possess what we have as that the use and possession may tend to God's glory and the good of our souls. As —
(1st.) The maintenance of our own good estate and condition : Eccles. v. 18, * It is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life which God giveth him, for it is his portion.' It is God's allowance, that we should live comfortably upon what he hath sent us ; yea, not only his allowance, but his gift : ver. 19, ' Every man also, to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour, this is the gift of God.'
(2d.) The good of others that depend upon us ; as our family and kindred, 1 Tim. v. 8, "That they may not be burdensome to the church.'
(3d.) The relief of the poor : Eph. iv. 28, ' Let him that stole steal no more ; but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.* We shall be no losers by that : Pro v. xi. 24, ' There is that scattereth
198 SEKMON UPON I TIMOTHY VI. 9.
and yet increaseth ;' John vi. 13, ' Therefore they gathered them to- gether, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above untd them that had eaten.'
(4th.) The maintenance of true religion and the church of God : Prov. iii. 9, ' Honour the' Lord with thy substance, and with the first- fruits of thy increase,'
(.5th.) Good of the commonwealth : Kom. xiii. 7, ' Eender therefore to all their dues, tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, honour to whom honour ; ' and Mat. xxii. 21, ' Kender to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things which are God's.'
Thus is a man tried, when he hath an estate, how he useth it. A leaky vessel is not discerned when it is empty; but when it is full, then it discovereth itself. So when we are kept low, there is not such a trial of our spirits as when we abound in all things, how we will use and improve this trial, what we discover then, grace or corruption. Want is a trial, and so is fulness ; and therefore we should look to ourselves. If self be ravenous, and devour all that portion which God should have, and the poor should have, and friends should have, we do not use it aright, not to the ends for which God hath given it.
Use 3. To press us to mortify this inordinate inclination. If once men aflfect and love riches, it becometh the root of all evil. It is not the having, but the affecting of great things, that is sinful. What God casteth upon us, walking within the compass of our duty, we are with thankfulness to embrace, and to improve to his glory. Yet this inordinate desire is veiy natural to us, born and bred with us ; and because riches do all in the world, it is increased upon us. Therefore we need the more to look to our hearts and consider —
1. The comfort of our lives lieth not in abundance : Luke xii. 15, * Take heed, and beware of covetousness ; for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.' They are extrinsical to our being and happiness. When you have the world at will, you can get no more than bodily food and bodily clothing ; the poorest may attain to that. It is no great matter whether our dung and excrement be of finer matter or coarser, nor what a gay show we make in our apparel, whether fewer or more dishes at our table. Too much oil puts out the lamp. When men have troubled themselves and the world to make themselves great, what a sorry happiness have they ! Ps. xvii. 14, ' From men which are thy hand, 0 Lord, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fiUest with thy hid treasure ; thgy are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes ; ' Hab. i. 16, ' They sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag, because by them their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous.' A little good cheer and a merry life is all they have. They that want it live as well as they, and have more contentment ; they are no nearer to true comfort, nor the further from the grave.